#landa lakes

[thequeereview]

Exclusive Interview: Frybread Face & Me filmmaker Billy Luther "when it comes down to it, this is my story"

One of the standouts at the 48th Toronto International Film Festival, Billy Luther’s richly evocative 1990-set narrative feature debut Frybread Face and Me, was recently acquired by Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing and will open on select screens and launch on Netflix on Friday, November 24th. The comedy drama follows 11-year-old Benny (Keir Tallman) as he is abruptly sent away for the summer by…

[whiteskullofroses]

Hi, can you do male-reader x Hans Landa? I liked the other Inglorious Bastards one you did but I'm a guy so can I have one where the reader is a guy? I would enjoy that. It can be anything, smut and angst are my top two.

A/n: Hi guys! I'm starting with answering your requests (finally). I hope you'll enjoy and thank you for the request❤️

Warnings: (you said you liked smut and angst, so I combined those two!) Smut, angst, swearing, cheating, jealousy.

I know what you did

(Hans Landa x Male!Reader)

Hans was pissed. He paced up and down the corridor leading to your office, not knowing how to approach the situation he was in. His blood boiled with anticipation, his throat dry, as he hasn't spoken a word to you or to anyone today.

Finally, after what felt like an internity of thinking, he knocked on your office door.

You lifted your head, having been snapped out of your thoughts filled with worry. Standing up from your chair, you gazed at the paperwork in front of you one last time before going to open the door.

Slowly turning the door handle and opening the door, your breath caught in your throat as you saw Hans in his uniform with a cigarette between his fingers.

"May I come in?" His words sharp and clear.

You looked at him with glassy eyes before finally letting him in, knowing you've been caught.

Hans made his way around your office desk, taking a seat in your chair. An almost empty bottle of whiskey stood on the desk, along with a half full glass. You had been drinking since you got to work, hoping it could calm your nerves down.

He took your glass and put it on his lips. The lips you once kissed, the lips that once praised and loved you, were now mute. Sipping on it and taking a long drag of his cigarette, his eyes scanned you. Hans cleared his throat and smiled at you.

"Was ist los mein Schatz?" The facade he put on his face startled you.

"Hans..." You took a deep breath and wiped the sweat off of your forehead.

The smile Hans put on suddenly vanished, an uncomfortable silence filling the air. Taking one last drag of his Sturm cigarette, he put it out on one of your papers on the desk. His eyes locked with yours the whole time. The fingers still on the cigarette as he spoke: "I know what you did."

Standing there, motionless and speechless, a shiver ran down your spine. The trust is...you didn't know what to say to him. Would apologising and begging him to not let you go be a good idea, or would it make you look like a pathetic dog begging for his love?

"Hans," your voice low and breathless, your voice just beyond a whisper: "My love, I'm sorry."

His words cut through yours: "Don't call me that."

He stood up and walked over to you, his face almost touching yours. Oh how much you missed him, his scent and his face. You wished he would kiss you, hold you and tell you that he loves you, but you got the exact opposite of what you wished for.

"Don't you dare ever call me that again!" The sudden yelling made you flinch.

"How dare you! How dare you throw my love out the window like that?" You could see what looked like tears forming in his eyes, to this moment, you've never seen him cry before.

"You were the only man I ever loved Y/N!"

Guilt flushed over you like a wave from the sea, you wanted to die seeing him like this. Seeing what you've done to him. To the two of you.

"You were the only man I had faith in! The only relationship I put so much time and effort into, just for you to treat me like trash on the street!" His hand pointing at your chest, his pointer finger pressing on it, so much to the point where it almost hurt.

"I don't ever, ever, want to see your face again," He spits out coldly: "even in hell, when you'll burn for what you've done, and I shall burn in the same lake of fire as you," Cutting you like paper with his words: "I'll drown in the lava to make sure," He pauses: "just to be absolutely sure, we never meet again."

With that he picks up his hat, leaves the room and shuts the door behind him.

You stood there, staring at the same spot where his eyes were just a moment ago. Your heart beating out of your chest, your eyes like pools of tears.

The truth is that the night before yesterday, you went to a nearby inn with your colleagues. After one too many drinks, you got caught up with one of the men a friend brought with him, things got feisty and the two of you ended up on each other's lips. You didn't know what you were doing, you couldn't resist as he was all over you. But little did you know that that man was also a friend of Hans', who told him all about how he made out at the Inn with a handsome man by the name of Y/N Y/L/N.

As you recall the night, you sit down on the couch, your legs shaking. Putting your hands on your face, you cry like a baby. Never in your life have you cried this hard.

You reached for the pack of cigarettes and light one, almost burning yourself.

"Scheiße." You whisper to yourself, when suddenly there's a knock at the door.

You quickly compose yourself, hiding great pain within yourself. Making a quick stop at the mirror, you see puffy eyes and messy hair. Quickly fixing up your hair, you open the door.

"Herr Y/L/N?" A young soldier asked.

"Yes? What is it?" You answer, curious about what he has to say. You notice he's holding a ticket in his hand, or more like an invitation.

"The local Theatre is premiering 'Stolz der Nation' on the 23rd. You're warmly invited." The boy hands you the ticket and smiles.

You try to fake a smile in return: "Danke, Junge." Shutting the door halfway before he speaks up again: "Oh, and rumour has it the Führer himself will be attending the premiere, wouldn't want to miss that, now would you?"

You hum gently at his statement and close the door on him. Not being in the mood to talk to anyone, you tossed the ticket on the desk and sunk back into your couch. Picking up the cigarette from the ashtray and taking a long drag, your life has hit its bottom.

You lost the man you loved, over some petty kissing in a bar with a man you barely knew. You felt dirty, you felt helpless. And that's how you ended the night, with you laying down on the couch, sleeping in your uniform like a homeless man on a bench.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE 23RD....

The past few days have been absolute hell for you. Waking up every morning without Hans in your arms, him making you coffee in the morning and telling you about his adventures and everything he has to do. To be honest, you were quite bored with yourself and with your own grief, over a man you lost out of your own lack of self control with alcohol. You were angry at yourself, chugging down bottle after bottle, smoking packs after packs of cigarettes and shedding a sea of tears.

Tonight is the planned premiere of that movie you didn't really have much interest in. You didn't have interest in anything anymore, it's like you've fallen into a dark hole of self-pity and sadness.

Although you felt unworthy of having a good time since you caused so much pain to Hans and yourself, you decided to visit the place and see if it was any good.

You put on your uniform and slicked your hair, the feeling of freshening up after so many days making you feel a little better as you barely got out of bed in the past week.

Just like that, you stormed out of your house on your way to the Theatre.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One hour later...

You finally arrive at the Theatre. Your gaze meets some of your old friends, as you make your way to greet them you had to push some people out of the way as the place was so greatly crowded with hundreds of Germans officers and fancy dressed ladies.

As you make your way to the group, you can't help but think: "what if Hans is here?"

When your friend starts talking about Zoller and how great he is, something in your gut tells you to look up.

Hans.

Suddenly all the music stops, all the chatter quiets down, your friend's words disappear and everything stops. You stare up at him as if you've just witnessed a murder... Well there was murder, murder of your heart. It started bleeding as he looked down at you, with a champagne glass in his hand. As soon as the two of you make eye contact, someone hugs you over your shoulders.

It was him.

The guy who caused you so much pain. The guy who ruined your life. You leer at him with shook in your eyes, how casual he was with his touch made you almost puke in your mouth.

Holding your composure, trying not to choke the guy to his death right then and there, you slowly slipped out of his hold and took a step back, accidentally bumping into someone.

Turning around, you see Hans. His facial expression serious as he speaks: "Komm mit mir."

Your brain completely shuts off as you follow him to a private room. Hans locks it behind you and before you could do anything, presses you against the door.

He pulls out his gun and puts it against your head, breathless, he speaks: "I could kill you..." His voice no more than a whisper as he stands there, pinning you with his leg in between yours, your hands behind your back. "You dare hug that man one more time... I might actually do it, mein Schatz..."

He kisses you deeply, tasting the champagne on his tongue. You melt into the kiss, holding his face as you do so.

He leans into you, deeper in between your legs, his thigh pressed against your bulge. You moan out at the little friction, desperate to get more from him.

"So desperate, already?" He mocks your red cheeks and flustered expression, moving his thigh up and down against your hard on: "Like that, Schatz?"

You cry out at the sensation, having missed it so much: "Mhh, Hans please..." You plead him to take you, to claim you as his again.

"Say it. Tell me what you want." His moving stops, waiting for your voice to fill his ears with the words he wants to hear. The words he's wanted to hear for so long. Too long.

As you whimper out once more, he puts the gun to your neck and whispers, his voice husky and low: "Come on baby, you can do it."

He runs the gun down your torso and back up to your neck, feeling the cold metal against your skin, you manage to form a sentence: "Hans, take me...please..."

"Good boy, see?" He tosses your hat on the ground: "Wasn't so hard now, was it?" With that he presses another kiss to your lips, slowly stripping you naked in front of him.

Hans unzips his pants and pushes your head down with the gun still in his hand: "Let's see if you still know how to do it..."

So there you were, completely naked and harder than ever, on your knees.

You take his cock in your mouth and start sucking on the tip, then moving onto his whole length.

Hans throws his head back and takes a handful of your hair in his fist, not forceful but not gentle either.

"Oh..Y/N... Just... Just like that... O-Oh.." Hans murmurs out, throwing praises at you as you take him deep down your throat, sucking and stroking him at the same time, driving him absolutely insane.

Hans quickly feels himself getting to the edge, feeling like he could come at any moment, he decides to pull you back up.

"You're almost... Too good at that, I could come just with your pretty mouth."

He bends you over a table: "But where's the fun in that Schatzi?"

Using his precum from your blow job as lube, he pushes his hard cock in your ass, groaning out at the sensation: "You feel just as good as I remember..."

You moaned loudly as he stretched you out, his hand pushing you down on the table: "Ha-Hans...Ah!"

Hans smirks as he hears you moan out his name: "That's right baby, you're mine..."

He finally starts fucking you on the table, only a few meters away from the main hall, where everyone was gathered. His thrusts powerful, one hand on your back, the other on you hip, he groans out at how good and tight you feel around him.

His movements become faster and harder, you choke out all your words, unable to think straight as he fucked you good and hard.

He pulls you up by your hair, whispering sweet praises in your ear: "You're taking it so good for me, such a good boy..."

Eventually his thrusts and his voice traveling straight to your cock became too much, you had to release.

"I'm gonna...Oh!... Hans...I'm gonna come..." You confess to him, the words rolling off your tongue so smoothly as he urges you to do so: "Come for me Y/N, Come for me my love..."

As he fucked your ass, he took his hand off of your hip and on your cock, stroking you just the way you liked it.

Soon you come, harder than you've ever came, your head went spinning with pleasure, feeling him release inside of you with a low moan of your name.

"Hans...Oh... I missed this." You admit to him, as he lets you lean back on him and catch your breath: "Shh Y/N, I know you did, I know."

He turned you around and got some of your hair off of your forehead: "Let's go Schatzi, we wouldn't want to miss the movie."

THE END.

[peryodismo2425]

Ang Aklat sa Likod ng mga Munting Hiwaga

Ni Zab Juanico | Nobyembre 9, 2024

Sa isang mundo na puno ng pagbabago, hindi natin maitatanggi ang aliw at kaligayahang umaalab sa ating puso kapag nagbabalik-tanaw tayo sa mga bagay o lugar na naging malaking bahagi ng ating simula. 

Sa muling pagbisita ko sa gusali ng University of the Philippines Integrated School (UPIS) K-2, namangha ako sa mga pasilyo nito na kung dati ay laking-laki ako—ngayon ay tila sumikip at lumiit na. Dito ako kinumusta ni Teacher Vicka. Parehong-pareho pa rin ang kanyang itsura sa gurong aking unang nakilala noong kinder pa ako, humigit-kumulang labing-isang taon na ang nakalipas.

“Charby! Kumusta ka na? Malapit ka nang mag-graduate no?” sabi niya sa akin. At sa sandaling iyon, nabalot ako ng kasiyahan.

Si Teacher Vicka Marie M. Siddayao, isa sa mga guro ng UPIS K-2. Kilala siya ng karamihan sa mga dating mag-aaral bilang tagapagturo ng kinder. Ngunit simula noong kasagsagan ng pandemyang COVID-19 taong 2020 hanggang sa kasalukuyan, guro na siya ng grado 2.

Kabanata I: Paglalakbay Tungo sa Pagiging Guro

Kagaya ng marami sa kanilang kamusmusan, nagsimula ang kuwento ni Teacher Vicka sa paglalaro at pagkukunwari na maging isang guro gamit ang blackboard, chalk, at ang kanyang imahinasyon. Lumaki siya sa piling ng kanyang dalawang lola na nagtrabaho bilang mga guro. Sinasama pa siya ng isa sa mga lola niya sa kanyang mga klase noon. Ang pagiging exposed sa mga guro habang lumalaki si Teacher Vicka ay isa sa mga dahilang nag-udyok sa kanya na maging guro.

Ngunit pagtungtong niya sa kolehiyo, hindi niya pinasok kaagad ang landas nito. Pagkatapos mag-aral sa ibang eskwelahan, lumipat siya sa University of the Philippines (UP) para tangkain ang kursong creative writing. Ito ang kanyang pinili noong una dahil naging manunulat ang ibang mga lolo at lola niya. Pero sa paglipas ng panahon, hindi na niya napusuan ang kursong ito kaya pinasok niya ang UP College of Education. Dito na siya nag-enjoy dahil sa mga kurso nito at sa mga kaibigang nakilala niya rito.

Kabanata II: Paghaharap sa mga Paghihirap

“For anyone fresh out of college, anything is challenging ‘di ba? Kasi bagong mundo, [tapos] magtatrabaho ka pa lang,” ika ni Teacher Vicka.

Ayon sa kanya, ang kakulangan ng background sa pagtuturo, maliban sa practicum, ang pinakamalaking hamon ng pagiging isang bagong guro. Sa panahong ito rin masusubukan ang pagkilala mo sa iyong sarili bilang guro—mga pilosopiyang mabubuo mo, mga gusto mong ituro sa mga bata, kung paano mo nais magturo, kung anong klaseng guro ka, at kung paano mo maapektuhan nang positibo ang mga bata.

Isa din sa mga hamong naranasan niya noong una ang pagsasaalang-alang sa mga magulang ng mga bata at ang kanilang mga alalahanin dahil hindi naman ‘yon itinuturo—wala namang kursong nakatuon sa pakikipagsalamuha sa mga magulang.

Dagdag dito, ilan pa sa mga naging hamon sa kanya ang pagbabago ng kanyang kapaligiran at mga routines sa unang pagpasok niya sa pagtuturo.

Kabanata III: Ang mga Chikiting

Mapapaniwalaan mo ba na noong 2011 pa nagtuturo sa UPIS si Teacher Vicka? Sa kabuuan ng kanyang panahong magturo at hanggang ngayon, inamin niya na hindi niya nakikita ang kanyang sarili na tinuturuan ang mga mas nakatatandang mag-aaral dahil ibang mundo na ito. Nakadepende na rin daw sa iyong puso ang klase ng mga batang napupusuan mong turuan. Pinili niya ang mga chikiting dahil mas inosente ang mga sagot nila. Nakaka-refresh at masarap din silang kausap dahil bagong-bago ang mga ideya nila at masigasig nila itong ibinibigay.

Ngunit nakapagturo na rin si Teacher Vicka ng mga mas matatandang mag-aaral kagaya ng mga klase ng kolehiyo, at ine-explore pa niya ang kanyang ibang mga opsyon.

Ngayon, pagdating naman sa paraan niya ng pagtuturo, inihayag niya na sinusubukan niyang sunurin ang isang “balanced way of teaching” dahil ang iba’t ibang mga araw at sitwasyon ay tumatawag pansin sa iba’t ibang paraan ng pagtuturo at pakikisalamuha sa mga bata. Kung minsan,  kaibigan ka na pinapakinggan sila at tinutugunan ang kanilang pangangailangan. Sa ibang pagkakataon naman, tutok ka sa pagiging guro upang matuto talaga ang mga bata. Ika nga ni Teacher Vicka, “...‘yung tamang balance lang of being a teacher, being a supporter, being a nurse, being all the hats a teacher has inside the class.”

Kaugnay nito, “Hindi naman siya always rainbows and butterflies,” pahayag ni Teacher Vicka patungkol sa pagtuturo. Ngunit, masaya para sa kanya ang pakikisalamuha sa mga bata dahil nawawala siya sa personal na mundo niya at nagsisilbi ito bilang pahinga mula rito.

Higit pa riyan, may isa pa siyang sinabi na aking sinasang-ayunan. “Marami akong natututunan tungkol sa buhay pag kausap ko ang mga bata. Iba rin kasi sila kausap ‘di ba? Parang very fresh ‘yung mga ideas nila—parang minsan nakakalimutan natin na it’s just that simple ‘yung mga solusyon natin sa buhay, sa mga problema natin.”

Nang tanungin kung mayroon siyang naaalalang pagkakataon na tumatak sa kanya bilang guro, nagbigay siya ng halimbawang tiyak na makaka-relate ang marami: “Kunyari, it's a bad day for you. It’s not always a good day for anyone, right? [...] hindi mo namamalayan na siguro mainit na ‘yung ulo mo inside the class. Tapos biglang sasabihin ng bata sa‘yo, ‘Huwag kang galit.’ [...] ‘Di ba, tapos matitigilan ka! Talagang natigilan ako. Sabi ko, ‘Ay sorry, sorry, sorry.’ Tapos kinausap ko siya nang maayos.”

At dahil nga matagal nang nagtuturo si Teacher Vicka sa UPIS, kinuwento niya na maituturing niyang isa sa mga nakalulugod na tagumpay bilang isang guro ang pagtatapos sa eskwela ng kanyang unang batch ng kinder. Hindi niya kasi naisip na tatagal siya sa UPIS sa puntong maaabutan niya pa ang pagtatapos nila. Sana, nagsilbi ito bilang paalala sa dami-daming taon na nilaan niya sa paglilingkod at pagpapasaya sa mga batang dumaan sa kanilang unang hakbang sa paaralan.

Kabanata IV: Ang Pagkakakilanlan sa Labas ng Pagtuturo

Sa tagal ng kanyang pagiging guro, unti-unti nang nahubog ng trabaho ni Teacher Vicka ang pagkakakilanlan niya. Kahit sa labas ng paaralan, binubuo ng kanyang mga kapamilya at kaibigan ang kanyang pagkakakilanlan batay sa kanyang pagtuturo. Nagsasabi sila ng mga bagay gaya ng “She’s a teacher,” tuwing pinapakilala nila si Teacher Vicka—para mapalapit na rin ‘yung mga bata sa kanya. Ngunit paminsan-minsan, gusto rin niyang makapagpahinga mula sa kanyang buhay sa eskwela at buhay bilang isang guro. Kaya sa ibang mga pagkakataon, iginigiit niyang huwag siyang ipakilala muna bilang guro. Para na rin ma-de-stress ang sarili mula sa kanyang trabaho, gumagawa si Teacher Vicka ng iba’t ibang mga bagay kagaya ng pagtakbo, pakikipagkita sa mga kaibigan, panonood, at pagbabasa ng mga libro. Hilig din niyang lumabas nang siya lang para wala siyang kausap. Very demure, very introverted.

Paborito niyang pagkain ang pizza o kahit anong pagkaing may keso. At para naman sa paborito niyang inumin, ani niya, “Kahit sino tanungin mo, alam nila ‘yung sagot. Coffee.” Nagtawanan kami.

Kabanata V: Pangarap at Talinghaga

Nang tanungin si Teacher Vicka kung ano ang mga ninanais niya para sa kanyang kinabukasan at para sa kinabukasan ng UPIS, “Sana siguro I hope I don’t forget why I decided to teach. [...] Parang sana, in the future, hindi ‘yun mawala—na may sense of purpose pa rin [ako] na I want to teach children even if I let go of teaching. Kunyari at some point in my life, na maisip ko pa rin na makapagturo in other ways,” wika niya.

“Sa UPIS… Anong pangarap ko para sa UPIS? Sana magka-aircon—joke lang,” biro niya, “Ah siguro na patuloy lang ‘yung UPIS na humubog ng students like you na ang sineserbisyohan ay ang bayan. [...] ‘Di ko naman kailangan ng mga bata na magsa-stay talaga. Pero ‘yung ano ba—may paninindigan din sa mga isyu. ‘Yun naman talaga ‘yung goal ng UPIS. [...] ‘Yun siguro, na patuloy lang na mag-develop ng mga bata na ganoon, ‘yung may pakialam sa nangyayari sa paligid.”

Nang tanungin naman si Teacher Vicka kung anong bagay ang maihahalintulad niya sa pagtuturo, bilang talinghaga, napaisip siya.

“Siguro…” humina ang kanyang boses. Minata niya ang kapaligiran, “Tumingin sa paligid e,” aniya, sabay ngiti sa akin. Napatawa kami muli sa kanyang pagbiro.

“Libro. Kasi ang libro maraming chapters, maraming yugto, no? So ‘yung teaching din for me marami siyang iba’t ibang chapters. May chapter na sobrang eager ka to teach, may chapter na hindi. Tapos iba-ibang types of stories din siya. May nakakatawang stories, may nakakatakot na stories, may nakakainis na stories—may horror, may comedy. Kumbaga parang iba-iba rin siyang uri ng kuwento. So I guess, libro kasi [ang] dami mo ring matututuhan sa lahat ng iyon.”

Kagaya ng kanyang naging talinghaga sa pagtuturo, masasabi talaga na si Teacher Vicka ay maihahalintulad sa isang aklat. Dahil katulad ng bawat isa sa atin, binubuo siya ng mga yugto at kuwentong humubog sa kanyang pagkatao at pagkakakilanlan. Gaya ng mga salita sa pahina ng isang aklat na nananatili magpakailanman, ang mga kuwentong isinapuso ni Teacher Vicka at ang mga pangalan ng estudyanteng kanyang inalala ay mananatiling buhay—sa bawat alaalang binuo niya, sa bawat pangarap na kanyang tinulungang maabot, at sa bawat aral na iniwan niyang gabay sa puso ng kanyang mga mag-aaral.

Katulad ng mga kabanatang ating natapos sa isang libro ngunit muling binabasa, ikinagagalak ko na nabigyan ako ng pagkakataong balikan ang kabanatang ito ng buhay ko sa UPIS, kahit sa isang munting sandali lamang.

Sana rin, sa pagwakas at pagbasa mo nito, nabigyan kita ng isang masaganang silip sa librong ito na ating pamamagatang, “Teacher Vicka.”

[joycecoguangco23]

Biyahe Patungo sa Monasterio De Tarlac

-> Pagkilala sa lugar Hindi ko lubos akalain na mayroong ganitong klase ng lugar sa Pilipinas. Bilang kasapi ng isang relihiyosong pamilya, ang lugar na ito ay isang biyaya. Kaya naman samahan ninyo akong lakbayin ang tunay na katangi-tanging ganda ng Monasterio De Tarlac. Ang Monasterio de Tarlac ay matatagpuan sa matayog na bulubunduking kagubatan sa Resurrection sa probinsya ng Tarlac, ito ay hindi lamang isang pasyalan para sa mga deboto at mga bumibisita, kundi isang lugar ng pagninilay at pananampalataya.

Ang katahimikan ng lugar ay agad na bumalot sa akin, nagbibigay-daan sa isang mas malalim na pagninilay at pananampalataya. Bago magsimula ang misa, bumungad sa akin ang napakalaking imposanteng istatwa ni Hesu Kristo na naitayo na may laking 30-foot malapit sa simbahan. Kamangha-mangha ang istatwang ito sa unang tingin sapagkat aakalaing mong hanggang langit ang tingkad.

-> Pagninilay at Pananampalataya Sa panimula ng mga kampana, indikasyon ng pagsisimula ng misa, ang banal na lugar ay nagbigay sa aking diwa ng kapanatagan at kapayapaan. Sa pag lapit ko sa loob ng simabahan, nakaramdaman ako ng presensya ng pagninilay. Ang lugar na ito ay nagbigay ng pasasalamat at kagalakan sa aking isipan. Ang bawat sandaling ito sa loob ng simbahan ng Monasterio de Tarlac ay nagdulot ng kasiyahan at kapayapaan sa aking puso at isipan, nagbibigay-lakas sa akin sa aking landas ng pananampalataya at paglilingkod.

-> Silong at litratuhan Ang Monasterio De Tarlac ay hindi lamang umiikot sa pagkakaroon ng simbahan, kung hindi ang pagkakaroon ng mga magagandang tanawin, mayroong mga bilihan ng makakain. Isa ang restaurant na ito sa pumukaw ng aking atensyon dulot ng tanawin, samahan pa ito ng masasarap na pagkain mula sa lugar.

Sa karagdagan, ang Monasterio de Tarlac ay may mga sariwang lugar na perpekto para sa pagkuha ng litrato. Isa rin ito sa pumukaw ng aking atensyon sapagkat ito ay mayroong mga upuan, ramdam ang simoy ng hangin at mapapansin ang mga nakapalibot na istatwa ng mga santo.

-> Espesyal na Araw para sa Pamilya Napakasaya ng aking experiences sa lugar dahil kasama ko ang aking pamilya lalo na at bonding namin ang pagninilay at pagsisimba. Masasabi kong nakatulong ang Monasterio De Tarlac upang mas magkaroon ako ng mga memoryang tatatak sa aking isipan magpakailanman. Isa ang araw na ito sa pinaka espesyal na nangyari sa aking buhay sapagkat kasama ko ang pinakamahalagang biyaya sa akin ng may kapal, ito ay ang aking pamilya. Kaya naman upang hindi ko makalimutan ang espesyal na araw na ito ay nagpasya ako at aking pamilya na kumuha ng mga litrato na maari naming tignan at balikan kung gusto naming maalala at bigyang empasismo ang tunay na kaakibat ng Monasterio de Tarlac.

-> Bulubunduking Tanawin Matatanaw din ang mga malalaking bundok mula sa lugar na nang-alok ng mga napakagandang tanawin, malayo man ito o malapit. Sa aking persepsyon, ang mga bundok na ito ay nagsisilbing inspirasyon sa mga bisita na nagbibigay-daan na lumapit sa kalikasan at sa kanilang sariling espiritwalidad sa pamamagitan ng mga natatanging karanasan at paglalakbay.

-> Mga Realisasyon

Sa pagtatapos ng aking paglalakbay sa Monasterio de Tarlac, ang lugar na ito ay magtatanim sa aking puso ng alaala na kailanman ay hindi ko makakalimutan. Ilan sa mga realisasyon na aking natamo sa buong paglalakbay ko sa Monasterio de Tarlac ay ang pagkakaroon ng malaking benepisyo ng paglalakbay sa ugnayan ng pamilya. Naniniwala ako na ang pagkakaroon ng malakas na pananampalata sa Panginoon ay isang paraan upang mas mapatibay ang relasyon ng isang pamilya, dahil base sa aking karanasan, isa ang pagninilay sa Panginoon ang naging daan sa aking pamilya upang patuloy na mahalin ang isa't isa. Kaya naman hinihikayat ko kayo na bisitahin ang Monasterio de Tarlac upang maranasan ang tunay na kagandahan nito.

[ultraericthered]

Anime Update V3 5

Vinland Saga S2 - A large chunk of this episode, I think the majority of it, was kept focused on Gardar's death as he was riding in the back of the wagon driven by his wife while slowly succumbing to a fatal wound Snake gave him, visions of his life and afterlife flashing before him the whole time. Watching it was one of the most surreal and discomforting experiences I've had in a while. I can't describe it all in words, it just left my heart feeling very heavy but at the same time I felt light, like I'd come out the other side of a spiritual ordeal. The man made some horrible mistakes and did not live his life in the best of ways, but watching his soul depart to the afterlife where he's reunited with his dead, still very young son was...it was something.

Hunter x Hunter - Meruem and Komugi playing their Gungi matches continues to steal the show, with Meruem this time attempting to intimidate Komugi with the prospect of betting her life against his body parts, only for what Komugi tells him that make the Ant King apologetic to the point where he just goes and maims himself anyway, so Neferpitou had to be called upon to use their powers to heal the king's wound. This allows for Knov to sneak inside the palace and make preparations for the hunters' attack. There's also this one guy who actually runs the nation who is a creepy, disgusting perv willingly working with the Ants in order to obtain women. Seems he's picked out Palm, who's all set for her own undercover mission.

SHUFFLE! - Kaede got more focus this time, and while she's still kind and sweet and wanting to make sure Rin and his friends are always well taken care of, the increasing presence of the other girls in Rin's life is clearly making her start to feel left out, and there are hints to some unpleasant childhood incident involving her and Rin that Rin probably still can't recall. Kaede catchess a cold but still tries to push herself to not be a burden, but thankfully Sia, Narine, and Asa come over to help her out...to some humorously mixed results.

Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works - The epilogue episode for the series focuses on Shirou and Rin about a year later attending this elite academy for mages in London and we just get to see how much closer they've grown and how they're carrying on in their lives. We got two notable last minute introductions of characters who should go on to have prominence elsewhere in this franchise - Shirou's new wealthy benefactor and Rin's archrival, Luviagelita Edelfelt (voiced with a laughably bad and exaggerated sounding British accent by Lauren Landa) who's only here to fawn over Shirou and kick Rin's ass in a wresting fight, and more surprisingly, Lord El Melloi II, known previously as Waver Velvet! One of the best protagonists of Fate Zero grew up to be quite an important, serious-minded and devilishly handsome man and I was so not ready to see him but love that I did!

The ending caps off Shirou and Rin's shared stories, which is what this series was all about from the get-go, and the post-credits just as perfectly caps off Archer's story, as we see him fade away from the Unlimited Blade Works and be replaced by a different Future Shirou, suggesting that Shirou does indeed avoid that particular Bad End.

KonoSuba - How does this show and the antics of its main cast just keep getting funnier? I was floored so many times by this one, with Aqua, due to sheer greed, taking up a mission to purify a lake and ward off gator monsters while inside a cage, which ends up freaking her the fuck out and leaving her with trauma that causes a mental shutdown where she refuses to get out of the cage because the world outside it scares her, and even forgets she's a goddess! (Don't worry, it doesn't take much to snap her out of it!) Then this other Isekai'd hero named Kyouya (voiced by the late, great Billy Kametz) comes in and recognizes Aqua as the goddess who sent him to this world on his own heroic quest, and is completely aghast to see her hanging around the party of a lowlife like Kazuma. Kazuma being Kazuma brings out the worst in this guy, who ordinarily seems more like your traditional Isekai light novel fantasy hero, so he challenges him to a duel where Kazuma steals his sword, threatens his female traveling companions, and then sells the sword off-screen. Kyouya will have damn good reason to feel vengeful if he ever crosses the party again....vengeful like the Headless Horseman demon lord from the previous episode, who comes calling again at the end of this one!

Symphogear XV - Noble Red's attempt to activate the Bracelet of Shem-Ha doesn't go so well, leaving them without a hideout, so the three vampire chicks now need to lay low in a trailer. Yes, really. In another skirmish with S.O.N.G, they reveal they hope to regain their human bodies so that they don't have the constant need for blood to sustain them. Vanessa gets a tracking device planted on her during the battle, but when it's found, she and her friends decide to use it to their advantage, luring the Symphogear wielders to an impressively well-laid out trap battleground where they use their special combo ability to trap the girls in a pyramid-shaped labyrinth that's closing in on them from all sides. But who should pop up to help Hibiki but the spirit of Saint-Germain, still inside her and lending her additional strength! After breaking out, Hibiki extends a hand to reach out to Vanessa...and then the whole thing is revealed to be a triple-cross as Japanese government agents raid the area, set on stopping the missions of both Noble Red and S.O.N.G! Goddamn you, Fudou!

Eureka Seven - Renton re-boards the Gekko but makes it clear to Holland and the others that he's only there to see Eureka again. He picked the worst timing since Eureka's gone off in search of him, putting herself in front of the approaching state army being led to the Gekko by Ray and Charles. While Holland is still a monster and has yet to really come to terms with the harm he's done to both Renton and Eureka, the rest of Gekko State accepts that the two kids need each other and encourage Renton to bail Eureka out of the battle. In the midst of some awesome and intense air battle action, Renton and Eureka are reunited at last, using the Nirvash to create something even stronger than a Seventh Swell, forcing the enemy to retreat. We seem back in business as Renton and Eureka have begun a new relationship, Holland's having some ephiphany about all the things he now has to re-think, and Charles swears he's not keen on giving up.

Gintama - Following half an episode of Shinsengumi antics is a full episode story where one of Otae's colleagues runs into trouble with this bizarre cult run by a con man, so Otae enlists Odd Jobs to retrieve the money that the cult took. And we meet a new mainstay character here, the shaggy-haired, goateed ninja Zenzo Hattori.

[thirst2]

Out of the Bars, Into the Streets: An Interview By Eye Zen Presents

For our second post in our Deep Dive series, director Seth Eisen and I (Jax Blaska, research & production assistant) sat down to talk about the rise of gay bar culture in the early 1960s and how that contributed to the burgeoning gay liberation movement. The transcript of our conversation is below, along with links for further reading and historical context for certain happenings. Italicized segments below are pop-out context/deeper info on the topics we touched on. Enjoy!

Jax Blaska: What feels most important to you, when we think about (gay) bar culture in this time? How was this a shift from what came before?

Seth Eisen: The first thing that comes to my mind is the words: Safe space. And the other thing that comes to my mind is Romeo’s Pizzeria. 

Image courtesy of https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=The_Black_Cat_Cafe

Romeo’s Pizzeria stood at 1605 Haight St., where Relic Vintage now lives. From 1964-1965, Romeo’s was the location of drag performer, activist, and eventual candidate for SF supervisor Jose Sarría’s operas. His performances’ typical location, the Black Cat Cafe on Montgomery St. in North Beach, closed that year after its owner had fought long and relentless legal battles in court for over 15 years.

I think it’s really interesting that that marked the transition in a way, because that year was really significant, in that the Black Cat closed after their long legal battle. Sol Stoumen, the proprietor, was a kind of incredible guy, I’m really fascinated by him. He was a Holocaust survivor, and a straight man, but his bar catered to all types of people — the Beats gathered there, older locals from the neighborhood, and of course, the gay crowd. There was so much police harassment going on, all about serving gay people. First of all, you could not be an out gay person as an owner of the bar, because if you’d ever been convicted of a crime against morality — which many people were, for soliciting or performing a lewd (homosexual) act — you were prohibited from running a bar. Women could not serve alcohol, (or even, in some places, legally enter a bar) so there was always a man working the bar. Even at Maud’s, the longest running lesbian bar up in Cole Valley, they had male bartenders, because that was the law. The ABC -- Alcohol Beverage Control board — had lots of control over how all these laws went, and then they were all tied together with Catholic, or Christian, politics and morality of the era, moving from the early 20th century into the mid 20th century. Mr. Stoumen took them to court a number of times, to the California Supreme Court, and he actually eventually won.

Landa Lakes performing as José Sarria outside Black Cat.OUT of Site.NorthBeach. Images courtesy of Chani Bockwinkle

But anyway, this is just to say, it’s an interesting thing that José’s stint at Romeo’s Pizzeria coincides with the closing of [the Black Cat]. Stoumen is such an important person, I think, in the fight for being able to serve queer people, and for queer people to be able to gather legally in a bar, because that was our safe space. And then there was this whole ring of police harassment and bribery — bribing the cops. So, regularly, a cop would come in, he’d give him the hundred bucks, or whatever it was, for that day, and then they would not bug them. And if not, there’s a whole bunch of arrests, and all that shit. This also brings in the beginnings of SIR, the Society for Individual Rights, and then also the Tavern Guild. They were one of the first gay activist organizations to gather power and the rights of queer bar owners and business managers to not be bugged. 

JB: “The right to not be bugged,” I love that. And it’s interesting, because when we talk about queer liberation, and the birth of the more widespread gay liberation movement, often we talk about different uprisings that have happened in different bars. Obviously there’s Stonewall, but even before that, there’s Compton’s Cafeteria, in the Tenderloin. So it is really interesting to me that the bars and restaurants and clubs that served gay people become this rallying site from which to create a larger political movement. It starts as being just about — “just” about — “no, we have the right to gather and drink with our friends,” and then it becomes this larger fight for dignity. 

SE: Yeah, the bars, that’s the first level of it. That’s a place where we could gather safety and power, because it wasn’t safe on the streets, being harassed, especially if you were non-binary or genderqueer in some way. And there was just so much blatant homophobia on the streets, and violence, and especially by the cops. 

Which is what Stoumen was trying to fight. They basically forced him too close. Even though he went through years of legal battles. And won. But it wasn’t in time to save it. So then, moving forward, these bar owners band together, and José I think was pretty instrumental in developing the Tavern Guild. That was the first gay business association in the country, founded in 1962. 

Yeah. Wow. It’s really telling — it’s not surprising, but it’s telling — that the first gay business association in the country is the Tavern Guild. That early solidarity is organized around equal access to bars. And it was based out of San Francisco.

Jose Sarría, nicknamed the Nightingale of Montgomery Street for his operatic performances at the Black Cat, was instrumental in developing the Tavern Guild, initially drawing together gay bar owners (and heterosexual owners of gay bars, like Sol Stoumen) to raise funds to pay for bail money and legal fees, like the ones Stoumen was facing for his long court battles. While it was too late to save the Black Cat, which closed in 1963 after its liquor license was revoked by the ABC and it could not survive by selling only food and soft drinks, the Tavern Guild did go on to become a crucial organizing arm of gay liberation in San Francisco. SIR and the Tavern Guild were closely intertwined allies: SIR would meet at alternating bars whose owners were members of the Tavern Guild, drawing business on typically slow nights, and Tavern Guild members would donate food and drink to SIR for its parties.

Image courtesy of https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=The_Black_Cat_Cafe

Image courtesy of https://revolution.berkeley.edu/tavern-guilds-beaux-arts-ball/ via the Berkeley Tribe

The most major event that the Tavern Guild would sponsor was an enormous Halloween drag ball, the first of its scale in the Bay Area, first held in 1963 at the Jumpin’ Frog on Polk St. At the third annual of these Beaux Arts Balls in 1965, Jose Sarría was named Queen. Declaring that he was already, had always been, a Queen, he then named himself Empress, and the Imperial Court system was born.

One really interesting thing is that at a certain point, after all this police brutality that was happening with the bars — I’m really fascinated by this straight police officer who the commisioner assigned to the gay community, and this was a real turning point. 

Wow. 

Yeah. So the history is pretty massive: there was a New Year’s party that was planned at the California Hall, on Polk St., and it was organized by a bunch of priests, including Reverend Cecil Williams, from Glide Memorial Church, who was a major activist in the scene, and Ted McIlvenna, a minister who later was a key figure in the San Francisco Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality. They planned this event so that this alliance between religious leaders and the gay community would prevent police from breaking it down, and assert that these people actually had the right to gather, and be there together. And then there was a huge raid, the cops did not do as they had promised, even one of the priests got arrested — anyway, that’s a whole other can of worms, but it’s an important moment because through that event, the failure of that event, came this desire and need for there to be a dialogue between the police department and the queer community. And it was, really interestingly, the priests that were leading this — who were also, you know, getting money from the government to help combat poverty at the time, so they were able to invest more into this.  I’m really fascinated by Elliot Blackstone, the police officer tasked as an intermediary between the gay community and the SF Police Deaprtment. He worked closely with the trans community, too, after a number of folks approached him about the brutality and violence they faced. He was an ally. He was like, “you can’t just go in and start arresting people randomly.” But of course, this is all tied to years and years of this police brutality. In all the neighborhoods that we were in — Polk Street, North Beach, the Haight, the Castro — the raids were just everywhere.

Image courtesy of https://projects.sfchronicle.com/2018/sf-pride-timeline/ via John Storey/The SF Chronicle

So all that stuff is really important to name. So then, once we move forward, going into the seven gay bars in the Haight, we can start to talk about the differences between them and the kind of individuality that was starting to happen. Maybe that was always the case, I don’t know, but like in North Beach, with the very early gay bars, there were always differences — lesbians went to one place, there was one place that was more touristy — but I think there was more nuance happening in terms of individuality in the gay community, and different kinds of queers. For example, we would note the gay hippie bars, the more activist lefty crowd, sometimes those mixed, and then the “clone” crowd.

The Seven Gay Bars of Haight Street:

Gus’s Pub. 1446 Haight St. Gus’s was frequented by motorcycle guys and leathermen. It served only beer and wine, no hard liquor, and its backyard was notorious for potsmoking, political discussions, and gay sex. Eye Zen friend/collaborator and filmmaker behind The Cockettes, David Weissman, told us in an interview that at first it didn’t occur to him that Gus’s was a gay bar because “I had never seen gay people that looked like that before” — that is, not effiminate or flamboyant, but masculine and tough. Lefties and hippies frequented as well. The wallpaper was a collaged collection of obscene comics and photos.

The Question Mark. 1437 Haight St. Now Trax, having changed its name in the early 80s. Directly across the street from Gus’s, The Question Mark brought a slightly higher-class, less politically-radical & leftist crowd. It was decorated with moose heads, and ironically, had a giant framed photo of Gus’s Pub displayed on the wall.

The I-Beam. 1748 Haight St. The I-Beam was the first big gay club in the Haight — filling a crucial niche, because prior to its opening, gay gathering places in the neighborhood were smaller and thus more secretive/private. But the I-Beam was big, and loud, featuring rock and punk bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees, Duran Duran and the Cult, as well as their packed Sunday afternoon Tea Dances, which provided an environment in which gay attendees were the majority. There was a $5 cover charge to get in, to which the hippies were initially opposed, as they felt it was an infiltration of “clone” gays from other parts of the city who were hopping on the bandwagon without being invested in the political and social ideals which gay hippies stood for. Nonetheless, the I-Beam was wildly popular, drawing up to 1000 people a night, and was a huge part of the “gay renaissance” of the Haight in the late 70s and 80s (the I-Beam opened in 1977). Its often drug-fueled dance parties, however, were the target of numerous sound complaints from neighboring businesses hoping to shut down this bastion of gay nightlife. The I-Beam closed in 1992, unable to remain competitive with the South of Market clubs which were permitted to go all night, as well as the devastation of the AIDS epidemic.

Bones. 1840 Haight St. Now, Milk Bar.

Cadillac. 1511 Haight St. A historical gay bar, then reopened as The Deluxe in 1978. Along with I-Beam, the Deluxe was one of the popular spots responsible for the “gay renaissance” of the neighborhood — it was a trendy spot to play pool and cruise. 

Mauds. 937 Cole St. Owned by Rikki Streicher, Mauds was a familial gathering spot for San Francisco lesbians for over 20 years, until its close in 1989. Men were welcome — as bartenders, as California law prohibited women from pouring drinks. Streicher hosted holiday dinners for folks who didn't have family or homes to return to. For more, see the film Last Call at Mauds.

Bradley's Corner. 900 Cole St. Bradley’s Corner was a neighborhood piano bar for nearly 40 years, the last 20 of which were distinctly gay. Gays and lesbians gathered together there, along with military personnel from the Presidio — some of whom, no doubt, were included in the first categorization — and folks sang along to the piano and played pool. Around the corner from Mauds, Bradley’s also had a familial vibe: every Tuesday, spaghetti dinners were offered for 69 cents, while Wednesdays were "hat nights": "Wear a hat and pay 50 cents for bar drinks" reads an ad from the time. 

Of these, only Trax (formerly The Question Mark) remains as a gay bar today.

So anyway, I think a key theme here is identity, post-Stonewall. Or, let’s just say, during the height of Gay Liberation. Because Stonewall is only one event.  I love that — in the book we’ve been passing around [Smash the Church, Smash the State: The Early Years of Gay Liberation, a compilation edited by Tommi Avicolli Mecca] it names three events, pre-Stonewall — if you think about it, there’s Cooper’s Donuts in LA (1959), there was Dewey’s in Philadelphia (1965), Compton’s Cafeteria here in San Francisco, in the Tenderloin (1966), and then of course there’s the Stonewall (1969). And all of them had uprisings. And out of that comes gay liberation. That’s one of the factors. Not tolerating the harassment anymore, and asserting our rights. And so — Gay Liberation Front, the Bay Area Gay Liberation Front, the Society for Individual Rights, the Tavern Guild — all of these organizations are basically playing off each other, and they are the next generation after the Mattachine Society and Daughters of Bilitis. I think that’s important to mention: there’s starting to become this new awareness of what our identity was, that our identity was nuanced, and that there could be different places for different people to be. 

Right, and not just — my understanding of Mattachine and Daughters of Bilitis is that they were pretty straight-laced, like, “gay people, they’re just like you,” march in Washington holding signs and wearing suits and dresses. Assimilationist, because there wasn’t really another option. But later, to really be able to assert — you know, Compton’s was primarily Black trans women and drag queens who initially fought back. There was someone, we don’t know who she was, but she throws her coffee in a cop’s face, and that apparently is what starts the uprising. Beginning to assert ourselves as queer people as having lots and lots of nuance and different types of desires and wants for community and liberation. Feels like a really crucial turning point. 

Yeah, it is a crucial turning point. So, in the early 60s, our rights are changing, and these different bars are opening, in the Haight. There’s more nuance and more individuality, distinguishing one bar from the next, different versions of “gay” you could be. And out of that a kind of a revolution is happening.

This idea of gathering in community is obviously huge. Cannot be overstated. 

Yeah, the gathering. And in terms of gathering, we also have the Golden Cask, which David Weissman [interviewed for the oral histories we gathered] mentioned was a big gay hangout and a very good restaurant, at 1725 Haight, so it was up a little higher, closer to the park. And then there was Blue Front Deli, which is still around, and it was a gay-owned business, and then Mommy Fortuna’s Cafe, which is where the Cockettes hung out. So I think between those places, there was a lot of gay gathering spaces, to be out and be ourselves.

I think this is a great backbone to the story about how gay bars played a role in gay political awareness and liberation. I’m also interested in how these gathering places, combined with the spirit of sexual revolution in the 60s, impacted folks more personally, on an individual level, in their sex and romantic lives. 

So should we talk about sex?

Let’s talk about sex. My next question is: what changed for queer people with the sexual revolution of the 60s? What didn’t?

In terms of sexuality, I think when you’re repressed for long enough, living under some other morality system that you don’t subscribe to, that, I would think, would make us want to express ourselves in the most free & open way. To be in private spaces where we could love ourselves; where we could feel both safe and comfortable to be able to express ourselves sexually. “Gay is good” was a slogan José [Sarria] coined — this belief that we could be together in the ways that we wanted to, it wasn’t shameful, and it could be less hidden. As opposed to the ten years before, at these gay and lesbian bars in North Beach, when as soon as a cop walked in, you go and you dance with a person of the opposite sex. There’d be a word, or a code, flickering the light off and on, and there’d be this switching that would happen. 

It’s a pretty interesting example of solidarity between the two communities. “Okay, neither of us want to be caught in this situation, so let’s pretend — let’s be beards, while the cops are here.”

Yeah. So I think with those newer freedoms, then you add LSD into it, once the 60s come around, and people are like, slithering around, and just wanting to make love to everything in nature. There’s pot, and mushrooms, and other drugs, to kind of help us get more into our bodies and appreciate what we have, who we are, physically, as social, sexual, spiritual beings. 

I love that a lot. I love this idea that in some ways the drugs that became super widespread in the 60s may have helped the culture in general but in particular queer people to feel a part of their bodies. And that was not something to be ashamed of, or to push away, but to really embrace. 

Yeah. I mean, of course there’s also the opposite of that happening — rampant alcoholism and addiction, with people holding so much shame and internalized homophobia that it’s turning inwards on ourselves. As seen in movies like Boys in the Band, which was originally a 1960s play. So I think both of these things are happening simultaneously: drugs freeing us, and drugs taking a hold of us. And the different gay groups are going in different directions. Mattachine splinters off, as you were saying earlier, and the assimilationists are going further in that direction, into fitting in, versus Harry Hay and many others who were creating [Radical] Faerie circles, gathering together and seeing us as more whole, healthy, “normal” and unique in our own way. 

That’s really interesting, this idea of uniqueness, because I wonder if that’s something that’s shifting for the culture as a whole, and not just within the gay liberation crowd. I wonder if it’s something to do with the 60s, and 70s, the hippie movement, anti-Vietnam war, this desire to not be seen as part of the machine of the nation, and everything it stands for, all of the norms that it upholds. I can just imagine, all of these kids who were born shortly after World War II, and raised in that shadow, beginning to split off, and say, “no, I want to be an individual, it is not the goal to blend in, have a white picket fence and a suburban home that looks identical to my neighbors’.”

Yeah. Even as [Eye Zen contributor, Out of Site interviewee, historian] Michael Sumner pointed out, really acutely, that going back even further, into the first and second World Wars, that San Francisco was a stopping off point, for people at sea, and for military personnel coming through town. A lot of people saw this as a place where they could be singular people. Straight people as well, but there was more opportunity for homosocial spaces. So SROs [Single Resident Occupancies] have long been vital to San Francisco, and they created more of these homosocial spaces, where men could be living all together, in single rooms, because they were itinerant workers, so they’d be going out to sea, wherever they were called to duty. And then, when people were coming back from the war, they were like, “am I gonna go back to this conservative village in Indiana, or am I gonna stay in San Francisco?” So that’s how a lot of people chose to remain here, as they came through here, and they saw the potential for freedom, even though there was still a lot of danger. It goes all the way back to those times, and the connection to military then. And Jose [Sarría] is really part of this generation, he served in the military, he was discharged… Gavin Arthur is another one. He also served in the military. So anyway, that’s a whole other story. But I love how those generations kind of intersect.

[Eye Zen contributor, interviewee, historian and  friend] Joey [Cain]’s been talking to me too, about the first Faerie gatherings, the first Sissy Circles — they were really an outgrowth of Gay Liberation Front circles.  They were events where political strategizing would happen more casually inside people’s homes, where they would get together and talk about politics. And places like Gus’s were hotbeds for that crowd. And then they were meeting, at Arthur Evans’ place, and there were a bunch of these houses, where people were getting together and going “no, we’re not gonna tolerate this, we’re gonna fight back.”

This connects to Atascadero, which was a mental hospital where gay people would be sent. They were giving lobotomies to gay people, they were doing electric shock treatments, they were doing aversion therapy treatment, where they would hook up nodes to their penis and shock them when they were thinking about gay men, or gay sex, or whatever. These people were tortured, and many never recovered, physically or mentally. Activist Don Jackson wrote an article titled “Dachau for Queers” that ran in the Gay Sunshine Press about his experiences visiting “patients” — inmates — there. 

Wow. Oof. That is… strong imagery. 

So that’s what we’re pushing up against. We’re seeing that, and we’re going “no.” Cause a lot of people don’t know this, but people have to know that. It’s really important. 

Yeah. I mean, I didn’t know that. Or when I think about that [torture], I think about it in rural areas, conversion camps… I don’t think about it in the Bay Area. 

Image courtesy of https://voices.revealdigital.org/?a=d&d=BGJFHJH19730316.1.7&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN---------------1 via Los Angeles Free Press, “California runs a ‘Dachau for Queers,’” March 16-26, 1973

Ok, speaking of the Bay Area. What role did nature or public parks play in queer hippie life? Part of what I meant with this question is not just the free sex, cruising spots but also, how did proximity to nature impact the culture and the ways that people related to each other? Because that is something that is unique to San Francisco in terms of other major cities in America. 

Well that’s interesting that you bring that up, because Sunday I was feeling obsessed, trying to find more stuff, and I was rereading the interview with Michael [Sumner], and that’s one of the major themes that he got into: that especially the Haight, nature was a really important thing. LSD played a part in that, acid being a drug that puts you in touch with your body and the environment, that you’re in this state of presence. And Michael also mentioned that there was a whole group of radical queers from the GLF who were regularly going to different spots in San Francisco. There are more areas of nature in San Francisco than there are in most urban environments — and also they were going up to Russian River. That was the big hangout spot. And as we moved into the ‘70s and ‘80s, that remained, and still remains, a really important haven for queers. During the AIDS pandemic, a lot of people were going there to die, and thought they were going to die there. It’s so hard to say “they,” because everyone’s story is unique, but I’ve heard many stories of people going there to die, and then the cocktails happened, and they survived, and they are still there. I know a handful of people, who I’ve visited there, people I’ve known over the years. And you know, there are events, and bars there, the whole scene. But yes, I think nature’s really important.

And then there was, of course, sex happening in Golden Gate Park, at the Windmills, down near the beach, which has historically been a well-known gay cruising spot. And then there are all these bathrooms, within the park. There’s one particularly, right near the buffalo, that I’ve heard was a big cruising spot. Cause like, where do you go? You have roommates, they don’t know you’re gay, where do you go to have sex? But Buena Vista Park was really developed. I mean, you can still walk through there, and see the pathways that were created in different places. More on the Eastern side, off the beaten path, you can still see these pathways where you can walk between bushes. It’s all been opened up now, they’ve cut back all the bushes so it would stop — because it was like, a gathering space, there’d be dozens and dozens and dozens of people there, you’d go there to cruise people, you’d bring people there, there was sex happening all over the place. And then there was, you know, Bobby’s Victorian.

Well, we have to talk about Bobby’s Victorian, because as you know, this is one of my favorite details of the entire project. 

I mean, he’s a fascinating character, Bobby Kent — he played in Glide’s band, he performed with Sylvester, he was really there in the moment. More connected, it seems, than most, in an interesting and unusual way. Why are you fascinated by him?

For some of the similar reasons you mentioned. Multiple different people have mentioned him, to you, to us, being like, “Oh yeah, he was there. That was him also,” and I’m always fascinated by the types of characters who tend to find themselves amongst different communities. There’s also something about the physical history — the built environment of the neighborhood. The fact that he had this job restoring old Victorians — you know, I grew up in a Victorian house up in the Fillmore, and have a lot of nostalgia for those types of homes, a lot of appreciation for how specific and weird a lot of their quirks are. So the fact that one of his crafts — he was a musician, among other things as well — but one of his crafts was this very loving restoration of these homes, not because it was profitable, back then, but because otherwise they were going to be torn down, and because he thought that they were beautiful, and they shouldn’t be torn down. And then to go and be like, “okay, I’m going to take scraps from these job sites I’m working on and go build a Victorian treehouse in the biggest cruising area in the city, and make it, like, an orgy treehouse — ” I also love that. I wanna know — I mean, the cops burned it down one night? I want to know, were there people there, did they see? Was there a raid on the park in general and then the cops burned it down in protest, or was it kind of in secret, like, toss a lit cigarette in, and then boom? I mean, I don’t know. That’s just — one of the details I’ve latched onto in this project.

Yeah. I love talking about this shit with you, Jax. It’s been really fun. 

I feel the same way!

*both laughing*

[hakesbrother]

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[hamzahsaman]

The Roof - 1080p from Candido Cornejo Jr. on Vimeo.

"The Roof" Starring Wes Studi, Phoenix Wilson, Delanna Studi, Landa Lakes, L Frank, Buffalo Barbie, The Bearspring Singers

[lbethg]

Per Lake County Sheriff's Office:

Missing juvenile Jordan Allen went missing from his residence in the Clermont/Groveland area on October 29, 2024. Another juvenile in the residence stated that Jordan went to an unknown friend’s residence. It is unknown if Jordan was traveling by foot or was picked up by a vehicle. Jordan was last seen wearing a t-shirt, blue jeans, brown shoes, and he was carrying a green backpack.

Please contact Detective Landa at 352-343-9500 or Crimeline with any information.

#MissingPerson

[cleo-voxamoris]

My C.V.A.P. Week 1 Journey: Bakit ko nga ba gustong Maging Voice Artist?

Bakit ko nga ba gustong maging Voice Artist? Bakit ko nga ba gustong sumali sa CVAP? Ito ang mga tanong na paulit ulit sa aming naitatanong simula ng kami ay bago pa lamang makuhang CVAP scholar. Naitanong din muli ito sa aming Aquintance Night, maging sa Session 1 hanggang pati sa isa sa aming mga Assignment para sa unang Linggo namin sa CVAP. 

Sa totoo lang, Ang una kong sagot ay gusto kong maging Voice Artist dahil ito ang aking pangarap, my first love ika nga. Simula pa man noong una, hindi naman talaga pagiging guro ang nais ko. Noon pa man gusto ko na talagang maging Radio Announcer or Dj, Anchor or Reporter sa TV or sa Radio. Ginusto kong makasali sa CVAP dahil noong una ko itong mapanood at marinig sa Episode ng Eat Bulaga na bawal Judgemental napukaw na nito ang aking interes. Nagkataon lang na hindi ko nai-push maituloy dahil wala pa akong sapat na ipon noon para mag-enroll dahil na rin nasa panahon pa ng Pandemya at madami pang inuunang mga gastusin. Kaya sobrang laking pagkakataon na makita ko ang Voice Over Challenge ni PapaLem sa Tiktok nitong August 2024. Grabe kala ko nga hindi na ako makakahabol kasi lagpas na sa deadline ang aking pagpapasa pero sa kabutihang puso ng PapaLem at dahil na din sa mala MMK kong pagsagot sa tanong niya na "gusto mo ba talagang makapasok sa scholarship?" ayun pinalad na mabigyan niya ng endorsement letter at doon na nga nagsimula ang lahat. 

At ngayong Week 1 nga ng aking experience sa CVAP, grabehan agad ang Trainer na aming nakadaupang palad. Sa kanya ko narinig ang pinaka-kongkretong sagot sa mga naunang tanong sa akin noon na, bakit gusto kong maging Voice Artist at Bakit gusto kong makapasok sa CVAP? Si Trainer Navi ang nagpaalala sa amin sa #Pochology na "Someone out there needs to hear your Voice!" Itong kataga na ito ang nagparealize sa akin na kaya pala ako naririto ngayon at gustong maging VoiceArtist, hindi lang sa simpleng kagustuhan kong maging Voice Artist kundi dahil gusto kong may Makarinig ng Aking Boses! Boses na hindi tungkol sa pagandahan ng tono kundi gusto ko din marinig ang boses ko sa pagbabahagi ng kaalaman at inspirasyon sa iba. 

Kagaya nga ng pagbabahagi ni Sir Navi, binigyan tayo ng boses hindi para magpasikat. Binigyan tayo ng boses para magbigay ng inspirasyon sa ibang tao. Na minsan ung mga masasama at mabibigat na pangyayari sa buhay natin ay hindi sa atin binigay ni Lord para parusahan tayo kundi para maging mas matatag tayo. Minsan kailangan nating madurog para muli tayong mabuo. Kailangan natin mapagdaanan lahat ng iyon dahil darating ang panahon ito ay magiging kwento at alaala na lamang. Mga Kwentong maaari nating maibahagi sa iba upang kapulutan din nila ng aral at inspirasyon. Na maaaring sa pagkakataon ngayon, ang sino mang makaririnig ng ating mga kwento patungkol sa pinagdaanan natin noon ay siya palang nakakaranas ng parehas na pagsubok na sa atin noo'y yumanig. At gamit ang ating mga boses at kwentong baon ngayon, maaaring palang maging inspirasyon ng iba tao upang magpatuloy din sa buhay at hindi basta basta susuko kagaya kung paano tayo naging matatag noon.

Masasabing Tunay na Makapangyarihan ang ating mga boses. Sabi nga sa isa pang Pochology ng ating Voice Master, "Don't underestimate the power of your voice."

Wag mong maliitin ang magagawa ng boses mo. Maaaring lingid sayong kaalaman, ang boses mo pala ang nagiging tulay upang maipahayag ang mga emosyon, damdamin at saloobin ng mga taong hindi kayang ihayag ang kanilang mga sarili. Na ang ating mga mumunting tinig at boses pala ang magbibigay liwanag at pag-asa sa iba upang patuloy na maniwala at manalig at lumaban sa buhay. 

Sa kabilang banda, masasabi ko na napaka-swerte ko na matagpuan at makasali ako sa CVAP. Ang CVAP ang isa sa mga na nagpaalala at nagpaliyab muli ng aking mga Pangarap. Mula na nga rin sa acronym ng CVAP na; C for Choice, Tayo ang pipili ng landas na ating tatahakin sa buhay. V for Vision, nararapat lamang na mayroon tayong malinaw na vision at hangarin kung ano ba ang gusto nating mangyari at marating. A for Assess, makakatulong sa atin kung marunong nating sukatin at alamin ang ating mga sariling kalakasan, kahinaan at limitasyon. At ang huli ay P for Purpose, ang pinakamahalaga sa lahat ay dapat alam din natin ang dahilan kung bakit tayo patuloy na lumalaban at nagpapatuloy sa buhay. 

Alam ko marami at malayo pa ang aking kailangan malaman at tahakin para maabot ko ang aking pangarap. Pero ngayon pa lang lubos na ang pagpapasalamat ko sa CVAP dahil muli nitong binuksan ang natutulog kong mga pangarap. Muli nitong pinaalala sa akin na hindi lamang dapat pangarap ang mayroon ako. Kinakailangan ko din ng puso sa mga bagay na gagawin ko. Na hindi lang puro sarili ko ang iisipin ko, na ang tunay na tagumpay ay matatamasa kung hindi lang ang sarili ko ang nagiging matagumpay bagkus gamit ang aking mga talento at kakayahan, nahahatak at may naisasama din akong iba pang mga nangangarap na marating ang tunay na tugatog ng Tagumpay at Kasiyahan. Isa nga si Sir Pocholo Gonzales sa buhay na patotoo ng ganitong paniniwala. Nang dahil sa kanya ito ako ngayon kasama ang iba pang mga aspiring Voice Artist na nabigyan ng pagkakataon ng CVAP upang mas linangin pa ang aming mga sarili upang maabot namin sa hinaharap ang aming mga pangarap at maging inspirasyon sa iba pang mga nangangarap at nagpupursigeng mga kabataan at indibidwal. #CVAPWeek1Experience #VoiceArtistJourney #BakitGustoKongMagingVoiceArtist #Blessed #Blog101 

[ificouldwriteaboutlove]

CHAPTER 1

He loved me first

“Hiwalayan mo na kasi ako!”

“Ikaw ang makipaghiwalay. Hindi ako!”

“Gusto ko nang umuwi. Pauwiin mo na ko!”

“Pwede ka namang umuwi e. Hindi naman kita pinipigilan.”

Four years na kami. Kakagraduate pa lang namin ng college, naglive-in na kagad kami. Para sa isang babae na laking katoliko, hindi ito ang landas na dapat kong tinahak. Wala na ba akong kahihiyan? Bakit ba kating kati akong makipaglivein sa boyfriend ko? Masama akong anak. Kababae ko pa namang tao. Kakagaduate lang mabubuntis na ko agad. Kibit balikat na lang. Alam ko naman na hindi ko gagawin ang chismis. May pangarap kaya kami ng boyfriend ko. Anong tingin nyo samin? Mapupusok? 20 years na nga kami e.

Dalawa lang silang magkapatid at bunso pa sya. Tahimik lang, pero may sense ang mga sinasabi nya. Rational ba. Yun ang lalaki para sa akin. Hindi yung maingay, madaldal, magiliw, nagpapatawa ng pagka-lakas lakas. Hindi rin ako basta nagpapaligaw. Pag nakitaan ko na ng redflag, hindi ko pinapatuloy. Pag kaibigan ko na, hindi na pwede manligaw. Yun ang batas ko.

Hindi naman sya nakipagkaibigan. Hindi rin sya direktang nanligaw. Pinakilala nya muna ang sarili nya sa akin kahit na apat na taon na nya akong kilala.

Ilang beses na kaming nagkakatagpo sa campus, pero hindi naman ako palakaibigan noon. Poker face nga ko pr resting bitch face. Alam ko din pag nakatingin sa kin. Kokonti lang kasi ang babae sa course ko at sa iba pang course sa campus namin. Kaya pansinin ang mga babae. Madalas din kasi nababastos ang mga babae, catcall, sanayan na lang na wag pansinin.

Pero hindi nya yun ginawa sakin. Nakikita nya lang ako, pero hindi sya nakikipag usap. Hindi naman kasi ibig sabihin na nagustuhan ka e automatic na manliligaw na. Mahirap ang course namin, hindi siguro kakayanin kung magkakaroon ng karelasyon.

Patuloy lang ang buhay. Mas gusto kong mag-isa sa araw araw. Okay lang kung may kaibigan o kaklase na kasama, pero ang payapa lang pag mag-isa. Hindi mo kelangang mag-isip ng sasabihin, o kaya mag-isip ng susunod na pupuntahan para magpatuloy lang ang usapan. Kahit dito lang sa library masaya na ko. Naka-aircon, tahimik, kanya kanyang tutok sa mga sariling interes.

Pati

[sabaysulyap]

Likha ng Landas: Isang Pananaw sa Paglalakbay sa TAGAYTAY

Sa isang mapayapang umaga, nagtungo kami sa Tagaytay, isang paboritong destinasyon sa Pilipinas na tanyag sa kanyang malamig na klima at magandang tanawin ng bulkan. Kasama ang aking pamilya, kami ay bumisita sa iba’t ibang destinasyon sa lugar. Malamig na simoy ng hangin ang sumalubong sa amin at maaliwalas na kalikasan.

Noong kami ay nakarating na sa Tagaytay, una naming pinuntahan ang Picnic Grove. Doon, nahimok kami sa ganda ng kalikasan at ang malayang tanawin ng Taal Lake at Taal Volcano. Mayroong magandang kwento sa lugar na ito sapagkat dito nagkatagpo ang aking mga magulang. Ikinwento sa akin ng aking ama na mahilig silang dalawa mamasyal sa iba’t ibang lugar kung kaya’t doon sila pinagtagpo ng tadhana. 

Matapos naming maglakad-lakad at magpasyal-pasyal sa Picnic Grove, tumuloy kami sa Sky Ranch. Lubha kaming namangha sa laki at ganda ng Ferris wheel, kung saan kapag ikaw ay nakasakay na sa itaas ay matatanaw at masisilayan mo ang ganda ng bulkang taal. Sa bawat pag-ikot ng aming upuan, tila ba ang oras ay huminto at kami'y nasulyapan lamang ang likas na ganda na handog ng kalikasan.

Hindi rin namin pinalagpas ang pagkakataon na bisitahin ang Taal Volcano. Sa pagsakay sa bangka papunta sa isla, hindi namin maiwasang mapahanga sa kuwento at alamat ng bulkan. Habang papalapit kami, unti-unting lumitaw sa aming harapan ang kabuuang ganda ng Taal Volcano. Ang kanyang kagandahan, kahit na may pagsubok sa nakaraan, ay patuloy na nakapagbibigay ng inspirasyon at pag-asa sa aming mga puso.

Pagkatapos ng isang araw na puno ng kasiyahan at pagtangkilik sa likas na ganda ng Tagaytay, nagtungo kami sa isang kilalang kainan, ang Bag of Beans. Doon, habang nagtataka sa lasa ng mga pagkain at kape, tinatamasa namin ang huling mga sandali ng aming paglalakbay.

Sa aming pag-uwi, sa aking pag-iisip, tila ba naglakbay ako sa isang masining na pintura, kung saan ang bawat kuwadro ay puno ng buhay at kulay. Ang Tagaytay, sa kanyang bulkan at kalikasan, ay isang regalo mula sa kalikasan na dapat pangalagaan at ipagmalaki ng bawat Pilipino.

Sa paglisan, dala-dala namin ang mga alaala ng aming paglalakbay sa Tagaytay. Ang bawat patak ng alon, bawat hampas ng hangin, at bawat tanawin ay nag-iwan sa aming mga puso ng isang mahalagang leksyon: ang kahalagahan ng pagmamahal at pangangalaga sa ating kalikasan, at ang walang-katapusang paghanga sa likas na ganda ng Pilipinas.

[lordkingsmith]

“How are you alive, if you don’t mind my asking?” He asked several hours later now walking beside the cart. “Do you go through sundrops…?”

“Like eternal life giving batteries?” A short laugh. “Nah. It’s called the Alchemist’s Stone. You can make lead into gold with it, and if you pour boiling over it it makes a tea that has youth giving properties.” A thoughtful hum as Varian considered it. “Can’t heal though. So if you get stabbed you can’t just use the tea to make that go away. I’ve experimented but” he shrugged. “No luck.”

Luke’s eyes were drawn again to the scars around Varian’s mouth. Varian caught his eye and put a bandana around his neck back over his nose, hiding his lower face.

“You don’t need to hide your face” he held his prosthetic hand up, and pulled the sleeve down to show off the gold veins and withered skin. “Magic’s weird, to quote a friend. Plus, I think I have you beat weird scarring wise.”

Varian leaned over to where Luke was walking to delicately take his hand and arm for closer inspection. “Fascinating. Never seen that before. S’ppose it makes sense with the drop protecting its vessel and all. Still. Actually kinda cool.”

“It hurts.” Luke said dryly. “Hardly cool.” He tugged his arm away from Varian’s inspection before rolling his sleeve back up over his injured arm. “My father tried to kill me. My mom’s in a coma. Ben’s in amber, so’s Han. We don’t know where Han is, even. We had to place Lando Calrissian under house arrest-Landa Rosa and it’s royal family are completely and rightfully incensed. I left without a hand and my country and my sister in a very tense political situation.”

“Aw, poor baby” Varian clucked his tongue at him. “You’ve had a very bad year. You could have put it off.”

“No” he said, voice clipped, remembering only a few months ago Varian had told the raccoon currently pulling the cart to ‘break him.’ Nor even was he going to forget who had put Han in Amber. “Things would have just kept going until I couldn’t ever come here. I’ve put it off long enough.” He continued eyeing Varian carefully. “Encased in amber until the knight came to kill me far from the tree with everything ruined.”

An easy shrug and a hand patted invitation to sit back on the cart bench. “Not wrong. But not everything’s your fault. The brotherhood have nothing to do with you, your highness.” A slight pause. “Neither does your father. If you were worried about that.”

Luke shook his head, keeping his doubts to himself. Just because Varian was apparently scared of the knight didn’t mean he wouldn’t try to attack him if he pushed, and Luke had only biting comments on the subject. Better to leave it alone.

“About the Brotherhood-”

“Best to leave them alone.” Was the short reply.

“I was just going to ask about Mara.”

A short laugh as Varian eyed him, seeming to realize. “Oh, you like her! Thought you were soft for the big yellow one.”

“Savage. I like him, too.”

Varian shook his head. “Why does this group always get into some kind of polyamory” he muttered. That was fun to hear. He smiled into his hand at the thought. They all liked each other? It gave him hope for Mara and Savage, when he was gone.

“When, did she…you know, if I can ask?”

“Her ward was a newborn, if I’m doing the math right. And I always do the math right. You her and Savage are the same age. She got orphaned, sold off, ended up in one of the surrounding kingdoms. Flynn took her in, for a time. Long enough for her to devote her life to the brotherhood.” A soft snort. “Maul’s not that different, if you were wondering.” Luke had been.

“Which kingdom?” He asked hesitantly instead of pursuing the bait. He cared about Maul yes but…Mara.

“Auradon, not Rosa. So don’t worry. Ben and his new wife outlawed the slave trade in their borders recently, and you don’t have to worry about Magnifico being even more pissed off at your family than he already will be.”

Luke just sighed. “I pushed Ben into a lake when we were five. He’s generally a pretty forgiving guy, like his mom. But he holds grudges like his father, and I know he’s still mad about it. If he sees a way to make his country look better he absolutely will make Mara’s past Leia’s problem.” He considered it. “…they can’t tell people much can they? Or she’d have mentioned being on Synedaltwi before.”

“Their eyes glow blue when they resist the spell. It takes over if they try to go against in any way” Varian’s voice was almost gleeful. “If you were curious.”

They fell into silence again as Luke sat on the bench with his knees tucked under his chin and injured arm curled to his chest. It was aching again, dully, which at least was different than the last several…however long it was since he’d started.

I am very proud of this :) for the upcoming chapter five of a knight as pretty as hollyhock blooms Luke and Varian are having a talk while in the forest.

[talaan-ng-paglalakbay]

Ang Tunay na Kalikasan ng Tao

“Start with that. Chaos. No control, no law, no government at all. Like being in the arena. Where do we go from there? What sort of agreement is necessary if we're to live in peace? What sort of social contract is required for survival?” - Suzanne Collins, Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Pang-apat na installment sa sikat na seryeng Hunger Games ni Suzanne Collins ang nobelang Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Nagkaroon ito ng pelikula na ipinalabas noong Nobyembre 17, 2023. Nakapanahon ito 63 taon bago ang mga pangyayari sa unang trilogy ng serye. Sa isang pahayag kay Suzane Collins, ang manunulat ng nobela, muli niyang binalikan ang mundo ng Hunger Games dahil ninais talakayin ang matagal ng pinagdedebatehan na paksa ng Nature vs Nurture at Naturally Good o Naturally Evil ang tao. Kilala ang mga katha ni Suzanne Collins bilang madalas na komentaryo sa mga pangyayari sa ating kasalukuyang pamumuhay at sa mundo ng Hunger Games madalas na kaniyang napapahayag ito.

Sa mundo ng Hunger Games, nagkaroon ng baha na naglubog sa buong mundo at naiiwan na lamang dito (sa pagkakaalam ng mga karakter at mambabasa) ang bansang Panem na binubuo ng Capitol at 12 na distrito. Taon-taon nagsasagawa ng Hunger Games ang Capitol kung saan kumukuha ng 1 lalake at 1 babae edad mula sa bawat distrito 12 hanggang 18 at tinatawag na tributes nilalagay sa isang arena kung saan ang nag-iisang panalo lamang ang makakalabas ng buhay. Itinatag ang "laro" upang maparasuhan ang mga distrito noong nagtangka silang magrebelde. Sa Capitol, isang palabas panlibangan lamang ang Hunger Games at tila hindi pinapansin ang kalupitan nito. Sa mga unang libro, kung saan ang karakter ni Katniss Everdeen ang ating sinusundan, malalaman kung ano katapusan ng sistema ng Hunger Games sa Panem. Sa nobelang Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, nakatakda ang kuwento sa pang-10 taon ng Hunger Games at ika-10 taon matapos ang nabigong rebulosyon ng mga distrito na nagdulot ng pagkakatatag ng Hunger Games sa Panem. Mababasa din sa nobelang ito ang mga simula ng kantang "Hanging Tree", simula ng sistema ng sponsorship, at iba pa. Dito, sinusubukan pa lamang nilang gawing palabas panlibangan ang Hunger Games. Ating sinusundan dito ang karakter na si Coriolanus Snow, ang magiging kilalang diktador at kontra-bida sa mga unang libro na si President Snow. Umikot ang buong kuwento sa karakter ni Snow. Ating nababasa kung ano kanyang nakikita, kaniyang naiisip, at kaniyang nararamdaman.

Sa ating pagbasa ng nobela, ating makikilala ang karakter na sina Tigris Snow, Sejanus Plinth, Volumina Gaul, Casca Highbottom, at Lucy Gray Baird. Ang mga karakter na ito ang masasabi kong humugis at naghubog sa karakter ni Snow hanggang naging diktador ito. Sa mga interaksyon ni Snow sa ibang mga karakter naging hayag ang talakaying Nature vs Nurture at Naturally Good o Naturally Evil ang tao. Dahil nasa loob tayo ng kaisipan ni Snow, nakikita natin ang impluwensiya kay Snow ng lahat ng kaniyang nakakasalamuha na mga bagay, pangyayari, at tao. Masasabi kong ito ang pinakapaboritong nobela sa kasalukuyan at dahil ito sa kung paano nito tinalakay ang usapan ukol sa tunay kalikasan ng tao. Naitatag na ng mga unang libro na isang kontrabida si Snow at hindi ko maitatanggi na inakala ko noong una mababasa ang isang malungkot na malungkot at traumatic na nakaraan ni Snow, gaya ng kadalasang pangyayari sa ibang mga kuwento. Laking tuwa ko nang aking napagtanto na inihahayag ang mga pagkakataon na binigyan ng pagpipilian si Snow at kung anong landas ang kanyang pinili. Mapapansin na mayroong dalawang uri ng impluwensiya si Snow na naghubog sa kaniyang personalidad at kaisipan. Makikita rin natin kung paano niya pinoproseso ang lahat ng nagiimpluwensiya sa kanya. Ang mga karakter nina Tigris, Sejanus, Lucy Gray, at ang namayapang ina ni Snow ang mga taong masasabing mayroong pinakapositibong moralidad at nagkaroon ng malaking parte sa buhay ni Snow. Ang mga karakter naman nina Dr. Gaul naman ang aking masasabing mayroong pinakanegatibong moralidad at ang tao na sinundan ni Snow sa huli. Naging tema ng nobela ang kaisipan na sa "mundong walang gobyerno, paano nga ba aakto ang isang tao? Labis kong nagustuhan na mapapansin na pinalibutan ng mas maraming karakter na may magandang moralidad si Snow ngunit sa huli, pinili niya ang ideya na "natural na masasama ang tao" mula sa taong una niyang kinatakutan at inisip na halimaw. Gayunpaman hindi rin lamang ang mga tao nasa kanyang paligid ang nagimpluwensiya sa kaniya ngunit kundi na rin ang mga pangyayari sa kaniyang buhay, mga pangyayari sa kaniyang kabataan noong giyera, kaniyang karanasan sa kahirapan, at karanasan sa kanyang pag-aaral at ambisyon sa Academy. Maraming pagkakataon sa libro ipinakita ang dalawang kalikasan ng tao. Naipapakita ang mabuting na kalikasan ng tao sa mga eksenang pinili ng mga karakter na hindi gumawa ng masama kahit nasa masamang sitwasyon tulad ng pagtulong ng ibang mga tributes isa't isa at ang hindi nila agaran na pagsubok patayin ang isa't isa o ang pangkalahatang kabutihan at moralidad ni Tigris kahit nasa mahirap na sitwasyon. Naipapakita ang masamang na kalikasan ng tao sa mga eksenang pinili ng mga karakter na gumawa ng masama kahit may maraming pagpilian. Madalas itong nakikita sa mga kilos ni Arachne, Dr. Gaul, at Snow. Nagkaroon ng maraming pagkakataon na baguhin ang kaniyang pag-iisip at pumili ng ibang landas mula sa tinahak sa katapusan ng libro. Para sa akin, mahusay itong sinasabi na iba-iba kalikasan ng tao at sa huli, ang ating pinipili sa buhay ang gumagawa sa atin.

Dahil sinulat ni Suzanne Collins ang Hunger Games bilang repleksyon sa ating kasalukuyang lipunan, maraming ideya sa nobela ang sumasalamin sa totoong buhay. Isa na sa halimbawa nito ang hilig natin makita ang mga pinakasikat na bidyo at palabas, gaano pa man ito kalupit at ginagawa pa itong libangan. Sumasalamin rin ang mga ideya mula sa libro tungkol sa paraan ng gobyerno ang nangyayari sa totoong buhay. Kung saan, may panahong hindi makatwiran ang mga tuntunin at patakaran pinapatupad at lalong napapahirapan ang mga mahihirap. Mahusay na naitalakay ng nobela ang mga tema nito at nakapagbigay ng ideya sa tunay na kalikasan ng tao sa loob ng libro at sa totoong buhay

December 16, 2023 Alyssa Marie E. Pellerin

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Ang Bato

Tapakan ng tao sa gitna ng daan kung matalisod mo’y iila-ilandang; nguni, pagkatapos pag ikaw’y namatay, bato ang tatapak sa bangkay mo naman.

Batong tuntungan mo sa pagkadakila, batong tuntungan ka sa pamamayapa; talagang ganito…Sa lapad ng lupa, ay bali-baligtad lamang ang kawawa.

II

Balot pa ng putik, marumi’t maitim. tinapyas at aba!…brilyanteng maningning… Sa putik man pala ay may bituin din na hinahangaan ng matang titingin.

Maralitang tao, batong itinapon, sa lusak ng Palad ay palabuy-laboy… Nag-aral at aba!…noong makaahon, sa mahirap pala naro’n ang marunong!

III

Ang batong malaki’y madaling mabungkal, ang batong brilyante’y hirap matagpuan; ubod-laking tipak, mura nang matimbang, ga-mata ng isda’y pagkamahal-mahal.

At tunay nga naman! Madalas mamalas sa alimasag man, ang malaki’y payat; may malaking kahoy na sukal sa gubat, may mumunting damong mga ugat ay lunas. ***********

I. PAMAGAT NG TULA Ang Bato II. PAKSA NG TULA Ang mga simpleng bagay ay maaaring may tinatagong halaga. III. MENSAHE NG TULA

Lahat ng tao sa mundo ay sa hukay rin ang kahahantungan. ---Huwag tayong masyadong mayabang at mapagmataas sa ating kapwa dahil hindi natin alam ang kapalaran at baka biglang mawala ang lahat sa isang iglap. ---Magpakita tayo ng pakikiramay at pangunawa sa kalagayan ng iba dahil parte ng buhay ng isang taong ang dumanas ng pagsubok. Hindi lahat ng nakikita sa panlabas ay pareho sa nilalaman. ---Kailangan magaling tayong kumilatis at huwag basta bastang humusga upang malaman natin ang tunay na halaga ng isang tao o bagay. Tulad ng mga magagandang bato, ang tao ay kailangang dumaan sa matinding pagsubok para lumabas ang ating natatagong galing. ---Madalas maliitin ang mga simpleng tao, ngunit maraming magagaling at dinadakila nating mga tao ang nanggaling sa payak na simula. ---Sa simula man ay magaspang pa tayo, lahat tayo ay may taglay na galing at potensyal na kailangang hasain at pagtibayin ng panahon upang makamit natin ang tunay na tagumpay sa pinili nating landas.

Source: https://www.tagaloglang.com/ang-bato/

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Sa Ilalim ng Kandungan ng Kalikasan sa Mapanuepe Lake, Zambales.

Nakatago sa puso ng Zambales, ang Mapanuepe Lake ay isang lihim na kayamanang pangako ng kapanatagan at masalimuot na ugnayan sa kalikasan. Ang tahimik nitong tubig at luntiang kapaligiran ay ginawa itong bilang destinasyon para sa mga naghahanap ng isang pagsilong mula sa araw-araw na hirap. Dito, magkasama kami ng aking nobyo na maghanap ng ginhawa at paghilom. Ito ay isang lugar na malalim na nakaugat sa kanyang mga alaala noong kabataan at isang destinasyon na nag-alok sa amin hindi lamang ng pakikipagsapalaran kundi pati na rin ng malalim na pag-unawa sa aming sarili.

Ang pagpaplano ng biyahe patungo sa Mapanuepe Lake ay hindi gaanong kumplikado. Nag-umpisa kami sa pagsasaliksik kung kailan ang pinakamagandang panahon para bumisita, karaniwang mula Nobyembre hanggang Abril, panahon ng tag-init at kalangitan. Huling araw ng Abril, sa taong 2023, alas sais nang umaga ay umalis na kami sa aming tahanan dahil malayo sa Dinalupihan ang lugar na iyon. At upang mapanatili ang magandang takbo ng biyahe, gumamit kami ng mga apps tulad ng Google Maps at Waze para sa tamang direksyon at paghahanap ng mga kalapit na atraksyon. Kami ay dumaan sa Expressway at Subic upang mabilis ang aming pagbibiyahe. At nang makarating kami sa San Marcelino ay nagrenta kami ng guide upang hindi maligaw at magabayan kami sa kabundukan na iyon. Maraming lubak at alikabok sa daan na sanhi ng pagputok ng Bulkang Pinatubo noong 1991. Isa itong panahon ng pagkasira at pagkawala, ngunit ito rin ay naging simula ng isang kamangha-manghang bagay dahil sa Magandang tanawin na dinulot nito sa Mapanuepe Lake.

Pagkatapos ng limang oras na biyahe ay nakarating kami sa lugar. Kamangha-mangha ang ganda rito natural nitong kagandahan. Ang malamig na tubig ng lawa ay kumikinang sa ilalim ng malumanay na siklab ng araw, at ang sariwang kapaligiran na nag-aalaga nito ay bumuo ng isang makukulay na larawan na tila ba hindi totoo. Para bang ang oras ay bumagal, at ang mga alalahanin ng mundo ay unti-unting nawala. Ang maikli ngunit magandang landas ay dinala kami sa isang mataas na lugar na nag-aalok ng malawakang tanawin ng lawa at mga bundok sa paligid. Kami'y napabilib sa mga kahanga-hangang tanawin, at ito'y perpektong lugar para kumuha ng mga magagandang larawan na magiging mga alaala ng aming pagbisita. Habang naglalakbay ang araw, kami ay natagpuan ang isang tahimik na lugar sa tabi ng lawa kung saan kami'y puwedeng umupo at magpahinga habang tinitingnan ang ganda ng Mapanuepe. Kami'y nanood habang ang mga ibon ay lumilipad-lipad. Kami rin ay naakit na mag-eksplora ng mga lihim na kayamanan sa paligid. Ang tunog ng mabilis na agos ng tubig at ang makulay na paligid ay gumawa ng isang tahimik na oasis na tila isang lihim na paraiso. Walang signal sa lugar na ito kaya’t inubos namin ang aming oras, kung saan kami'y nag-enjoy sa katahimikan at natural na kagandahan na bumalot sa amin. Ito'y isang sandaling koneksyon sa kalikasan na pinahahalagahan namin bilang isa sa mga kaganapan ng aming paglalakbay.

Sa sumunod na tatlong oras, bigla na lamang bumukas ang langit at umulan nang malakas. Kahit sa hindi inaasahang pag-ulan, hindi kami nagpatalo sa pagkaudlot na ito. Sa halip, bumaba kami sa kabundukan at kumain kami sa nag-aalok ng mga masarap na tacos sa Zambales. Nag-order kami ng iba't ibang putahe, kasama na ang inihaw na isda, iba’t ibang mga gulay mula sa kalikasan, masasarap na milkshakes, at iba pang pagkaing patok sa mga Pilipino.

Ang aking pananaw sa paglalakbay dito:

Sa mga oras na naglakad ako sa paligid ay napapalapit ang aking loob sa tila isang obra maestra na likha ng kalikasan. Ang tamang pangangalaga at pagpapahalaga sa kalikasan ay pangunahing bahagi ng karanasan sa Mapanuepe Lake. Ang pangingilin sa kalikasan ay hindi lamang isang responsableng gawain kundi isang moral na tungkulin. Sa pamamagitan ng pagtutulungan ng mga lokal at mga manlalakbay na sumasaludo sa kagandahan ng kalikasan, maaari nating panatilihing buhay ang Mapanuepe Lake para sa mga henerasyong darating.

Ang aming paglalakbay ay hindi lamang isang paglalakbay sa kalikasan kundi pati na rin isang paglalakbay sa sariling pag-unawa at pag-usbong bilang tao. Ito ay isang paalala na ang tunay na yaman ay hindi palaging matatagpuan sa mga materyal na bagay kundi sa mga kaugalian, koneksiyon, at pag-unawa. Masaya ang naging pagdalaw naming ng aking nobyo sa lugar na ito dahil nagkaroon kami ng maraming oras upang makasama ang isa’t-isa. Nagkaroon kami ng malalalim na usapan ukol sa hinaharap at ito ang humuhubog sa amin ngayon na dahilan kung bakit kami ay patuloy na binibigay ang aming makakaya upang abutin ang mga pangarap na magkasama kami. Kaya't aking payo sa mga kapwa manlalakbay: yakapin ang Mapanuepe Lake na may bukas na puso at umalis dala ang mas malalim na pang-unawa sa mundo sa na nakapaligid sa iyo.