#this is me coming out as a filipino are we surprised

[unwri-ten]

✮. 🎀 𝓟𝓤𝑇𝓐𝓝𝓖𝓘𝓝𝓐 🎀 .✮

😍💞💘 𝘼𝙉𝙂 𝙄𝙉𝙀𝙏 𝘼𝙉𝘼𝙆 𝙉𝙂 𝙋𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂💔💏💖

[hiraizyo]

close to my heart, i hold you dearly

synopsis — as you and megan continue the fake relationship during a double date, it becomes harder to deny your feelings for one another.

tags — fake dating trope, non idol au, mutual pining, masc!reader

now playing: tell her how you feel, dream wave.

a/n: yikes srry i took so long with part 2 😓 i tried my best w build up of tension & the pacing, tbh yn and megan are just idiots in love. implied hair theory in love (??) 😛megan going back to natural

++ links: part i. this features yunjin my favorite side character, she’s really just a plot device to me (JOKES) decided to make this extra long since i made y’all wait !!!

“yun, for the last time, i am not going on a double date with you.” groaning out, you glared at the girl before you who had her lips jutted out and puppy eyes on display.

yunjin wailed, throwing her arms up. “yn, please! i need you to do this for me.”

currently, the two of you were in the ginger’s college dormitory. the initial plan was to study together, since finals were coming up in a few weeks, but the american had other plans. from the moment you stepped into her room, she pushed her books aside and brought up her proposal, which she was now trying to convince you to do.

the glare you sent the girl didn’t faze her, nor did it falter her confidence that you would agree. she didn’t give you another chance to respond, talking animatedly.

“its only dinner, and it’s not like i’m setting you up with someone! obviously you’ll bring megan.” she said, watching as you stood up from the couch.

you froze for a second, glancing over your shoulder. shaking the surprise off, you continued the short walk to fridge and grabbed a bottle of water, loosening the bottles cap.

“how do you know about megan?” you questioned, taking a sip from the bottle.

yunjin turned around on the couch to face you, a mischievous smile on her face. “well, sophia mentioned she saw you two at some party.” she drawled out, “where do you think i got the idea for the double date?”

you rolled your eyes at her ‘brilliant’ plan, twisting the lid of the bottle closed. you leaned against the counter, looking at your friend.

“isn’t this your first date with soph?” you asked her, eyebrows knitted together.

yunjin nodded her head, though she had a bashful look on her face. “yes, but— god, you know how nervous i get around her. what if i mess up and say something stupid?”

you laughed at her words, because yeah, it was true that yunjin was a bit of a nervous loser around any pretty girl. you were sure she’d mess up in someway with the filipino girl.

she got up from the couch, walking towards you. “i need you there as, like, a buffer for me, and since you and megan are already together, it would be less awkward!”

you tilted your head to the side and stared at the girl. her eyes were wide with distress, hands put together as if she was praying. it was an amusing sight, and you couldn’t help but let out a light chuckle at her antics.

“how are we friends?”

yunjin sighed exasperatedly and gripped her hands onto your forearms. her hold was tight, and you could tell she was close to losing it if you didn’t say yes.

“please, please,” she begged, “when have i ever asked you to do anything for me?”

you looked at her in disbelief, reminding her of a past experience, “uh— first year? you made me bring gifts to your crush for three weeks straight, and she ended up thinking i had a crush on her!”

yunjin’s lips fell in a straight line at your response, looking off to the side. “okay, fine, i admit that was a bit extreme. but i really like sophia, so pretty, pretty please will you go with us?”

“alright, calm down!” you pulled her arms off you, and laughed lightly at the hope that spread in her eyes. “i’ll talk to megan about it.”

yunjin let out a loud yell, thanking you and pressed her body against yours in a quick hug. you barely had time to reciprocate the hug before she was pulling away. she smiled widely, her pearly whites on display, and ran around the dorm in search of her phone to let sophia know you’d be joining them.

you laughed again at her frantic movements and shuffled over to the couch, “can we get on with studying now?”

“ugh, you are such a nerd.”

megan’s room was quiet, aside from the rolling credits of the movie you’d just finished. it had been over a month since the fake relationship began, and the two of you had grown closer as friends. you’d go out for dates, planned movie nights, had dinner with each others parents.

it was fun to have megan as a friend. she was lively, unashamed to be herself around you. she laughed as loud as she wanted, ranted to you about her newest obsessions, told you stories from her childhood, embarrassing and all. megan brought a side out of you that you didn’t even know existed, and the ongoing idea of being ‘together’ caused many inside jokes and teasing.

what warmed your heart the most was the way she got along with your younger sister. hyein was known to be somewhat of a menace, she also rarely liked the girls you brought home, and she never hid that from you. however, with megan, your sister loved talking to her, wanting to be with you and her anytime the hawaiian girl came over.

that made it difficult to have a moment alone with her, which was why you spent most of your time together at megan’s place, like now.

“oh, i almost forgot!” you gasped out once megan paused the movie.

she looked at you in confusion as you got off the bed and reached for your tote bag, digging inside and pulled out a square, silver box. your back was to megan, so she couldn’t see what was in your hand, her curiosity piquing.

the box had a bow wrapped around the centre, it delicately resting in your hands as you plopped back on the bed, crossing your legs underneath you and glanced at her with a small smile. megan moved to sit opposite you, her gaze filled with interest, but also had a softness to it, like it always did when she looked at you.

“for you.” you said, lightly.

megan took the box from you, her hands brushing against yours tenderly, causing your heart to stutter from the brief contact. it was a foreign feeling to you, yet you brushed it off in the moment.

she frowned as you watched her slowly undo the bow. megan didn’t say anything while she took the top lid off, shrieking once she noticed the shining metal in the light, taking a pair of earrings out and holding it in her palm.

“yn…” she breathlessly said, eyes connecting with yours. “these are so beautiful.”

you shrugged nonchalantly, as if it wasn’t a big deal. then, you wiggled your eyebrows teasingly, “happy fake anniversary.”

megan burst out in giggles at your words and leaped forward to wrap her arms around your neck, the earrings being clutched tightly in her hand. there was a bit of force as you were pushed back, leaning on yours arms while you supported yours and megan’s weight.

“oh my god, you dork!” she muttered against your ear, “i can’t believe you would get me this for a fake anniversary.”

you reached up to caress the back of her head, smiling to yourself, chest filling with comfort. as nice as it was to see the girl so happy, you regretfully let out, “eh, that’s not the only reason…”

megan leaned back, her arms falling beside her and once again looking confused. you shyly placed your hand on the side of your neck, avoiding her gaze.

“yunjin wants us to go on a double date.” you explained, sucking in a breath. “with her and sophia.”

“oh,” megan paused, looking at the earrings in her palm, deep in thought. she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a little sad over the gift having an ulterior motive. “so, this is bribery then?”

“well, no.” you took one earring from her and brought it up to megan’s earlobe, testing how it would look on her. “i also wanted to get you something nice.”

megan tried to ignore the feeling of your skin brushing against her jaw, your touch like a burn. while you peered over how the earring suited her, megan’s eyes were watching you, silently thinking that you looked stunning in the lighting of her room, yet she forced herself to break her gaze once you placed the earring back in her palm.

“thank you, yn. when’s the date?” she questioned, searching for the box in her messy sheets.

“next friday.” you replied, though you hadn’t noticed the slight change in her attitude as you tucked some hair behind megan’s ear, her movements pausing. “guess we’re going to have to pretend again.”

megan chortled, though it was strained. she pushed aside her feelings, settling the heavy sensation deep in her heart. she put the earrings back in the box as she bit down on her lower lip.

“we did do a pretty good job at it last time.” the ginger commented, placing the lid over the box and handed it to you so that you could put it on her nightstand.

“we did.” you agreed, leaning back against the headboard.

your mind began to fade away from the present moment, thinking back to the party; being with megan, your close proximity, her body against yours, her hands tucked under your shirt, having her against the wall, the heat you felt, kissing her.

“should we watch another movie?” you asked, snapping yourself out of a daze.

megan shook her head, “hm, no. i’m feeling a little tired.” she lied, wanting to close her eyes and forget this weird disappointment she felt.

you reached for the laptop and set it on the floor, then moved down until you were lying flat on the bed, hand wrapping around megan’s wrist and gently tugged her towards you. megan didn’t say anything, allowing you to pull her against your chest, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

“then lets sleep.” you told her, shutting your eyes closed.

though she was unsettled by the bribery tactic, megan couldn’t help but find comfort in your hold. megan’s breath hitched in her throat. it wouldn’t be the first time you’d lay like this, having to keep up the charade of dating around her friends and your sister. there were many moments where she felt this feeling, each one more deeper than the last.

(the first time she felt it, it was during a saturday night as you settled in your couch together for a series binge watching of squid game with your sister, hyein. megan still remember how her heart stopped when she felt your hand drop below her waist, resting on her hips, her skin warm against yours. it made her dizzy, bashful, yet it seemed as if it was second nature to you.

the second time she felt it was while you were over at lara’s place. it was a hot, summer evening, the heat having tired everyone out, and you’d fallen asleep against megan. she freaked, wondering how to move you so you’d be more comfortable, until you pulled her towards you, your hold tight, and her heart raced from the way you unknowingly reached for her. she had no choice but to calm her racing heart and try to sleep with out.

the third time she felt it, surprisingly was not in your arms. instead, it was during a moment of heavy sickness for her. you’d come over, bearing with some warm soup and orchids, her favorite, and— wait, she didn’t remember telling you that. megan didn’t question it though, and despite her attempts of keeping you away, as she didn’t want you getting sick too, you stayed, until she was better, until she was feeling like herself.

later that day, megan would find out you’d actually asked lara what her preference for flowers were.

she saw it — you cared for her.)

but now, in this moment, as your fingers lazily rubbed circles in her hair, how perfectly she fit in your arms, megan felt her heart constrict in her chest.

the hawaiian knew, then and there, this wasn’t what one was supposed to experience during a fake relationship. she wondered, did you feel that too? did you also have these brief, fleeting moments of wanting more?

megan couldn’t remember the last time she felt this way, but she hoped — prayed — you’d be there to catch her.

the dim lighting of the restaurant created a warm glow, smooth jazz music playing. the place yunjin told you to meet at was far from classy, yet it wasn’t so casual either. it was more in between, even to give sophia a good impression of her.

the waiter guided you and megan towards a booth where you caught sight of your college friend, sophia sitting beside her, deep in conversation and talking animatedly.

it was yunjin who noticed you first, the shadow of the waiter casting over the table caused her to look up. he nodded his head curtly to you, walking off to the front desk of the restaurant, while you and yunjin shared a brief embrace, sending a smile towards the filipino. megan greeted them both with a graceful hello, sliding into the booth and you followed behind her, sitting close enough that your thighs touched.

yunjin leaned back, chuckling smoothly. “finally, you’re here! i was beginning to think you wouldn’t show anymore.”

“its true, she was all fidgety and antsy.” sophia commented, looking over at yunjin with deep admiration. “it was kind of cute.”

yunjin’s cheeks flushed a deep red from the girl’s words, and you smirked at the way she practically melted once sophia reached behind her and scratched her nails on yunjin’s neck.

god, that girl was hopeless.

“we would’ve been here sooner, but someone—” you glanced at megan purposely, voice hard for a second. “—took forever to drive here.”

megan tutted, placing a hand over her chest in mock offense. “you judge my driving too harshly.”

“i almost died — twice!” you screeched out, eyes wide in bewilderment, yet a smile tugged at your lips. “i’m taking us home tonight.”

your tone left no room for debate, but megan didn’t mind; she’d gladly be your passenger princess any day. the girl rolled her eyes playfully, and tugged on the knot of the tie that loosely and lowly hung around your neck.

“fine,” she huffed. “no complaints here.”

you grasped onto her hand that held onto the knot and lugged it away, scowling in a joking manner, pretending to be annoyed that she had messed it up. megan flipped your hands around so that she now grasped yours and pulled it over her shoulder, your arm now resting around it.

megan convinced herself was doing this for show. after all, both yunjin and sophia believed you were really together — you needed to play the part.

yet, she missed the way sophia glanced at you two, a hint of joy in her eyes at seeing her friend happy, especially since sophia knew how heartbroken megan was over her ex girlfriend. she could sense it was natural the way you and megan acted, you were simply drawn to one another.

sophia knew megan was feeling more like her old self, the megan before the break-up, before she had first met her ex.

“i like the new look.” the filipino voiced, leaning forward as she looked at megan.

the girl in question glanced down at her hair that flew over her shoulders, “yeah?” she laughed, smiling widely. “i said i’d go back to black.”

“it really does suit you, meg.” yunjin agreed, offering a shy smile. “but i’m a little sad we aren’t twinning anymore.” she touched her own ginger hair, looking down at it.

megan smiled even more, till her eyes turned into crescents. it was a sight to behold, this bright energy and glow that radiated from her, and you felt your own smile grow from her happiness alone.

“maybe dye your hair and we’d match again.” megan shrugged, offering a teasing look to the american.

yunjin looked in genuine thought as she contemplated the idea. sophia noticed and pouted, her glossy lips shining in the light of the restaurant.

“aw no, i quite like ginger yun.” she prodded.

you couldn’t help but cackle as your friend stumbled over her words, stuttering out a barely coherent sentence. megan, who was much more discreet than you, stifled a laugh as well.

yunjin looked down at sophia, her eyes shining with love, completely her mercy. “oh… s-sure! anything you like, i’ll be.”

sophia found the american’s behavior endearing, smirking to herself, as if she knew of the power she held. she then simply shook her head, though she smiled adoringly, and began a conversation with megan off to side.

you leaned forward across the table. yunjin wasn’t that far away, so your arm still hung partially over megan’s shoulder while the distance between you and the ginger became less.

you squinted at her, “jesus chris, get a fucking grip, dude.”

yunjin groaned internally, her whole body felt flushed. she was way too nervous for this, her heart thumping erratically.

“i’m trying,” yunjin hissed. “this is exactly why you’re here.” she reminded you, quickly taking a much needed sip of water.

you were about to respond when a waiter walked over, inquiring if you were ready to order. you leaned away from yunjin, who stared at you warningly, drawing your arm off megan’s shoulder and opened the menu, flipping through the pages until you all decided on what to eat for the night.

conversation flowed between the four of you easily while you waited for your food, exchanging laughs and talking about many different topics. at times, you and megan found yourselves wrapped in one another’s words, talking amongst each other alone, as if yunjin and sophia were nonexistent.

the dinner came to an end, plates taken away the only thing left behind was either half empty or finished glasses of drinks, and the bill already paid. it was when you were walking out the restaurant doors that you thanked yunjin for inviting you and megan out, to which the girl stared at you tauntingly.

“ah, you didn’t think this would be the only thing for tonight, did you?” she asked, the corner of her lip twitched in a sly smirk.

you looked to her with surprise, “you said it was just dinner.” coming to a stop, you quickly glanced at megan, and back to yunjin.

the four of you stood outside in the restaurant’s parking lot, the cool and crisp air a huge contrast to the warmth of inside.

“right,” yunjin nodded. “and a movie.” she divulged, smiling at the happy noise sophia let out, heart leaping once again. “there’s a drive-in movie a couple blocks away.”

you slumped forward at the news. did yunjin really have to spring this on you?

you were very prepared for a dinner date, but now there was a movie involved. and while you were completely fine at first, you wondered how you’d managed to be around megan in this predicament, especially with these weird, new feelings.

dinner was one thing, but to be with megan, in the dark — alone — was something else entirely.

yunjin was looking at you hopefully, silently pleading with you. sophia watched as you stood rooted to your spot, a little confused at your reluctancy. and megan, sweet, attentive megan, nudged your arm, drawing your attention.

“c’mon, it’ll be fun.” she mumbled lowly, looking up at you, lazy smile in place.

you glanced at her, wondering if you’d really want to do this. sophia and yunjin were still watching you, awaiting your response, and then you remembered you had to keep this charade up, because in their eyes, you and megan were girlfriends.

and you were to say no to your girlfriend?

you sighed, but your voice quickly turned into a much cheerier one. “alright, whatever my darling wants, she gets.”

“oh, get a fucking grip.” yunjin snorted, mocking you with the same words you’d used earlier.

she shook her head at you, her and sophia walking towards the car they’d come in. yunjin shouted back at you from where they were parked, telling you to follow behind her and she’d lead you to the drive-in.

while you and megan walked towards your own car, she leaned in close, her chin pressed against your forearm. “darling?”

you could already sense that teasing tone she had, pushing her away slightly. “shut up, i panicked.”

megan snickered at the top of her voice, her laugh echoing in the empty space around you and her. it didn’t take long for her laughter to die down, and she fell into little giggles here and there while you continued to walk, the car still quite a distance away. as you strolled together, like magnets, you and megan were pulled together, until your finger tips brushed against one another. your steps slowed down, walking in a leisurely pace, feeling content in the quiet that settled over you.

yunjin and sophia were a few feet away, and much like you and megan, they too were sitting on the hood of the car. you could see yunjin’s arm draped over sophia’s arm, and you were proud that the girl finally found some confidence in herself amongst nervousness.

on the other hand, you sat with your arm to yourself, not needing to play the part of a fake girlfriend since yunjin and sophia were occupied.

megan had her eyes on you for quite some time, the movie being drowned out. it wasn’t that the movie wasn’t interesting — oh no, no. if anything, the movie was fascinating, yet her attention had been on you.

the twilight glow of the large movie screen illuminated your face. she stared up at you, as if memorizing your features. the sharp curve of your jaw, the length of your eyelashes, the slow blinks of your eyelids as you watched the movie.

it was rather difficult to ignore the feeling of her gaze on you, and after much time, you’d decided to call her out on it.

“i can feel you staring, y’know.” you tilted your head to look at her, raising an eyebrow. she looked away, now facing the large screen.

megan choked on a breath, “i-i wasn’t…! i was just admiring.” she explained, her erratic heart racing beneath her ribcage.

you hummed, leaning closer to her. “is it to your liking?” you questioned. it was now your turn to stare at her side profile, megan’s throat bobbing up and down as she swallowed nervously.

she glanced at you from her peripheral vision, “definitely.” megan concluded, finally turning to face you.

you didn’t realize exactly how close you were until she was looking at you, her honey eyes staring back into your own. your mouth dried, and for a moment you felt feint. megan was within such close reach, if you moved even an inch you’d be skin to skin with her, so close that you could smell the scent of her lip glass, and without realizing it, your eyes had dropped to her lips.

they shone despite it being dark out, courtesy of lighting from the big screen. they were pink, and looked as soft as ever.

it was brief, having your gaze on her lips, and then you looked back into her eyes, your mind feeling fuzzy. megan stared back at you, both of you silent, as if saying any word would shatter the tension that settled over you like a blanket. the stares continued, the eye contact becoming unbearable.

“i think we did another great job.” she murmured, voice shaky, the nerves obvious.

“we’re getting too good at this.” you breathed out, wanting to pull megan close, press her lips against yours.

megan nodded in agreement, as though you both knew this wasn’t pretend at all. the dark haired girl’s eyes fluttered down to your lips, but you’d denied one another the satisfaction, taking a sharp breath in and both turning to focus on the movie.

it was now you who stole glances, megan’s side profile was alluring. she looked stunning with her black hair, your jacket hanging off her shoulders, and�� holy shit, when did megan look so good?

you knew megan definitely had admirers, given her beauty, but as you stared at her, longingly, she had never looked more captivating that in this moment.

this was megan in all her glory, and she was utter perfection.

your head spun, suddenly feeling your heart stutter and jump. your stomach felt queasy, being twisted and undone over and over. your mouth dried again. this feeling wasn’t new to you, many times before had you felt this way for other girls, but with megan, this was more — this was a deeper, raw, undeniable connection.

you looked away, attention now on the movie, your mind reeling from the sudden awareness that was no longer fake.

your hand dropped from where it was placed over your knee, so close to megan’s. she felt your hand drop, the thud heard on the hood of the car, and with the weight of her feelings, she unknowingly drew her hand closer to yours.

your hand reached outwards, nervously, you glanced down, watching the way your fingers would inch closer to hers, but you’d pull back, quickly, abruptly, like you’d been struck by lightning.

you swallowed, thinking to yourself. would megan mind if you grabbed her hand? would she pull away, deny you the comfort of her warmth?

it was inevitable, the way you and her found one another even in the dark night.

your fingers reached out, finding hers. silently, you stared ahead, as though the tingles you felt weren’t sending a jolt to your stomach and chest. megan’s fingers intertwined with yours, loosely hanging together, and much like you — even if she didn’t know how you felt — her own body had electricity dancing all over.

neither of you said a word. this quiet, tender moment allowing both of you to relish in the feelings. there was no one around, no one to pretend in front of, no one to fool.

you took this moment for yourselves, selfishly, uncaring, and greedily.

ooohuuhh they didn’t even kiss ??? 🤔 haha… so part 3?

[drvscarlett]

Sweet Nothings (2)

Carlos Sainz x pageant queen!reader

Summary: All that they ever wanted was sweet nothings but everything changed like midnight rain.

Sweet Nothings: 1, 2, 3. 4

A/N: i indulged a lot with catriona so expect a lot of her faces. i like to build up things hehe.let me know your thoughts

YNjpeg posted a photo.

Liked by CarlosSainz55, LewisHamilton, and 543,456 others

YNjpeg thank you for the opportunity for the roundtable to discuss different issues faced by our society [link]

User4 the way she speaks says a lot about her character

User6 I dont need to see any other queen, Y/N is my Miss Universe 2024.

User7 i never knew Y/N is this knowledgeable

User9 right?? i mean before we all knew her as just Carlos' partner User10 is it bad for me to say that i think Carlos and Y/N break up is a good thing? User9 true bestie.

LewisHamilton Wonderful insights, thank you for using your voice!

YNjpeg honored to be appreciated by you Lew! LewisHamilton 👑☝️ User12 real recognize real!

User55 anyone notice that carlos is still liking?

User90 omg i just noticed that! User77 my divorced parents

F1News posted an article.

Carlos Sainz sits down talking about championships, end of contracts, and relationships.

The hottest topic in the paddock at the moment has been Carlos Sainz. He is the driver that has been to watch out for as he becomes the El Matador that crushes Red Bull's streak of victory. The soon to be ex-Ferrari driver thanks the team for building a good car and creating new strategy that allowed them to best Red Bull several times already.

It was no surprise that him and teammate, Charles Leclerc has been chasing Max down for the championship. When asked about how does he deal with the pressure, he mentioned that he kept himself grounded by a note tucked inside of his helmet. He said that the content of the notes cannot be discussed (as well as the writer of the note) but he is very grateful for it for keeping him in touch with reality. The Spaniard is currently sitting at the second place with only 2 points difference from the current champion.

"It has not yet been decided" this is what Carlos has to say regarding where he would sign next. Carlos assures everyone that there are offers but he is still weighing which will be a better option. His focus at the moment was not on the signing because as he states "if I'm a good driver then the offers will just keep coming." He wishes to focus on doing his best with his current team and reiterates that he has no ill feelings with the team.

Another hot topic that Carlos was asked about is regarding his love life. There were rumors about his split with long-time girlfriend and now running for Miss Universe, Y/N L/N. Carlos explained how he is very proud of Y/N and that he wishes all the best for her. He refused to answer questions detailing more about her since he explains that "focus on Y/N as a beauty queen and not because of her relationship. She deserves more than just being someone's girlfriend."

CarlosY/N4ever

CarlosY/N4ever me realizing that Miss Universe 2024 and the Las Vegas Grand Prix is happening together???!!!

User5 wdym together???

CarlosY/N4ever It will both happen in the 24th,the gp will go first at 2pm while the Miss Universe will start at 6pm. User5 OHMYGOD????

User7 So are we going to watch miss universe or f1???

User8 Im gonna watch both User9 rip to us with a different timezone

User10 i love how we can use Y/N's reactions for this

User11 girlie is a walking meme User13 walking meme but still elegant

User19 SO WILL THE GRID BE WATCHING????

User22 what is barbenheimer when we have this going on!!!

QueenYNUpdates just posted a reel

Well my gowns and my costumes have been carefully selected. Everything has a meaning. It is an homage for my country and of course to the best parts of myself. [Can we have any more insights about your evening gown] All I can say is that I want to make Filipinos proud and the color has a very personal meaning.

User10 Im excited to see her final look!

User12 agreeeee,her attention to details is everything!

User7 Our filipina queen! PERIODT!

User13 the color has a very personal meaning + that smile.. anyone wanted to bet with me that its ferrari red???

User15 I might cry if its really red User18 and its carlos' last year to ferrari as well User90 I just want to have a good time on this app

User55 Go fight for the crown!!!! Bring home the crown!!!

QueenYNUpdates posted a reel

[What can you say about your relationship with Carlos, everyone is curious about what happened] This is the only time, I'll talk about this. If you are looking for drama, there is no drama between the two of us. Carlos and I met when we were still young people and we grew up together. We matured as individuals..Its not a bad thing. I am extremely happy and proud of where he is right now. Were both chasing our dreams. What we are, what have been. Its all good. That's all that I have to say.

User5 This basically confirms it.

User6 we are really children of divorce

User7 CARLOS GET HER BACK, ITS NOT TOO LATE

User8 YEAH SHE IS NOT YET MISS UNIVERSE User9 BRO DON'T LET HER GO CarlosSainz55

User11 Its the miss universe curse. If the girl really wants the crown then they will undergo heartbreak

User14 why do we have to sacrifice someone?? User15 so miss universe is just like ferrari strategy? here we sacrifice a boyfriend, in ferrari we sacrifice leclerc User17 that comment got me gagged.

YNjpeg posted a photo

liked by CarlosSainz55, LandoNorris, and 876,525 others

YNjpeg I am ready to represent!!! Flying to Vegas!!!

Charles_Leclerc goodluck Miss Philippines!!

YNjpeg thank you charlieee

LandoNorris can't wait to see you take the crown

YNjpeg lando you believe in me too much LandoNorris I SAID take the crown!!! YNjpeg ON IT!

User5 im so happy that she is still being supported by the grid

User67 bring home the crown Y/N!

User8 Mark my words, she will come back with the crown!

User9 safe flight!!!

CarlosSainz55 just posted a photo.

CarlosSainz55 You always hated flying. You told me that there is a certain discomfort and uncertainty when you are a thousand feet from the ground. Right now, you are flying. I know it has a certain discomfort and uncertainty of what's to come but I believe you can find some joy in it.

You will always be the most beautiful in the universe.

User7 OMG????

User6 CARLOS I WAS UNFAMILIAR WITH YOUR GAME

User8 bro really went to tell the whole world that he will be here no matter what

User15 were always talking about how Y/N is Carlos' biggest fan but Carlos is also Y/N's biggest fan

User17 ITS TOO ERALY TO CRY

CarlosSainz55 just deleted the post.

[agendabymooner]

ride home ! carlos s. x ofc (filipino!content creator!ofc)

“and my weary heart has come to rest in yours.”

summary: carlos sainz accidentally outed himself as a married man and his wife is filipino, which is quite ironic if you would look at the history between the two nations. OR mona magdalena was something of a surprise to the f1 world as she’s something of an��� ordinary person. but the ferrari driver’s in love with her and that’s enough for anyone to understand.

content warning: established relationship, use of explicit language, unclear plot (intro to carlos sainz’ ofc wife), fluff, lando = knowing something you don’t, poorly translated comments, mentions cheating (no one did), connected to the alessandro/hearth universe (see masterlist)

note: there will be a translation to some of the words in this post (context: spain colonized philippines for 300 years and language/culture/practices were adapted from spain.)

this is a self-indulgent fic. a little bit of it i think. this came from my halo-halo homies’ asks and i was inspired to write. i should write some fernando alonso soon, no? enjoy xx

masterlist

liked by carlossainzjr, landonorris, zildbenitez

user1 CONGRATS MAMITAAAA

user2 welcome back to philippines magda!!

zildbenitez sex or chocolate? liked by monamagdalena

monamagdalena the city by the 1975

user3 i cant believe that you’re working a regular job in spain/england while you’re a whole ass celebrity in the philippines 😭 liked by monamagdalena

monamagdalena duality of a woman 😉

benandbenmusic gimmick sa’n? where should we hangout?

monamagdalena i want some inasal :)

benandbenmusic bet, meet u at the nearest mang inasal then 🫶

carlossainzjr y u so pretty cariño? liked by monamagdalena

carlossainzjr posted a story !!!

this story in unavailable

[translation: my wife should just quit her day job and come travel with me]

[translation: there’s no one i would yearn for more than you, my lovely lady.]

tagged monamagdalena

liked by charles_leclerc, blastersilonga, landonorris

user1 ok but why doesn’t she give wag vibes? did she ever attend any of his race?

user2 she doesn’t seem to be like his type tbh. why does she have a huge fanbase?

user3 bestie they’re married- what more can they do?

user4 she’s hella gorgeous

user5 i didn’t even know who carlos was until now :’] magda really chose the perfect one 😭

user6 welcome to the pits of hell we call f1. ferrari’s at the deepest depth - carlos drives for ferrari

user7 y’all btches blind if you don’t see the heart eyes carlos is giving her

user8 he’s so in love i wish that were me

landonorris ok but i’m rooting for you two though 🥲 liked by carlossainzjr and monamagdalena

monamagdalena thanks, lando! i’m also rooting for us :)

monamagdalena you’re the best partner to have existed. mahal kita sobraaaaaa ❤️ i love you soooo much liked by carlossainzjr

carlossainzjr see you soon cariño ❤️

user8 she really said “colonizing his heart” 😭

user9 who cooks better though?

carlossainzjr her because she grew up with a single mother only and they always make the best cuisines - lena taught me how to cook most filipino dishes

monamagdalena most filipino dishes that NEED to be paired with rice 🥲 i get so lonely having to eat rice by myself at times

landonorris you should have me over so we can eat rice together

monamagdalena you betcha. i’ll be making you dinner like it’s a filipino birthday party lando!

user10 now THAT is the dream 😩 imagine being so sweet that you’d make your husband’s mate some roast pans full of filipino food and pull up the karaoke ughhh so mother of u

bonus !!!

translation

mahal / irog = terms of endearment, “love”

[https-mi1zu]

The Peacock and The Crow

(the draft-ish, chapters 1-2)

CO WRITER, SPELL CHECKER, AND MY BESTIE IN GENERAL: @cha0sdumpster

WARNINGS : nothign really ig?

word count: 4,283

To gabby, the first to hear.

CHAPTER ONE . Life is weird, but I'm weirder

I didn't really want to become a hero, but here we are.

Everyday was the same, I woke up early, 5:30 or so. I got ready, fixed my hair and packed my lunch. Meanwhile, my mother was passed out on the couch with some man. I went back to my room to get them a blanket.  I left them a glass of water before I left for school. As I walked out of the house and slowly made my way to the bus stop, I couldn't help but feel a sense of isolation. It was like I was living two different lives - my own and that of my mother's. I waited for the bus, wondering if things would ever change, or if I were always meant to feel like an outsider.

At least my mother was grateful enough to give me her headphones. As soon as I plugged in my headphones, it felt as if the world just stopped for a moment. It felt freeing, it felt as if I was high as a cloud and...is that a horse with wings??

I took off my glasses to wipe them a bit, maybe I was just seeing things. I looked back, only to see just a normal maya bird flying by. As I sat on the bus, lost in thought, I couldn't help wondering if there were other kids like me out there - kids who felt like outcasts and longed to find a place where they could truly fit in. I was aware that there were other kids in my class who also struggled with ADHD and dyslexia. My mother was surprised that I had made it to grade 7.

I wondered if there was somewhere out there where I could find people who understood me and where I belonged, maybe even a place where I could've become a forest witch.

I could daydream about finding a place where I fit in and could be a forest witch, the bus pulled up to a stop, it jolted me back to reality. I got off the bus and began walking to school, still lost in thought. I took off my earphones as I got off.

I walked in the hallways, it was quite early, I couldn't help but notice some strange things around me - a bird that was acting weirdly, a crack in the sidewalk, and a piece of paper floating in the air. But I shook my head, thinking it was just your imagination again. 'Just my imagination is running wild.' I said to myself, mostly.

I put my bags at my desk as I walked over to the corner of the room. Our classroom was quite small, but it had a fire exit. We never got to use it, but it was cool anyway. 

I could hear the slight buzz of the fan, our aircon hadn't been fixed yet. Why did I even bring a jacket anyway?

I looked at our schedule, making myself mentally memorize the subjects. 'math first...science next...filipino right after recess, ‘did I remember to bring my apron?' I thought. We had art today, double period, our art teacher was quite nice.

After I reread the schedule a couple more times, I walked to my desk. It was in the third row of the third column of our classroom.

I brought out my books, I didn't need much other than my whiteboard (which I forgot to bring, again) and my notebooks. After I got my books and shoved them under my desk, I walked over to my locker, 'I should really buy a lock.' I said to myself. Opening my locker and then shoved my bag and lunch box in. I slammed the door to it shut so nothing would fall out.

I made my way through the medium-sized room, the air seemed to grow colder, as if the temperature had dropped a few degrees. The shadows in the corners appear to thicken and deepen, almost as if they are slowly coming to life. I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched, like there are eyes following my every move. But everytime I turn around there's nobody there.

The flickering of the fluorescent lights above only adds to the sense of unease, casting shifting patterns of brightness and darkness across the room. I could hear faint, almost imperceptible whispers echoing through the corridors.

'it's just the wind.' I told myself, I sat down back on my desk

But the whispers continued, growing louder and more menacing as I sat at my desk. They seem to come from every corner of the room, as if they are trying to communicate something important like they are trying to warn me of something.

The shadows in the corner seem to twist and writhe, almost like they are trying to form some kind of shape. It's hard to make out what exactly they're trying to take the form of, but it almost seems like a familiar shape. I needed to clear my mind so I opened the door  and made my way to the bathroom. It was a quiet walk, the corridors empty with the leaves on the ground. I looked down at the ground as I walked. The rocks embedded in the beige concrete made different shapes, the sizes ranging from big to small. It really looked like a messed up mosaic.

I reached the bathroom, the whispers grew louder and more frenzied, as if they were desperate to communicate something. The shadows in the corner of the room seemed to move and writhe even more.

Turning on the faucet, the water that came out was ice cold, as if it had been sitting in a frozen pond for hours. I splashed water on my face, expecting it to be refreshing and calming, but instead the water felt strange, almost as if it was pulling something out of me.

I looked at myself in the mirror, the whispers in the back of my mind grew to an unbearable level. It was like they were trying to drown me in my negative thoughts. Didn't work though. 

The longer I looked into the mirror, I noticed the small imperfections on my face.

The small but noticeable double chin I had

My many moles on my face

The pimples and the acne

My round baby face. I've always hated my face.

I fixed and tied up my hair. It always looked bad the moment I stepped into school. I think it's the school air that always makes people’s hair look weird. Walking out of the bathroom, I could feel the whispers in the air behind, beside, and in front of me. Why couldn't they quiet down for once? Just for a day is all I ask. They kept persisting, whispering thoughts and messages through my ears. It was as if all I could hear until I saw my teacher.

Mrs Fiore. She was my mentor and my composition teacher. I forgot we had class coaching today, class coaching was for our writing. We had to make a fake myth about an item or a food in our hometown. Mrs Fiore wasn't only our English teacher, but so was Ms Santos, our literature teacher. She was a little bit more meaner than Mrs fiore.

I always found Mrs Fiore kind, she always had this vibe that I could only describe as comforting. Maybe it was because she always smelt like flowers, or because her hugs always felt nice and warm.

The small things I noticed about her was that she always had a flower in hand or her auburn hair. Miss Fiore always wore this necklace with a pomegranate charm on it. She also always had at least something black on, and she for some reason would always disappear in September, sometimes August. Those were the ber-months. I always questioned why she would be gone for so long…she did mention it was to visit someone. Maybe it's her husband, though why doesn't he just live with her? Why couldn't he visit her instead of her visiting him?

Mrs fiore wasn't the only teacher who would disappear for September and august, Ms santos too. Ms Santos and Mrs fiore looked related in a way, like niece and aunt, or mother and daughter.

I gave Mrs. Fiore a small wave and passed her in the hallways, she waved back with a smile.

The weeks felt longer and more tiring as each day passes. Sometimes there would be something interesting, for example my history teacher said that whoever recited the full intro to this TV show would get an extra point on the quiz. Everyone thought it was a joke until one of my classmates, Carmen, raised her hand. 

To everyone’s surprise, she somehow managed to recite it all. She got an extra point on the quiz that day.

I wanted to raise my hand too but, I guess I was too afraid to speak. I was always too afraid to speak, I hated the fact that I was afraid.

Sitting back in my chair, I got lost in thought.

I questioned my purpose in this world. Would it be better if I just hadn't existed? What would my classmates do if I just disappeared? would they even notice?

The answer to my last question was no. One time we had a party, teachers day. I disappeared from the class party to make bracelets with Mrs Fiore, when I came back an hour later, I asked “did you notice I was gone?” 

“Uhhhh…yeaaahh?” My classmate responded uncertainty. The music was loud. Loud to make it sound like a whisper, but not loud enough for me to hear what she was saying

I knew it was a lie.

This made me truly question why I am even here, in this school. Why did my parents choose this school? They did say it was more accommodating to my ADHD. I would've been better off in some public school than this. At least there, no one talks bad about you. Well, not in front of you at least.

Maybe if I had been a better student, only then my classmates would notice me. As the day progressed, it was somewhat quiet. We had two quizzes, one in math and the other in Filipino.

Usually I had to go to a separate place to take these tests. MLP, the modified learning program. It was for kids like me, ones that had a troubled time in learning.

 There was another girl in MLP, her name was Mars. Mars and I, were friends, to say the least. How we became friends was…interesting.

Mars saw that I liked the same thing as her, which was a TV show called The Amazing Adventures of the Hare and the Lamb. It was a children's show, I just watched it because I got bored. It was a good TV show though, I re-watched it three or four times.

The moment Mars saw that I had some merch I made myself, she immediately started to talk to me. Telling me all about her favorite character, why the show’s so good, and then about a song I haven't heard of.

Ever since that day, we became friends. Though we were in different classes, she would invite me to eat lunch, she would sometimes give me rocks she found. Sometimes Mars would even just tell me a story or a character she created on the weekend. Nevertheless, I would listen to her nonstop. It wouldn't matter what mood I was in or how much homework I had, I'd always want to listen to her. It was like she was my sister in a way, or a version of me I wished to be ever since I was young.

Entering the small room for MLP, it was quiet except for the teacher there, Miss Luzviminda. Me and Mars called her Miss Luz for short. She was already there, writing some report or something. I walked into the room, giving her a small wave before sitting down.

“Did you study for the quiz, June?” She asked me, getting up from her velvet chair and handing me my quiz paper. “Yep,” I responded, bringing out my mechanical pencil. I started to write my name, just June Manalo. I didn't want to add the extra Christina, too lazy to write my full name. I looked at the paper and giving a somewhat cringed look, math.

 I didn't like math, although yes I did understand the lesson, I'd forget how to do the steps to the questions. That's why Miss Luz would help me.

Miss Luz was kind, she was like my tita. She’d always ask how I was doing or what I did during the weekends, Mars would start shaking her hands and start ranting about everything she did during the weekend, too bad she’s absent today. Miss Luz would always tell Mars to calm down a bit with a comforting smile. Mars would sit down and fidget in her seat in response. 

I started trying my best to answer the questions in the quiz, asking Miss luz if I did this or that correctly.

CHAPTER TWO: why am I like this?

The day passed very quickly, in the blink of an eye. I didn’t even really do much except for the quizzes and writing notes. At lunch I kind of just stayed at where me and Mars usually eat, which was the gate closest to our classrooms, gate two. Opening my lunch box, I brought out the lunch I made before I had left school, a simple nutella sandwich with banana and a Chuckie. Some others might say that this isn't a healthy or a filling lunch, well I can't cook.

I opened the metal container, bringing the sandwich to my mouth to take a bite, it tasted cold, I still ate it even though. Then I peeled my banana and poked my Chuckie with the straw to drink. I should really eat more, it's not really healthy to eat the same lunch everyday.

After I finished eating my sandwich, banana, and chuckie, I just sat there and opened my notebook to draw. I like drawing, usually though i'd draw some characters I've created in my head, or Mars’ characters

I started with a simple sketch of a head and eyes, not really knowing what to draw, I just went with the flow. As I kept drawing, I heard one of my teachers pass, Miss Estioco. She was my science teacher last year, she was like me. She was socially awkward but kind of a nerd, not in a bad way though. She was like one of those cool teachers who would somewhat let you do what you want, or just talk to casually.

She waved and smiled at me, a strand of her black hair falling onto her face before she brushed it behind her ear. I waved back, wondering what she was doing at gate two. I then heard a motorcycle pull up, oh she was just getting food she ordered. She walked to the gate, gave the driver the money before walking back inside. After that I just went back to drawing.

This was calming, my therapy, I liked sitting by myself and drawing. It would be better if Mars was here but this was fine enough as is. ‘The right eye’s to big.’ I thought, erasing the eye and tilting my notebook to draw it similar to the left one. Drawing was like gambling to me sometimes, I never knew if it looked nice or not, if it looked correctly portioned or not. Its like having a love hate relationship with drawing, I both love it and hate it.

An hour or 40 minutes pass, the lunch bell rung. I packed my stuff, shoving my metal empty container in with my water jug. I fixed my hair in a window that was being covered inside with a curtain. It was dark enough for me to see my reflection through the glass. ‘Eh, look good enough’ I tightened the knot of the jacket around my waist before walking back to my classroom. There were a lot of people, some in groups or just having a normal conversation. I quickly tried to walk past them, saying “excuse me” a thousand times before reaching my classroom. It was loud, really loud, there were people in small groups in the corner and the center of the classroom chatting away. The chatter of multiple conversations and the occasional yell could be heard during break. Walking over to my locker, I opened it and put my stuff inside. Reaching into my locker after putting my lunch box in it, I grabbed my apron since art was the second to last subject of the day. After that I sat back in my seat, my apron in my lap while I continued to draw.

But something felt…different. Something felt as if I was being watched from afar. I looked up and turned my head to look around the classroom, everyone was minding their own business. I tried to ignore the feeling of being watched but, I just couldn’t. I could just feel someone’s gaze staring right at me, watching my every move, like a hawk would do to prey. I felt helpless, I don't like being stared at, it's uncomfortable and awkward. 

I heard the bell ring not too long after, getting up from my seat, grabbing my pencil and putting it in my jacket’s pocket. We didn’t need much to bring, just really our apron and a pencil. I watched as everyone left the room, I was the last so I had to close the lights and close the door. Staying at the back of the line, I still could hear them talking and chatting away, gossiping or talking about plans for the weekend. 

When we reached the art room, our teacher was already there, Miss Reyes. She was there organizing the artworks of the class before us, placing them carefully on a shelf for them to dry. She greeted us with a good afternoon and told us to sit down. Miss Reyes said that we would be making an art based on a country and its tradition, people, and artwork. We’d be able to choose the country, I chose Greece since I liked studying and learning about its mythology.

She gave us a flat canvas and a marker and told us to write our name, section, and the country we chose. She also said that we could choose from a variety of art materials, varying from paints, paint brushes, sand, and newspapers. We could use any material to paint our artwork, so I chose an eraser.  Never really did I like painting or coloring, I liked doing that virtually. We were also allowed to use the computer to search for ideas for our artwork. I stood behind one of my most talkative classmates while I waited for my turn to use the computer to search for an idea. My classmate just kept talking and talking to the point it was annoying, like seriously can't you tell that it's too loud or what you're even saying didn't even make sense? She wasn't even talking to me but one of the smarter people in class, Isabel. I stood there patiently, fidgeting with the eraser. Then I just decided to draw the first thing on my mind, since time was of the essence. I walked back to the table I was situated at and began drawing up a design. It was of the goddess Persephone, most people just say that she’s the wife of Hades but she was so much more than that. She’s the goddess of spring, the queen of the underworld. She was so much more than just “hades’ wife”.

I made sure to draw her to be looking ethereal, with long flowy jellyfish like hair, eyes comforting and kind. I made sure to add her sign, a pomegranate. I gave her a simple chiton, adding some accessories like a crown, rings, bracelets, and flowers. She looked pretty, I made sure of that. 

I was seated in the corner of the classroom, with four of my classmates lingering around  my desk. They didn’t talk to me much, as I didn’t talk to them either. I kept my head down and continued drawing, overhearing their conversation. I sketched a few more lines, as they talked about another person in our batch. Something controversial, as I remember. Every day was like this actually, people talking about someone or something. 

I tried to ignore them, trust me I did, but now I know that one person in this batch is gay, I'm gay but like it's different y'know? 

Overhearing their conversation accidentally, they kept talking and yapping away about someone else now. I stayed silent, although I did know that person, but not really on the friend level more like a simple wave or hi in the hallways type. I felt sad for her, she didn’t deserve this treatment, but I couldn’t do anything about it. I kept my silence, didn’t want to add to the gossip, neither did I want to join the gossip.

As I continued to draw, I still felt as if I was being watched. Someone was watching me, that was for sure. I could feel its eyes peering into my skin, making it uncomfortable for me to draw. I stopped for a moment, looking around to see everyone talking to each other or focusing on their artwork, no one was staring at me. So I just went back to drawing, sketching lines delicately.

After I was finished with the sketch, I didn't want to color it, it was too pretty for coloring. I got up from my seat and walked over to Miss Reyes to ask her if I should color it or not. She gave me good advice, telling me to try and use shading if I didn't want to color it. I nodded and thanked her for that before walking back to my seat. Everyone else was still drawing and painting their artwork. Since I didn't know what to do, I just cleaned up my area and stayed silent while I waited for class to end. 

Boredom took over as I watched the clock tick, waiting patiently for the bell to ring. We had like, maybe five or ten minutes left I think.

The minutes passed by, everyone was still chatting and talking. I saw Miss Reyes walking around, checking up with my classmates and giving them advice about their artworks. When she walked up to me, she asked “oh june! I'm kind of worried that the bracelet you gave me might break, can I ask that you restring it?” She took off the bracelet I made for her on teacher's day. “I wear it everyday kasi” She smiled at me warmly as I took the bracelet from her hands. “Yes miss.” I replied, putting the bracelet in my pocket, she walked off as another of my classmates called her. 

More or maybe five minutes pass, it was finally the next class. I saw everyone get up, still chatting with each other as they cleaned up their tables and their workspaces. We still had one more class, religion. I was the first to be out of the art classroom, waving my teacher goodbye.

It was quiet out, no other students were walking around, no maritesses chatting around or young students running around. I liked the quiet, but I never liked being alone. After I made it back to my classroom, I drank some water as the rest of my classmates filled the room. We all waited for a bit before my religion teacher came in, Miss Elane. Almost half my batch hated her because she always goes ‘im not mad, I'm not sad, nor am I disappointed. I'm worried about you guys failing your test.’ She always says that after half the class failed her test. She expected us to memorize the bible’s verses, I can't even remember what I had for breakfast. I know, I know Miss Elane had good intentions but why did she have to say it like that?

���Good afternoon class” She said, everyone replied with a good afternoon to her too. We were all very tired, mentally and physically. She told us all to stand up to pray, though I didn't want to, so I just stood there with my arms crossed. Then with that she started her lesson on some new bible verse.

Everyone sat back down and pulled out their notebooks to start taking notes on the verse. I didn't want to take notes, for I was too tired to do so. “June, what was Abraham promised?” she called on me unexpectedly. “He was promised angels?” I answered, standing up. Miss Elane just sighed before turning to the board to write, I am scared. Maybe I got scared because of her glare, how intimidating her ‘comforting’ smile was, or how she would always pull me out of class to ask me personal questions. I always tried to answer them vaguely and asked her if I could leave. 

 She would always call me the black sheep of the flock, commenting on how I would always walk a bit slower then my class so I don't have to socialize with them. I didn’t like her one bit, I didn’t like how she would try to talk to me, trying to pry me away from my class. There was even a time where, I swear to you that Miss Elane blinked sideways.

[snickerduu]

What music do you like?

Any specific genre?

Any niche music that you'd recommend or think is underrated?

ooh, i listen to a lot of different genres at different times, so this answer might differ every other month HAHHA but for a very long time i've been a big fan of music that helps calm down my noisy brain -- usually folk/acoustic instrumentals! will never not love those

recently, i've been listening to a lot of hiatus kaiyote, alan gogoll, the oh hellos (their four winds albums are great and mean a lot to me), laufey, takashi kokubo (i always listen to their albums to sleep), and stray kids!

i'm also a fan of local filipino artists UDD and munimuni :)

and some other long-time favorites i always come back to are park bird, elephant gym, plini, erutan, haruno, khai dreams, again&again, ichiko aoba, and a bit of radiohead since my partner axl (who also makes music!! he's made all the music for my animations so far) is a really big fan of them HAHA i enjoy A Moon Shaped Pool the most out of their albums because it makes me feel so sad

for stuff i feel is underrated, i personally think more people should listen to elephant gym and alan gogoll!! genuinely surprised their music hasnt reached over a million monthly streams on spotify yet, they're very pleasant listening experiences 🐛 my earworms (side note i feel like axl has better answers for niche music since he seems to always find really good hole-in-the-wall artists, he's positively influenced the range of music i listen to since before uni! we were in a high school band back then HAHA)

also i listen to ABBA with my dad a lot! their songs and documentaries play every car ride we have so i know every song at this point...but their songs are all bangers so its ok (my favorites voulez-vous and gimme gimme gimme)

these are all off the top of my head so i might've forgotten other ones!! maybe if another music ask comes out next time i'll spew out another bajillion HAHA thank you for asking and for reading this block of text :) !!!

[mrcarmenile]

another hazbin rant lmao im so sorry 😭😭 (this one is about alastor’s design and racial identity, specifically talking about alastor being mixed-race as a mixed person myself)

ik theres a lot of criticism about alastor’s design not properly representing his race, which is a valid concern but

firstly we haven’t gotten the whole show yet and we don’t know how well his character is actually portrayed - so accusing people like viv of being racist or that alastor is shit rep cannot really be properly backed up at this time

secondly alastor is mixed. we don’t know exactly what percentages or whatever, but we know that he is partially black, either half black or less than half black (considering that he is half creole). i see a lot of people saying “that is not a black man” “that’s such a white guy”

i am mixed race. i am not black, but i am half filipino and half white. i myself have been told that i’m too white, or that i’m not really asian, or that i’m not asian enough. my skin is too pale. my hair isn’t thick enough. my facial features aren’t “filipino” enough. i’m whitewashing myself.

i’m not dismissing white washing or bad representation at all - but since we’re, firstly, not sure how alastor is handled in the full show, and secondly, people are SAYING that he’s “not really black” or “not black enough”

mixed people receive this all the time. erasure of our racial identities, feeling like we don’t fit in anywhere because we /look different/. it really upsets me to see people make these comments. if you have your (respectful!) criticisms, then of course let them be known if you would like. spread awareness. but i advise you not to make comments like the ones i pointed out (they can be very invalidating to mixed-race people), and to keep an open mind for the full series - it may surprise you.

idk it just hurts to see another white passing mixed person getting their race entirely dismissed simply because they don’t look like someone who is fully that race, or other mixed people of that race. like ik alastor is fictional but it also makes me feel bad? mixed people look different, sometimes they fully pass as one race, sometimes they look somewhere in the middle - just please don’t make comments dismissing a mixed person’s race. i can understand wanting alastor to look more black, in fact i myself believe that he should have more black features, but. cmon - your words have meaning, even when directed at a fictional character - they affect real people too. these are comments that real people (including myself) receive, and it’s not fun.

[ also try not to speak over the people who are actually being represented (or possibly misrepresented) by alastor - i feel a connection with him as i am also a white-passing mixed-race aroace, but i try not to comment much on this specific topic because i am not creole or black. this is just my stance on how he is portrayed as a mixed person, and people’s responses to that. ]

thank you for coming to yet another ted talk, any racist or disrespectful people/comments will be deleted and blocked. much love <3

[koi-pond-tears]

Headcanons I love even tho they go against my main beliefs for these characters

Ace/Aro bakugou. Idk why but I just. Love it. So much. Like yes lil dude be free!!! Fuck nobody!!! You never needed bitches!!!

And especially the headcanons where he's like. Absolutely clueless about love. Like Mina will ask "so bakugou what's your type?" And he just looks confused n goes "?? You mean my blood type???"

Izuku and Katsuki being brothers. Like not literal brothers by blood but they have that brotherly bond. I actually do ship dekubaku but this headcanon is still very dear to me and I think in another universe it could work.

Like it's so funny imagining them fighting the way brothers do or being mean to each other but also having each other's backs and protecting/defending the other. I love that for them

Idk why but asexual todoroki just. Wow. I love him

I feel like he would still want a romantic relationship just without the sex part. Like he's totally cool with kissing or cuddling bc cmon there is no way in HELL this boy is not absolutely touch starved.

I feel like while Ace bakugou thinks sex is gross and is repulsed by it, ace todoroki is just indifferent to it. He doesn't rlly care or have any feelings towards it. Like ok bestie go smush your peepees together while I watch the entire Beverly Hills Chihuahua franchise

As much as I love my blorbos bakudeku together I have to admit the idea of izuku being the token straight friend in a class full of the ell gee bee tees is so fucking funny to me. Like he doesn't understand the lingo and is absolutely sweating his balls off trying not to say something offensive and it's just hilarious. He accidentally uses she/her instead of they/them once and almost commits seppuku ( a japanese style of suicide which includes disembowelment)

I'm sure he includes everyone's pronouns in their description in his notebook to make sure he remembers what to use

Nonbinary jirou just. Fits. Like idk what anyone has to say about that but look me in the eye and tell me that bitch doesn't put on a binder

They're an enby and also bisexual bc I am correct about everything.

Trans kiri just works.

If deku doesn't grow up to be tall as fuck then I will literally have a meltdown

does he not look like the tall lanky nice friend that can't even say fuck??? Look me in the eye and tell me that. Do it.

Eri grows up to be really tall

Like idk where this comes from but to me she's just. Tall. Girly doesn't get you things from the top shelf she IS the top shelf

Also I personally don't like the eri x kota ship, I think it's kinda weird to be wanting these whole ass 6 year Olds to date, idk but it makes me uncomfortable

I saw a post once that said that Ochaco would be an active memelord (back when that term wasn't cringe) and oh my god. No. This bitch wouldn't know anything.

She has a fucking flip phone I doubt she has access to motherfucking twitter

I think she'd be like Izuku where she's just absolutely clueless on the lingo and slang and feels left out when her friends reference memes she's never seen before

And even if they do take the time to send her one or two she wouldn't understand it

I also saw this in a different post but tsuyu listens to asmr

Tokoyami too

I love the black Mina headcanons but I'm filipino and so starved of representation so I'll just pretend she's half pinoy but grew up in japan so she doesn't really know much of the language (you'd be surprised how many of us don't speak our native language despite living here all our lives)

Himikos eyebags come from the many long nights she spent as a villain doing literally anything else but getting a good night's sleep. Like I know in the backstory episodes we see her with the eyebags as a child, but when I first watched the show I just assumed that that was the reason she had them, and I'll stick to that till I die

Mirio is autistic. Do not argue with me I am right.

[kairiscorner]

I have come with another miguel x filipino reader request that is relatable and comes from another skit.

Hint: Distrust 101

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cv21-4AOnIb/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

THE GENERATIONAL TRAUMA OF THE ICE CREAM LAGAYAN NA ME ULAM URGHRHRHRHHRHRHRH we cannot escape it, hence miggy has to deal with us.

it isn't ice cream, is it? – miguel o'hara x filipino!reader

another hot day was upon you, and the only best way you knew how to cool off was through going through a batch of your favorite ice cream. you couldn't remember if you finished it already or not, but when you saw the container in the fridge... you got excited and even hungrier. you smiled as you took the container out of the fridge, it was cool yet it wasn't frozen like ice cream usually would be–but you didn't mind, it was ice cream... right?

usually, nobody would be bothered by the sight of ice cream in the fridge–they'd be excited, usually. but you were in a constant state of uneasiness as you gently shook the container, feeling your doubt pool in your stomach and settle there for a moment as you tried thinking back if you had any soup or stew for dinner last night, or anything small enough to fit in the ice cream container that would be anything but the cold, creamy treat. you contemplated on the odds of it actually being ice cream and it being the dinner or lunch you and miguel had the previous day, and you just stayed that way for a solid 5 minutes until miguel came into the kitchen and saw you in a thinking position—as if you were 'the thinker' statue but in such snug yoga pants and an oversized shirt that was most likely miguel's.

"what's wrong?" he asked you as he went over to get a glass of water. you sighed and took the ice cream container and looked up at him with a crestfallen expression already strewn on your face. "...what's in this?" you asked him all softly as he looked at the container then back at you with a perplexed expression. "ice cream." he told you with a shrug. "are you sure?" you asked him with a harder tone, not wanting to get your hopes up that your treat was actually in there. "yeah? why?" miguel asked you as he took a sip of water. you sighed and tried to stop yourself from smiling. "well, i need you to be sure, because the immeasurable amount of disappointment i'll get if i open this and there's actually some chicken adobo, or sinigang, or bulalo in here, i'll..." you trailed off as miguel chuckled slightly, nearly choking on his water. he set his glass down and opened it for you, and lo and behold, your favorite ice cream was right there in front of you.

you exclaimed in happiness and surprise, your smile reaching from ear to ear as miguel handed you a big spoon for you to enjoy the frozen treat with. "i'd never trick you like that, cariño, what gave you that thought, though?" he asked you as you happily ate the ice cream up, feeling so rewarded and happy that your lunch nor your dinner was in the container. "my childhood gave me that thought." you said in a rushed voice as you gobbled down spoon after spoon of ice cream scoops, with miguel rubbing the ice cream that got on your face off you with the pad of his thumb. "sounds rough." he said with a chuckle as you spoon fed him a scoop and giggled. "you can never be too sure, y'know; i might just do that to you, miggy..." you teased him as he chuckled and nuzzled his face against your hair, pleading you in a sarcastic voice not to do it, not to tease him like that all cruelly.

tags !! @miguelswifey04 @hearts4gabri @hisachuu @wreakingmarveloushavok @fictarian @yuridopted0 @simsrandomstuff @luvstarrstruck @popeheywardssecretgf @meeom @arachnoia @melovetitties @fable-library @ophanimgold @smokeywhalee @capnshtfce

[aethelwyneleigh27]

In honor of Christmas spirit, I will present you with things I love about my moots and why I appreciate them. Hope this there's you guys up no matter what you're going through right now, you deserve to have something good said about you, I love you guys <333

A/n: please excuse the few ones because now I've started to drink.. vodka mule.. hope I don't say anything too weird and I know I'm kinda a weak drinker, still building my tolerance and all.

Alright, let's start with my most favorite moot..

@puff0o0

🩷 You are so pretty love, how dare you ever say anything otherwise. The curly hair and it's beautiful color, facial features that look like they've been carved by a sculptor and down to your sweet voice. Physically hurts me to know that you're gonna say otherwise :((

🩷 Your writing? Fucking top tier fluff ever, those mean comments about it? Screw them, your writing got you to almost 3k followers and they're just jealous because they don't have that.

🩷 You are such a good friend, always caring for everyone and not asking anything for in return. Also please love, give yourself a break and please rest. Never will forget the first time we interacted because you are by far the sweetest creator who so happens to be well known.

@connorsui

🩵 Christmas is the time of giving right? It's time to give some back to you. I'm gonna get this out of the was, sweetie you are the best kind of reader I have ever come across and there's really only one of you, I wouldn't have it any other way.

🩵 You are the kindest and funniest person ever, your commentary keeps us writers motivated. I mean this genuinely, I find myself always looking forward to what you have to say on my works.

🩵 I'm sure many writers you've reblogged will agree with me, your commentary has honestly been the best, you sure know how to make me feel better about what I write. Also I'mma need some of those memes you use, you're so iconic and funny I can't.

@simp4konig

❤️ You don't give yourself enough credit for how much you help people boost their works, saying you haven't done much but commenting, talking to me and just interacting with my work does so much.

❤️ You are literally so nice to me, I don't even know where to begin with the list of things you've done that you refuse to be credited for.

❤️ You're so funny and another great writer, I hope that I see more of your writing along the way.

@blingblong55

❤️ First of all, who gave you the right and talent to be such a good writer? Genuinely, what kind of drugs are implemented in your writing.. you got me to like Makarov.. you're that powerful. I know I'm into villains but I wouldn't be surprised if you got me to like shepherd too... Please don't. (This is not a challenge please 😭)

❤️ How can I say this without sounding like a total fangirl? I'm obsessed with your work as you can tell, so much so that you're one of the creators who inspired me to start writing again and still as of now I think of your works while writing my own.

❤️ I DEFINITELY WASN'T SQUEALING AND KICKING MY FEET IN MY BED WHEN YOU FIRST INTERACTED WITH MY WORK...

@anonymuslydumb

🩵 Love you as the first Filipino person I had interacted with within this app that doesn't happen to be my school friend or relative.

🩵 Mangangaroling po, blue and yellow bills only. Pwede din po through G-cash and ShopeePay, pero no less than 1k pag-ganon AHAHAHA CHAROT, KIMI LANG.

🩵 Mwah <3

@shadofireshinobi

🖤 You are so special I can't even, you're my first ever mutual, first request and first person that I can genuinely talk to here before anyone.

🖤 You've made me feel so comfortable in my own skin and I know you're facing difficulties with your own that I am too but you're in so much more difficulty. I really do wish the best for you, love.

🖤 You are so strong, confident and resilient, you've been through so much and gosh you are the definition of a powerful woman who I wanted to be when I was young. Child me would be the happiest knowing that a motherly figure is looking after her.

Past Friends and Relatives <3

@marshmallowinamess

💚 Do I even have to say this? You are the best person in my life, my soulmate forevermore, we've been through so much together that I don't know where to start. I wish I was able to express how much I love you.

💚 You have been there for me through thick and thin for the most difficult times of my life, you've saved me countless times and though it doesn't feel like I'm doing enough, I made a promise to myself that I will make it up to you even if it will be the rest of my life.

💚 You are the only person who stood up for me when I needed you the most, I just.. don't know what else to say because what can you give someone who's done so much for you? Who has treated you better than anyone in your life, better than your parents? What can you possibly do to repay someone who saved you from yourself?

@ysalinedevreux

❤️ I know we've had conflict and drama in the past and I just wanna say I'm thankful that you contacted me again because we would've missed out on the friendship we were supposed to have.

❤️ A lot has happened and yet you stayed strong and we both learned from our past.

❤️ Happy holidays my dear <3

@rabblebite

🧡 What more could I say to my most favorite cousin in the world?

🧡 Thanks for being there for me always, you've made heartwarming promises and we still have a lot of adventures together (we're both drunk right now)

🧡 Honestly I wish my dad would take me here more often because then I'd get to spend more time and gossip with you guys. Thank you for comforting me like you always do when I needed, immediately noticing the change in my voice and that I'm crying.

Special mentions:

@azereus @rustic-guitar-notes @trepaika @skeletalgoats @icarustypicalfall @ghosts-cyphera @thesnowurzikdjinn @legallymentallyillfuckers @miss-gms-and-the-rotten-womb

You guys are always there to support my works and I want reciprocate that as much as I can, each and every one of you are so talented. I wish I can write more and do you guys justice but my eyes hurt so much and this is overdue. You guys are such good writers and even more amazing mutuals of mine who I know have been through some tough times. Know that all of you are welcome to talk to me when you need to and that my page is open to comfort as much as I can from a distance <3

[theinbornartist]

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

ᴡᴀʏɴᴇ ᴍᴀɴᴏʀ, sᴇᴘᴛᴇᴍʙᴇʀ ғɪʀsᴛ

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

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

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

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

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

She went over to help him with the chocolate.

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

“Thank you, miss.” Alfred said.

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

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

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

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

She smiled to herself and nodded.

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

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

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

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

That was odd. Pretty odd.

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

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

Dick rubbed his lidded eyes.

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

“I think so.”

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

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

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

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

“What?”

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

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

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

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

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

“So could we have intruders at home?”

Dick suggested.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“You first—“ Jason pushed Dick.

“Hey what gives?” Dick cried out.

“Your call.” Tim chimed.

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

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

“In the count of three-“

“One.”

“Two-“

“You guys look silly.”

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

“Ren?!” Tim exclaimed.

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

“What?” Jason and Dick chorused.

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

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

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

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

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

“Yes.” She answered.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“But on loop.” Arnoren joined in.

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

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

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

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

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

“Meaning?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I try.” Alfred said proudly.

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

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

“P-Puto?” Tim stuttered.

“Yes, puto.”

“Puto?!” Dick exclaimed.

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

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

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

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

“How can you pronounce it that fast?”

“I read.”

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

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

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

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

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

“What?” All three of the men chorused.

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

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

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

Dick reached out and took that one christmas ball.

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

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

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

“They can explain, Master Bruce.”

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

Bruce walked over to the four.

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

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

“Christmas in September.”

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

ᴬᵛ2024

[weirdagnes]

okay okay so i’ve been listening wayyy too much We Don’t Talk About Bruno. I can’t help but listen to all English, Spanish and Filipino version (im so surprised i didn’t cringe at Filipino dub?? they all sounded so close to the original voices and the singing voice is damn impressive)

The differences in mixing is interesting! Here’s what I’ve noticed (focusing only on the final verse):

We Don’t Talk About Bruno

Official audio and the audio in the movie have different mixing.

Official Audio:

There’s no moving pans. Everyone’s on the exact same pan where they began.

Pepa on the right, Felix on left.

Camilo on left-center (-20 or so).

Dolores on far left.

Isabela on right-center (+20 or so).

Movie Audio:

PEPA & FELIX

(“It was my wedding…”) Felix is on the left pan. Pepa comes from right pan then glides over to left pan when she and Isabela held hands and Pepa moved stage right.

(“Bruno walks in…”) Pepa is back on right pan but more center, somewhere +10 probably.

(“Thunder!”) Felix is on far right pan now.

(“You telling this story..”) Pepa is on center now.

(“I’m sorry, mi vida…”) Felix is back on far left.

(“Bruno says it...”) Pepa and Felix comes from far left slowly panning to right, matching their animation moving from stage right to left.

ISABELA

(“The life of my dreams...”) Isabela is all over lmao. She starts on left pan (-30) then pan max left as she exits stage right. Then when she and Pepa switched stage sides, Isabela’s track pans very fast to the right.

(“My power would grow...”) She’s back on left pan (-30).

(“He told me…”) She’s on right pan now.

(“And I’m fine…”) She pans further to the right (+40 or so). But on the last “I’m fine”, she pans fast to the left (-20) as her animation also move stage right.

CAMILO

(Camilo’s 1st Stanza) Camilo is on right pan (+40 maybe)

(Camilo 2nd Stanza) Camilo is on left pan now (-40 or so).

DOLORES

(Dolores rap) Dolores is very hard to hear but she very slowly pans from far left (-40 to -50) to center-right (+20 or so) until her rap ends.

(Dolores Verse 2) Dolores stays on right pan.

Overall:

(“Time for dinner!”) Pepa and Julieta are on left and right on both official and movie audio.

The original version is second best in balancing. Dolores is very hard to hear, took me many replays to hear her clearly. Isabela’s “I’m fine” also went over my ears until I heard the stem tracks. Pepa and Felix’s audio dominates most of the first verse.

No Se Habla De Bruno

Official Audio: Same positions as the English and Filipino version. Doesnt move.

(“A la mesa!”) The voices are on center and right pan.

Everyone is perfectly balanced imo. No one is overpowering one another. Amazing! Better than the original.

Movie Audio: Has the exact same panning as the English and Filipino version.

(“A la mesa!”) The voices are separated far left and far right.

Camilo is noticeably quieter all throughout than in the official audio.

Overall:

imo the Spanish version has the best balancing out of the three. You can hear everyone very clearly, especially Dolores whose track is often too buried under in other versions (even the original).

On the final harmonizing “Don’t talk about Bruno” line, they seem to back up the voice actors with choir and it seems to have more wider acoustics on it in the movie audio but not in the official audio? Unless it was super nerfed in the official audio.

Wag Ikuwento si Bruno

Official Audio:

Same positions as the English and Spanish version. Doesnt move.

(“Hoy ang mesa!”) Pepa and Julieta are both on center and the voices that harmonize are on the far left and far right - which is not good imo bc (1) the harmony is too spread out; (2) there’s not much difference in timbre between Pepa and Julieta and they’re both singing the main melody so the center is overpowering and monotonous.

Camilo and Felix are loudest, Pepa’s track is more quiet than Isabela. Dolores’ track is super muddy but can be heard in the first repeat of the final chorus, but on the second repeat, she is as loud as Camilo and Isabela’s track while Pepa and Felix are subdued.

Movie Audio:

Has the exact same panning as the English and Spanish version.

(“Hoy ang mesa!”) Pepa and Julieta’s voice is separated on left and right, but the left side is louder than the right. But it’s so much better than the official audio because they’re on stereo with the harmonizing voices instead of clashing in center.

Felix, Pepa and Isabela are the loudest all throughout. Dolores can’t be heard at all start-to-finish, and Camilo is quieter than in the original and Spanish version.

Overall:

The worst balancing out of the three imo. Dolores’ track is practically non-existent (except maybe the Official Audio, at least she sounds better there).

However, I like this version’s final harmonizing “Wag Ikuwento si Bruno” better than the English and Spanish. I like that the higher register seems to be heard more, and generally the way it was sung felt more powerful.

I also want to note that in Camilo’s verse, Dolores’ last “We don’t talk about Bruno” is noticeably very quiet; I thought it wasn’t sung until I amped up the volume.

Conclusion!

I assume they have like an official guide or notes for how they did the panning for both the official audio and the movie audio. Maybe because the panning had to follow the character animation on where they move on screen so the audio experience matches the visual.

But they didn’t seem to have an official guide on mixing and balancing, probably because of different recording equipment and studio environments.

My ranking based on balancing and mixing:

Spanish

English

Filipino

My ranking based on best harmony:

Filipino

English

Spanish

These rankings also remains the same for other songs (yeah i listened to them all). If a music student or professional comes across this post, I might’ve used incorrect terminology and analyzed the panning incorrectly, so I don’t mind being corrected!

alr yapping’s over

[thatguyrufioh]

fuck it we ball posting my team urameshi headcanons

initially i was gonna ask if this was something people wanted me to share, but this is my void and i get to scream into it

yusuke urameshi

nigerian/japanese

he/him but literally couldn’t care less what he’s referred to as

your honor that is a bisexual man

takes good care of his hair but doesn’t do much extra skincare

post s3 he has pointier ears and canines

absolutely fucked up sleep schedule, keiko has to call him almost every night to get him to sleep

absolute shit at most video games but pretty decent at fighting games

has adhd but was never taken to get diagnosed, he gets kinda pissy when authority figures bring up him potentially having it

absolutely no filter when it comes to facial expressions, you can read him like a fucking book by looking at his face

good cook

Kazuma Kuwabara

japanese

he/they but oftentimes is just referred to as he/him

another very violently bisexual man right there

this man takes very good care of himself, skincare, hair care etc etc,

despite the assumption of him being a violent no good punk, he’s great with kids and doesn’t mind playing dress up or providing piggyback rides

he carries a few cans of cat food on him at all times so he can feed any strays he sees

wow look, a man with a normal sleep schedule

listens to a lot of heavy metal, and some of the sappiest old love songs imaginable

his hair is naturally curly but it’s dyed orange

doodles on the margins of his notebook or on his skin

has gotten surprising good at drawing cats,

also another good cook, but they’re better at baking

this is just post canon thing but i think he’s a nurse

Kurama

demon but physically presents as filipino/japanese

he/she (bigender)

gay gray ace

takes decent care of herself but doesn’t have to do much

typically very stoic and has difficulty getting his face to match his emotions

that is an autistic man

walking into his room is like walking into a jungle

nobody knows what to get him for christmas or his birthday so they just get him plants

wears a wide variety of clothing styles but all seem very fancy

has the autism thing where he walks on his tiptoes when not wearing shoes

Hiei

demon

he/they/it boy adjacent

demiaroace and queer

also walks on his tiptoes a lot

very snuggly when tired

weighted blanket enjoyer

greasy rat who doesn’t enjoy self care

can fake surprisingly good table manners

his face is at least a grimace

has been caught dumpster diving several times

shiori really does care about him

falls out of trees when sleeping

poor expression control

technologically illiterate

likes cats

[bryan360]

(Link Here #1)

*My animal OCS reaction after receiving gifts from friends/family this year’s Christmas 🎄🎅🏻*

Maxwell, May, and Sam’s thoughts for their owned customized ‘Smiling Critters’ plushies ⬇️

🐰🖌️Maxwell: Wow, guys! You made us into as ‘Smiling Critters’ plushies?

🐰👊💥May: They sure did alright! 😁👍

🦊⚽️Sam: Awww! This is without a doubt our precious gifts we’ll never forget.

🐰🖌️Maxwell: It sure does. No surprise how the popularity of the ‘Smiling Critters’ from that “Poppy Playtime Chapter Three” really blown up with people.

🐰👊💥May: No kidding; especially now that our Filipino pal followed his interests from said fandom. Sure hope he’ll getting his own ‘Smiling Critters’ plushies that he truly deserves.

🦊⚽️Sam: Yeah. Meanwhile we’ll be sure to take care our plushies you’d gave us this year Same goes to our friends who got their own plushies as well. Except for Caleb that he got his new airless basketball, but hey its not bad choice. So thanks so much, guys! 😊👍

🐰🖌️Maxwell and 🐰👊💥May: Yeah, thanks! 😁

Mikey’s thought for his physical vinyl copy of a Lo-Fi music album ⬇️

🐱🎧Mikey: No way, man. This should be great for my other vinyl collection that I got tons of them; believe me. Anyways for this Lo-Fi album that Miya gave me was awesome to check it out. I’m no stranger or cat stranger when it comes to listening some chill music and such. So thanks Miya for giving me this for Christmas. At least now I’d pay you back with your new sweaters and Amazon gift cards I got. 😉👌

Windy and Scottie’s thoughts for their new kitchen appliances ⬇️

🐰🎤Windy: Would you look at that? Our new portable cooking pans and self stirring mugs! That’s great we’d got for this year. 😁👍

🐰📚🍌Scottie: You said it, honey. Now we can prepare our delicious meals that hopefully won’t make too much of a mess. We had other cooking pans while works fine, but sometimes started to show off its age that we needed to replace for newer ones.

🐰🎤Windy: Thank goodness for you guys got for us; including our self stirring mug a chance. Our kids should enjoying this once we’d cooked dinner with our new cooking pans.

🐰📚🍌Scottie: 😋👍

(Link Here #2)

Maxwell, May, and Sam’s thoughts for their own Mayu’s clothes ⬇️

🐰🖌️Maxwell: Our new clothes from Mayu? Sure, why not?

🐰👊💥May: Gotta say, it was pretty good for us of owning today’s clothings from our friends this year.

🦊⚽️Sam: Comfy….🥰❤️

🐰🖌️Maxwell: Yeah, just like that we he was thinking. Thank for giving us our new clothes, Mayu. If it can do on ‘multi-purpose’ that you’d said, then we all hear it loud and clear.

🐰👊💥May: And our friend Jenny will be enjoying it too as well.

🦊⚽️Sam: Mhm! 😊👍

(Link Here #3)

🇵🇷Me: and finally me when checking this art gift for @lordromulus90 he’d wanted. Pretty rad to show off this OC’s style and its customized stickers. Happy “late” Holidays courtesy from my pal’s art gifts!

[captaintoddpstewartus]

How did the topic come up of your wife fucking other men? Did you bring up? If so what was her initial reaction? Or did she bring it up with you? How long after you met did she fuck other men? Btw your wife is hot, lucky man 😊

I got some really great advice from another blog. If you aren't following her, you should. She is beautiful, sexy, and lives the life I wanted in a woman. I was in a very bad place with the loss of my wife. I wanted to commit suicide and here comes along @lisa-i-am who was very down to earth and spent time replying to my messages. We became great friends and because of her friend Joy, she was able to help guide me on finding love again. I knew what I wanted. I visited the dating sites for Asian women. Be careful there, a lot of scammers. I was honest in my profile of what I wanted. I didn't say in my profile I was looking for a woman who likes fucking other men. I did say I wanted a woman who didn't mind lots of attention and wouldn't mind being a trophy wife. I kind of stole that from Joy's husband who found Joy through a dating site. It took me awhile to find Emz. The Philippines is very catholic. Lots of girls exchanging sex to survive but not interested in letting themselves be shared after marriage.

Emz and I hit it off. She was skeptical at first about me wanting a wife who dresses very sexy. She learned quickly it was true. I told Emz how I came to the dating site. I told her about @lisa-i-am and her friend Joy who is a very hot Filipina. I was very honest with her. I told her how Lisa saved me from my deep depression and gave me the will to live again. I told her about Lisa's lifestyle and shared her blog with her. She was intrigued when I told her how much I wanted her to fuck other men. She was skeptical at first. She told me she thought I was testing her. When she saw how hard my cock would get while we talked about it, she started to believe. When I asked her to fuck someone from the club she did. She was hot about it. She did it even though she thought I would fuck her and leave. When she saw how much I loved it and how much I loved fucking her after another guy, it made her start to believe. It made her want it more. She didn't go all out crazy at the beginning at least not until we got married. I think she wanted to make sure I was serious.

After we got married, she would start fucking guys when I asked her to. We mostly did the hotel bar thing like Lisa suggested. Sometimes a regular bar. Eventually she started wanting to fuck more and asking to do it. I love it when she asks. It's a lot hotter for me. I don't ask to fuck other women except I did tell her if I had a chance to fuck Lisa I wanted to. To my surprise, she let me go to Lisa's huge meet and greet event in Vegas. I took my wife to meet Lisa. She didn't go to the event because it was males only. We had a great dinner with Lisa and her husband. Emz has fucked Mr. C who is Lisa's husband. She really loves his cock. Emz is really good friends with Lisa now and she has developed a friendship with Joy given their Filipino background. Emz has given me the okay to fuck Joy if given the chance. It looks like it might happen. We all were supposed to get together this past fall but Lisa had some health issues she was dealing with. We are all hoping to get together this spring.

Emz is growing all the time with this lifestyle. Kind of like watching Lisa grow over the years. With what I do for work we can't be overt about it. She likes to keep herself mysterious anyway. Thanks man, I'm very lucky to have her.

[mariemarieohcontrary]

Tagpuan (Rendezvous) - Chapter One

Book: The Royal Romance, Book 1

Pairing: Liam Rys/Evangeline Lakandula (MC)

Taglist: @ao719 @tessa-liam @nestledonthaveone @malblk21 @twinkleallnight

Chapter Rating: T

Chapter Warnings:

Sexual Harassment (Starts at "Evangeline ignored their leering smiles...", Ends in “Just let me work, sir!”)

Verbal Abuse/Workplace Abuse (Starts at "What the hell, Lakandula!", Ends in "What do you have to say for yourself?")

Chapter: I - The Trinket Bar

Word Count: 5500+ (im so sorry omg)

Summary: A normal night in The Trinket. (As normal as can be, at least.) A first meeting. Concern. An invitation.

Author's Notes: So while the dialogue is in English save for some words, just understand that dialogues with Filipino characters like the staff and patrons are in Tagalog while the ones with Drake, Maxwell, Tariq and James are in English.

Also uhhhh you'll get to completely enjoy Liam and the others in Chapter 2. For now, it's still setting the scene! I really hope you guys like how this turned out.

Feel free to listen to and loop the songs I set up while reading! I could even provide fully translated lyrics if asked!

If you want to be in the taglist, just tell me! ❤️

(Previous Chapter) | (Next Chapter)

Nalulunod sa pangangamba Puno na ang baga, pasuko ka na Sa'n ka kakapit kung malalim na? Ang sabi ay "Arte lang 'yan" -Lunod, Ben&Ben

TRANSLATION

Drowning in anxiety Lungs are full, you’re giving up Where do you hold onto when you’re falling in deep They say you’re just acting out

"What can I get for you, gentlemen?"

Three pairs of eyes turned to her and Evangeline had to stamp down the desire to balk and run away.

The table she agreed to serve was just as Daniel described. A disgruntled rugged man with hair that was kind of long, a hyperactive man with short brown hair who was fiddling with the karaoke machine (god, please don't break it, Stanley will blame her and it'll come out of her pay—) and one who was wearing an overly expensive suit trying to lounge on a very un-loungable and rickety bench.

And they're all staring at her.

Despite the ill feeling she felt at the pit of her stomach, she just plastered on her Customer Service Smile, and looked at them expectantly.

It was the hyper one who broke the awkward silence,

"Oh, hi!" He greeted, bounding up to her and away from the karaoke machine. "Are you our waiter? I thought our server was the other one."

Evangeline hadn't met a foreign motormouth before.

"Daniel and I swapped," Evangeline said honestly as she reached over to the bench, nudging a tupperware cover she'd been using to balance out the bench to straighten it, "his mother's coming back overseas so he needs an easy shift tonight."

"Ah, from where?" The man in the expensive suit asked, his interest piqued.

Evangeline shook her head.

"It's not for me to say, po," she replied, "only that she'd been away for a year and he's been missing her."

"I'm sure it was a good vacation." the man replied.

Evangeline stilled.

They don't know.

Of course they don't.

What was a fact of life here was barely consequential in other countries.

He looked earnest enough in a carefree way. He definitely meant it as something positive. The hyper man seemed to not have noticed. But the rugged man was frowning.

"Tariq—"" the rugged man started with what was clearly a reprimand.

But it was Evangeline who finished it.

"Daniel's mother is an Overseas Filipino Worker," she explained, her tone quiet as she said it, "she wasn't away on vacation."

The man in the expensive suit, Tariq, looked surprised. Then he looked like he didn't know what to say.

Evangeline figured as much so she took a deep breath and nodded at the three men.

"I'm–" Tariq faltered before he looked down, "I'm sorry, I thought—"

"We got derailed," she cut him off and smiled, it no longer stretched wide enough and didn't even reach her eyes no matter how fake it was, "what can I get for you?"

Tariq was quiet for a moment before clearing his throat.

"Yes, ah, I would like a Macallan Red with filet mignon and bearnaise sauce."

"Steak for me, thanks!" The hyper man added before he ran back to the karaoke machine.

The way they spoke made Evangeline remember the posh students in her high school and college. Speaking a language Evangeline never did and eventually wrinkling their noses when they realise Evangeline wasn't on the same standing as them.

It made the feeling of unease return in her but she only shook her head and gave what she hoped was an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, sirs," she gestured to the front of the establishment where a giant chalkboard filled with their menu items was placed, "we only have beer, some wine and a few other selections."

"In that case, I think I'm fine with whatever!" The hyper man shouted while pressing in numbers for a song.

Surprise was the first to cross Tariq's face. Then disappointment.

"And the filet mignon?"

Evangeline shook her head. "We have different foodstuffs available that pair well with alcohol, but no steak."

The rugged man sighed.

"Just get us normal whiskey or beer and uh, what would be your suggestion for food?"

Evangeline looked at the menu and tried to remember the usual dishes her grandfather had for pulutan.

A conspiratorial smile.

A mischievous twinkle in eyes that had beheld the world far longer than her father had.

"Sisig," she finally said, her gaze landing on the item in the menu, "and lechon kawali."

Aged hands pulled her forward to give her a small plate of lechon kawali and sisig.

Don't tell your mother I let you have some this late at night.

"They both pair well with beer," she paused, trying to remember the brand her grandfather drank, "Particularly, Red Horse."

The rugged man nodded.

"Sounds good," he said, "get us four bottles of beer and four plates of each of those dishes."

Four?

"Four, sir?" Evangeline asked. "Are you one man short?"

"Yeah," the rugged man replied, "he's just handling some things then he'll come here."

Odd to do at a bachelor party.

Then again, The Trinket wasn't even meant to be bachelor party material. She barely even considered it a bar and more like a carinderia. Who brings their family to a bar of all places?

Shaking her head, Evangeline went to the kitchen to hand the cook the order.

By the time she returned with the bachelor party's beers, their mystery companion had yet to arrive.

No matter, that wasn't her concern. It's their bachelor party and Evangeline is just the server.

"Your drinks," she announced, setting each bottle near each of the men present, "your meals are almost done and I'll be back shortly with them."

"Thanks." Was the reply she got from the rugged man.

Turning away, Evangeline pretended not to hear the hyper man begin singing My Way.

Her grandfather would be rolling in his grave if he were here.

Her grandmother would simply be laughing as she tended to do with offkey singing.

Her mother—

Evangeline pushed the curtain to the kitchen aside.

"Ate Alice, are the dishes for my table done?" she asked the moment she entered the kitchen.

Alice, a wiry thirty-something woman with bleached hair kept in a high bun turned to look at her, holding up her spatula and waving it towards the table at the corner as an answer.

"Want me to call Niel over here?" Alice asked, eyeing Evangeline.

Evangeline shook her head as she began trying to fit all the dishes Alice cooked onto one tray.

"I've managed to do this a couple times,” Evangeline replied, “I think I could handle walking to my table without breaking any of them.”

Alice shook her head.

“Just watch out,” Alice warned her, “you know the later the night gets the livelier the customers could be.”

The local drunks.

They'd be coming around this time.

“I will.”

The bar was indeed lively by the time she emerged from the kitchen.

Already, a queue had formed for the karaoke and rowdy patrons had come streaming in. They seemed to be playing nice with the hyper man from the bachelor party but aside from that, they were keeping to themselves and their groups.

Already someone had ordered twelve bottles of beer and was starting to get unbearably loud.

It was normal.

But Evangeline didn’t have to like this type of normal.

Drunk men with their breaths filled with alcohol.

Inhibitions loosed and their demons unleashed.

Fury and folly all gathered under one roof.

It wasn’t comfortable.

From a distance, she could hear some drunk locals talking about the foreigners.

“Shit, are those Americans?”

“They really decided to come here in an expensive suit, huh.”

“Maybe they’re looking for an easy lay!”

Evangeline ignored some of the men's leering smiles. Whenever she ran across them while they were sober, she wasn’t something they’d pay attention to or look twice at. But this happened always anytime they’ve consumed too much alcohol.

She kept her gaze forward and her expression as blank as possible.

“Vangie,” one of the drunks called out, his hands reaching out to pull at her apron, “look, a bunch of foreigners are there!”

His drinking buddy snickered. “You might finally land your shot since you mostly speak English!” He taunted.

Evangeline felt her face burn in embarrassment while she tried to pull herself away.

“S-sir, please don’t call me that,” Evangeline stuttered as she tried to keep a steady hold of her tray while pulling herself away from the drunk patron, “and I really have to get to work—”

“Don’t be such a prude!” The patron retorted. "You're barely even beautiful and you have the nerve to be this picky!"

The uproarious laughter from nearby tables made Evangeline feel ill as her attempts to move away from the man grew in desperation.

"Come on, Vangie!" Another man from two tables near the back shouted. "We're bored! Give us a show! You could dance, right?"

"Please just let me work," Evangeline begged, her voice breaking, "I don't want to be fired!"

"I'll let you go," the man acquiesced, a sharp smile gracing his lips, "for a kiss!"

The man then tried to start pulling Evangeline closer to him and Evangeline could feel her heart beating faster.

She hated working here.

She hated these people.

Her throat grew tight, a burning feeling making itself known in her eyes.

“Just leave me alone!” Evangeline shouted, her voice rising slightly as she managed to jerk herself away from the man’s grasp.

Evangeline felt her feet trip over each other the moment she stumbled away from the drunk.

Her heart stuttered in fear when she realised she was falling.

The tray slipped from her hold.

The plates fell to the ground in a crash that made her ears ring.

"Watch out!"

Warm hands touched her back as she was steadied.

Before Evangeline could process everything, she came face to face with a man of East Asian descent. His eyes were wide with concern.

"Miss," his voice was quiet, gentle, "are you alright?"

Evangeline wanted to cry.

Are you alright?

A customer asked a question just for her.

Asking about her.

A customer who saw her.

Her throat tightened.

She took a deep breath and pressed her lips together before nodding.

"I'm so sorry for the disturbance," she met the customer's eyes and mustered up a smile, "I'll just go fetch replacements for those gentlemen's meals and then I'll have someone tend to you." She promised.

He seemed like an easy enough customer. Daniel should handle him.

The man shook his head. "My friends could wait a bit longer," he said firmly, "they waited this long for me without food, they could wait a bit more."

Friends?

Ah.

Evangeline blinked and then looked down, taking in one deep breath after another.

Letting out a slow exhale, Evangeline looked at the man carefully.

He was dressed like no local, his clothes were of fine quality and looked out of place in the province and though she knew a fair amount of fellow Filipinos who spoke English flawlessly, there was a hint of an accent in his but not in the way that Filipino accents tended to drip into their voices revealing their province.

"You're the fourth member?" She asked instead.

"I am," he confirmed. "I'm James."

Just as the fourth member came, she really ended up ruining their evening.

Wonderful.

"Alright, Sir James, let me get you replacements for your meals."

James only stopped her again, his brows knitting together.

"Are you alright, Miss?" He repeated.

Evangeline's smile returned.

Placating and as true as she could make it.

"I'm fine," she promised, "it's just a normal night here in The Trinket."

James still looked worried.

She would worry about that later. She has a job to do and broken dishes to sweep up.

Turning away from James, she swallowed past the tightness in her throat and entered the kitchen.

"Was that you?" Alice asked from over the stove the moment she came in.

"Just the drunks," Evangeline replied, her voice quiet, "they got too rowdy."

"Is that all?"

"Yeah. You know how it is."

Alice was silent as she plated whatever it was she was cooking.

Evangeline didn't have to ask if Alice believed her or not.

"Take these to your table," Alice finally told her, "your plates were the only ones likely to fall."

Evangeline looked at what was plated and she felt her throat close up again.

Four new servings each of sisig and lechon kawali.

"I called Niel in to get the broken plates swept," Alice added, "he can handle sweeping duty."

Evangeline took a step forward.

Halted.

Then threw herself against the older woman, her arms wrapping tightly around the cook who dropped her spatula in shock.

"Angeline, what—" Despite her surprise, Alice hugged her back just as tightly.

"Thank you, Ate Alice," Evangeline whispered.

"I do what I can," Alice replied, "even if it's just from this shitty kitchen, I'll keep trying."

"And it's more than enough," Evangeline assured, pulling away.

With hands she pretended were steady, Evangeline began putting the plates on her tray again.

"Be careful, Angeline," Alice called out to her as Evangeline hefted the tray on her shoulder again.

"I promise, Ate." She smiled at Alice before stepping back out of the kitchen.

She ran into Daniel who looked at her worriedly. His neatly combed hair was now ruffled, his round face had gone a bit red from running back and forth and sweat was beading his brow.

Evangeline felt guilt claw its way to her throat.

"Niel, I'm so sorry—"

Daniel shook his head.

"Ma will be more disappointed in me if I let one of my friends suffer just because I want to look nice," Daniel explained. "I want her to come home tonight and know I did good. That I could make her proud she raised me good."

Evangeline hadn't spoken with Daniel's mother much save for a few times.

She was a sweet-faced, plump woman who had a tendency to comment on Evangeline's thin frame and eating pattern with excessive concern.

Of course, what followed was her being given food and told to stay for dinner during those three meetings she had with Daniel's mother.

His mother gave tight hugs and beso-besos that are filled with affection for someone she had only met.

Evangeline smiled and bumped her hip lightly against Daniel's.

"Your mother should always be proud of you, Niel," she told the young man, "she raised you well. Far better than most would have."

A home brimming with love.

Kisses every meeting.

Surprise tickle fights—

A lullaby goodnight—

"I want to keep my mom proud of me no matter what." Daniel said decisively.

She had no doubt that he will.

This time, she kept her gaze solely on the drunks who were likely to grab at her. She could feel her body tensing and her breath stopping whenever one of them got too close to her.

The walk to the bachelor party's table felt like an eternity.

The sound of the hyper man's singing sounded like cacophonous noise to her ears.

Still, she made it and she placed the plates carefully on the table, smiling to herself when she managed to do it without making too much of her panic known.

"Thank you," James said, beaming at her.

Evangeline can't help but hesitantly smile back. "I'm sorry for ruining your food the first go, though."

He shook his head. "It wasn't your fault."

"James told us what happened," The rugged man said, his brows furrowing, "are you okay?"

Evangeline nodded.

"Yes sir."

"Drake." He corrected.

"Sir Drake." She amended.

Drake grimaced and he shook his head. "Just-just Drake or even Walker is fine," He insisted. "I'm not some fussy noble or anything."

Impolite.

Have you been taught to be disrespectful?

Evangeline shook her head, her brows knitting together minutely. "I'm sorry, I'd rather call you with the proper respect for customers."

Drake looked like he wanted to protest still but James shook his head.

"She said she'd prefer it that way, Drake," James explained, "let's let her go with what's comfortable for her."

Despite looking like he'd rather not, Drake just sighed.

"Sorry we didn't step in," Drake said in a tone she cant read, "we didn't really know what was going on and we didn't really know if it was something normal or not."

Evangeline remained quiet, uncertain how to respond to his words.

"Thank you for the concern," she said at last, "but it's nothing I can't handle."

Lies.

James smiled at her with that same warm smile. "Of course," he agreed, "but please know you could ask us for assistance if you really need it."

Considerate.

Too considerate. To a server.

She stayed in their presence long enough.

"Excuse me, sirs, I need to handle the other tables."

The rest of her shift went by without further incident, thank the stars.

Aside from disgruntled drunks that were being handled by Daniel who got hauled out of the bar for trying to start a fight with Drake, it went by as Evangeline had been used to.

By the end of her shift, Evangeline just wanted to lie down on the floor of her bedroom and forget the world for a few hours.

Maybe watch something nostalgic (not Cinderella) to unwind.

Call Kuya Ethan even.

Something to quiet her mind.

"Lakandula!" Stanley's voice made itself known in the bar.

There, at the front of the room, with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face was her boss.

"Kitchen. Now." Stanley grit out.

And it took all Evangeline's willpower not to want to run.

With a practised ease, she piled all of the plates and cups onto her tray, her head bowing automatically.

She ignored the bachelor party's table. She could feel four pairs of eyes on her and she didn't need them to know that this is her life when they were clearly just here for leisure. This isn't their issue to handle.

When she entered the kitchen, she noted neither Alice nor Daniel were there resting like they usually did.

Instead, Stanley was the only one there. His tall, sturdy frame was in a threatening stance, his face twisted in unbridled fury, his body was practically vibrating in rage.

"What the hell, Lakandula!" Were the first words that left Stanley's mouth the moment Evangeline entered the kitchen.

She felt suffocated the moment Stanley marched up to her face, his face growing blotchy and reddish in his anger.

Taking a few stumbling steps back, Evangeline scrambled for a thought to stick. For her to figure out how to appease her angry boss.

But static was the only thing that came to her thoughts and her hearing.

"W-What did I do wrong, Sir?" She asked, trying to keep her tone as quiet as she can.

"What did you do wrong," Stanley echoed mockingly. "How about pissing off one of our loyal patrons just to suck up to those foreigners!"

"I wasn't—"

"Do you know who's more important to the business, Lakandula?" Stanley asked, his voice rising. "Our local patrons! But you chose to ignore that just to flirt with some foreigners like youre some pokpok on the streets!"

She wanted to say something. To stand up for herself and point out that those drunks were horrible and groped around where they weren't wanted. She wanted to slap Stanley for each time he shamed her or shouted at her or forced Daniel to stay late hours or make Alice stay trapped in the kitchen. She wanted to shout and scream and rant at him over how shitty of a boss he was.

She wanted—

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Stanley asked, his voice dropping low.

"I'm sorry, Sir," she mumbled, her throat closing up, "I will make amends with the customer tomorrow."

"Your pay will cover the damages to my plates and the ruined meals you let fall." Stanley added, his tone harsh.

What else could she do?

What options did she have?

"Yes sir."

Her answer must have satisfied Stanley because he made a satisfied grunt before making to leave the kitchen.

"Lakandula."

"Yes, sir?"

"Make sure to wash the dishes."

"Yes, sir."

She only knew Stanley was gone by the rustling of the curtain.

But even when she was alone, Evangeline still didn't move from her spot. She didn't know how long she stayed rooted there like a statue but the confrontation with Stanley had left her struggling to breathe.

Her throat felt like it was closing in on her.

Her nose and eyes were burning with tears that have yet to spill.

Her chest felt tight but she hoped it was only in panic and not her asthma acting up.

She just wanted to go home.

Time stopped meaning anything to her mind when she finally made a move to do as Stanley instructed her to do. With steps that were unsteady and unsure, Evangeline made her way to the sink. There was a muffled feeling in her mind and a numbness to her movements as she turned on the tap and reached for the sponge.

She lost further track of time as she kept washing the dishes.

No one came to the kitchen in the time she spent finishing three tables' worth.

She was sure she was the only one left among the staff this night which would mean she'll be the one to lock the bar.

Somehow the thought of it terrified her.

Biting her bottom lip, Evangeline kept a death grip on the sponge and continued scrubbing the plate she was holding.

Distantly, she was aware of the curtain parting again.

She didn't want to know who came in. If it was Stanley, she didn't want to see his face if he was just gonna shout at her over something she did. She was tired. She's had enough.

"Angeline?"

It was Alice.

"Why are you doing the dishes?" Alice asked.

Evangeline didn't reply, the tightness in her throat closing in further.

Calloused hands covered hers, firmly stopping her from washing.

Her vision blurred as hot tears ran finally slipped down her cheeks.

She choked on a whimper, trying to breathe psst the growing tightness that now reached her chest.

"Angeline?" Alice pressed. "What are you doing here? Your shift is over."

"Sir Stanley said I needed to wash the dishes."

"Don't."

It was Alice's firm tone that brought Evangeline out of the muffled world she had fallen into.

"W-what?" She asked, her voice small.

There was resolution in Alice's eyes as she repeated her earlier words.

"Don't." Alice spoke with such a firmness that lacked the heat and anger others tended to have. "Stanley enjoys his power trips, don't let him have that."

Carefully, Alice pried the sponge and plate out of Evangeline's hold and nudged her away.

"You've had a long shift," Alice told her, "you deserve to just have a night to yourself, don't you think?"

"But what about you?" For all her desire to just go home and rest, Evangeline never liked that Alice would often stay in the bar later than others just cause Stanley said so.

Alice snorted.

"I'm going home too," the older woman assured her, "Stanley could wash the dishes himself if he wants them cleaned so badly. Power tripping asshole."

Taking hold of her hands, Alice began manoeuvring Evangeline to the small shelf where the staff keeps their bags.

A part of Evangeline wanted to protest and to struggle.

Another part wanted to give in.

To go home and pretend this night didn't happen.

"Come on, let's get home! "

There was an earnestness in Alice's eyes and Evangeline missed being held onto that tightly like she mattered.

The older woman smiled coaxingly at her and Evangeline felt some of the tightness she was feeling melt away a bit.

After all, who was she to deny a friend?

Snatching her backpack from its shelf, Evangeline pulled out her casual wear and hurriedly changed back into her leggings and her short, white dress. Turning to look at Alice, Evangeline offered her a smile.

"Let's go?" She asked, offering her arm to Alice.

Without hesitation, Alice looped her arm with Evangeline's and the two made their way out of the bar.

After locking the bar, Evangeline saw Alice off at the tricycle terminal near The Trinket, waving goodbye to her as she drove away. When she was certain that Alice was well on her way home, Evangeline jogged over to the parking area where she'd chained her bike at the rack in front of the establishment.

Mounting the bike, Evangeline turned on her bike light and let out a slow breath. She'd gotten used to biking in the past four years but even then, she'd feel this thundering panic in her chest everytime she had to go to busy streets.

Pushing off, she began cycling towards her lodging.

The first twenty minutes was quiet for her. Taking a turn here and there, stopping by a sari-sari store to buy a small bottle of iced tea and then continuing the ride home.

It was in the twenty-fourth minute when she came across a car that she ignored easily enough. It was just another black car with tinting, a bit too nice for this neighbourhood but she gave up figuring things like cars out.

She cycled past it.

"Miss?" A familiar voice reached her ears and Evangeline frowned as she tried to recall who had that voice.

"Miss, wait!" The voice grew louder as the sound of a car door opening and closing followed.

That's when it hit her.

Warm hands.

Kind eyes.

Miss, are you alright?

Hurriedly braking the bike, Evangeline almost toppled over if her feet hadn't gotten off the pedals to anchor themselves to the ground.

She could hear footsteps fast approaching.

Dismounting, Evangeline turned around and sure enough, it was James who had called out to her and was now running towards her.

Deciding to meet him halfway, Evangeline jogged towards him. The moment the two came face to face, James smiled at her.

"Hey."

"Hello, sir." Evangeline greeted him.

"I didn't think I'd see you after dinner," James said, after a short silence.

Evangeline didn't know what to tell him.

"Why would that matter?" She asked, her brows furrowing lightly.

"I just wanted to thank you for handling our table despite everything that happened," James told her "I wouldn't have blamed you if you didn't want to keep working that night."

Evangeline shrugged and looked down. "It's not really like I could stop working even if I wanted to." She told him.

There was a silence and Evangeline tried not to panic. Did she say the wrong thing? Did she upset him?

"I'm sorry this night wasn't a good one for you," James said at last, his voice was still gentle with no hint of anger, "my friends and I— we, we heard yelling before we left."

Evangeline stilled.

They should have left around that time.

"That was just my boss" She mumbled. "He gets angry quickly."

"That's not right."

Don't waste their time.

Evangeline took in a steadying breath, counted to three and looked at James. She was surprised she saw concern there in his eyes and she tried not to be overtaken by emotion again.

"Even if it's not right," she said carefully trying to sound unbothered, "it's just a part of my life."

James frowned. "Even...the drunks?"

Evangeline looked away. "Even those."

"I'm sorry."

To hear someone apologise for her life. For something they didn't do was....jarring for her.

Returning her attention to James, she hesitantly reached up and placed her hand on his shoulder and mustered up a smile.

"It's not your fault," she assured him, "your table at least was easier to handle than the others'."

James looked surprised by the contact she made with him and she was about to pull her hand away when he rested his own on hers.

"I—" he faltered for a moment as a look of uncertainty flickered on his face, "I hope it won't be presumptuous of me but, will you let me make up for your night?"

The way he said it was rushed and eager, his eyes shining under the streetlamp's light. And like Alice, there was earnestness.

Earnestness.

Twice in one night.

Kindness, more than that.

"You don't have to do that," she assured him, "you should enjoy the night with your friends."

And she should go home and assure herself that her day ended well at least. That some people didn't leave her behind or wanted to make her night better. Whether it was leaving work earlier than usual or whatever James planned, they were kindnesses she had missed.

And she didn't want to intrude on them anymore.

"What if I told you my friends and I don't know our way around here?" James asked.

Evangeline smiled at the thought.

"Then I'll wonder why you would go here of all places," she told him, "why not go to Makati or Taguig or BGC? Why the province?"

James shrugged.

"I heard the Philippine countryside was quieter and my friends didn't want any fuss." He explained.

There was something more hanging from his tone. The way he drifted off at the end made Evangeline tilt her head in curiosity.

"But also?" She pried as gently as she could.

James looked surprised that she sounded like she knew that there was more and he took in a breath.

"I also heard some provinces had interesting histories, I just thought we'd be able to learn them even without a tour guide," He said sheepishly. "Ask local people and whatnot, learn different perspectives."

History.

He wanted to hear about history and learn it.

Her country's history.

"Is that what you'd want to do tonight?" She asked carefully.

James was silent, his expression was one Evangeline would call awe but it can't be because she didn't do anything big. Still, he looked like she'd offered him gold and she didn't know what to do with that knowledge.

"I—" James faltered, "my friends wanted to keep drinking."

He wanted to learn. His friends wanted to party.

Evangeline sympathised with him but she decided against telling him. Instead she smiled and took out her phone and began tapping out different bars and nightclubs that would be more high-end and open at this time.

Showing him her phone, she nodded for him to read it.

"Your friends might like these options," she told him, "they have more choices, air-conditioned, dancing, usually the upper class goes there so it's more enjoyable for you gentlemen, I'm sure."

Watching James' expression as he read over the names, his lips slowly sounding out the words as if he wanted to say the name right. Evangeline knew which one he found.

"Tagpuan is good," She assured him. "I haven't been in personally but I know some people who did and they rave about it a lot."

How could she not know when her family always tagged her in their photos.

Whether as a way to include her or to insult her she wasn't sure anymore.

"What does it mean, Tagpuan?" James asked, his enunciation was good but he said it so slowly like he wanted every syllable to be correct.

"Rendezvous point," Evangeline smiled when she saw him nod determinedly like he wanted to ingrain it in his memory. "It's much more poetic in Tagalog though."

James repeated the word silently and he smiled as if discovering something. He nodded.

"I have to agree," he sounded genuinely happy to learn this one word and it made Evangeline feel lighter to see someone hungry for knowledge the way he was, "there's something about the word that makes it feel more than just a rendezvous point."

"The wonders of my mother tongue," She remarked, her smile growing. "I hope you enjoy the night there, and have a safe trip."

Turning away, she made to return to her bike when she felt James reach out for her, his hold on her wrist wasn't tight and she could easily shake him off and she didn't feel like it would tighten.

Still, she stopped.

"Wait," James sounded...desperate? No desperate was stronger. But he still sounded like he really wanted her to wait.

Turning around to face him, her breath got caught in her throat when she saw how close the two of them were.

"What?" She asked, her voice coming out quiet as she can't help but look in his eyes.

Earnest. Too earnest.

How had he survived this world as long as he had with eyes so open?

"I," for once, James looked like he was lost for words, his eyes met hers and it looked like he was trying to find the right words to tell her, to read her like she's read him, "my friends, we-we don't know the way to Tagpuan."

Evangeline knew what he was getting at.

"And I...please let me make up for the night you had," He wasn't pleading and Evangeline heard an option to deny his request but there was no malice in his voice, "you'd be helping us out and if you want to go home, you could."

She shouldn't be contemplating this. She shouldn't be entertaining the thought of letting him make her night better on the condition she gets to tell him of history even in the walls of the nightclub that held little to none. She shouldn't—

"I don't think I could leave my bike here," she tried one last protest.

James smiled. "We'll drop by your house so you could leave it there." He offered.

What the hell.

"Okay." She told him, a small, hesitant smile gracing her lips.

The delight in James' eyes was worth it.

TRANSLATIONS

Po - a form that indicates respect or politeness, could be used sarcastically as well.

Pulutan - Pulutan is the general term used to refer to small plates or snacks served over drinks. These range from those that sizzle over the classic metal plates, like sisig or pusit, to grilled meats like barbecue and isaw, to even bite-sized food like kropek.

Sisig - Sisig is a Filipino dish made from pork jowl and ears, pork belly, and chicken liver which is usually seasoned with calamansi, onions, and chilli peppers.

Lechon Kawali - also known as lechon de carajay or litsong kawali in Tagalog, is a Filipino recipe consisting of pork belly slabs deep-fried in a pan or wok.

Carinderia - a food stall with a small seating area, typically in a market or at a roadside.

Beso-Beso - cheek-to-cheek kiss.

Kuya - Tagalog for Big Brother.

Pokpok - a term for prostitute.

Sari-Sari Store - a convenience store found in the Philippines. The word sari-sari is Tagalog meaning "variety" or "sundry". Such stores occupy an important economic and social location in a Filipino community and are ubiquitous in neighborhoods and along streets.