#Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games)

[carlocarrasco]

Cambodia aiming to attract 3 million to 4 million foreign tourists for 2023

Cambodia, the nation that will be hosting the 32nd edition of the Southeast Asian Games (also referred to as SEA Games and Cambodia 2023, click here and here), is aiming to attract between 3 million to 4 million foreign tourists for the year 2023 and improve over what was achieved in 2022, according to Khmer Times news report. For the year 2022, Cambodia attracted 2.28 million foreign tourists…

[oinonsana]

Gubat Banwa: THE SULTANATE OF AKAI

LUNAR KNIGHTS. CHIVALROUS POETS. FAITHFUL PANDITA. One of the most powerful mahamandalas in Gubat Banwa, conquering in their Divine Striving for Goddess, is inspired by the various Sultanates of Southeast Asia! STRIVE EVERMORE FOR GODDESS: AKAI!

While Akai is host to a huge number of religions, their culture and allied polities are skewered through with belief and utmost reverence for The Most High Baginda, BAGINDA SUMONGSUKLAY, which is not her name but a descriptor as the Crescent Moon.

Akai reverses the use of God and uses "Goddess" instead. They are a primarily matriarchical culture, and they believe that Goddess lives on the Moon. The Moon is the most important thing in the universe: it is the hole that leads into the True Space of Goddess.

Akai is intensely researched and inspired by popular Postclassical Southeast Asian societies: Malacca, Johore, Maguindanao, Sulu and more. They are raiders far and wide, and fight so that all of Gubat Banwa will know of the providence of Goddess.

Their faith, AGMA DAMLAG, is inspired by Southeast Asian Islam, which is skewered through with mixtures of local folklores and legends, making it different from "pure" Islam. It is filled with mysticism, jinns, and devil dancers.

Their Disciplines are focused on overwhelming and protecting, on defense. They are the unbreakable ones, after all! They are also inspired by Islamic Chivalry notes: it is the Sultanates that house the most court romance, poetry, and chivalry.

BEAST HUNTERS are those that turned the common profession of hunting in the Isles into an actual martial art. Out of necessity: Beast Hunters are quick and debilitating. According to their Faith, they cannot allow their dogs to bleed the prey before they do.

the MARTYRS are warriors that go into battle in a fierce death battle trance, always ready to die for their convictions. they get stronger as the fight goes, and their techniques let them strengthen their attacks, throw their giant weapons, go into holy rage, and wield juru pakal

SARIMANOK KNIGHTS are true chevaliers who wield the strength of the sarimanok--a revered omen bird that is integral to many cultures of the sword isles--to punish and smite those that would force them to kneel! they can fly upon sarimanok, or be imbued with the holiness of one

STRIFESINGERS sing the grand dirge of Gubat Banwa, as it revels in violence. they are constantly singing: they have a burst 2 aura that constantly heals and gives buffs, and they can put down grand songs that manipulate allies and the battlefield!

warriors that summon the knights of the sea: churning the waters with swordfishes and sharks are a common element in seasian folk tales. the swordfish cavalier is the purest representation of that, allowing them to manipulate water, turn into water, or summon the moon

All of these and more in our KS. Back us now and help us get more art and writing for this grand mahamandala!

Just as important: in solidarity with our colonized and oppressed peoples in Palestine! From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free! Check out this ongoing fundraiser that has over 250+ games for Gaza!

[chrismien]

Let's talk about Elsweyr's architecture, specifically how geography influenced it.

In the Elder Scrolls Online base game, players can visit Kenarthi's Roost, which is the starting location for Aldmeri Dominion players. We could easily observe the stilted houses and buildings on the island of the Khajiits. This doesn't really reflect the nomadic culture that majority of the beastfolk have since these kinds of buildings are made to last and are built for prolonged stay in the area. How do I know this?

As a Filipino, I find this style of building especially familiar. Indonesians may also share the same sentiment. In the real world, these stilted buildings are known as "bahay kubo" in the Philippines. They are a staple of provincial life and are designed in a way that prevents floodwater and mud from entering the house. This is why they are built on stilts.

Another purpose of stilt houses is to decrease the occurrence of pests running into the houses. Tropical countries are known for the many insects and small mammals that inhabit them, and stilt houses can help to keep these pests out.

As you can see from the image above, it is quite different from the fantasy world. It is a Filipino stilted house from the Siquijor region. The roof is not exaggerated, and the windows are more open. However, the buildings from Kenarthi Roost are actually very based on real life.

Looking at the image, it is clear where the makers of the game got their inspiration. This is an Indonesian stilted house. The purpose of this kind of roofing is to let the water slide down in times of heavy rains. Observe the stilts on this house, and you can see that they have more support compared to the ones from the Philippines.

Basically, stilt houses are raised off the ground, which allows for better airflow and helps to keep the house cooler. Additionally, the stilts can be used to create a ventilated space underneath the house, which can help to lower humidity levels.

It can also help to regulate temperature and reduce humidity is the use of natural materials. Materials such as wood, bamboo, and thatch are good insulators, which helps to keep the house cool in the dry season and warm in the wet season. Additionally, these materials are porous, which allows for good airflow and helps to prevent moisture build-up.

In this pre-release image, we can see that the columns and stilts are made of stone, and the motifs of the buildings are reminiscent of the styles from Cambodia and its surrounding regions.

Adding to that, the region of Southeast Asia is characterized by heavy rains and storms. In the more tropical parts of Elsweyr, stilted houses are more common. However, as you go up north, the climate becomes less tropical and more temperate, and the houses become less stilted and more made of stone.

Below are some comparisons of Elsweyr to Southeast Asian locations (left is Elsweyr, right is the Southeast Asian location):

The similarities are quite evident.

While some references say that the Khajiit are based on the Romanian peoples of Europe, their architecture is very much based on Southeast Asian styles. It is also worth noting that traces of Persian, Romani, Indian, and other cultures can be found in Khajiit society.

Some YouTube content also states that the Khajiit can be compared to gypsies in the real world, as they are both considered "fringe people." Another note regarding the architecture is that it is also based on the domiciles of the sea gypsies in the Philippines, the Badjaos.

Southeast Asia is a very beautiful region with a great deal of cultural diversity. As someone from the Philippines, I can say from my own experience that foreigners can experience how Western and Eastern cultures merge here.

What other topics should I do next?

[interact-if]

Hello! I didn’t see this asked in the rec list but are there any IFs that let you choose MC’s race? (Specifically Asian/Southeast Asian cus i want that specific feeling of rep, especially SEA) sorry if this ask is too specific/niche

Hi Anon! Here are the few interactive fiction where you can choose the playable character’s race to be Southeast Asian. If anyone has any further recommendations, feel free to reply and we’ll add them to the list, thank you!

Completed:

Belle-de-Nuit (Selectable) by Rebecca Zahabi

Creatures Such As We (Selectable) by Lynnea Glasser

Demos:

Dear Diary, We Created a Plot Hole! by @ddwcaph-game 

Deliverance (Selectable) by @deliverance-the-game

Hollowed Minds by @shai-manahan

Kabaret (VN) by Persona Theory Games

Pearl of the Orient by @poto-if

[pinayelf]

honestly another thing I rly like abt coral island is the southeast Asian setting. it's based off Indonesia, and I'm Filipino but I'm always excited to see SEA in fantasy and fun games where it's done and treated w respect

[mudaship39]

Info about me and my WIPS art and projects as a as a disabled and queer/trans native of color writer artist and creator creative and native of color gamer/streamer/podcaster

Native intro for social media.

BYI For old and new followers

Check out my bio and pinned post

For safety reasons esp as a disabled and queer trans native of color.

Hello.

My Indigenous Pasifika preferred name is No’eau Aitonui Hoata/Heiani Mareva Hoata

If you are Indigenous or Indigenous Pasifika please refer to me by that name

My Vietnamese Kinh name is Ngoc Hien/Xuan Dinh Nguyen

If you are a non native person of color please refer to me by that name

Names on the left is when I’m kane/tane or masc. Names on the right is when I am vahine/wahine or femme.

I do have unisex names for when I am maohi raerae (think mahu or fakaleiti) or native third gender.

But I am not comfortable sharing it on social media. Only use these names if you are a fellow native or indigenous pasifika. Or if you are a non native person of color. Not if you are a non native

My English/French name is Christian/Jeanne Nguyen

If you are a non native white person you can only refer to me by this name.

Im a Southeast Asian Vietnamese or Kinh Indigenous, European French, East Asian Chinese Hoa, & Polynesian Tahitian Indigenous Pasifika. 🇫🇷🇻🇳🇨🇳 🇵🇫 I’m an Asian Native Pasifika. 🐚 🌺 🏝️ 🪝 🌋

I’m a disabled native of color. I’m autistic, neurodivergent, chronically ill spoonie disabled, & mentally ill disabled. ♿️

Im a disabled and lgbt native of color gamer/streamer/podcaster. I am a small and variety twitch kick and YouTube gamer streamer podcaster. 🎮 🎙 My Playstation tag is warpdriveplanet3. My Xbox tag is Mudaship39. Twitch is mudaship39. My YouTube is christianaitonuingocnguyen3292.

I play and stream PS3, PS4, & PS5 games. I play and stream Xbox 360, Xbox One games. I plan to play Xbox Series X games in the future. I plan to play Nintendo Switch games in the future. 🎮

I’m a QTIPOC or queer and trans Indigenous person of color. Nonbinary bigender or genderfluid pansexual or omnisexual. Polyam or polyamorous. 💛♾️ Maohi/raerae in the middle indigenous third gender. Any and all pronouns. Including neopronouns and indigenous third gender pronons. He/him. She/her. They/them. Xer/xers. Zer/Zehir. Native third gender neutral oña. 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈⚧

Im a writer, creator, & artist. Im an author, comic book writer, screenwriter, spoken word poet, & songwriter.

I’m a Indigenous language keeper, culture keeper, & storykeeper.

I write about racial, sex, cultural identity, sexual orientation, & gender identity in music and poetry.

I write about Black, poc, Indigenous, disabled, and or lgbt characters in disabled, bipoc, and qtipoc futurism.

Im the writer and creator of the precontact and post land back Bipoc and qtipoc futurism project. It’s a hybrid science fiction cyberpunk and magical high fantasy comic books and graphic novels series Chronicles of War.

Basic info is the pinned post of my tumblr. More information is on a google doc on my google drive.

Im the performing artist spoken word poet of the spoken word poetry book Heart of Fire Dragon, Soul of Flame Pheonix, & Sea Fairy Ocean Blood that is about being a disabled native, an Asian Native, a displaced disconnected diaspora, & QTIPOC.

The cut and censored version of it is linked in the pinned tweet on my twitter mudaship39. Uncut and uncensored version is on a google doc on my google drive.

Be sure to check out my carrd in my bio. It has info on how to contact me for my projects. Info on how to pay me for my art. Info on my other social media accounts if mutuals want to follow me on other social media.

Expanded info about my wips art and projects:

Do you want to read a spoken word poetry anthology book I wrote as an Asian native Pasifika artist who’s a songwriter and spoken word poet? Its called Heart of Fire Dragon Soul of Flame Phoenix and Sea Fairy Ocean Blood. It’s about being a disabled native (autistic, neurodivergent, chronically ill, & mentally ill disabled), a displaced disconnected state side diaspora, being an Asian Native (as a Vietnamese Kinh, French, Chinese Hoa, & Polynesian Tahitian Indigenous Pasifika person of color), & about being a QTIPOC (queer and trans third gender Indigenous person of color). I have been working on it for a long time as a storykeeper, language keeper, and culture keeper. It includes a personal foreword and personal afterword to Indigenous people specifically Polynesian, Micronesian, and Melanesian audiences. The cut and censored version of it is linked in my pinned tweet of my Twitter mudaship39 if you are interested in reading something like this. The uncut and uncensored version of it is on a google doc on my google drive. Need email for google doc invite link. Let me know which version you prefer to read if you're interested in reading something like this. Be sure to like and reblog my pinned post to boost my art to other native of color mutuals.

For the cut and censored version. Go to the pinned tweet. Like and retweet the pined tweet. This is to boost info about my wips art and project to your native of color followers. The cut and censored spoken word poetry book is linked in my pinned post thread. Like retweet and quote any line of the cut and censored version of the spoken word poetry book. Quote tweet it with your thoughts. Use any Indigenous and poc hashtags if you know any. This is so it gets out to others in the poc community and Indigenous community especially those indigenous to turtle island or Indigenous to Pasifika Oceania or Moana. It’s also so I can find poc or Indigenous producers and publishers to actually make it into a spoken word poetry book. For the uncut and uncensored version post comments into the google doc itself and leave a review at the end. Let me know if you know anyone else interested in reading something like this. Let me know if know any poc and Indigenous artists especially indigenous to turtle island or Indigenous to Pasifika Oceania or Moana who are willing to draw art for this poetry book.

Im also a writer and creator who writes bipoc, disabled, and qtipoc futurism. I write magical high fantasy and science fiction books, comics, and graphic novels. My bipoc, disabled, and qtipoc futurism project called Chronicles of War. It is a soft and hard science fiction and magical high fantasy hybrid comic book or graphic novel series. It is soft and hard Sci fi (bio punk, solar punk, ray punk, nano punk, & cyberpunk) and magical high fantasy (steampunk, Tesla punk, arcane punk, and dungeon punk) fusion that is bipoc qtipoc and disabled futurism with bipoc qtipoc and disabled main and supporting characters. It is precontact and post land back. That is about several disabled, bipoc (or Black Indigenous and or person of color) characters, and qtipoc (or queer and trans indigenous people of color) main characters. One is Kana’i Akana/Ataahua Akana an Afro Asian pasifika/Afro latine native demigod metahuman and alien hybrid superhuman superhero in a science fiction bio punk, solar punk, ray punk, nano punk, & cyberpunk world in the near and far future. The other is Kittsak/Kaeo Alin Pramoj an Afro Asian native coded magical human with fae elvish, hobgoblin goblinoid, & giant kin ancestry who’s a spellcaster, swordfighter, and gunslinger adventurer in a magical high fantasy steampunk, Tesla punk, arcane punk, and dungeon punk world. Both of them are qtipoc disabled and bipoc. Both of them are qtipoc disabled and bipoc. There are other bipoc and qtipoc main characters in other worlds pre contact and post land back. Such as a Sami Indigenous and European Scandinavian coded third gender god/goddess Jotunn Loki. Such as a third gender Afro Indigenous Chickasaw Native Freedman were lion and were leopard hybrid character and her friend a Afro Latine South American Native were jaguar and were cheetah werecat hybrid character. Both of them living in a town of Afro Indigenous Freedman and hybrid humanoid communities. Such as a Central and South American summoners of kaiju or titans based on Nahuatl Quechua and Maya Indigenous mythology. Such as a female Asian Native and butch of color and lesbian of color superhero Zhou Chen who lives in the near future and far future cyberpunk world and her alternate reality doppelgänger Zhou Zhen who lives in a silk punk martial arts world who are Isekai into each others worlds. Such as an Indigenous Pasifika sea pirate. It has Black, Native, poc, queer, trans, & disabled representation. It has Indigenous and indigenous pasifika representation too actually. If that’s something you are into. Need email for google doc invite link also if you are also into this.

If you want to look up excerpt blog posts of my poetry book or futurism project. Be sure to search my blog with my tags of native, indigenous, trans, disabled, and or queer: artist, writer, representation, character, and or creator. Be sure to like and reblog to boost my art wips and projects to native of color, disabled, & or lgbt mutuals.

Cover art of the Spoken Word Poetry Book: Heart of Fire Dragon Soul of Flame Phoenix and Sea Fairy Ocean Blood:

Upcoming project once i find cast crew and a studio and network to green light it: Modern take movie about Medusa and her blind lesbian love interest. With more diverse characters since modern take with disabled, queer trans, and bipoc representation like my other wips and projects.

Polynesian Micronesian and Melanesian sports anime or cartoon. Each season being about different Pasifika sport. Volleyball football ruby rowing or canoeing sailing. Each season with different main characters. Characters from past seasons returning in cameos. Gay volleyball with a vahine femme main character about a pasifika girl in varsity hs volleyball. Hawaiian or Tahitian and her partner is Tongan or Samoan.

Payment Wishlist Donation Mutual Aid:

Payment for art as a disabled native of color writer artist and creator creative. How to support as a disabled native of color gamer/streamer/podcaster. How to help with mutual aid as a disabled and queer trans native of color:

There is an ableist pay cap as a disabled writer artist and creator. If anyone wants to pay me for the spoken word poetry anthology book and or the bipoc qtipoc and disabled futurism project as a disabled writer artist and creator. To help with mutual aid as a disabled native of color. Or wants to help out with items in my wishlist to support me as a disabled gamer/streamer. Be sure to dm or pm me. There is a specific way to do so as a disabled writer artist and creator. People in the past have paid me by sending cash or check to me to my address under my government name. Be sure to dm me or pm me for the address and name to send money under.

Wishlist as a disabled creative and as a disabled gamer/streamer/podcaster:

I play old, current, and next gen console games PlayStation 3, 4, and 5 games and Xbox 360 and Xbox one games.

Still trying to get a gaming computer to play old, current, & upcoming pc games. Still trying to get an Xbox series x for other current and next gen Xbox and pc games. Still trying to get a Nintendo switch to play current and new Pokémon and other Nintendo games.

Games I am playing currently is in my Xbox and PlayStation account. Games I want to play but am waiting for as a disabled gamer, gamer of color, & gaymer is on my wishlist on PlayStation Nintendo and Xbox accounts.

You can also send me PlayStation store or Xbox store gift cards amount from 25 to 100 $ so I can buy the games I want to play and stream as a gamer of color, gaymer, disabled gamer, & variety streamer.

I use an old laptop for my writing and art. Still trying to get a windows 11 laptop and a Samsung or iPad tablet for writing and creating art and projects.

Also still trying to get a microphone, camera, and headset for streaming, gaming, and podcasting.

Unpublished and Not Represented as a Disabled and Queer Trans Native of color Creative

Still looking for a agent, rep, publisher, and producer as a disabled and queer trans native of color creative

[merrycrisis-if]

first of all, oh my god. i am so in love with this game and i respect you so much for it!! 😭 i can literally feel the love oozing off of every word i read and it reads like a love letter to your heritage and i love that so much!!!! as a SEA person, i’m so happy to see more rep 🌸 congratulations on the game so far!

i am so hyped abt all the qiu content. the way i cried like 5 different times during one playthrough is insane LMAO maybe that’s just me being like a big crybaby but THAT GOODBYE SCENE??? oof. man, that stayed with me for DAYS. i’ve been talking my friends ears off abt it and honestly, no regrets 🥰

i also just wanted to share that while i was reading all the qiu moments, i couldn’t help but think of this one song called “Home” by Reese Lansangan and felt it super, super fit how qiu felt abt mc 😭 and how mc essentially became that one person qiu could just be around. especially these particular lyrics:

But nobody knows / How we go

Oh when we're alone / It's like we're home

My bones are safe / And my heart can rest

Knowing it belongs to you, you

My world is changed / And it's cradled by

The comfort that is you, you…

so yeah. safe to say i teared up a whole lot more after i heard the song loop around in my brain 🥰

(just in case you wanted to hear the song, here it is: https://youtu.be/L2SvzMjATLI 🌸)

Wowww love the song and ESPECIALLY LOVE the lyric video.

Yesss sometimes I like listening to angsty MC x Qiu songs but honestly, you're right!! It's also very healing to think about how—at least in the early days—MC was safe harbor, the calm in the storm, for Qiu. The one person they could go to and all would be right with the world.

Hehe omg the fact that you're talking to your friends about Merry Crisis—that's so cool(!!) and I'm so honored!!

And finally, hello fellow Southeast Asian person! :D

[frogblast-the-ventcore]

Some more Shadowrun/Cyberpunk crossover thoughts

I've been thinking more about the idea, and now I'm wondering, if such a crossover existed, we would definitely have certain characters from Cyberpunk as metahumans (i.e. elves, orcs, trolls, etc).

So then the question becomes: who would be what?

There are 5(6) main metatypes in Shadowrun:

Humans

Elves (they're basically what might be termed "high elves" in some fantasy settings. There is also a variant called Night Ones that are, at least in 4th edition, basically just drow)

Dwarves (they're dwarves)

Orks (aesthetics wise, fairly standard fantasy orcs save for half-orcs not being a thing, and the most numerous metahuman type that isn't bog standard human)

Trolls (really tall, muscular, dermal armor)

T'skrang (funky lizard people; not technically in Shadowrun, but they were in Earthdawn, the prequel game, and there's at least one semi-major NPC that is one, even if they can't use the proper name for licensing reasons)

There are also a healthy amount of "non-metahuman sapients" in the Shadowrun setting:

Naga (talking snakes, no arms or human like features at all; they're usually around the size of an anaconda, and typically resemble the dominant venomous or apex predator snake type in their region of origin - in Brazil you get anaconda naga, for example; in the American Southwest you'd get rattlesnake naga, in India/Southeast Asia, you'd probably get king cobra naga. They're very skilled with magic, often using it as a replacement for things metahuman hands can do)

Sasquatches: what it says on the tin. It's Bigfoot/Yeti, but sapient and capable of limited communication.

Centaurs: imagine a horse-taur - horse lower body, upper body of an anthro horse, and that's a Shadowrun centaur.

Shapeshfiters: essentially reverse were-animals, born a sapient animal, but can shift into the form of a metahuman. Various types exist: wolf, fox, coyote, bear, alligator, anaconda, bovine, domestic dogs, deer, horse, eagles/falcons, jaguar, leopard, lion, panther, seal, tigers, etc).

Spirits (a wide array of spirit types exist, from "standard" metahuman looking summoned spirits, to corrupted toxic spirits, insect spirits that don't always get along with people, etc)

Drakes (essentially miniature were-dragons, that come in all the dragon flavors: Western, Eastern, Feathered Serpent, and Leviathan/Sea Dragon). Originally a creation of dragonkind (the so called "true drakes), there are also one that have inherited the abilities and form (so called "bred drakes").

The many and varied Human-MetaHuman Vampiric Virus Infected - the most common being ghouls (can only subsist on metahuman meat, have an entire functioning and sympathetically presented nation to themselves), vampires and nosferatu (must drink metahuman blood, as well as feed on Essence - the magical energy inherit to all creatures; Nosferatu are essentially super-Vampires). There are variants for all metatypes and most non-human sapients (naga and centaur vampires!). The most ethical and chill of these tend to subsist on cloned metahuman meat (for ghouls) or blood banks and livestock animals (for vampires/nosferatu; the blood bank for the obvious; the livestock animals as an Essence source).

Dragons: the big scaly boys and girls that get a ton of publicity. Split into four main types: Western (ala European style, wings and four legs), Eastern (Japanese/Chinese/Southeast Asian style fancy looking hover-noodles), Feathered Serpents (FASHION in dragon form, pretty much Quetzalcoatl), and Leviathans (Sea Dragons; one of which may have been Nessie). There's a further subdivision between standard dragons and Great Dragons (note the capital letters). Greats are regular dragons who have lived long enough to undergo some form of change process that results in them getting much bigger, much more physically and magically powerful, gives them an innate ability to shift into a metahuman form (lesser dragons make do with illusion spells), and gives them the ability to straight up alter fate, luck, and probability (they can essentially go "oh, you killed me? No you didn't" and can actively fuck with your dice rolls). Greats are, by design, unkillable by PCs, and if you fight them, you lose. No ifs or buts. That said, most dragons, and even most Greats, aren't massive scheming dickbags. Some can be arrogant but pricks (Lofwyr), some can be hippies (Hestaby), some can be beloved talk show hosts and presidents (Dunkelzahn), and some can be terrorists (Sirrurg/Alamais).

There are a few other variations and such on sapient life in Shadowrun:

AI: as it says, Artificial Intelligences, ranging from small programs that emerge from Matrix systems, to the giant Godlike entities like Deus, Megaera, and such.

Technomancers: metahumans that can access the Matrix without cyberware or commlinks, essentially technowizards.

SURGE: An umbrella term for metahumans and non-metahuman sapients who have undergone Sudden Unexplained Recessive Genetic Expression, and essentially magically mutated, with a wide variety of possible features. Most players I've known have used it to make other fantasy races (tiefling and dragonborn) and full on furries (if they don't want to do so via cyberware/bioware).

[greenzaku]

How I remember MH17

17 July marks the anniversary of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) in eastern Ukraine in 2014. All 298 on board, mostly Dutch, Malaysians, and Australians were killed. I had just finished up with a short term job interstate and was looking for further employment at the time, and had the time to follow the reporting of the incident online. In 2014, I would not have guessed that the event would shape my view of discourse and disinformation in eastern Europe for years to come. Ukraine was on the other side of the world and I had no real interest or understanding of the invasion by Russia back then, but people from my country were on that plane, so I paid attention. The blame game started in earnest.

‘Ukraine fired the missile.’

‘Russia fired the missile’

‘It was an accident.’

‘The Ukrainians are looting the crash site.’

‘The Russians are looting the crash site.’

‘Malaysian Airlines was at fault and shouldn’t have been flying over a warzone.’

‘The pilot was at fault.’

‘The investigation is biased towards Russia/Ukraine/Malaysia/Australia/Netherlands...’

‘Russia/Ukraine tampered with evidence...’

It even got ugly in some less reputable ‘news’ sites and far right conspiracy theories spread online, that it was the ‘missing’ MH370 that crashed into the sea months earlier, that the US did it because reasons, islamophobia, men in black, hijackers, crisis actors, aliens... As a queer person, I paid attention to the fact that several AIDS researchers were on board, and stigma surrounding AIDS was and is still very rife, which fed into the more extreme discourse. The world wanted answers.

Round and round it went. It did eventually emerge that Russia, or ‘separatists’ - really Russian proxies - fired the missile, from a Buk launcher that was later filmed being carted back to Russia carrying three missiles instead of its usual four. The billboard was used to geolocate the truck and Buk’s to the border.

Pardon my terrible MSPaint edit.

The still image is grabbed from a video that was posted by Ukraine’s Defense ministry, but forms part of a broader investigation by Bellingcat, an independent collective of open source researchers, that is too detailed to write here but tracked the movements of the Buk and the truck carrying it to and from the launch site. (link: https://www.bellingcat.com/tag/mh17/)

There was nothing wrong with the plane, the pilot, or the flight path. Passenger planes from Air France, Air India and Singapore Airlines were transiting nearby.

Now, it was obvious that MH17 wasn’t an intentional target. The commanders of the brigade that the Buk belonged to initially posted on social media that they had downed a Ukrainian fighter jet, and then rapidly deleted their celebratory comments when photos of the wreckage appeared online. In my mind, all Russia had to do was acknowledge it was a mistake, or a mistake by ‘separatists’, court martial the guy who pulled the trigger, apologise and fork out some form of compensation. Install a plaque at the site, send flowers, and the world would have eventually looked away from the not-really-civil-war in faraway eastern Europe and their brush with a southeast Asian airline.

Why the lies? Acknowledging the mistake would have been magnitudes cheaper and simpler than the overall war effort. Why was continuing to perpetuate a firehose of falsehoods more important than the truth and trying to repair relations? I couldn’t answer those questions then, but now realise that keeping the information space muddied and flooded with crap is now the norm for disinformation coming out of Russia. Its like they can’t help themselves.

Fast forward to today.

The ‘separatist’ commanders are still involved in the invasion of Ukraine, now unmasked as regular Russians. No commercial flights operate over the country for now. Disinformation, so heavily weaponised during the long months of pandemic lockdown and the former president of the US, runs rife. I posted my own little memorials to the tragedy on social media, year after year, and got bot farm and troll reactions downvoting or pushing them into invisibility. I’m not important enough in the big scheme of things to have a flesh and blood russian troll come to debate me, not that I have the time and energy for it. I’m also not the only person who refuses to forget it, even if the loss pales in significance to the atrocities perpetuated on Ukraine from last year. The lies meant that when the 2022 invasion started along with the inevitable discourse, we also remembered which side was more likely to be lying. The Netherlands and Australia are very supportive of Ukraine, Malaysia is officially neutral (mostly due to convoluted reasoning of America = bad imperialists, America supports Ukraine, so supporting Russia good etc) though many individuals still go against the grain to donate or volunteer. I can’t change what others think, but at least I can prevent them from forgetting.

[freifraufischer]

Rifda Irfanaluthfi is a pioneering gymnast from Indonesia and has a very strong chance of being the first Indonesian woman to qualify for the Olympics.

She beat former US national team gymnast Aleah Finnigan at the Southeast Asian Games taking the AA title. The reason I have been thinking about her this morning is that if you try to google the results of that competition it requires quite a lot of refinement to find anything about Irfanaluthfi while there is plenty of results with Finnigan's name in the headlines.

And today as I sat down to watch the 2023 Asian Championships and everyone was excited about the Philippines team that was stacked with 2 former US national team members (including Finnigan) and a top level L10 who had been recruited from the United States I started to gently point out that Irfanaluthfi was someone to watch. I was told that sure she beat Finnigan at the SEA games but this was a different year and that the reason people talked about Finnigan and not Irfanaluthfi was "charisma".

Well Irfanaluthfi finished the day as the top non-Chinese/non-Korean scorer in the Asian championships. One spot ahead of Finnigan but by the comparatively wide margin of .9.

Maybe the gymternet will stop treating her like an after thought or someone who only won the SEA Games AA because Finnigan lost it. I am certainly in no hope that the fandom will realize that no NCAA gymnastics is not "world class"--and in particular when talking about NCAA transitioning into elite you should ask questions about bars which are the most different between international and college gymnastics.

But for now... can appreciate this young woman.

[bejo4d]

ASEAN GAMES

The ASEAN Games, also known as the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), is a multi-sport event held every two years among the Southeast Asian countries. Here are some key points about the ASEAN Games:

Objective: The ASEAN Games aims to promote sports development and foster friendship and solidarity among the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It provides a platform for athletes from the region to compete and showcase their talents in various sports.

History: The ASEAN Games was first held in 1959 in Bangkok, Thailand, with participants from Thailand, Burma (now Myanmar), Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Since then, the event has been held regularly every two years, with the number of participating countries increasing over time.

Sports: The ASEAN Games features a wide range of sports, including traditional and popular sports in the region as well as Olympic and non-Olympic sports. Common sports include athletics, swimming, basketball, football (soccer), badminton, table tennis, volleyball, and martial arts such as taekwondo and karate.

[carlocarrasco]

Cash incentives for 32nd SEA Games and 12th ASEAN Para Games medalists to be awarded on July 20

Members of the Philippine Team who won medals in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) and the 12 ASEAN Para Games (APG) will be awarded with the promised cash incentives by the national government on July 20, 2023, at Malacañang Palace, according to a Philippine News Agency (PNA) news article. The cash incentives will be released in accordance to Republic Act Number 10699 and President…

[oinonsana]

Hey all! If you were ever into D&D 4e, Lancer, or just want a really out there fantasy setting that exalts Southeast Asian culture and Martial Arts, give Gubat Banwa a try!

GUBAT BANWA is a Postclassic Fantasy Martial Arts TTRPG intensely inspired by the refulgent and diluvial cultures and stories of Southeast Asia. It is intended to be played by 1-6 Players. You play as Kadungganan (Honorable Ones, socially the best of the best of the warrior castes) during the end of the world, and the fate of Gubat Banwa (lit. Warring Realms/Nations/Places) rests at the tip of your blade.

The game is on the final stages of development, with playtests for 1st Edition out now for everyone to play through!

It's got:

🌺 A war drama system focused on testing your Kadungganan's CONVICTIONS, the central part of the game. To change the world, you must have Convictions.

✊ An intense martial arts grid-tactics system inspired by the likes of Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre, D&D4e, Endless Fantasy Tactics, Gloomhaven, Panic At The Dojo!, and even a little bit of Exalted and Sekiro!

👹 The tactical martial arts "classes" are known as "Disciplines", which are explicitly martial arts Disciplines that you choose to follow down upon. You grow your character similar to FFT jobs: you learn "Masteries" in a Discipline (special techniques and such) then switch Disciplines, but keep the Masteries you've already learned! Enjoy a wild variety of Disciplines such as the Vishnu-Avatar Blacksmiths that create naga statues in the battlefield, Gun Witches that channel indigenous-gods-turned-demons to shot God in the Head, Sepak Takraw taught by the God of Comets to kill people by kicking shit at them really hard, and combat diplomats that have learned mantras from Shiva.

🪷 A Trichiliocosm inspired by the diverse cultures of Southeast Asia. Explore five major factions that delve into the five major cultural parts of SEA: the Indigenous, the Hindu-Buddhist, the Muslim, and even a bit of the Colonized and how that violence interacts with the rest of the setting!

🦚 Rules for not just traditional GM + Player gameplay, but also GM-less play and even Solo Play! Learn the rules of the game on your own, or embark on adventures with fellow Kadungganan as you fight against enemies controlled by the Gambit System, an AI system!

In Playtest 3 we got:

♋️ New Astrology-esque Alignments for Narrative Character Creation!

⚔️ Revamped Combat system with Drum-based "initiative" and rolls inspired by Skirmish Wargames!

𑁍 Rules for Solo and GM-less play! Go through the Sword Isles on your own!

Get it on itch: https://makapatag.itch.io/gubat-banwa

Read the devlog!: https://makapatag.itch.io/gubat.../devlog/443142/playtest-3…

GET IT ON DRIVETHRU: https://drivethrurpg.com/.../Gubat-Banwa-1e-Playtest…

Not everything is done yet obviously: some more art is needed, some more content, and some more borders. But most of it is nearing its full completion!

Thanks all. Glory through conviction, healing though violence, revel in love and lightning.

[kulay-ng-banaag]

“Before they were Perlas ng Silanganan they were Hija del sol de Oriente. They might as well look it.”

Physical Appearance (General) Headcanons for HWS Philippines

CW: mentions of body injury

‼ UPDATE (07/30/24): Few additions made; glazed images with personal art

☼ ☼ ☼

Skin Color: Moreno. Neutral undertone. Beautifully sun-kissed and proudly brown, after long hours under the sun, whether it be from toiling in the fields or wading in the waters.

Historically, mestizo/a* is used to refer to Filipinos of mixed Spanish blood. These days, it generally applies to anyone that appear foreign, if only by way of their fair skin.

*Grammatical gender is just not a thing in PH languages, even after integrating Spanish terms. As to the use of the term Filipinx, here's some great commentary by a PH linguist.

While I'm aware that fair-skinned Southeast Asians exist, fair-skinned Piri does not match up to how I view him spending the vast majority of his time outdoors & only wearing clothes that fully cover his limbs for formal occasions. No way is he going be white as non-existent-in-this-tropical-climate snow after 1500+ years in the fields and the seas and the wars in-between.

I, the artist behind all this terrible lore you all must suffer, may pass off as mestiza but the Philippines’ story encompasses many, not just the (mestizo) educated middle-class folks like me. I think that’s a fair (haha, ironic) enough representation.

If it means anything, Piri will rather eat papaya, not soak in it.

I did not think we would ever have discourse about skin whitening trends, but apparently we did. tl;dr unpack that sh*t.

☼ ☼ ☼

Hair Color: I hate rendering pure black hair so there will always be a subtle brownish or blueish undertone. In Piri's case, I use a warm and very dark shade of brown as the base color. Like the grains of Balatinaw black rice grown in the Cordillera terraces, or the liberica beans cultivated in the Batangueño lowlands.

While I have joked that Piri disappears from the chapters because he has been at the salon getting his hair bleached, I personally wish that that last-minute change in detail never occurred. Upgrades to color palettes are all a natural part of the art glowup, but tossing that in the middle of a story arc ended up selling so weird to me. I live in the metro and you are bound to bump into Filipinos with bleached hair (I, myself, did so if only to nab my dream pink mane), but even people who dye their hair are rare still. You're more likely to encounter those who opted for brown highlights instead.

The ahoge is a surprise because it isn't in the Dec. 2020 teaser sketch, and I figure it's an allusion to the American influence - or maybe it's that Himaruya quirk of giving characters ahoges. Ngl, without the ahoge, Piri will look like a stereotypical BL manhwa uke.

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Hairstyle: Side-swept hair with a fluffy & layered fringe.

It’s a trending hairstyle you’ll find with guys around here, albeit with an undercut instead of the unswept hair being combed down (in Piri’s case as I draw it). For formal occasions, all he has to do is slather the hair gel onto the fringe.

Piri was long past his 90s/early 2000s kachupoy phase.

I struggle with describing hairstyles through words (this is why I vibed with comics as a medium). I have recreated IndoPhil in my Sims 4 game there as closely as possible to how I imagine and the hairstyles I have given them are exactly what I have in mind.

☼ ☼ ☼

Eye Color: Dark brown that becomes a fiery amber under direct sunlight. Glimmering like precious gold beneath the rich earth.

Any "color changes" are just reflections from light sources (ex. for scenes/illustrations where I let his eyes go gold, it’s playing on how dark brown eyes under direct sunlight can appear amber). I’d demonstrate with my own but I rather not burn my own eyes out for the aesthetic, so I have pulled out these images from a Google search instead.

Other headcanon colors I’ve seen (pearl, ube) are cute! I use pearl eyes for the diwata!Piri I've drawn (not sirena!Piri, because his shiny golden tail is already a huge, enamoring de...tail 🥁).

Nonetheless, I’m also content with the eye color I started with.

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Height: I imagined him around 5’5” since the beginning, so I’m keeping the canon number. To quote one of my favorite nonfiction reads, the Philippines is not a small country.

Physique: Now I vehemently deny Himaruya’s canon for this. Maybe it’s on me growing up in an urban city littered with gym boys, but trust me when I say that Piri is absolutely THAT bakla who will use a photo revealing his well-built upper body as a Twitter profile picture.

I declare myself a twunk Piri artist. Some references I would cite are:

1). The UP Oblation statue.

2). Swimmer bods (if you don't believe, just look at the Free! anime)

3). Josh Dela Cruz!!!!!!

Piri did not earn his canon (modified) navy uniform nor go through a history book’s worth of revolutions, only to come out of it all a twink. As a Gemini, he’s full of physical adrenaline and that all has to go somewhere (chatting it away will not be enough).

He is of a swimmer build (think of the boys of Free!), with lean, softly-defined muscles, wider - if not broader - upper body (shoulders, biceps, back), narrow waistline, and fairly plump thighs. He also has what one will describe as a cute butt.

Piri is definitely not as beefy as Indo nor as chiseled as Thai (and hopefully I’ll sketch out the other SEAnigang too to explain this better). Admittedly, I also think it is ten times sexier to best know how sculpted Piri is by feeling his body (abang Indo, take notes!!). So yes, I have given my country abs, because if Hima won't I will he dasurvs it.

As a fun extra comparison, both Piri and Indo are the heavy eaters (in more ways than one, too) of the SEAnigang. Both will happily finish the leftovers from barkada eat-outs. Piri remains slim because he has higher metabolism.

☼ ☼ ☼

Scars: He has a couple from bullet wounds across his collarbone. There is a nasty, large burn scar on his right side. His back has clearly taken multiple hits, and they have left quite the damage to the tattoos that have come before.

To me, nations can take hits and physically heal up just fine (the rate of recovery honestly varied). Some things simply leave a lasting mark.

Tattoos: That gets its own post.

[kafuwka]

𝘐𝘕𝘛𝘙𝘖𝘋𝘜𝘊𝘛𝘐𝘖𝘕 !

ABOUT ME — angel

hi there, you've probably seen me a few times under kafka tags. if you havent, then hello!! and yea, im a kafka fanatic if that wasnt obvious

im a lesbian demigirl and go by she/her. im southeast asian 🇲🇾 and im a minor. i dont write fics, but i write my thoughts and other random things. if i do decide to write fics, ill post about it

WHAT I WRITE OR WILL USUALLY TALK ABOUT ;;;

GAMES —

honkai star rail (tl35 asia), genshin impact (ar55 na), honkai impact 3 (sea server, i dont rmbr my cl but its cl50 something), minecraft, roblox (i dont play alot of games i mostly talk to my friends and roam on social media 💔)

ANIMES —

chainsaw man, kimi ni todoke, jujutsu kaisen, komi cant communicate, the ice guy and his cool female colleague, my happy marriage, one punch man, mob psycho 100, hunter x hunter, moriarty the patriot, skip and loafer, haikyuu, bocchi the rock, fruits basket, tokyo revengers, a little bit of one piece

KPOP/MUSIC (mostly female artists) —

<newjeans3, le sserafim, kep1er, nmixx, aespa, ive, fifty fifty, odd eye circle, itzy, g-idle, stayc, beabadoobee, wave to earth, deftones, unflirt, dacelynn, luci4, jnhygs, odetari

FAVES (kpop) —

haerin 🩷, hanni, chaewon, yunjin, bahiyyih, xiaoting, haewon, ningning, wonyoung, rei, yujin, saena, choerry, lia, yeji, 2yeon and minnie, isa

𝘋𝘕𝘐 !

basic dni crit, over 23+, disguises racism/homophobia/transphobia as jokes, hate kpop (opinions, but if you're gonna trash my faves then this is absolutely not the place for u to do so), excessive sex jokes (im fine with a little flirting, just dont do it too much or ill bully you for having a porn addiction.), fujoshits and fudanshits/wlw and mlm fetishizers, diehard genshin fans who cant take opinions, anime fans who hate kpop and kpop fans who hate anime (i like both), boundary crossers, no life twitterians

[quotesfrommyreading]

The emergence of the SARS virus is similarly the result of an abrupt expansion, in this case in the size of wet markets and the diversity of the strange panoply of animals they sell.

The SARS virus was not new. Nor were the practices that brought bats into proximity with people in southern China. The SARS virus “was probably there in bats for centuries,”  says the University of Hong Kong virologist Malik Peiris, whose team first isolated the virus. And the yewei cuisine and wet markets that brought bats together with people in southern China were long-standing, too.

Yewei cuisine is part of a range of traditional cultural practices in China that draw wild animals closer so that people can tap into the animals' power, strength, and longevity. People keep wild animals at pets (or, for the aspirational, dye their domesticated dogs' fur to look like tigers and pandas) and mimic their postures in practices such as kung fu. Traditional medicine practitioners administer their body parts as remedies: tiget whiskers for toothaches, bear bile for liver disease, bat skeletons for kidney stones. For people who consider wild animals precious natural resources – the rarer, wilder, and more exotic the more precious – consuming them is bu, restorative and stimulating for the body, endowing the consumer with a whiff of the animal's natural energy.

But for many years, economic and geographic barriers limited the consumption of yewei cuisine in China, and with it the size of wet markets. China had troubled political relations with neighboring countries such as Thailand and Laos and Vietnam, where many of the most desirable exotic animals roamed, so their supply for consumption was thin and prices high. While the elites could afford to dine on braised bear paw with carp tongue, gorilla lips and pig brain in wine sauce, and leopard placenta steamed with camel hump and garnished with pear, ordinary folk made do with more ordinary fare, or hunted for their own wild game.

Then, in the early 1990s, the Chinese economy started growing by 10 percent or more every year. Suddenly, a new class of young, aspiring, prosperous Chinese in booming cities had more money than they knew what to do with. Along with stocking up on Western luxury goods – Louis Vuitton sold more bags in China than anywhere else in 2011 – they started demanding more yewei cuisine. New restaurants serving peacock, swan geese, and sea cucumber, along with other exotic creatures, sprang up across the region. China reestablished trade with many of its Southeast Asian neighbors, allowing poachers and traders to plunge even deeper into the countryside to meet the rising demand. They crammed their stocks of wild animals into ever larger wet markets, stacking cages of live animals from increasingly disparate locales across Asia next to each other, awaiting sale to yewei-hungry shoppers.

It was only then, after the size and scale of wet markets grew, that a serendipitious sequence of events that could turn a virus of horseshoe bats into a human pathogen became probable.

  —  Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond (Sonia Shah)