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smolla-than-a-bug · 3 years

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Can you do an dominic x reader where reader sided with dominic during the tree trial?, reader ended up dying first protecting dominic from an attack and dominic went berserk after seeing his s/o killed in front of him, then in his last moments he crawled to his s/o to die beside her while holding her.....

I just love angst and sad endings im so sorry

to have and to hold

—dominic villaceran x reader

navi | trese m.list

content — fem!reader, fluff (a lil bit) to angst, blood, descriptions of violence, maj character death

notes — angst and sad endings?? don’t apologize honey i’m all up for that 🤩 thank you for requesting! i enjoyed writing this a lot actually i hope u like it AHAHA

The sun felt so nice on your skin.

Its prickly warmth was a stark contrast to the coastal breeze. Santorini was a good pick for your honeymoon. The weather was just right; you could wear a sundress and still feel fresh, without fear of ending up sweating buckets or enduring the annoying chafing of your thighs.

You thought back to this morning, when your now-husband had helped you rub shea butter all over your body after a nice, relaxing bath in the tub. The light of the day reminded you that you were alive. As you feel the prickling heat piercing your skin, you smile as the current position of the sun behind Dominic made it look like there was a halo on his head. You're so lucky to be able to sit across from him, sipping on fine wine as baskets of fruit and several Greek delicacies are served for breakfast.

"You think your mom's still pissed we didn't have an actual wedding?" Dominic asked, popping a grape into his mouth.

He doesn't actually care what your mom thinks as long as he knows you're happy—you know this. Back when he proposed to you, he'd asked if you wanted a big wedding or a simple one. You had answered with neither, unwilling to spend a ridiculous sum of money for just one night. An expensive honeymoon trip with the love of your life was very much the better option. “She’ll get over it,” you say.

"It's a shame we never exchanged vows in a fancy cathedral though."

"Oh?" you smirked. "You didn't like the dingy courthouse setting? I thought it was rather rustic."

Dominic snorted, shaking his head.

"Did you want us to be wed at an actual church? I wouldn't have minded, you know."

Dominic thought for a moment, setting his glass down. "I already told you I didn't really care for a traditional wedding." And he didn't, truthfully. In his mind, the sooner his last name was made yours, the better. He just couldn't wait to be able to finally call you his wife and spend forever with you. "But I did hope we'd have a more... romantic place to exchange rings, say our vows."

He did have a point there. In the courthouse, there were no tears shed behind a veil. There were no pews decorated with flowers or filled with people wiping their eyes with handkerchiefs. An organ didn't play music in the background. Doves were not released overhead. In its place, there was the blinking light of a faulty lightbulb, Monobloc chairs, and the smell of a sterilized room.

Despite that, you wouldn't have changed how things were even if you had the chance, for you saw no need for it. So you reached for your husband's hand across the table. "What if we exchanged vows again right now?" You don’t think you’ll ever get tired of the view you’re blessed with, surrounded by the whitewashed, cube-shaped buildings adorned with blue accents and colorful plants that the island of Santorini is known for. "You said you wanted a romantic setting! Look around you, my love. What place is more romantic than right here?"

Dominic pursed his lips, fixing your clasped hands so they intertwined together. "A bit cheesy, but alright."

"I take you, Dominic, to be my husband,” you started, “to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part."

In all honesty, you thought it would be a bit funny, but as more words left your mouth, you started to mean them more seriously rather than merely poking fun at tradition. After all, vows are meant to be taken to heart for life. If there’s anything you’re serious about, it’s loving Dominic.

And as he recited his own vows (again), you smile because there’s nowhere you’d rather be than by his side. You’d follow him anywhere. It didn’t matter what happened as long as you could be with him.

For a while, you let your words simmer in the salty breeze, absorbing the promises you'd repeated as if it were the first time.

“You think we should have just written our own vows?”

You hum, nodding absentmindedly.

When you did meet his eyes, you were met with a million words, a million promises to you that never needed to be said aloud but would have him bound to you regardless—for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, and for the rest of your lives.

Loving Dominic completed you more than words could encompass. In this cold, mechanical world, he’s the one you found warmth in. He spreads that feeling throughout your body and spirit every time he called you his love or his darling, every time he looked at you, every time he held you close. He was your missing puzzle piece, and you’d do just about whatever it took to keep your love whole.

Dominic found himself chastising the sun.

It was the middle of the day, so the temperature was at its peak. The glare of the sun was obstructing his view as if the beads of sweat rolling past his eyebrows weren’t already doing enough of that—or were those tears?

He was struggling to process anything at this point. As he recklessly maneuvered his body and slashed at whatever came his way, he thought of the events leading up to that moment. It was only this morning that he put on soft music and hugged you from behind, lightly swaying you side to side while he pressed lingering kisses on your neck and shoulder.

Those same parts of your body now were leaking blood. The scratches on your neck and shoulder along with the big pool of blood around your abdomen was the only thing he could see from where he was, and it consumed him with panic. That panic quickly spread through his brain, and consumed him with shock, leaving him with a ringing in his ears and unable to determine how to act next to killing every thing that breathes or moves within his sight.

He had to get to you somehow—fast—and the only way his body let him do that was to make a pathway of bodies on the floor until he could reach you, feel you, and most importantly, make sure you’re still warm and breathing. He thought he heard someone screaming in the distance, but the straining in his throat made him soon realize that it was him.

He never even realized the injuries he’s sustained until he fell on his knees beside your limp body that, despite your paling complexion, still somehow glows under the light of day.

“Y/N.” He rarely calls you by your name, shakily reaching for your hand. He feels a soft thumping when he presses two fingers to your wrist. It’s faint, but it’s still there and that’s more than what he could ask for right now. “Please, my love,” he begs, weakly, “open your eyes.”

Your lack of response brought a searing pain in his chest. If only you’d show him your beautiful, lively eyes just one more time. Please.

To his relief, a labored breath left your chapped lips as you struggled to blink your eyelids open. You tried to speak but he was quick to shush you. “No, no… save your strength.”

As you lay there on the dirty ground, you held onto the heat prickling at your skin to remind you that you still had a sliver of life in your vessel.

Dominic’s gaze is lost on you, knowing that of all the years he's lived, the best decision he's ever made was marrying you. Of course, he’s already long realized this, but somehow it hits him much harder how lucky he is that you chose to love him.

Your love was gentle, tender, and giving—never demanding and never expecting. You willingly gave yourself to him out of your own free will because you wanted to show him what he meant to you. Through the years, you'd shown him parts of you that you'd kept reserved, made him feel loved, appreciated, wanted. He’d forever be grateful to the gods for the time he was given to be with you for as long as he has, though he couldn’t help but wish that you’d been given more.

But he couldn’t do much about it now, especially with his growing difficulty in breathing the longer he sat upright, so he slumped down in the rubble with you, lifting your body to rest between his legs so he could hold you as you go.

A familiar warm sensation blooms within you, and you feel at peace. In attempt to make up for the words your body lacked the strength to let you say, you put all your remaining effort into squeezing his hand that was desperately clutching yours, if only to let him know that you were there. You were still with him.

With that one gesture, Dominic knows everything you’re trying to say—a reiteration of the millions of promises you’d kept for one another, gratitude for the time you’d spent together, and grief for all that could have been.

He feels you taking your final breath. A final goodbye lingers in the air as your spirit leaves this world. He thinks he can hear you teasing him with the words ‘I’ll see you in the next life.’ With tears running down his cheeks, he struggles to press one last kiss on your head.

His body feels heavier with each second that passes, and he knows it’s a matter of time before he leaves the world too. His vision begins to darken until he can see nothing. The ringing in his ears fade, and the last thing he feels is the weight of your cold body on his, as opposed to the prickling hot sun of the afternoon, but it’s all fading into nothing now too.

He smiles.

I’m right behind you, my love.

trese tag list — @lumpiang-toge @binibiningbabaylan @marinac15 @effmigentlywithachainsaw

#how do we feel about this one besties?🎤#actu kinda short #im using the same header for dom #its so hard to edit pics ugh #trese x reader #dominic x reader #trese dominic x reader #dominic villaceran x reader #dominic villaceran #trese dominic #dominic abswang #dominic aswang #trese angst #trese imagine #trese netflix #trese

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jmmangkukulam · 3 years

Text

The Trese family library

Illustrated by Eddie Mendoza. Trese (2021)

#trese #trese on netflix #trese netflix #art #backgrounds #alexandra trese #anton trese #myposts #mp

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adarlingmess · 3 years

Photo

Ugnayan

Summary:

Filipino word, noun: connection between persons, groups, countries, etc.

A collection of works detailing a manananggal clan’s relations with the Treses, and their allies.

II: Bad Habits

Summary: After disrupting one of House of Arko’s operations, one of the Kambal meets up with their informant.

Words: 4540

Characters: Basilio, Crispin, Sabina (OC), Alexandra Trese (mentioned only), Ammie (mentioned only), Reyna Manananggal (mentioned only), Dominic Villaceran (mentioned only), Mama Grande (mentioned only)

Relationships: Basilio/Original Female Character

Language: English, with a few Filipino words and phrases sprinkled in.

Rating: 16+

Warnings: Strong language, violence, mentions of abortion, references to human trafficking + sexual trafficking, sexual themes

Author’s Notes:

I am: back on my bullshit again

People were looking for a part 2 so have more Basilio x OC stuff. Spoiler warning for Verdugo: Takutan because this story heavily references its lore and events! The comics are known to be darker in tone, and so is this fic, so heed the warnings above. No Taglish version this time, Darling niyo pagod na 😩

This was supposed to be a simple job.

Get in, rough up House of Arko’s operation while Bossing is paying them a visit in their mansion, get out, and watch as Bossing confronts them about it at the next social gathering they’ll host.

But nothing was ever simple about the aswang, right?

Now there’s a huge one trying to eat Basilio alive.

“Damn it, Basilio. Your recklessness is a bad habit that’ll bite us in the ass later!” his older brother berates him.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever! Now might be the right time to call for backup kuya,” he strains, attempting to pull the magubat’s jaw apart with his superhuman strength. His fingers slip from the drool and it almost bites his hands off.

Crispin’s busy with a horde of mailap, taking turns in taking pot shots from him in the shadows. “We should’ve taken a page from Carlos’ book and brought palm fronds. Who should we call?”

“What about Maliksi?” Basilio suggests.

“What’s one tikbalang to all these aswangs? We need something bigger, maybe a higante to take on that magubat!”

“Gago, a higante can’t get here as fast as a tikbalang!” Basilio snaps.

“Mas gago ka! What about that playmate of ours from when we were kids, y’know, the one that tipped Bossing off about this whole trafficking operation anyway? Think she can fly her way here?” Crispin growls, shooting down a mailap who was foolish enough to ambush the more cautious twin from above.

Ah, yes. Sabina.

Boyish, intimidating, hard to figure out- but still hot enough to flirt with, despite being aswang; that’s how Basilio would describe her. This Sab was a far cry from the Sabina Marie he once knew years ago, the one who used to wear an all-girl Catholic school uniform, shyly shared her snacks and books with him, and kissed him farewell when her mama told her she’ll not be coming with her to meetings with the lakan anymore.

A few days after they caught up with each other, she turned up at the Diabolical not too long ago with a flash drive for Alex’s eyes only. She didn’t even breathe a word to him, much less look at his direction, but Basilio could only surmise that it’s his fault.

“Sabina? Well, manananggals who follow the queen can shoot. It’s- ungh- worth the shot!” Basilio answers back, straining as he gets swatted to the side with one gigantic claw. “You make the call, my hands are full!”

“Give me your phone, I don’t have her Facespace.”

Basilio looks down from several feet, and gives his brother a sheepish smile. “Uhhh, okay, but she’s been seenzoning me.”

From behind his mask, Crispin frowns. “What did you do?”

“She might’ve seen me tagged in Ammie’s story when I was supposed to watch her gig. I got there when her set was ending, and she was pissed.”

Grumbling, Crispin takes his frustrations off on a mabangis charging towards him, a flurry of bullets raining upon its body. “What did Bossing say about getting personal with informants?”

“What? It’s Sab. She’s-”

“An aswang who might have an ulterior motive in helping us. Tangina Basilio, think with your head sometimes! The one between your shoulders!”

Distracted, Basilio failed to stop the jaws of the magubat from closing in on him. As quickly as his reflexes allow, he tosses his brother his phone.

“Just call already! Tell her it’s an emergency.”

The older Kambal flies up and extends his free hand to catch it. Crispin launches Basilio’s Facespace app and begins to search for their informant. He found her under the name Sab Evasco. Crispin pretended not to see the string of messages Basilio left for her, all left on read.

Her phone rings. One time. Two times. Three times. Crispin dials again. Twice. Thrice.

Someone picks up. He puts the call on the loudspeaker.

There’s someone strumming a guitar in the background, accompanied by a drumset’s cymbals. They come to a halt and Crispin hears a frustrated woman’s voice from the other end of the line.

“Ulol gago, fuck you Basilio, you can tell me if you’d rather go on Starbreaks coffee dates with a wind girl than watch me play. I’m a grown woman, I can handle a simple ‘no’. I’m not in the mood for your games! Now fuck off, I don’t want to hear from you. I have a gig to practice for.”

Basilio cringes as he listens to Sabina’s tirade. Crispin guns a charging mabangis down, and his mask dematerializes for a brief moment, just enough for him to mouth to his brother “Gago ka talaga.”

“Sabina, it’s Crispin. We could use some backup here. We’re being swarmed by aswang.”

The sound of a guitar being unceremoniously dropped and the mad shuffle to catch it can be heard from Sabina’s line, followed by quick footsteps. Sabina talks again, calmer this time. “What? Couldn’t Basilio get his own ass on the phone and tell me himself?”

With an exasperated expression, Crispin turns on the camera, and points the phone at Basilio, who’s caught between the magubat’s jaws. “He said you were ignoring him, and he can’t get on the phone right now, as you can see.”

The Kambal heard her fumbling with more equipment, which sounded like a guitar case being zipped up and carried. A brief argument with her bandmates follows, then Sabina talks again.

“I’ll be there. Stay on the line.”

Now they wait.

As much as Crispin wanted to help his little brother, his hands were full with the wave after wave of aswang coming after them. They’re relentless. This is their food supply the Kambal are cutting off, after all.

“Any luck with Sab?” Basilio asks, attempting to shoot the roof of the mabangis’ mouth.

The bullets barely penetrate the thick membrane. He’ll need to transform the Armas Infinitum into a more powerful weapon to lobotomize the gigantic aswang, but seeing how he’s separated from his twin, it’s impossible at the moment.

“She said she’s on the way. She’s still on the phone. Here!”

Crispin throws the phone back to Basilio, who catches it with one hand, while his other arm continues to struggle with the magubat trying to swallow him whole. He tucks it in his breast pocket, and he jumps near the row of the magubat’s front teeth, prying it open with both arms.

Through the aswangs’ growls, Basilio could faintly hear a woman cursing and the jingling of keys from the other side of the line.

“Hey Sab! It’s Basilio. Sorry again about missing your gig.”

“Shut up and hang tight. If I didn’t care for you at all...” Sabina snaps. Basilio could barely make out the words Sabina was saying due to the wind and sound of traffic. “I’m on my way.”

“Ngh, can’t you come any sooner? I heard that aswang intestines are nasty.” Basilio pauses, realizing his mistake. “No offense.”

“I said zip it. Isn’t it enough that I went out of hiding and agreed to be Trese’s informant? Now I have to be your backup too?”

“Working with Bossing has its risks. We made that clear, princess.”

“Don’t call me that.”

There’s more turbulence and wind from Sabina’s line. If Basilio guessed, she’s now flying to the scene. The Kambal’s struggle with the aswang continued until they heard their informant’s voice through the speakers again.

“Big bad war demigods can’t handle a single fucking magubat?” Sabina deadpans, the turbulence and noise no longer accompanying her voice. “Open the fucker’s mouth wide. Make sure he’s facing east.”

“Kuya! She’s in the area, help me pry the jaws open!” the younger Kambal shouts to his older brother, who dodges a leaping mailap and quickly flies up to his aid.

“What’s the plan?” Crispin asks, and Basilio shrugs.

“I don’t know, she just asked me to do it!”

Before Crispin could question Basilio, a shot rings throughout the building, and the magubat collapses. The Kambal let go of the heavy jaws and flew away, watching the near-twenty foot aswang crush a few of its regular-sized kind. Upon closer inspection, a bullet has torn its way through the roof of its mouth. It’s a clean shot. The magubat isn’t regenerating, much to the Kambal’s surprise.

It’s a pleasant surprise, nonetheless.

“That’s for trying to eat my brother,” Crispin spits, kicking the dead aswang’s head.

Soon, more of the aswang started dropping like flies, too. Razed by bullets from an unknown assailant, the House of Arko aswangs started to panic.

“Wait a minute, I know manananggals who follow the queen can shoot, but Sabina is a sniper? Do you know about this, Bas?” Crispin exclaims, tearing his eyes away from the dead magubat to face yet another wave of mabangis.

“No! Damn, she’s using special bullets too. Where’d she get those?” Basilio mutters. A mailap attempts an ambush attack, and before he could react, Basilio watches it get shot mid-air as it attempts to jump him.

“You’re mine,” Sabina hisses, her voice crackling through Basilio’s phone speaker, smooth through the static.

Her emphasis on the word “mine” made goosebumps ripple through Basilio’s arm.

“Hot. Could you say that again?”

What he got instead was a groan. “Fuck, don’t distract me Basilio. I’m not here for fun.”

“You seem to be having fun shooting House of Arko’s minions though.”

“Fair. You two better look for the hostages. I have a bone to pick with this lot.”

The Kambal looks at each other, and nods. Glass shatters as they fly out the building’s windows, to the upper floors. After taking care of the guards, they saw them. Men and women in cages, all naked, and herded like livestock.

“Please, help us,” one of them whimpers, crawling to the front of the cage and grabbing Crispin by the arm. She’s dirty, and her belly is swollen. Basilio turned on the lights and they saw it clear as day: most of these women are pregnant. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on.

House of Arko farms their food, breeding humans like livestock, and harvesting fetuses from them.

Sirens are blaring outside, both from police cars and ambulances, waiting for the hostages to be rescued.

All is well, or so they thought.

“Fuck!”

The cry came from their informant’s line.

“Everything alright?” Basilio asks her after fishing his phone out of his breast pocket.

“There are a few of them who found my vantage point. They’re heading towards my position.”

“Get out of there already, the hostages are secure.”

“They saw me. I can’t let them report back to Mama Grande and her sons that a manananggal is helping you. Suspicion would fall on my clan.”

Crispin nudges his younger brother. “I’ll handle the hostages and wait for Bossing. You make sure our informant’s alright.”

“Way ahead of you kuya,” Basilio replies, taking his guns out and flying out the window.

Under the pale moonlight and the city’s lights, Basilio spots a group of aswang scaling a dilapidated building east of him. On the rooftop, he sees it. Wings black as night, flattened against the concrete. Sabina lies prone and is aiming her scoped hunting rifle downwards, picking off the advancing horde one by one.

“Time to play.” The demigod rushes in and makes bullets rain on the hostiles.

He takes out a mabangis approaching their sniper from her blind spot. Those who didn’t die from being shot fell to their death, regeneration halted either by his or Sabina’s doing.

Basilio descends on the rooftop, and he walks his way towards the manananggal. His mask dematerialized, and the wind tousled his long hair. Just to be safe, he kept a pistol in one hand.

Across him, Sabina takes out her wireless earbuds and puts them away. Then, she slings her rifle on her shoulder, safety on. With her wings, she crawled towards his direction, like how a bat would move. Then, uses her wings’ sharp claws to plant herself on the concrete, a feat regular bats couldn’t do.

“Thanks for the help, Sab. About that gig…”

Before any more words could come out of his mouth, Sabina holds up her forefinger and presses it against his lips. “Shh. No more apologizing about the missed gig. Just make up for it. You owe me.”

Basilio nods, smiling at her. He watches as Sabina fishes out a box of cigarettes and a lighter from her vest. She’s wearing a black, long-sleeved polo shirt underneath it, and its sleeves are rolled up. Her shirt was unbuttoned just enough for him to catch a glimpse of lace peeking through. For all her boyish, edgy posturing, her choice of underclothes is girlier than what Basilio expected.

It almost makes him want to unwrap her like a Christmas present, but he’ll keep that thought to himself.

“Nice outfit. You were rehearsing in that?”

“We had a presentation for a class. No time to get changed. Now there’s a hole in the back, so I might as well wear this more often on future operations,” Sabina replies, placing a stick of Marlborough Reds between her lips.

“I’m in the mood for a smoke and maybe a chat,” she continues. “Join me?”

Basilio nods.

“How did you know about House of Arko’s human trafficking thing, anway?”

“Believe it or not, it was a hunch,” Sabina explains, black fingernails scratching the sparkwheel several times. “Ugh, fucking lighter dying on me again. I just had it refilled… must be the wind,” she growls.

Basilio couldn’t help but chuckle at her frustration. “A hunch?”

“Hmm… maybe hunch isn’t the right word. It’s an educated guess. Mama Grande loved serving boiled fetuses to her house guests, correct?”

Basilio nods, waiting for Sabina to continue her explanation.

“I suppose that it’s my place to judge if their mothers didn’t want to raise them… I’m a manananggal, for fuck’s sake. But there’s one red flag House of Arko failed to hide. From what I can tell, those fetuses are around five to eight months old.”

Sabina’s lighter finally lit up, and with a triumphant laugh, she lit her cigarette. Then, she carries on with her explanation.

“Most abortions happen during the first three months of pregnancy. It’s rare to see expecting parents get rid of them that late.”

“So? What does that have to do with the whole thing?”

“House of Arko serving older fetuses could mean one of two things: either all, and I mean all of the abortions they performed are from those who are truly in need of one that late, or they’re getting them from another source, possibly an illicit one. They don’t have the most benevolent reputation, so my intuition tells me it was the latter. So, I paid the place a visit and recorded what I could. I guess I should be thankful that your bossing found that blurry video trustworthy enough,” Sabina concluded, watching as the victims were clothed and herded into ambulances.

Dumbfounded, Basilio scratches his head. “Wow. Glad you’re on our side. How did you know that three month thing anyway?”

“Research and personal accounts.” Sabina’s response is clipped. Cold. Abrupt. It only raised more questions than answers.

“Personal accounts? You’ve met people who got them?”

There’s a flash of regret in Sabina’s eyes; regret that she opened her mouth and let him know more than needed. She cuts him off. “I can’t put my informants’ identities in jeopardy either now, can I?”

Per his older twin’s advice, Basilio’s finally using the head between his shoulders. “No offense, but you’re a manananggal. Y’know, known for eating babies? Hearing that from you is suspicious.”

“Yes, I am,” Sabina says through gritted teeth, glaring at him. “I can assure you, I’m following the accords and I’m not exploiting loopholes like what House of Arko is doing. I’ll reveal everything in due time.”

“Alright, keep your secrets. For now.”

A tense silence has befallen them.

“So- '' the manananggal blows a cloud of smoke away from Basilio, “-is this going to be a regular thing? Because if it is, I might finally quit smoking. Nicotine makes my hands shaky. Can’t risk accidentally shooting your ass.” She pauses, looking at him in jest. “ I’d rather do that intentionally.”

“You’re breaking my heart, Sabina Marie,” Basilio retorts, clutching his chest in mock pain.

They share a laugh over it, the mood lightening up.

Basilio looks in the distance, taking in the view of the cityscape. “Maybe you should quit. Singers shouldn’t be smoking in the first place.”

“The tar helps me belt out raspy screams, but yeah, you’re right,” Sabina chuckles.

“So, when is this next gig?”

“Next week. In Ilocos Norte. All the way up in House of Arko’s ancestral home.”

“Should I take that info to Bossing?”

“Yep. It’s open to the supernatural public anyway, so it's not like I’m giving you top secret info. Even the wind tribe is invited, despite their bad blood with my clan. Hopefully things won’t get physical. Most of my sisters are still bitter over how they blew us away when my mom- I mean, Inang Reyna decided to side against the Treses.”

So that explains some things.

“I dunno, maybe I should bring Ammie so I can watch the two of you in a catfight.”

Sabina elbows him in the chest, hard.

“Not funny at all, Basilio. I don’t even know her personally! It’s you I was pissed at.”

Now he grabs his chest in genuine pain as he croaks out an apology. “Sorry.”

“Whatever. Bring whoever the hell you want, just keep your distance from me when you decide to go. Even my father’s going to be there. I need to be on my best behavior.”

The demigod turns to their aswang informant, interest piqued. She’s divulging a lot of information. Perhaps he can sway her to spill more secrets.

“Didn’t know that the Reyna Manananggal had a king.”

“Oh, no. She’s not the type to share her power with a man.” Sabina pauses to take another hit of her cigarette. “I meant my biological father. Villaceran.”

Now that was unexpected.

“You drop bombshell after bombshell whenever we meet. Tomas Dominic Villaceran’s your old man?”

“Look at me. I’m almost the splitting image of the guy. If there’s one thing I’m grateful for, it’s inheriting his good looks.”

Basilio grins. “Can’t deny that. Most of the manananggal kuya Crispin and I encountered look...”

“Hideous, I know,” Sabina says outright. “You still haven’t seen that side of me, so don’t be too quick to judge my sisters.”

Basilio treads carefully, knowing that he might be prying on a sensitive subject. “So, about Villaceran…”

“I’d rather not talk about him. Our relationship is… strained.”

Giving her a sympathetic, understanding look, Basilio nods. “Right. Never mind.”

Another interval of silence passes between them. This time, it’s a little somber.

“So, does this party have a dress code?”

“Yeah. Filipiniana. Wear a barong. It’s one of those pretentious events that attempts to make House of Arko more appealing to the masses or whatever. Manipulative assholes.”

“You can just refuse to go, Sab.”

“I could, but being Trese’s mole among the aswang means I have to attend clan activities to supply more information. That also means attending every single party those Arko fucks throw.”

“You really hate House of Arko, huh?”

Looking towards his direction to meet his gaze, Sabina’s eyes are filled with a sea of emotions. Hatred, indignation, and something Basilio couldn’t quite place.

“Why wouldn’t I? Mama Grande raised boys who can’t take no for an answer. The Arko brothers have no respect for us manananggal. As if we weren’t fetishized enough in Manong Karma’s stupid aswang dating book...”

Sabina clears her throat and calms herself down. Bad blood between aswang clans could mean war. Basilio knows he should take that to the boss. His gears are turning tonight. He asks Sabina questions that could risk her support.

“Is that why you agreed to be an informant? You wanna bring House of Arko down? Then what, your clan will fill the space they’ll leave?”

“What? No, I have no desire for power, not like how Mama Grande or my own mother does anyway. My personal gripes with them aside, the House of Arko wants to ‘unite the aswang under one banner’ with no respect to the other clans’ autonomy and customs.”

“So you wanna protect your clan?”

“That’s one of the reasons, yes. Mama Grande’s been trying to play kumare with mom- I mean Inang Reyna-” This is the second time Sabina slipped and called her mom. She clears her throat and composes herself. “And I need to stop that. Inang Reyna already made the mistake of going against the Accords once. Allying with the House of Arko will ruin us further.”

Basilio leans in closer. “And what are your other reasons?”

Sabina looks at him for a few, quiet seconds, and looks away. “I’ll reveal them-”

“In due time. Yeah, yeah, I can take that as an answer. So, making you sing in that event is a result of them being magkumare?”

A defeated laugh bubbles from Sabina’s chest. “You got it.”

“I’m surprised they didn’t invite sirena to sing.”

Sabina rolls her eyes and tosses the butt of her expended cigarette on the concrete. Basilio took it upon himself to crush the embers under his heel, seeing how her lower half is hidden someplace else.

“Oh please, this is House of Arko we’re talking about, Bas. They believe aswang are superior. Letting them shine would take away the spotlight from the aswang. Mama Grande asked for me from Inang Reyna so they can gloat that even aswang can make better singers than the famed sirena. Ugh, I doubt my singing style even matches the performance they want from me.”

“Oh yeah? What kind of performance are they going for?” he asks her.

“Now that’s another secret. You have to show up to find out,” she hums in response.

Turning away from him, Sabina checks how many sticks are left in the box. Two. She takes one and lights it up.

“Screw it, I’m going cold turkey. I guess this will be my final box. Maybe for tonight. Maybe forever.”

“Then maybe you should stop with the stick you’re smoking and throw the last one away,” Basilio suggests.

“Are you mad? That’s a waste of money!”

“Still counting your blessings even with your mama’s wealth huh?”

“Old habits die hard.”

Sabina blows smoke away from Basilio’s direction. The wind made it waft to his face anyway, and she mumbles a quick apology. He shrugs it off. Not like the adverse effects of secondhand smoke affected him anyway. Hank smoked and was polite enough to turn away too, but Basilio can still smell it. He didn’t mind it. Still, Hank had told him and Crispin that it was a tough habit to break, so he never touched a cigarette.

Not until now.

Basilio takes the box from Sabina and picks up the last stick with his lips. Then, he inches closer to her.

Ironically, in an attempt to help an old friend quit her smoking habit, Basilio engages in it himself.

Little did he know, a new bad habit was forming between him and the little lady before him.

“I’ll make sure it won’t go to waste then. Light me.”

Sabina raises an eyebrow. “Just don’t start at all. Give it back.”

“One smoke isn’t going to get me hooked, princess.”

Brows knitted together, Sabina chastises him. “Take it from me, bad habits start with just one little taste, Bas.”

“One little taste never hurts anyone...”

“One little taste could leave you wanting for more.”

Basilio can feel himself getting hot under the collar. He’d never thought an aswang of all creatures could make him feel all bothered, yet there he was, getting turned on by her choice of words.

“Princess, are we still talking about cigarettes, or something else?”

Hearing his question, Sabina exhales sharply through her nose, cheeks dusted pink. “Maybe both. Whatever. Come here.”

Black fingernails scratched at the sparkwheel. Sparks were flying, but there was no flame. The cigarette remained unlit.

“Well, it looks like fate isn’t letting you smoke, so better just give me the damn cigarette back, Basilio.”

With a sly look, Basilio closes in on her, and presses the end of his cigarette to the embers at the end of hers, linking them together.

To his surprise, Sabina is neither backing away nor babbling defensively like she usually does whenever he gets close. Instead, she presses her chest to his, a challenging look in her half-lidded eyes. She wasn’t wearing her glasses like usual, giving Basilio an unobstructed view of her heated gaze. Was it bloodlust or desire? Either way, it got his blood pumping.

“You’re chattier than usual tonight,” Basilio comments. “Bolder too. I like that.”

In the form she’s in now, Sabina’s eyes glowed an eerie white, and aside from the wings sprouting from her back, little horns sprouted from her scalp, the root concealed by her crown of short, wavy hair. Basilio didn’t pay mind to her dangling guts, instead, his eyes were transfixed on that cute little lace bra again.

Through the layers of cloth between them, he can feel her heart beating. Basilio faintly remembers the taste of human and sigbin hearts.

Now, what does aswang heart taste like?

A dark part of his psyche- perhaps from being Datu Talagbusao’s son- wanted to tear it out of her chest and eat it to find out.

Basilio felt the urge to taste all the battles she fought through her blood, and possess her heart in a way no other person can.

The memory of seeing his father tasting his mother’s blood inserts itself in the present, and the fear of turning into the monster he was is enough for him to shake that thought away.

Basilio tries to focus on something else.

His eyes wander to Sabina’s mouth. He might’ve imagined something else between her dark lips, in place of the cigarette. Something bigger.

Something of his.

Sabina’s been pliable tonight. Perhaps he’ll push his luck with her one last time.

“So, any plans tonight, dear princess?”

“Unless you intend to treat me like one, don’t call me that.”

“I’m done with work, so if you want me to make good on that and make up for my mistake…”

Giggling, Sabina flies a few feet away from him. The black wings on her back are translucent against the pale moonlight. They almost looked like a dark shade of red.

“Go tell your brother about the information I gave you for now, then meet up with me afterwards. I hid my lower half in an alleyway behind that motel,” she tells him, pointing to the building’s direction.

“If you’re lucky, you’ll get to rearrange my guts. Literally and figuratively.” Sabina continues, a naughty smirk blooming on her lips.

Taken aback by the pun, Basilio laughs. “I didn’t think you were capable of dirty jokes.”

“You should know by now that I’m full of secrets and surprises.”

Grinning darkly, Basilio finishes the rest of his cigarette as he watches her fly away.

“And I’ll uncover them all, dear princess.”

Translations:

ulol - crazy; Filipino profanity

gago/gaga - foolish or stupid; Filipino profanity

tangina - contraction of putang ina, lit. whore mother. Used as an expression to express irritation, anger, or astonishment

Inang Reyna - lit. Queen Mother.

mare/kumare - derived from the Spanish word madre/comadre; kumare a reciprocal appellation for the godmother or for the child's mother. In a more modern and colloquial context, it’s used to refer to a female friend. Magkumare means women who are friends with each other.

Filipiniana - Philippine related book and non-book material

barong - also known as Barong Tagalog. An embroidered long-sleeved formal shirt for men and a national dress of the Philippines.

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silkchiffoner · 3 years

Text

alexa, play "girls" by girl in red

trese + pride flag icons :))

(i've never made icons before so i'm sorry if they have a bit of the background showing)

flags in order: bisexual flag, lesbian flag, pansexual flag, sapphic flag, and lastly the original icons (credit to @holyshxtangel for the original pic :))

if u want to use these, plz give credit :))

i'm sorry for the spam :p

#trese #trese netflix #treseedit #alexandra trese #biseuxal #lesbian #panseuxal #sapphic

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gebo4482 · 3 years

Photo

Trese Season 1 Backgrounds by Eddie Mendoza #2

#trese #trese (2021)#eddie mendoza #animation #action series #horror series #background #artwork

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hinaypod · 3 years

Note

Hello! I've been listening to your podcast for a while and then came across the trailer for Trese and it said there that she was also a babaylan. What's the difference/similarities in your depiction of babaylans in your story and in Trese?

There are definitely more people who are more knowledgeable than we are on this topic, but essentially a babaylan is a type of priestess. Wikipedia does a good job explaining the gist:

Trese in the Netflix series is specifically referred to as a babaylan-mandirigma, or healer/priestess-warrior. More so in the animated series she is active in combat. Her background seems to be a mix of multiple modern folk healing practices and martial arts + fantasy additions.

Mari was inspired a little by the Trese of the comics, who, while still a decent combatant, does a lot more investigation.

For our purposes, Mari learned modern babaylan practices from her Nanay (mother). Her mother has mixed Bisaya / Tagalog heritage, which is why Mari uses the term "babaylan" (Bisaya) even though the Tagalog equivalent is "katalonan". She's also a city girl, so a lot of her practices are mixed from different parts of the Philippines.

Babaylan can be anything from spell casters to healers to massage therapists to spirit mediums and seers. They're generally women, explicitly including transwomen.

As someone investigating and facing supernatural events, Mari is able to scry things (seer), check for and heal supernatural ailments (healer), and most pertinently, channel higher powers to protect her from harm (spirit medium). While she has her own power inherent to her as a babaylan, more desperate instances has her channeling the power of anito, or gods/spirits.

I'd say our portrayal of Mari vs the portrayal of Trese as babaylan are pretty similar - IE, mixing different practices and not very accurate since we use a grab bag of practices not necessarily for their intended use, but we do take from real practices from folk healers we know in real life and exaggerate the magic a little. The biggest difference is power source.

Mari is having to use more and more power from gods to match the threat of the foci. And there danger in that.

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mangleschmidt · 3 years

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A Random Filipino Teenager rants about Trese Netflix Original

As someone who watched the whole Trese Netflix Original.

I have to admit. Even with the Japanese Audio for my own personal enjoyment, even though I almost forgot everything because it’s been so long since I have read the comics, that didn’t save me from having negative opinions about it.

It has a lot of problems and I’m going to address the problems only because everyone has been praising about it since “PINOY PRIDE!!!!!!!” and nice scenery I guess. It looks like a photo of manila being put in a filter lmao.

Spoilers for both the Show and the Comics

• Out of Character

The character with a lot of this problem is Talagbusao

His motives and actions are confusing.

In the comics, all suicide bombers were singing the National Anthem and bombing public places with a lot of people, causing obvious chaos and disruption. Very straightforward. Cause chaos like he wanted. The man just fights. War gives him energy and strength. He’s literally the God of War.

In the show, the suicide bombers were saying something in latin (which I highly doubt that a filipino god of war living in the Philippines know) and bombed places from the Tribes and Jobert’s place to divide the tribes from Trese and to have Trese fulfill the “prophesy” for “the destruction of the rebirth of the world”

How the hell Trese is going to cause chaos exactly? Powers? The end of the world from the Revelations?

Why the fuck is he bombing some Ghost kid’s place just to divide the tribes? He’s not part of a tribe nor he’s a unique kind of mythical creature. It even hurts because Jeremy the Dragon was in his place for the Tiyanak episode and his father (also a dragon) own the mall.

What really grinds my gears is that he just... keep on talking.

Talagbusao monologue and talking about Trese past (that’s never been a part in the comics) instead of fighting like a God of War supposed to and this goes on and on and on in the whole episode. He fought for like a few minutes and then he just talks until it clearly visible in the background that the sun is setting because he talks too much. Unbelievable.

It makes your audience bored if you just talk and show flashbacks in a supposedly action packed episode. We never get to experience this said “past” that we’ll probably never experience.

Trese even asked why she should trust Talagbusao and he just keeps talking, obviously ignoring her and Trese just ate it up. I,,, okay bro?????? I mean, he did show it in some smoke but I don’t know why Trese doesn’t doubt him for not answering her question. He could fabricated it like come on Trese.

The Dragon’s Gate was never established being able to bring someone who didn’t drink the blood with you. It’s just a form of transportation. What happened to him anyway? He never came back from the comics. He just got sent into the shadow realm.

The way he gets defeated in comics is way way more interesting and better. Trese tricks him into drinking her blood that contains the dragon’s blood and he enters the Dragon’s Gate. The guy got trapped in a video game, with the help of Jobert (who actually appears here in An Act of War), with the Dragon’s Gate so the God of War can forever have his war and thirst for blood while players of the game get to fight and kick his ass. Which makes sense with the whole dragon’s gate thing.

• Combination Episodes

Each episode have two cases from the comics. Some episodes have it combined (The tiyanak episode has the combination of characters and plot from Case 5: A Little Known Murder in Studio 4 and Case 7: Embrace of the Unwanted ) and some two cases in one episode but somehow, for the two cases in one episode, they make it feel lacking. An example for it is the Bagyo and Tikbalang episode (I forgot what episodes there are I’m sorry)

Trese was supposed to visit Livewell village to investigate but instead was casted aside cuz Bagyon Kulimlim just shows up anyway. It was interesting to know about the citizens and why there are people dying. We never know why that happened. It got treated like a side quest instead of the main thing.

Case 8: The Association Dues of Livewell Village Bagyon Kulimlim had a bit more personality and screentime in comics, since he is behind the deaths. It was even explained why the deaths even happened. It is revealed that the deaths happened because the people who died were sacrifices. People outside of town were being offered as sacrifices because if the townspeople don’t offer any sacrifces, Bagyong Kulimlim would take one of their lives instead as offering. The townspeople were in debt to the prince because they had no electricity and suffering, storms are hitting them I believe. The town people smiled when the electrician died, because they get to live another day and another blessing. When he died while battling with Trese, the townspeople suffered again.

The comics has a lot of content. It has 13 unique cases from three volumes that the show was based on and yet they somehow manage to make it feel so short.

The flashbacks (not the damn episode 6) are feel even lesser. They didn’t even show when the Twins protecting Trese when they were kids and more about what happened to Ramona, their mother. The tiyanak episode can stay though. The only time I can say that this is better than the original since it was hella anti abortion.

I’m not expecting the adaptation to be faithful but if you’re gonna combine two cases only for it to feel like something’s missing despite the shit load of content, I think you’re doing something wrong.

• Fight scenes and animation

The animations is.. eh. Fine I guess.

But my biggest gripe and suffering is watching the fight scenes. The animation isn’t snappy. It isn’t fast and action packed. There’s some parts just like the gid above but then the rest is just,,,,,,

???????????

It looks like it took like too many frames for a supposedly fast movement like a kick or flying in the air for a swift attack. The camera work isn’t helping.

I feel like they also lack something called in betweens or a smudge. It’s painful to watch. I’m being serious. This is not a “in my opinion” because I tried my hardest to like it from episode 1, I tried so hard that I forgive it and expect better. The only thing that was fast was the Tikbalang and the cars I guess and I was expecting the same speed but no. It’s so obvious it makes me want to cry and feel ashamed that my father wants to watch and saw me watch trash.

This is far from anime. Even with jp audio. (It’s more similar to DC type of animation, why you lie to me?)

A real nitpick but why are they passing few bills in a jeepney ride instead of coins? Jeepney isn’t expensive. There’s no 1 peso bill. This isn’t America.

• Characters (personal nitpick at the beginning)

Where is my boy Jeremy the dragon? Where????? I hate you for this. This could have explained how they get Dragon’s blood. He’s funny.

They really downgraded Bagyong Lektro.

In the comics, he looks like a DILF, lightning hot papa, actor level hotness if you will but now he looks like your everyday fat politician. (I personally don’t simp him but I’m just stating facts here)

What a downgrade man

I forgot about the five men on the Trials while watching so I didn’t understand why they’re there. They’re Trese’s brothers. I’m somewhat baffled. If I, someone who read the comics, didn’t know about them, how more if it’s a new viewer? They would be so confused, you can’t just put characters there without explanation, especially when they’re connected to the protagonist.

Ok maybe this is somewhat forgiven. Maybe we’ll see them in a hypothetical Season 2 or something. But a “Trese’s brothers are also there” would be good enough, ya know?

• Colorism (a bit controversial but fuck you I will talk about it)

The bad guys in the Captain Guerrero’s team were brown. Talagbusao is brown in color. The most of the good guys were pale. I think we can see the problem here.

I can understand about Trese and the Twin being in the paler side (to compliment their goth aesthetic and it fits very well), but it’s pretty bad to have them brown, especially with the problem today’s of racism and colorism.

We already have problems with having the whitening skin products and people around me belittle themselves and comparing their skin to mine my pale af and “fair” skin. Unrelated note, but some people keep on asking about my skin routine and I’m like “why are you asking that do i look like a person who takes care of themselves”

• Episode 6

I fucking hate you Episode 6. The only cool thing was the Payday machine gun Kambal.

The whole thing felt like everyone didn’t do anything.

The twins hold Trese down for the whole monologue and yeah that’s it I guess. Trese just break free, I guess. It makes me feel like “okay” instead of cheering for her. It’s not getting me off my seat, shaking my boots, feel sad for her and be happy when she and the twins breaks free.

Why are the lamang lupa and the duwende teaming up with Talagbusao again? Why? they literally have no motives. If they mentioned it in the show, well fuck man, I didn’t hear anything. In the comics, Amang Paso said that Talagbusao destroyed their duwende tunnels when they trapped him in there. I don’t think they want to help the guy.

The addition lore is painful. Like I said, Talagbusao just fucking talks about it and what’s worse, I think I don’t see any clues about this revelation. Why did you do this? Because hehe hoho plot fucking twist? Because we want that “Your life is a life” drama?

A bit of addition is that the comics makes Trese smarter with the sending Talagbusao to a video game since they actually prepared for it and it shows, it gives us hints. Also, Guerrero died cuz he has to a heroic death since he said it in the Zombie Episode, am I right fellas????? I didn’t feel sad and I feel bad. It wasn’t as emotional. That’s also a problem since I should feel sad for such an amazing character.

This is the longest case (Case 13: An Act of War) of the entire series which means a lot of content for Episode and Show!Talagbusao really said “I’m going to have my sons pin Trese done and I’m going to talk for almost the entire episode so that she joins my side until she and my sons unexpectedly break free”. He committed more sin than Comic!Talagbusao.

----

Conclusion:

This really show how much they cut corners and miss many opportunities with Trese. Merged storylines and missing stuff, cut out characters, adding something new that doesn’t exactly fit in, imo. I might even compare this to the dreaded and dumpster fire that is called The Promised Neverland Season 2 since it reminds me too much about it. I understand that this is a Netflix Original but I have expectations since I like Trese comics.

I definitely don’t recommend this to my international friends. I told them that maybe you’ll like for the filipino lifestyle, the culture and maaaaybe the the mythical creatures. But if you’re here for the plot and animation, don’t bother. Though if you want, I highly recommend that you give your own opinion and watch it yourself. So yeah, that’s my big hot take.

I can’t really deny that, this may make way for more Southeast Asian/Filipino stuff in mainstream media, especially with the “Raya and the Last Dragon” and other stuff so there’s one of the positives. Since the problems I have talked about ended up are the like the animation, plot, Talagbusao and what not.

You may like the show, maybe you don’t. I actually did like the show and I like aspects of it but it’s really hard not to point out the flaws. Especially Episode 6-

#trese #trese netflix original #basilio #alexandra trese #crispin #talagbusao #datu talagbusao #philippines #mangled-schmidtty rambles #edit: changed just a few #cuz like tumblr didn't let me edit in mobile #filipino

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