#san miguel by the bay

[gme-news]

TNT SAN MIGUEL GIGIBAIN ANG JAPAN B LEAGUE

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[olinblogin]

LIST OF FANDOMS I WILL/WON’T WRITE FOR

What fandoms I will write for;

-Lego Monkie Kid

-One Piece

-One Punch Man

-Assassination Classroom (limited characters)

-COD (call of duty, any game)

-ATSV (across the spiderverse)

-TADC (the amazing digital circus)

-Underverse/undetale AUs

-Br0kenColors

What fandoms i won’t write for;

-Genshin Impact/Honkai impact

-Seven Deadly Sins

-Obey Me/Obey Me nightbringer

-FNF (Friday night funkin)

-MHA (my hero academia)

-Hazbin Hotel/Helluva boss

-other fandoms that have problematic backgrounds

WHAT I WILL WRITE!!!

-platonic

-light angst

-fluff

-slightly suggestive content (will have a warning)

-smut content (will have a warning)

-childhood romance (no smut.)

-teen romance (no smut.)

-Reader x character

-character x character (very rarely)

-character x Reader x character

-polycules

-T4T (trans for trans relationships)

-F4F (femme for femme relationship)

-M4M (masc for masc relationship)

-F4TF (femme for trans femme)

-F4TM (femme for trans masc)

-F4TNB (femme for trans non binary)

-F4A (femme for any)

-M4TF (masc for trans femme)

-M4TM (masc for trans masc)

-M4TNB (masc for trans non binary)

-M4A (masc for any)

-LGBTQ content

-Yandere Content (not extreme)

WHAT I WILL NOT WRITE!!!

-r@pe/noncon/dubcon

-cnc (consensual non-consent)

-child x adult

-abusive scenarios

-anything to do with children involved in anything sexual

-racism

-ableism

-unsanitary fetishes (i.e. scat, wound f*cking, etc)

-severe angst

-s*icide & s*lf h*rn

Characters I’ll write for in each fandom

BR0KENCOLORS

—characters so far—

Stalker/Damon (usually Poly)

Deliver Guy/DG (usually Poly)

Rasmus

Angel

Shadowman (not much I for abt them, some nsfw - demisexual)

Gunther

Leevi

—characters not in game yet but I will write—

Ace (some nsfw - demisexual)

Catherine

Milkman

Milla (no nsfw)

Salvador (some nsfw - demisexual)

Mimic

Pearl

Venni

LEGO MONKIE KID

- MK (Qi Xioatian)

-Mei Dragon

-Redson

-Sun Wukong

-Six Eared Macaque

-Ao Lie

-Lady Bone Demon

-The Mayor

-Yin & Jin

-Princess Iron Fan (Poly)

-Demon Bull King (Poly)

-Tang

-Pigsy (platonic)

-Sandy (platonic)

-Nezha (platonic)

-Bai He (platonic)

ONE PIECE

- Monkey D. Luffy

-Vinsmoke Sanji

-Roronora Zoro

-Usopp

-Nico Robin

-Franky

-Chopper (platonic)

-Nami

-Jinbei

-Donquixte Doflamingo

-Donquixte Rosiante

-Bartolomeo Kuma

-Boa Hancock

-Dracule Mihawk

-Crocodile

-Shanks

-Rayleigh

-Portgaz D. Ace

-Marco

-Thatch

-Izou

-Edward Newgate, Whitebeard (platonic)

-Eustass Kidd

-Jewelry Bonney

-Killer

-Monkey D. Harp

-Monkey D. Dragon

-Sabo

-Trafalgar Law

-Buggy

-Smoker

-Rob Luci

-Eneru

-Kalifa

-Yamato

-Perona

-Shaci

-Penguin

-Bepo (platonic)

-Akainu

-Kizaru

-Borsalino

ONE PUNCH MAN

-Saitama

-Genos

-Garou

-King

-Child Emporer (platonic)

-Metal Bat

-Speed O’ Sound Sonic

-Mumen Rider

-Watchdog Man (mostly platonic)

-Fubuki

-Atomic Samurai

-Lord Boros

-Bang

-Zombieman

-Flashy Flash

-Sweet Mask

-Charanko

ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM

(Any students such as Nagisa or Karma are platonic)

-Koro-Sensei

-Tadaomi Karasuma

-Irina Jelavic

COD - CALL OF DUTY

-Simon “Ghost” Riley

-John “Soap” MacTavish

-John “Captain” Price

-Horangi (Hong-Jin)

-König

-Nikolai

-Valeria Garza/El Sin Nombre (F4F/NB/AFAB)

-Alejandro Vargas

-Phillip Graves

-Farah Karim

-Kyle “Gaz” Garrick

-Kate Laswell (F4F)

-Gary “Roach” Sanderson

ATSV - ACROSS THE SPIDERVERSE

-Miles Morales (platonic/fluff)

-Gwen Stacy (Platonic/Fluff)

-Pavitr Prabhakar (platonic/fluff)

-Prowler Miles (platonic/fuff)

-Peter B. Parker

-Jess Drew

-Miguel O’Hara

-Hobie Brown

TADC - THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS

-Pomni

-Jax

-Zooble

-Kaufmo

-Ragatha

-Gangle

-Caine

-Kinger

UNDERVERSE / UNDERTALE AUS

-Ink!Sans (platonic)

-Classic!Sans

-Nightmare!Sans

-Dream!Sans

-Swap!Sans

-Fell!Sans

-Killer!Sans

-Dust!Sans

-Horror!Sans

-Murder Time Trio (Killer!Sans, Dust!Sans, Horror!sans)

-Error!Sans

-AT!Sans (Geno)

-Fatal Error

-X!Sans (Cross)

-Outer!Sans

-Reaper!Sans

-Fresh!Sans

IF YOU DID NOT SEE ANY CHARACTERS OF INTEREST AND YOU’D LIKE ME TO WRITE PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!!

please as well reread the will/won’t write section if you’re feeling unsure!

[anghraine]

hi, i read all your snippets tagged "borgias modern au: bay area edition" recently and wanted to ask, is there a finished fanfic or it's all there is to that concept? because i liked it so much!

Thank you!

The Bay Area Borgias AU is actually the (mostly) unposted publishing house AU I was talking about the other day (...the day before yesterday? what is time), though you sent this before I made that post.

But yeah, I never got the AU to a coherent enough point that it felt ready to post in full. The basic idea is that Rodrigo's aunt Calista (=Pope Calixtus) founded this now very powerful and lucrative publishing house in San Francisco that has since become Amazon crossed with Tor under his leadership. He has ~plans~ for his younger children, of course, but early on, most of his attention is on his eldest child, Luis (=Pere Lluís/Pedro Luis de Borja), already a prestigious writer while César, Juan, and Lucrecia are growing up in their mother's house after the divorce.

So there was this earlier part of the story that I wrote quite a bit of, mostly centered on Lucrecia in middle school after she scores very high on some standardized tests and is moved up a grade. There's the usual concern about her being out of sync with her age group, especially considering the separation from her twin brother Juan, but her family pushes pretty hard for it and she has another, closer brother in the new grade, anyway (César, obviously).

César promises to help her and make her welcome in her new grade and is actually very willing to do this—though if anything, Lucrecia helps him make more friends than he would have otherwise done. In particular, the two of them befriend an unpopular (gay) new kid, Miguel Corella, who becomes a loyal lifelong friend to them both in the years that follow.

At this point, the three siblings only periodically interact with Rodrigo and Luis (though Rodrigo is distinctly fond of Juan, whom he sees as the truly creative one if a bit undisciplined, and Rodrigo also finds Lucrecia pretty adorable). But Luis's tragic death in, I think, a car accident drastically alters Rodrigo's relationship with his now high school-aged younger children (perhaps most of all with Juan, but certainly César and Lucrecia as well).

There was a side fic focused pretty specifically on the strain on Juan's relationship with Lucrecia during and after all this, and ways he sort of tries to reach out to her but is also an asshole, and they drift apart.

And then there's the main fic, which as you've seen, starts out from the POV of Al, the rich and insecure boyfriend of the now mid-20s Lucrecia. She and César work for the family company and are actually quite good at their respective jobs (I think L ended up in marketing and enjoys it, while C is stuck in editing hell), and it was going to follow Al for a bit as he gets to know her family and feels rather pathetically threatened in his extremely WASPy way before seguing into the "real" story of Lucrecia, César, and Juan. I never even finished the Al section of this part, though :(

[shinyhappysims]

Onyeka Family Update #2

All the Oneyka kids are finally married, so I think now is a good time for another update.

As a treat, this update will be from Adaeze’s POV, because we love to hear from a fellow snarker. Long post ahead because I probably won’t be doing this for the Onyeka fam again and I want to give a semblance of a conclusion to some of their stories.

My parents Bre (66) and Chukwuma (69) Onyeka are living their golden years in Henford-on-Bagley. I would say they tried their best at raising us but I’m not so sure I believe that. My parents and I don’t talk much, which is more than okay by me. They’ve forgiven me for the whole “secretly applied to college, snuck out and took a bus an hour away and never came back” thing. It’s the fact that literally everything else I’ve done after feels like a personal attack on them and everything they taught me. That’s more their problem than mine, to be honest.

The oldest Nnadi (39) is married to Miguel (39). They have a staggering quiver of 13 arrows: Gideon (21), Ephraim (19), Shoshanna(17), Bartholomew (14), Abigail (12), Obadiah (10), Keturah (8), Solomon (6), Tirzah (5), Maranatha (4), Galilee (3), Naphtali (1), Ebenezer (0). Yes, I definitely knew all the names of my sister’s kids off the top of my head and didn’t stalk her Simstagram and write down the names just a few minutes before this. Nnadi is obnoxious. I’m not mincing my words because she’s never had the grace to do so with me. She’s literally the person people talk about when they say they don’t like Christians. But that’s amazing for her. She can claim persecution for her beliefs. My parents are so proud that they made her a perfect little doormat for Jesus. All of her kids so far seem to be the same way. Glory be, I guess.

Kelechi (38) and Sandrine (41) are the Pastor and 1st lady of Calvary Baptist Church in Brindleton Bay. They have 4 children: Faith (16), Daniel (9), Noah (7), and Grace (5). They are, in my opinion, true Christians. Kelechi always has been supportive of me and my siblings that aren’t the way my parents dreamed. As a pastor, he tries his hardest to give objective answers and uses the bible to support his advice, which has led to his popularity as a mentor. Calvary’s population has nearly doubled in his time as pastor. Kelechi and Sandrine were not intending to have such a large gap between Faith and Daniel. Their marriage was very strained in the first few years and they thought having another child would be the fix. Unfortunately, Sandrine had a battle with cancer. Luckily it was caught in the early stages and she pulled through, but the way Kelechi treated her during that time strengthened their relationship and they had more children because they actually loved each other now. If anyone deserves that happy ending, it’s them.

My twin and favorite sibling Chidi (36) is in an open domestic partnership with the lovely Sade (37). They live in San Myshuno and have no kids, and probably never will. Chidi is an attorney and Sade is an artist. For awhile, Chidi flew under the radar and didn’t make too many waves but that changed about 5 years ago. I think it was a combination of turning 30 and meeting Sade that made him want to stop trying to appease our parents and just live the way he wanted. Chidi is no longer a Christian. He wanted to stay one at first but the more he deconstructed, the more he realized it wasn’t a fit for him.

It’s me, Adaeze (36)! The Onyeka family failure—not at all. My parents just wish I was. When my husband Raj (38) isn’t being an absolute dreamboat he’s an art restoration specialist at the Simsonian Museum here in Newcrest. We have the coolest little girl named Kali (6) and I haven’t told anyone yet, but we have a second baby on the way! My parents have never met Kali and I don’t plan on letting them. Growing up is hard enough when you don’t have your own grandparents trying to drag you into a cult.

My sister Isioma (34) and her husband Anwar (36) are living their best lives in Del Sol Valley. They have 5 kids and are expecting number 6 anyday now: Imani (11), Aaliyah (9), Malik (8), and twins Layla and Rahim (4). Isioma has somehow mastered the balance between impressing Mom and Dad and doing whatever she wants. As much as I love her, there are just some things that I can’t talk to Isioma about. She’s nowhere near as bad as Nnadi, but I don’t think she realizes just how close minded she still is. She’s slowly getting better though.

(hi it’s kwanjai please ignore that Layla’s hair glitched black and the twin’s diapers aren’t changed it’s been a long day and I refuse to take this pic again lmao)

Jachike (32) lives in Windenburg with his wife Maisie (29). They have 7 children: Renata (9), Beaumont (7), Irving (6), Gwendolyn (5), Cordelia (2), Anneliese (1) and Hans (0). I’m fully convinced that they only got married because they were horny for each other and now they don’t know what to do except keep fucking and having more kids. They don’t really seem well matched in my opinion either. Growing up, Jachike was a down to earth, guy next door type, and Maisie just seems extremely out of touch. I mean… she named a child Hans. Maisie also mentioned she only wanted 8 kids, but she’s got a lot of child bearing years left, so I have no clue what her plan is.

Nnadi Jr. Ifeanyi (29) is married to Nolan (40) and is the proud mother of 6 children: Jordan (8), Lorelai (6), Connor (5), Thomas (4), Alanna (2), and Natasha (0). The only difference between Ifeanyi and Nnadi is that Ifeanyi follows the bible’s command for women to be quiet. All that hate just simmers on the inside. The average person would be rightfully weirded out by her and her husband’s age gap, but Ifeanyi wears it with pride. She thinks it’s a testament to her maturity and meekness. No, bestie… you were groomed. Anyways, my money is on her to have the most kids out of all of us.

Ifeanyi’s much cooler twin sister Onyinye (29) is married to Joseph (29) and they have 1 daughter, Nwanneka (1). Growing up I became really close to Onyinye. When I moved out I felt like I was leaving behind my child. Onyinye is like me in a lot of ways: science career, having kids on our own terms, only ones with hot husbands. The only difference is she’s still a Christian. I’m proud she was still able to find the loving aspects of that religion, even though I wasn’t. I also love that she doubled down on her emo phase. I remember our mom used to force her and Ifeanyi to dress alike in sickeningly pink bows and huge, frilly dresses.

Lotanna (27) lives in a sad beige house in Henford-on-Bagley with his sad beige wife Tori (27) and their sad beige children Brixten (2) and Trigg (0). Lotanna is the sibling I’m most wary of. He seems normal on the surface, especially now that he’s married to picture perfect Tori, but then he opens his mouth and the foulest statement you’ve ever heard pops out. He’s never evolved passed edgy Simeddit thread humor, except now it’s not humor, he legitimately thinks that way. I seriously feel bad for his future daughters.

Sochima (26) has been married to Ciaran (28) for just under a year. I’ve never met Ciaran in person. He seems like the average guy we grew up with, which would be horrifying for me, but a dream for Sochima. Surprised that we haven’t gotten a pregnancy announcement from them yet. I would’ve put her up there with Nnadi and Ifeanyi in terms of the number of babies she would pop out. Wonder what’s going on there.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from the LA Times:

On May 7, Patrick Robinson took a boat out to Año Nuevo Island to survey the sea lions that come to birth on this rocky outcropping north of Monterey Bay.

The shore was littered with dead pups — babies that looked as though they’d been delivered too early and therefore were too weak and small to nurse, or had been dead at birth.

Similar observations were being made further down the coast on San Miguel Island in the Channel Islands — where massive colonies of sea lions gather every year — and as far south as Mexico.

Robinson, the director of UC Santa Cruz’s Año Nuevo Reserve, said it’s not unusual to see some dead pups this time of year. He said sick or malnourished females occasionally stop on their way south to abort. But the numbers he was seeing were alarming. And with the peak of birthing season still several weeks away, it augurs a potentially serious and worrisome situation.

Stranding coordinators and biologists up and down the California coast say there is clearly something going on, but they still don’t know what.

Tests for bird flu — which has obliterated populations of sea lions and elephant seals in South America — are being processed. So, too, are tests for domoic acid, which has poisoned large numbers of sea lions in the past, as well as other common pathogens.

“In a typical year, one might expect to see 5 to 10,” dead pups, said Megan Moriarty, a veterinarian at UC Santa Cruz. “But we have now counted 250 to 300 dead sea lion pups” on Año Nuevo Island.

She said observations included dead or stillborn pups, aborted fetuses, malnourished pups, and adult females with dystocia — difficult births — who are also thin.

“Unfortunately, widespread premature dead pups have also been reported in the Channel Islands (San Miguel), which is a crucial nursery area for California sea lions,” she said. “The cause and impact of these mortalities remains unknown.”

She and Sharon Melin, a research biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center, said there are many potential reasons for widespread sea lion pup mortalities, including environmental factors, such as malnourishment, lack of available food related to El Niño, infectious causes (bacteria, viruses such as leptospirosis, influenza, brucella, coxiella, and others), and toxins (such as domoic acid).

[ahawkinhallownest]

There was once a Wyrm, mighty and wise who slept among the mountains as the worn blue flag she wore upon her horn flapped in the alpine wind. Her coils wound around ancient rocky spires as she dreamed of a land unlike her own, one filled with mortal creatures of all shapes and sizes. She saw a town that sat in the protective shadow of two towers that pierced the sky, where the body of a long deceased Root took on a life of its own and became a sacred tree that purified the ground and air. Bugs of every kind walked through the streets, from Bees to Ants to Beetles, all ignorant of the Void brewing beneath their feet. As the ground cracked open and unleashed a hoard of dark creatures, the bugs fled into their houses, only for their doors to be torn down and for them to be dragged out and killed. Some ran to the tree, and while the sacred aura of the towering arbor kept the dark monsters at bay, it would only be a matter of time before the tree too would wither and die as the ground became polluted with Void.

What started as a pleasant dream about bugs had quickly turned into a nightmare of death and destruction, but there seemed to be a single glimmer of hope. A blonde-maned Moth wearing a crimson scarf his way fought through the horde with a golden Pure Nail in one hand and a magic nailgun in the other. He slaughtered as many as he could until he was able to make his way out of the village, where he was able to spread his wings and take to the sky. Where he intended on going was unknown to the Wyrm, for she woke before she could see where it was.

Something had entered her territory, stirring her from her slumber. Vibrations from feet as her uninvited guest climbing cliffs and mountains and the subtle shift in air currents as wings flapped directed her attention to near the border of the mountain range. The ground lurched as the Wyrm unwound her elongated body from the pinnacles of her mountains, with boulders tumbling down their slopes as she began slithering down, careful not to allow the flag she wore on her horn to catch on any debris. Her tremorsense afforded her an accurate map of every inch of ground in her domain, and she was able to easily locate the intruder.

A blonde-maned Moth wearing a crimson scarf stood before her, eyes wide in both terror and fascination. “I have been waiting for you, Ringo of San Miguel.” She rumbled, her voice shaking the ground below her as she loomed over the insect. “You come seeking my aid.”

“I have, but how did you know?” Ringo replied, jaw dropping at the realization that she had him completely figured out.

“Have you forgotten? I am a Wyrm, dearest golden one.” The Wyrm wormed her tail towards Ringo and placed it behind him, blocking off his ground route to escaping her if she were to attack. In spite of the obvious threat, he remained firm, afraid as he was. “I knew you were coming all along. I had dreamed about you.”

“You did?”

She nodded her huge, horned head. “I had been waiting so long for you.” She leaned in, her mandibles so massive that they could crunch through boulders with ease. “You are brave for coming all the way here to seek my help in saving your homeland.”

“Well,” Ringo started and took a defiant step forward with his hands balled up into fists. “If you know why I’m here, will you help us? My home is being attacked by monsters from underground, and we can’t fight them off by ourselves!” He reached out to her pleadingly. “Please, you have to!”

“Be calm, dearest golden one.” She raised the fan of uropods at the end of her tail to get his attention. “I will agree to join you in your crusade, for I have also dreamed that you will succeed with my help. But I ask for one thing in return.”

Ringo eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed in confusion. “You want something from me?”

“It’s only natural, is it not? No one does anything for free, even you should know that.” The Wyrm leaned down, her colossal mandibles becoming a deadly cage to prevent the Moth from escaping. Though he was afraid, he kept his eyes on her face. “I only ask that you do something very important for me...”

Mani is a wyrm in this alternate world, which is basically the Hollow Knight setting’s equivalent of a dragon. She’s big, she’s purple, and she has lunar markings, and when she turns into a mortal bug later on, she becomes a luna moth, thus continuing her lunar aesthetic. She even has the blue scarf that Sabat would eventually wear on her horn, a small detail I was happy to somehow work into this design, though I describe it as an old flag. I wonder where the flag came from?

[pilalaguna]

Don Felizardo de Rivera, Founder of Pila

Don Felizardo de Rivera y Evangelista (1755-1810) was the eldest of the three Rivera brothers, Don Felizardo, Don Miguel and Don Rafael. They were the owners of the estate Hacienda de Sta. Clara. They were the sons of Don Juan de Rivera, who had inherited the estate from the Spanish noble family, the Thenorios, and passed it on to his sons.

In the 18th century, due to flooding from its original location near the Laguna de Bay, the original town of Pila and its Church needed to be located to higher ground. So the Riveras planned to move it, just like their ancestor the Datu of Pila, Datu Maguinto, did in the 13th century.

However, a long, heated and controversial dispute rose between two prominent families at the time: The Riveras and the Relovas ("Pros" and "Antis". Don Regino Relova y San Antonio wanted the relocation on his land. Don Felizardo Rivera insisted that the town and church be moved to his hacienda in Sta. Clara.

Don Felizardo won after a long battle (starting October 14, 1794 and ending on July 13, 1803) after made an agreement with the parish priest: If the church was relocated to his estate, he pledged "the spiritual and material support of the Riveras to the church of St. Anthony in perpetuum up to the last of their line." The parish priest agreed.

Don Felizardo donated his lands to the church and to the municipal government but he also retained ownership of the lots surrounding what was to be the town plaza. He became the architect of the town's design, following Spanish colonial layout. He even built a kiln for manufacturing bricks and tiles for rebuilding the church, which was "transferred stone by stone" from its old location. The the ancestral houses were built around the plaza and the town municipio (municipal hall) was built opposite the church. With the assistance of the prominent families of Oca, Ruiz, and de Castro, he rebuilt the town of Pila ("Nuevo Pila") as it is to this day.

Don Felizardo served as gobernadorcillo in 1805, 1807, and 1809. He died on October 13, 1810 at the age of 55. He asked that "he be robed in the Franciscan habit upon his death and that a funeral mass be celebrated with him facing the altar of the newly-built church prior to his burial in the church crypt." His will (currently in the possession of the Rivera Family) was notarized by the town mayor at the time. At the time of his death, both pros and antis came to pay their respects and drop the long feud (the families later intermarried.) Don Felizardo's son Jose de Rivera later took over the gobernadorcillo post in 1811.

Don Felizardo de Rivera is the recognized founder of (Nuevo Pila) present-day Pila, Laguna, and the ancestor of the four main prominent families in Pila: Rivera, Relova, Agra and Alava.

WHEN A TOWN HAS TO MOVE: HOW PILA (LAGUNA) TRANSFERRED TO ITS PRESENT SITE (1794-1811) Luciano P.R. Santiago Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, Vol. 11, No. 2/3 (June/September 1983), pp. 93-106 (14 pages) https://www.jstor.org/stable/29791789

--------------------------------------------------

During the 16th and 17th centuries, one of the earliest known leaders of Pila under Spanish Colonial Period was Don Antonio Maglilo (1696-1712), who governed Pila like his father Don Francisco Maglilo (1599), (Santiago, Ancient Pila, pg 11), the descendant of datu Maguinto.

In 1728, Don Maglilo’s descendant, Don Juan de Rivera, the founder of one of Pila’s most prominent families, the Rivera clan, became mayor of Pila. The Rivera’s were a “major branch of the Maglilo(s)” and changed their surname to “Rivera”, the “Taga-ilog”, or “People of the River”. (Santiago, Ancient Pila, pg 17).

Don Juan de Rivera married Doña Josepha Thenorio, who descended from Spanish nobility from Extremadura, Spain. The Thenorio family matriarch was Doña Maria Cortés de Monroy, the sister of Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés (1485-1547). (Santiago, Ancient Pila, pg 16). (Writer’s Note: Cortes had relations and a child with the Aztec princess Doña Isabel Moctezuma (born Tecuichpoch Ixcaxochitzin; 1509/1510 – 1550/1551), a daughter of the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II, and Cortes’s sister Doña Maria’s descendants married the descendants of a Philippine Pre-Hispanic king.)

Don Juan's descendant, Don Felizardo de Rivera (1755-1810), was at first a town executive from 1792 to 1793. He was governor of Pila in 1792. During the town move, he had drawn up grid plans (Cuadricula) in 1790 for the new site (where Pila was to be moved) based on the classical Spanish system of 'church-plaza-town hall complex' as originally prescribed by the 'Laws of the Indies (1573)' (laws issued by the Spanish Crown for town planning). He had become a self-taught architect. When the transfer was officially sanctioned (approved), he implemented his plans by serving as gobernadorcillo (governor) in 1805, 1807, and 1809 (he died in 1810). Because of his orderly design (of the town), Don Felizardo is considered the founder of 'Nuevo Pila (New Pila).' Don Felizardo retained all the residential lots around the rectangular plaza between the church and the town hall for the ancestral houses. The principal street is christened 'Rivera', which connects (the town) 'like a long umbilical cord' (back to) Pagalangan. (Santiago, Ancient Pila, pg 25). All the lots around the town plaza were given by Don Felizardo to his heirs, and the ancestral houses now stand on those lots.

Pila was moved again due to flooding from the lake, to Don Felizardo’s Hacienda in Santa Clara, Laguna. (Santiago, The Roots of Pila, Laguna, pgs 9, 10). On May 20, 1804, Pila Church was also moved to land at the hacienda. (Santiago, The Roots of Pila, Laguna, pgs 10, 11, 13) Today, the 200-plus year-old church is now called the San Antonio de Padua church, which was declared the National Shrine of San Antonio de Padua, contains a relic of the saint and is one of the oldest churches in the Philippines. The ruins of the original church are still standing at Pagalangan and have a historical marker as the site of the original church of Pila.

Don Felizardo is considered the founder of the present-day town of "Nueva Pila" ("New Pila") and the town’s designer and architect in the Spanish colonial grid style of city planning. (Santiago, The Roots of Pila, Laguna, pg 12). The Pila Municipal Hall was later built in June 1931, across from the Church, on land previously owned by Doña Corazon Rivera de Del Mundo, daughter of Don Luis Rivera. (Santiago, The Roots of Pila, Laguna, pg 20).

In his 1810 Last Will and Testament, Don Felizardo identifies himself as “Taong Tunai at Maguinoo” (a true maginoo). The document is with the Rivera family of Pila, Laguna.

[john-anderson112]

Glenn Thompkins received the Glenn Davis Award for high school football excellence

Glenn Thompkins, the star quarterback of Rialto Eisenhower High, made headlines once again as he was honored with the prestigious Glenn Davis Award for his outstanding performance in Southern California's high school football scene. Just two days after leading his team to victory in the Southern Section Division I championship, Thompkins received this coveted award during a ceremony held in Riverside.

Named after the esteemed Heisman Trophy winner who attended Army and Bonita High in La Verne, the Glenn Davis Award is presented annually by The Times. It serves as a testament to the remarkable talent and dedication demonstrated by high school football players in the region.

At the age of 17, Thompkins, a three-year starter for the Eagles, showcased his versatility and prowess on the field throughout the season. With an impressive 14-0 record under his leadership, the team secured their championship title by defeating Santa Ana Mater Dei with a resounding score of 56-3 at Anaheim Stadium. In this decisive game, Thompkins exhibited his multifaceted skill set by throwing for 174 yards and three touchdowns, along with rushing for 71 yards and an additional touchdown. Not content with just offensive contributions, he also made significant defensive plays, breaking up several passes and returning two punts.

Tom Hoak, Eisenhower’s coach, attributed the team's undefeated season to Thompkins, emphasizing his versatility and ability to excel in any position on the field. Standing at 5 feet 9 inches and weighing 163 pounds, Thompkins amassed impressive statistics throughout the season, passing for 1,214 yards and rushing for 717. Additionally, he showcased his defensive prowess by starting in various positions, including inside linebacker and end.

Thompkins' remarkable performance on the field has garnered attention from numerous colleges and universities, with notable institutions such as Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and Kansas vying for his talents. However, it is widely anticipated that Thompkins will sign with UCLA, where he is expected to continue his football career at the collegiate level.

Among other notable finalists for the Glenn Davis Award were quarterback Keith Smith of Newbury Park and tight end/linebacker Tony Gonzalez of Huntington Beach. The Times also recognized outstanding players and coaches from various circulation regions, highlighting their contributions to high school football:

In the Central City region, honorees included Norman Ysaguirre from Dorsey High (lineman), William Yates from Fremont High (back), and Taja Rodisha from Fremont High (coach).

The Inland Empire region featured standout players such as Coleman Johnson from Riverside Poly (lineman) and Gary Campbell from Norco High (coach).

Orange County's honorees included Tony Gonzalez from Huntington Beach High (lineman), Chris Draft from Placentia Valencia High (back), and Myron Miller from Costa Mesa High (coach).

San Fernando Valley recognized players like Keith Schiele from Lancaster Antelope Valley High (lineman), Mike Kocicka from Newhall Hart High (back), and Richard Fong from Panorama City St. Genevieve High (coach).

The San Gabriel Valley region celebrated talents such as Pene Talamaivao from Pomona Ganesha High (lineman), Miguel Meriwether from West Covina High (back), and Bob Mount from West Covina High (coach).

South Bay's standout players included John Welbourn from Palos Verdes Peninsula High (lineman), Omarr Morgan from Hawthorne High (back), and Don Morrow from Manhattan Beach Mira Costa High (coach).

South Coast region recognized talents like Brandon Whiting from Long Beach Poly High (lineman), Danjuan McGee from Long Beach Poly High (back), and Willie Donerson from Compton Dominguez High (coach).

Southeast region honored players such as Jerry Lemon from La Mirada High (lineman), Greg Ford from Whittier High (back), and Darrell Walsh from Cerritos Gahr High (coach).

Ventura region celebrated players like Leodes Van Buren from Newbury Park High (lineman), Keith Smith from Newbury Park High (back), and George Hurley from Newbury Park High (coach).

Westside's standout players included Matt Higgins from Playa del Rey St. Bernard High (lineman), Seka Edwards from Westchester High (back), and Marshall Jones from L.A. University High (coach).

Glenn Thompkins' remarkable journey from leading his team to victory on the field to receiving the prestigious Glenn Davis Award exemplifies the dedication, skill, and passion that define high school football in Southern California. His achievements serve as an inspiration to aspiring athletes and a testament to the enduring spirit of the sport.

For Reference :-

https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenn-thompkins-0aa41b130

[casspurrjoybell-17]

HEART'S FATE - CHAPTER 59

*Warning Adult Content*

What does it mean to come home?

In Martin Hunter's experience, it depends who's waiting for you there.

As a kid, getting out of school and going home meant relief, playing with his brothers and sisters, delicious food cooked by his mom or dad, the comforting drudgery of homework and the promised reward of video games or his favorite cartoons.

As an adult, home became a place of anxiety.

Would Elena be waiting for him?

What sort of mood would she be in?

What might she have said or done to the kids in his absence?

Martin's greatest fear, on the rare occasions when he was away for any extended amount of time, was that he would come back to find them gone.

Now, as his partner, Skylar West parks their rental car in front of their house and four small figures burst from the front door and race across the lawn to greet them, coming home is pure joy.

********

Back on the private island, Shanti had promised to visit Martin's family before returning to her own realm and let them know that all was well.

Miguel's wolf, too, had visited his father once more in a dream, in which he told him how proud he was of him and how he had saved them all.

After that, however, there had been only a few phone calls from hotel rooms, which Martin kept short to avoid ridiculous fees.

Speaking of fees, as soon as Shanti disappeared into the sea, leaving them behind on the island, reality had caught up to Martin and he had a minor panic attack over how on earth they were going to get home with no passports and no money.

Fortunately, Skylar had been wrong about himself.

He had lost his ability to transform, to swim like a fish and breathe water instead of air but he had not lost his siren's Voice.

A quick trip to the U.S. Consulate in Palermo and they had everything they needed, which was proof enough that Skylar's Voice retained it's unnaturally persuasive power.

One does not simply walk into the U.S. Consulate, announce that one has no identification of any kind, request a replacement passport and expect to be accommodated speedily.

With their papers in hand, they'd visited a few reputable dealers of antiquities and a jeweler or two and exchanged some Mer-salvaged treasures and pearls for cash.

Thus equipped, they were set to travel in style.

Skylar led Martin on a meandering tour up through Italy, across the top of Spain and into France, where they followed the western coast, keeping mostly to small towns.

Finally they struck inland for Paris and from there caught a first-class flight to San Francisco.

They rested there for a day, visiting the Museum of Modern Art and Fisherman's Wharf, before renting a comfortable car and heading for home.

They could have made the drive in a day but Skylar had one last place he wanted to visit, the beach near Bodega Bay where they'd camped with the kids, where they bonded and where Skylar first made contact with Natalis and his 'father.'

Skylar said he wanted to watch the sun set over the ocean one more time before he bid the sea goodbye for a while and to give them the closure of coming full circle through their strange ordeal.

"Will you miss it?" Martin asked, as the last gleam of the sun slipped beneath the rim of the horizon, where a thin band of lavender-hued mist separated a dark sea from the turquoise and tangerine sky.

They'd parked at an overlook atop a bluff at a place called Duncan's Landing.

Below them was the little cove in which they'd made love.

"The sea will always call to me," Skylar said.

"As a siren song in my blood. There will be times I can't ignore it, when I feel I must go mad if I cannot hear the waves and feel the salt spray in the air. Then I will answer it and come to a place such as this, to soothe my soul. But I won't stay long and I hope I will not be alone."

Martin leant against him and closed his eyes, letting the sea saturate his senses, the rhythmic roar of waves and the buffeting wind against his skin, carrying with it the occasional cool kiss of salted mist.

"Sounds a bit like being a wolf. After a while our human skin starts to feel too tight and we long for freedom and release, the simplicity of a wolf's mind, wild as the sea but devoid of human thought."

"Hmm. I wonder what would happen if you bit me," Skylar mused.

"Would I become like you or turn out a scaly mer-wolf monster? Or would I become something else entirely?"

Martin pulled away from him in surprise and Skylar laughed.

"A question for the future, maybe."

"Maybe."

Martin leant against his mate again, looping an arm around his waist and filling his lungs with sea air.

Personally, the less magic, mayhem and mystery in his life, the happier he'd be.

At least for a while.

Martin suspected that between Flora, Miguel, Nico and Rio, he had some mayhem in his future, at least and probably plenty of magic and mystery, too.

They'd spent a last night alone together, at a little bed-and-breakfast 'the rainbow flag flying from the porch of which told them they'd be welcome' before completing the last leg of their journey and arriving home.

********

"Daddy."

Smiling so hard his face hurt, Martin is tackled to the ground and buried beneath a miniature dog pile.

The kids haven't been this glad to see him in a long time and it reminds Martin how fast time flies.

When Flora and Miguel were younger, they loved to run all the way across the school's playing field to greet him at the end of each day.

They'd meet in the middle and he'd pretend to be knocked off his feet, then roll around in the grass while they smothered him in 'attack' kisses.

Pretty soon, he'll be cheering them on as they graduate high school.

First dates, first jobs, first cars, first loves, tears sting his eyes at the thought of how much he could have missed and how grateful he is to be here now.

"Why are you crying, Daddy?" Nico asks, concern pinching his little brow.

He'll be a handsome one when he grows up, a real heartbreaker, for sure.

"I'm just happy, sweetheart," Martin says, catching his breath and drawing him and Rio into a hug.

"I'm happy to be home."

At his back, Skylar kneels and rests a hand on Martin's shoulder where he sits on the ground.

"Me, too," Skylar says.

"Are you gonna stay this time, Mr. Sky?" Rio asks, tears streaking his own cheeks.

He's the most empathetic of the four and cries easily.

Martin glances at him over his shoulder and Skylar smiles at him.

"Yes, I'm here to stay."

********

"What about Papa Sky," Skylar asks later that night as they lie in bed together.

It had been a full day of catching up with the family, especially Martin's brother Noah and his partner, Ambrose, who while they offered to look after the kids again any time they needed, seemed glad enough to be rid of them after three weeks.

"They could still call me 'Mr. West' at school, if you like."

Martin laughs into his pillow, half drunk with lingering jet lag and the sheer relief of lying in his own bed.

Despite his best efforts, Skylar hadn't been able to get Nico and Rio to drop the Mr. from before his name.

"Sounds good to me," Martin says, rolling to face him.

Skylar leans in and kisses his lover .

"You taste like the sea," Martin says.

Skylar draws back.

"The 'sea' contains quite a wide variety, my dear. There's everything from the beach at low tide to the freshest zephyr on the open waves."

Martin smiles, touching the end of his nose to Skylar's.

"The latter, definitely."

"You taste like... Well, you taste like toothpaste and mouthwash," Skylar says.

"Utterly mundane, adorable and perfect."

"Better than dog breath," Martin grins.

Skylar snorts.

"Go to sleep, my beautiful, wonderful, wolf-hearted man. Tomorrow, we start anew and we have everything ahead of us."

********

It takes a while but day by day, peace returns to their lives.

For Martin, true peace comes to nest in his heart for the first time, for which he is more grateful with each passing day.

If Skylar isn't beside him when he wakes, Martin hears him in the shower or downstairs making breakfast for the kids.

And each night, they fall asleep in each other's arms, knowing that each breath they take together is a gift.

Skylar returns to work for the school but rather than art 'he confessed he couldn't remain an objective judge when it came to the children' he coaches swim team.

Meanwhile, Martin returns to my role as a stay-at-home dad, for the moment.

Not everything is roses, disappearing from the face of the known earth for several weeks comes with consequences, as his agent duly informs him.

The publisher dropped him, apparently, due to his lack of ability to meet their deadlines and the offer of an advance has been withdrawn.

For once in his life, Martin is not worried.

Money is meaningless to Skylar, he can literally scoop it from the sea... 'Or his family can, anyway'.

He is not about to rely on him for everything or stop doing his share but he's also okay with letting Skylar take care of him, at least for a little while.

Because at long last, after everything, Martin is finally willing to believe what everyone's been telling him all along.

He fucked up in the past but he doesn't have to let the past define him.

He's more than the sum of his failures and he deserves something good.

He deserves a break.

So, he embraces it.

He throws himself into long overdue home repairs, take notes for a new book inspired by their trip through Europe and shower the kids in as much attention as they'll tolerate.

Martin let the past go.

At least, until the past comes knocking, literally in the form of his ex-wife Elena, almost a month to the day since our return. 

[istalauuu]

Ola, everyone!! It’s me, Crista! So for today’s blog, I'll introduce myself, where I came from, and how my life actually went.

I am Angelie Crista, but I prefer to be called Crista, especially by my closest friends. In contrast, people that I don’t know just call me by my surname, which is Brita. I hated to be called Angelie because I just don’t like it, and I find it cringe and a little bit weird. But lately, my mom told me the reason why she named me that, and I found out that it is a female French name that means "Messenger of God". like wow?!?!?! At first, I wouldn't believe her, and she even made me search for it on Google. BUT GIRL, IT IS. (sarcastically crying). Going back, I am 19 and currently residing in Brgy. Nena San Julian, but I grew up in Paranaque City, Metro Manila. Let’s get to know it, and here’s the history of my hometown..

PARANAQUE CITY

Is a highly-urbanized city was once just a simple fishing barangay during the Pre-Spanish days of the Philippines.

When Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and his group of Spanish colonizers landed in Manila, it is said that they discovered a small community who lived near the Manila Bay where fishing or “paglalayag” were their only source of income. But on the other side of the community called Muntinlupa, the natives, who were living on rice farming, were called “taga-Palayan”. These two groups of people intermingled with each other, often on little celebrations.

It was said that once upon a time, these two groups had a feast to decide what the name of their place would be. The rice farmers wanted to name the place “Palalayan”, but the fishermen protested and wanted the place to be named “Palalayag”. In order to reach a conclusion, both parties agreed to a compromise and instead decided to name the place “Palanyag”.

Several years later during the Spanish era, the placed was renamed “Para Aniya Ake” because of several instances where Spanish soldiers would tell the native coachman “Para aqui, para aqui (Stop here, stop here)” whenever they reached Palanyag. These native coachmen would tell their humorous versions of this story until the name stuck in the hearts and minds of the inhabitants of old Paranaque.

Paranaque City is also known as the fashion capital of Metro Manila and is home to the largest fashion boutiques and shops.

Just so you know, guys, my life there is quite adventurous and fun. Serving me the things I wanted and making it easier for me to do the things I needed. Spoiling myself almost every day by going to the malls or even with friends. That’s why my money only lasts for a few minutes. Yes, I am too irresponsible when it comes to handling money.

But for some reason, that life I had vanished when my parents decided to let me study here in our province, which is located in Brgy. Nena San Julian, Eastern Samar. So, moving forward, as a girl who grew up in a city, I am having a hard time, especially since I am new to this place. I find it difficult here since there are big differences between the place where I grew up and the place I am today.

But since this is the new chapter that God gave me and a life that I needed to take, I don’t have a choice but to accept and love where I am today. I made adjustments, and it’s not easy to do. The transportation here is so hard. It’s like I am more tired of the transportation than of my classes. Also, the grocery stores are too far, and it’s quite tiring. The things I used to do were gone, and I came to a point where I badly wanted to graduate immediately so I could go back to Manila. Sounds ridiculous, right?

But after staying here for a month, a realization hit me. I should’ve been enjoying my life here and being content. I should let things flow and love every single moment that I have here. And, so, little by little, I didn’t notice that I'd been falling in love with nature and appreciating its beauty more than before. The fresh wind that blows within my hair, the calmness it gives, and the silence of every corner of the trees.. oh! I'm in love with this nature, which captured my heart softly. Too dramatic, am I?

But anyway, what I also love about this place are the beaches. The waves that slowly moving, making a little sound. Bringing my soul into peace and letting my inner self to be healed.

Finally, I can say that I am doing great today and am hoping for the next day to come. I will probably end my blog here, and I hope you like and enjoyed it. Again, I am Crista, and I hope to see you on my next blog! Bye, everyone, and have a great day ahead!

Source:

[asiandragonsports]

Basketball in East Asia

By: Jithin Manikonda

Growing up, basketball has been one my most favorite sports to play and watch! Although the sport of basketball has its roots in the US, globalization has allowed the sport to become popular all throughout the world, including as far away as East Asia. 

The history of basketball spans back to 1891, when James Naismith hoped to invent a game to help young men in Springfield College located in Springfield, Massachusetts find a way to pass time. This school had many different names, one of which was “YMCA.” Even though basketball was just slowly gaining traction as a sport in the US, it did not take much longer for the sport to spread to Asia as a result of YMCA missionaries. Specifically in China around the 1920s, the sport started to become popular and about a decade later was declared a national pastime. In fact, China created an Olympic team for the sport in 1936 and used the sport to spread ideas of team work and the “friendship first, competition second” among children. This importance of basketball beyond friendship is still practiced today: NBA Asia managing director Scott Levy and many other generous philanthropists frequently hold camps and other events in East Asia to enrich the lives of aspiring kids.

Similar to the National Basketball Association, there is a basketball league in East Asia called the East Asian Super League, or EASL. This year, the East Asia Super League’s season will tip off in October 2022, just like the National Basketball Association. The EASL, however, has eight teams representing much larger areas: Greater China, Korea, Philippines, and Japan. From these areas, professional teams, including TNT Tropang Giga, San Miguel Beermen, Utsunomiya Brex, Seoul SK Knights, Taipei Fubon Braves, Ryukyu Golden Kings, Bay Area Dragons, and Anyang KGC. These teams will face each other in a home-and-away fashion until March 2023, where they will have a Final Four playoffs in order to determine the victor for the basketball season. However, there are many other leagues and clubs where basketball is played at many different levels, showing the willingness of East Asia to feed the love for the sport for everyone.

Basketball in East Asia has even been expressed in popular culture, such as anime and manga. For example, there are three animes that many anime-lovers and sports-lovers may have heard of: Slam Dunk, Kuroko’s Basketball, and Ahiru No Sora. All these anime deal with the hardships, competitive nature, and teamwork that come with basketball. For many sports lovers, these animes have undoubtedly had an impact on the increasing popularity of basketball within East Asia.

There are many players of East Asian descent that have made an everlasting impact on the National Basketball Association, the highest level of professional basketball in the world. To name a few, Jordan Clarkson, Jeremy Lin, and Yuta Watanabe are a few players that are still playing today. Although he has retired, Yao Ming, who is often referred to as the basketball G.O.A.T. of Asia, has undoubtedly made an impact on basketball all around the world and is undoubtedly recognized as one of the greatest big men to ever play the sport. There are also many players from the NBA who join leagues in East Asia, such as Lance Stephenson, Jalen Green, and Jared Sullinger. 

There are so many more fun aspects to basketball that I can just keep talking on and on about! So if you love basketball like me, next time you visit East Asia for an elongated period of time, you should really consider going to one of the game of the EASL or see how basketball is played in different neighborhoods of East Asia and come back to this post and let me know how it went!

[fryingpan1234567]

Y’all. Guys. Oh no. I’ve done something bad.

Look, I may have just created the most chaotic Disney crossover idea in the history of time, but if this blows up like the Big 4, I want credit.

So. We’ve got Jack Jack, Lilo, Boo, Hiro, Miguel, Mei, Luca, Alberto, Riley. There are more, and I know that’s a lot, but bear with me.

College AU.

Look, Hiro’s done, but he wanted to stay and teach/ use the lab whenever. Jack Jack’s parents want him to get a good education. Miguel is on tour with his music. Lilo and Boo are best friends, bonding over their monster/ alien dudes. Mei’s after a brilliant education herself. Luca wanted to go to school and Alberto couldn’t say no to him. Riley lives in the area.

They end up at San Fran Sokyo Uni, in the same dorm hallway.

Now, they don’t get along great at first. Riley’s used to living in a compact space, Miguel is used to being surrounded by family = no boundaries, Jack Jack is ADHD as fuck and is also a superhero who keeps getting blood all over the carpets in the middle of the night when he gets home from patrol. Lilo feeds peanut butter sandwiches to fish, for void’s sake.

After some rearranging, though, they get settled. That’s how they all meet.

It’s indescribably chaotic. Mei and Riley live together, their dorm room nice and organized and perfect. For their trustworthiness, Jack Jack lives with them as well (he’s ace dw. Also, he doesn’t tell them he’s a hero at first. That was a shitshow). Their apartment is a mix of hockey and Asian culture. There’s a family shrine in Mei’s room, and there’s a mini goal set up in the corner of the living room. Jack Jack’s stuff is kind of everywhere, but he makes up for it by doing dishes every night XD.

Lilo and Boo live with Stitch and a baby monster that accidentally wandered through their door on a field trip to Monsters Inc. Their apartment is pretty aesthetic but also messy. Even though it’s freezing and frankly nasty, Lilo swims and sometimes surfs in the bay, but she drives out to an actual coast (later with the whole friend group) on weekends. Boo LOVES the aliens and is on Lilo’s deep space podcast, a tribute to Elvis.

Miguel, Hiro, Luca, and Alberto live in an apartment together. Because how bad can a bunch of gay/ bi idiots living in one place be? There’s dirty laundry everywhere. The dishes don’t get done unless Mei happens to come over and yells at them for it. Trash from the fish boys, half-finished projects and scraps from Hiro, and scribbly sheet music from Miguel are everywhere. Baymax makes them take care of themselves tho; it’s fiiine :DD

Extra headcanons (SOMEONE PLEASE ASK ME FOR MORE ON THIS AU I COULD TALK FOREVER):

Not a single one of them is straight

They all become at least some part of a hero team later on- once Hiro and Jack Jack tell them all what’s going on, they either join in or agree to help sometimes

(Mei is a super panda, Lilo and Boo take their warrior pets into battle, fish demons, etc)

Once they’re comfortable enough with each other, they start visiting each other’s homes because they’re so diverse

Hawaii was awesome!! Lilo taught everyone how to surf as Luca and Alberto meet the wildlife below. Nani loves them all, but David’s favorite is Jack Jack

Mei shows them all Chinese-Canadian culture, but mostly the Chinese part lol. They get to meet her gf, Miri, and she takes them to 4town. They hate it, but she seems happy

Riley takes them all skating on the pond in her old backyard. Miguel and the fish boys, who have never been anywhere cold in their lives, are miserable. Really the only one who’s fine is Mei lmao. They all try broccoli pizza, and Luca and Alberto actually like it

Jack Jack’s family make it their life goal while they’re visiting to be as embarrassing as possible. Helen and Bob BOTH have to DRIVE THEM everywhere, Dash doesn’t stop talking about Fortnite for a single fucking second, and Violet actively makes out with Tony on the living room couch. You know who they love? Auntie Edna. Edna gains many more nieces and nephews that trip- she takes a special liking to Hiro, although she does criticize the ineffectiveness of his armor

Italy is warm and full of freaking mermaids and Vespa’s and gelato and it’s fucking awesome. Everyone falls in love with the food (obviously). Giulia just… gets used to adopting strange losers by this point.

Mexico is GREAT. Their trip happened to fall near Día de los Muertos, so guess where Miguel took them!! Maybe it meant stealing from the ofrenda, but… in their defense, they put it back. (Before you ask, yes, Tadashi was there. It’s a personal belief of mine that there are different sections to the Land for different cultures’ afterlives. Like all the gateways go to the same realm, just different parts of it.) Stitch and Dante wrestled the entire time XD

Edit: GUYS OH NO I FORGOT TO ADD VANELLOPE BUT SHE’S INCLUDED

[bluelilia]

HUYỀN THOẠI VỀ CON CADEHO - Miguel Augel Asturias

(Nguyễn Trung Đức dịch)

Và từ cánh đồng phì nhiêu con cadeho hiện ra, bắt cóc những cô gái có bím tóc và làm tổ trên bờm những chú ngựa.

Mẹ Elvira de San Francisco, ni viện trưởng của tu -viện Santa Catalina, trước đây là một cô tu sĩ làm nhiệm vụ cắt bánh thánh trong chủng viện Concepción, một trinh nữ có sắc đẹp được ngợi ca và ăn nói rất nha nhặn đến mức ngôn từ trên môi nàng như hoa nở e ấp dịu dàng.

Từ cửa sổ rộng không kính chắn, nữ tu sĩ mới tu ngắm nhìn những tàu lá khô bị gió cuốn bay, ngắm nhìn cây cối phủ đầy hoa và những quả chín rụng trong vườn hàng xóm của chủng viện, về phía chủng viện bị đổ nát, nơi những lùm cây che khuất bức tường lở lói và mái nhà bị tốc mái đã biến những xà lim và phòng tu kín thành những thiên đường thơm lựng mùi hoa bách hợp, hoa hồng dại. Khi nói đến các bài kí sự thì đó là buổi liên hoan rầm rộ, nơi những con bồ câu có đôi chân màu hoa hồng sẽ thay thế các nữ tu và tiếng hót líu lo của lũ chim rừng thay cho những bài thánh ca của các cô.

Ở bên ngoài cửa sổ, trong những hầm sâu, bóng râm ấm áp được hội tụ lại, trong đó những con bướm nhẹ bôi bụi trên cánh chúng vào sự thanh lặng của cái sân đang nhộn nhạo sự đi lại của những chú thằn lằn và bôi vào mùi thơm bảng lảng do những tàu lá khuếch tán tình cảm mến yêu của những thân cây vào những bức tường cổ kính.

Ở bên trong, trong sự đùm bọc ngọt ngào của Thượng đế, vì Ngài đã bọc vỏ trái cây của các thiên thần để phát hiện cùi và hạt vốn là Hình Hài của Chúa Cristo – vere tues Deus abconditus! – Elvira de Francisco hội nhập tinh thần và thể xác của mình vào ngôi nhà của tuổi thơ nàng, một ngôi nhà có những cái vồ nặng nề dùng để gọi cửa và khóm hồng bên cửa, ngôi nhà những bức tường phản chiếu trong nước các bồn tắm theo cách hơi thở in dấu trên pha lê trong suốt.

Tiếng nói của thành phố đã khuấy động không khí thanh bình nơi cửa sổ nàng: đó là những tiếng nói buồn thương của du khách người ta nghe thấy dường như lay động cả bến cảng trước khi con tàu nhổ neo, đó là tiếng cười của một người đàn ông vào lúc kết thúc vòng đua của một con ngựa, hay tiếng bánh lăn của một cỗ xe, hay tiếng khó của một chú nhóc.

Con ngựa, cỗ xe, người đàn ông và chú nhóc diễu qua mắt nàng gợi nhớ khung cảnh làng quê dưới những bầu trời với gương mặt xám ngoét đã bỏ bùa mê thuốc lá cho cái nhìn thông thái của những bức tượng tròn ngồi bên cạnh hồ nước với vẻ đau thương của những con rắn già.

Hương thơm đi cùng với những hình ảnh. Bầu trời thơm mùi bầu trời, trẻ nhỏ thơm mùi trẻ nhỏ, đồng ruộng thơm mùi đồng ruộng, cỗ xe thơm lựng mùi cỏ, con ngựa thơm mùi hoa hồng, con người thơm hương thơm thần thánh, những bức tượng tròn mang mùi bóng tối, những bóng tối mang vẻ nghỉ ngơi ngày chủ nhật, và sự nghỉ ngơi của Thượng đế thơm mùi quần áo vừa giặt sạch.

Đã xảy ra chuyện rồi. Bóng tối xoá đi tư tưởng của nàng: đó là mối liên hệ rực rỡ của những hạt bụi nhỏ li ti đang bơi trong một tia nắng. Những quả chuông ngân vang đưa những chiếc môi đến gần cốc rượu buổi chiều. Ai nói về những nụ hôn nhỉ? Gió đung đưa những bông hướng dương. Hoa hướng dương hay những chú cá ngựa? Những con chim ruồi vẽ vụn những ước muốn của Thượng đế trên dòng chảy những bông hoa. Ai nói về những nụ hôn?

Tiếng đế giày nện ầm ầm trên nền nhà khiến nàng giật thột. Những mũi tên của tiếng vọng khua trống vang khắp cả hành lang.

Nghe nhầm chăng? Lẽ nào lại không phải là người đàn ông có đôi lông mày rậm vẫn thường đến đây vào cuối ngày thứ sáu lấy bánh thánh để mang đến chín địa điểm thuộc Thung lũng Đức bà Đồng Trinh, đó là nơi một đền thờ hạnh phúc đứng thẳng trên đỉnh một ngọn đồi?

Người ta gọi ông là người đàn ông ngủ gật. Ngọn gió đi theo chân ông. Nhưng bóng ma ông xuất hiện vào lúc bước chân dê đực của ông dừng lại: chiếc mũ trên tay, những chiếc cúc nhỏ, một vật gì đó tựa như vòng vàng cuộn trong chiếc áo khoác ngoài. Ông đứng đợi.

Vâng, đúng là ông ta; nhưng lần này ông đến với vẻ thảng thốt và khẩn trương như để tránh một thảm họa.

- Thưa cô, thưa cô – vừa bước vào phòng, ông vừa nói, - người ta sẽ cắt mất bím tóc của cô, người ta sẽ cắt mất bím tóc của cô, người ta sẽ cắt mất bím tóc của cô!...

Người tái nhợt và mềm nhũn ra, nữ tu sĩ mới tu cố đứng dậy đi đến cửa khi thấy ông ta bước vào. Nàng chỉ đi đôi giày mà một nữ tu sĩ bại liệt dùng trong cuộc đời và khi nghe thấy ông ta gào to, nàng cảm thấy rằng cô tu sĩ cả một đời bất động sẽ đặt đôi chân cho mình và mình không thể bước nổi...

Một tiếng khóc nức nở, như một ngôi sao, rung ngân trong cổ họng. Những con chim đang thêu dệt buổi hoàng hôn buông xuống giữa những đống đổ nát màu nâu và lộn xộn. Hai cây khuynh diệp sừng sững đứng ngâm vang những khúc ca salmo.

Bị trói chặt vào chân một tử thi, không thể nào cựa quậy được, nàng rầu rĩ khóc, cố nuốt nước mắt trong im lặng như những người ốm biết rằng các cơ quan lục phủ ngũ tạng của bản thân đang khô đi và lạnh đi từng phần từng phần một. Nàng cảm thấy mình chết, cảm thấy mình bị chôn, cảm thấy trên mộ mình đám hồng dại những lời trắng trong sẽ nở hoa và nỗi đau của nàng dần dà biến thành niềm vui lâng lâng... Các nữ tu sĩ – những khóm hồng lưu động đi cắt từng bông từng bông hồng một đem về bài trí bàn thờ Đức bà Đồng Trinh và từ những bông hồng, tháng năm giăng ra một tấm mạng nhện sực nức hương thơm, trong nó Thánh Bà của chúng ngã xuống thành tù nhân đang run rẩy như một con ruồi ánh sáng.

Nhưng cảm giác về cơ thể mình nở hoa sau khi chết là một niềm hạnh phúc thoáng qua.

Như một chiếc diều bỗng bị đứt dây giữa những đám mây sức nặng của bím tóc nàng làm nó chúi đầu xuống rồi cả chiếc diều rơi xuống địa ngục. Trong bím tóc nàng có điều kì diệu. Đó là tổng số những khoảnh khắc đau thương. Nàng mất cảm giác vài tiếng thở dài não ruột và cho đến khi đến gần lọ thủy tinh trong đó lũ quỷ đang làm phép màu, thì nàng lấy lại cảm giác mình đang ở trên mặt đất. Một chiếc quạt những thực tế có thể có mở ra quanh nàng: đêm với những tấm kẹo gương, những cây thông thơm lựng, phấn hoa của cuộc đời ở trên tóc của gió, và con mèo không hình thù không màu sắc đang cào lên mặt nước trong các bể và làm lộn tùng phèo những tờ giấy cũ.

Cửa sổ và nàng lấp đầy cả bầu trời.

- Thưa cô! Thượng đế biết bàn tay cô khi nào tôi làm lễ ban thánh thể cho cô!... – Người đàn ông khoác áo khoác thì thầm nói và trong lúc nói lướt dài mớ tóc bị cắt trước đôi mắt đỏ như than hồng của nàng.

Nữ tu sĩ mới tu rút tay khỏi những chiếc bánh thánh khi nghe thấy lời mắng mỏ... Không, không phải là một giấc mộng! Nàng tự vỗ lên cánh tay, lên vai, lên cổ, lên mặt, lên bím tóc... Nàng ngừng thở một lát dài như cả một thế kỉ vào lúc cảm nhận được bím tóc. Không, không phải một giấc mộng! Bên dưới nạm tóc ấm áp của mình nàng sống lại nhờ nhận ra những đồ trang sức của mình, được mang theo trong các đám cưới ma quái với người đàn ông ngủ gật và nhận ra ngọn đèn cháy sáng ở cuối phòng, căn phòng dài như một cái quan tài. Ánh sáng duy trì cái thực tại không thể có về người yêu dang rộng hai cánh tay như một chúa Cristo mà trong một phút lâm chung đã trở lại làm con dơi và là chính da thịt mình. Nàng nhắm mắt lại, tự bọc mình trong sự mù lòa của chính mình để chạy trốn cái hình ảnh địa ngục ấy, hình ảnh người đàn ông vốn chỉ là đàn ông để mơn trớn nàng cho đến khi nàng là người đàn bà – người đàn bà đáng nguyền rủa nhất trong số những thê thiếp mà thôi - nhưng tất cả có cái gì đó rơi xuống dưới mi mắt tròn và dựng dậy từ đôi giày của nàng đó là nữ tu sĩ bại liệt, người ướt đẫm nước mắt, chạy nhiều nhất đã mở mắt nàng... Nàng cào rách bóng tối, mở bừng hai con mắt với con người sống động đung đưa, bước ra khỏi nội tâm sâu thẳm của mình như những con chuột mắc trong bẫy, nhớn nhác, điếc đặc, tự làm đỏ hồng đôi má, vùng vẫy giữa tiếng rên rẩm của cơn hấp hối xa lạ mà nàng mang trên đôi chân và dòng chảy nóng của bím tóc xoắn lại trong tó lửa vô hình nàng mang trên lưng…

Và nàng không biết thêm về mình nữa. Giữa một tử thi và một người đàn ông, với tiếng khóc ấm ức trên lưỡi mình nàng cảm thấy chất độc; như trái tim mình, nửa điên loạn, trong lúc tãi bánh thánh nàng vùng vẫy đi tìm chiếc kéo của mình và khi tìm được nó nàng cắt phăng bím tóc và tự giải thoát bùa yểm của ông, nàng chạy đi tìm nơi ẩn nấp an toàn của mệ bề trên mà không cảm thấy trên chân mình có đôi chân của nữ tu sĩ bại liệt...

Nhưng khi bím tóc nàng rơi xuống nó không còn là bím tóc nữa. Nó ngọ nguậy, trườn bò trên tấm chăn phơi bánh thánh trải trên sàn nhà.

Người đàn ông ngủ gật hướng về ánh sáng tìm kiếm. Trên hàng lông mày rậm rì những giọt nước mắt lóng lánh như những đốm lửa cuối cùng trong than của cây đèn nến đã tắt. Ông bò theo mặt bức tường với hơi thở hổn hển mà không hề động đến bóng tối, không hề gây tiếng động, chỉ khao khát được đến đống lửa mà ông tin rằng đó là sự cứu mạng của mình. Bỗng bước đi chệnh choạng của ông bị hụt và ông ngã nhào trong cuộc chạy trốn hãi hùng. Con rắn không đầu để lại đám lá rụng thiêng liêng của bánh thánh và lao theo ông. Nó bò bên dưới chân ông như một dòng máu đen của một con vật chết và khi tiếp xúc với ánh sáng bỗng nó nhảy vút lên với những quả chuông phun nước ra thoải mái và nhẹ nhàng nước uốn cong lại như sợi bấc trong ngọn đèn nến cháy sáng như khóc hoài cho đến khi lụi tàn, khóc cho tâm hồn của người vì nàng trinh nữ đã tắt lịm lửa đời. Và như vậy, người đàn ông ngủ gật đã đến cõi vĩnh hằng và thương cho ông những cây xương rồng vẫn khóc hoài tuôn ra những giọt nước mắt trắng.

Con quỷ đã đi qua như một làn gió thổi bởi bím tóc, mà khi ngọn lửa cây đèn nến lụi tắt, đã rơi xuống nằm bất động trên sàn nhà.

Đến nửa đêm, nhờ biến thành một con vật mình dài – dài gấp đôi con cừu và cao bằng tầm một cây liễu rủ với đầu dê, tai thỏ và mặt dơi, người đàn ông – ngủ gật kéo theo xuống địa ngục bím tóc đen của nữ tu sĩ mới tu, với thời gian nàng sẽ là Mẹ Elvira de San Francisco – Caheho đã sinh ra như thế đấy – trong lúc đó nàng mơ - giữa những tiếng cười của các thiên thần, quỳ gối trong phòng tu kín độc thân với hoa huệ và con cừu huyền bí.

[ao3feed-binarybfs]

Survival of the Blondest

read on AO3 here

by SummerPhlox

Yasmine leans against the house’s back wall, exhaling. Her gaze strays to the full moon, bathing the yard’s long flowerbeds in silvery-white.

She’ll never understand why she said yes when Hawk invited her to go ghost-hunting with their friends. The paranormal hotspot in question was some abandoned Beverly Hills mansion, urban legends swimming around the decrepit place like fucking piranhas.

Yasmine remembers watching Hawk pry open a boarded bay window and scoffing at the absurdity of it all. Why did she agree to this? If this was a movie, she’d be the first to die.

Instead, she was the only one who made it out unscathed.

Yasmine never thought she'd end up a "final girl." How was she to know some "harmless Halloween fun" would end in her friends getting fucked up one-by-one AND her having an uncomfortable identity crisis, all in one night?

My submission for the final CKHalloween22 prompt, "Final Girl"! Also counts for "Monstrous Transformations" and "Environment of Fear" hehe

Words: 1735, Chapters: 2/10, Language: English

Fandoms: Cobra Kai (TV)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage, Major Character Death

Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M

Characters: Yasmine (Cobra Kai), Moon (Cobra Kai), Demetri Alexopoulos, Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz, Samantha LaRusso, Miguel Diaz (Cobra Kai), Robby Keene, Tory Nichols, Kyler Park

Relationships: Moon/Yasmine (Cobra Kai), Minor or Background Relationship(s), Demetri Alexopoulos/Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz, Miguel Diaz/Samantha LaRusso, Robby Keene/Tory Nichols, Demetri Alexopoulos & Yasmine, Samantha LaRusso & Yasmine, Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz & Yasmine, Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz & Moon

Additional Tags: Yasmine's POV, my first time writing it in fact!, Lesbian Yasmine, but she's still kind of in denial :(, Internalized Homophobia, Implied Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Sexual Humor, (because Yasmine and Moon were secretly hooking up in S1 and this is the hill I will die on), no smut tho because I'm ace, and they're tryna escape a haunted mansion so like. Porking isn't their first priority, Cobra Kai Season 5 Spoilers, set after Season 5 so everyone is friends <3, but I also mercilessly torture the blorbos so. RIP, everyone sans Yasmine gets either killed or monsterified just warning y'all in advance, Hence "Final Girl", Alternate Universe - Horror, Blood and Violence, Blood and Gore, Transformation, Body Horror, Psychological Horror, Survival Horror, ckhalloween22, Dark Comedy, Yasmine is hella judgmental, but she's not really WRONG in her criticisms of her friends' dumbassery, I Slowly Torture Yasmine For 10 Chapter Straight

read on AO3 here

[shinyhappysims]

Onyeka family update #1

Hey guys, before we go on to gen 2 here’s a third person update on the Onyeka kids. We probably won’t be seeing much of these folks for a while because I want to focus on Isioma’s story for a bit.

Chukwuma and Breyonnah Onyeka are 57 and 54 respectively and have been married for 29 years. Out of their 10 children, 5 still live at home. Those 5 children are Lotanna (14), Ifeanyi (16), Jachike (19), Onyinye (16), and Sochima (13). Jachike has recently joined the military and is awaiting his post. The other 4 children are still being homeschooled by Bre.

Nnadi and Miguel Ventura are both 26, have been married for 8 years, and have 5 children: Gideon (7), Ephraim (5), Shoshanna (3), Bartholomew (2), and Abigail (6 months). They are very committed to the fundamentalist lifestyle and are raising their brood to do the same. They live in Oasis Springs, where Miguel works as a business manager.

Kelechi and Sandrine Onyeka are 24 and 27 years old. They have been married for 5 years and live in Brindleton Bay, where Kelechi pastors Calvary Baptist Church, and Sandrine is a preschool teacher. Despite a rocky start to their arranged marriage, they now have a good partnership. Sandrine still isn’t quite sure that she loves Kelechi but she’s getting there, they’re happy for now. They have 1 daughter, Faith, who is 4 years old. They’re now trying for baby #2.

Chidi is 23 years old and just moved to San Myshuno. He just landed a job as an junior attorney at a private law firm. Chidi’s ready to live his best life free of his parents. He’s also taking the time to figure out his sexuality and his beliefs. It’s not that he doesn’t believe in God, but he’s willing to learn of a God that’s actually loving, because that wasn’t the one he was raised with.

Adaeze is Chidi’s twin sister. Like Chidi, she’s a recent college grad and exploring the world. Unlike Chidi, she’s estranged from a good bit of her family, because it’s really shameful for women to have their own lives or something like that. She lives Britechester with her boyfriend Raj Sanyal (25), her cousin Diana, and Diana’s fiancé Alberto. Adaeze just began working as a scientist, while Raj works at a museum. They are looking for their own place, and don’t tell Adaeze, but Raj might pop the question soon…

Isioma and Anwar Kamal are 21 and 23 years old and live in Del Sol Valley. They currently are on their honeymoon in Mt. Komorebi. They are excited to start a family. Anwar is glad Isioma is leading him back to Christ and Isioma is glad she married someone who can help her have fun and see the good in the world.

[madamlaydebug]

Africans were brought to present-day Georgetown, South Carolina on, September 29, 1526, by Lucas Vasquez Ayllon. The first African slaves arrived in the present-day United States as part of the San Miguel de Gualdape colony (most likely located in the Winyah Bay area of present-day South Carolina), founded by Spanish explorer Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón in 1526. The ill-fated colony was almost immediately disrupted by a fight over leadership, during which the enslaved people revolted and fled the colony to seek refuge among local Native Americans. De'Ayllón and many of the colonists died shortly afterward of an epidemic, and the colony was abandoned, leaving the escaped slaves behind on North American soil. In 1565, the colony of Saint Augustine in Florida became the first permanent European settlement in North America and included an unknown number of African slaves.

Until the early 1700s, African slaves were difficult to acquire in the colonies that became the United States, as most were sold in the West Indies. One of the first major establishments of African slavery in these colonies occurred with the founding of Charles Town and South Carolina in 1670. The colony was founded mainly by planters from Barbados' overpopulated sugar island colony, who brought relatively large numbers of African slaves from that island. For several decades it was still difficult to acquire African slaves north of the Caribbean. To meet labor needs, colonists practiced Indian slavery for some time. The Carolinians transformed the Indian slave trade during the late 1600s and early 1700s by treating slaves as a trade commodity to be exported, mainly to the West Indies. Alan Gallay estimates that between 1670 and 1715, between 24,000 and 51,000 Indian slaves were exported from South Carolina — much more than the number of Africans imported to the colonies of the future United States during the same period.

The first Africans to be brought to English North America landed in Virginia in 1619. These individuals appear to have been treated as indentured servants. via black history mini-docs/ washingtonpost https://wapo.st/3fxMUdC