#update: they scored again as i was writing this but this time it wasn't us

[iambutahumblememe]

Log update: The figurative wall remains vast and thick, despite my attempts presumably going past the halfway point. Nevertheless, there's been a small change, as the infernal device I've opted into using has begun asking me "PLZ WHY". The pixel cat in the corner stares into my eyes, as if seeking an answer. But I cannot provide one, for I have no answer. I do not know why I'm still here. Has is not been enough to earn these badges, to make a furry joke about them and to show that I already broke the machine? Must I break myself too, all for the right to what? Brag? About completing this pointless task? One that not one person dared me to take on?

There's little feeling left in me, apart from the tired ache of my fingers, second only to the one in my soul. I know whether I continue pushing against the immovable object for nothing at all or give up for good, I will never be the same again. Not a chance. Because every second I push that button to boop someone, it's a reminder that the real joke of the day is me, along with those who shared the same mind I did when I made my personal hell. Thinking about throwing hands with others for a laugh, a website wide practical joke. I've long reached the point of swinging at myself above all else, knowing that others will only provide so much on the journey towards "becoming Tumblr". Five hundred boops changes the score none, yet every one is a gut punch that crushes the life out of me.

And I know I can't leave. Because as I'm writing this, I've figured out the answer to why I'm doing this. Shame. Shame in doing all this for nothing at all (as if I wasn't already) and having to live with that for the rest of my life. So I press on. Even this message is only a temporary relief, one that loses its benefits as I remember that time marches on, with or without me.

I must continue now. I cannot lose this pointless achievement or I will have achieved even less and I'm not sure how I'll handle that. This is my burden I've saddled myself with and I will see it through until the end. Even if I end up never making it out again. I have no one to blame but myself. And I shall forever and ever. Godspeed everyone.

Boop.

[thecomicsnexus]

TMNT ADVENTURES: THE FOREVER WAR (kind of FAN MADE)

April 2024

By Steve Murphy, Chris Allan, Andrew Modeen, Artem Tsarkov, Arseniy Dubakov, Egor Prutov , Jon D'Agostino, Dmitry Bobrovnik, Yuri Kochin, and Jim Lawson.

The Shredder finally succeeds at erasing the Turtles from history and conquering the world. But the Turtles and Splinter will try to defeat him and ensure their existence in this conclusion of the iconic Archie series.

SCORE: 8

You'll have to forgive the lack of images, but it is very hard to scan this book (I'll see what I can do for the video review, but I may need to work with photos of it). In any case, this is another of those fan projects by Arseniy Dubakov and Andrew Modeen... but with some interesting twists in its genesis.

You probably remember that this saga was announced in 1995 before the Archie adventures were canceled, and fans have been speculating forever about how the story ended.

In 2009 we almost got the conclusion by the original team (Steve Murphy and Chris Allan), but the turtles were sold to Viacom and the plans never materialized. In any case, Murphy couldn't remember where he was going with the story, so it would be fair to say that it was never going to be the same arc.

More recently, Chris Allan met Arseniy and the two got together to make this project happen. The first chapter (which was made public at some point in the past few years), was mostly recovered from 1995, but it had been colored and edited by the new team.

As far as I know, the second chapter was plotted by Steve Murphy, and I can say that the two first chapters feel the most like the original book... with some annoying differences.

After that, the book does its job, and the story works very well. The project was promoted as "closing all open plots" of the original series, but fortunately, it only tried to solve a time paradox that has always been a problem in that book. I applaud the restrain of the writers from bringing up every single plot point just to let readers know they read the book (as is usually the case with these projects).

The art is probably the most spectacular aspect of the book. It's an updated look for the Archie adventures that for the most part, looks like a continuation of the story. There are some stylistic differences when it comes to inking after chapter one, but you get used to them after a while.

The book comes with two back-up stories. One penciled by Jim Lawson that tries to make sense of the convoluted Archie timeline (specifically about which Shredder you were looking at in each adventure). The second backup is some sort of epilogue to Forever War that will leave you with more questions than answers.

For me, the weakest point of the book is the "overwriting" from Andrew.

It's hard to explain, but Andrew goes into these long narrations directed at the reader that just feel overproduced and underproduced at the same time. There is an overuse of "Modeen" expressions that can be said by any character at any time. Perhaps because he is not doing the writing/plotting alone, this is his best story yet. We know Andrew is a fan, an we know he can write. But it would be nice if he could work on his dialogues and... I'm going to call it now... think twice before adding an unnecessary celebrity quote at the beginning of each chapter.

I am not sure if this was in the original plot, but some elements in this story were even darker than the original series (like slashing a classic character in two). I get that we all grew up and we can take it, but this should be a continuation of that book, and I feel that it wasn't this bloody (most of the time).

But again, this story worked for me, it didn't bring up characters and plots just for the sake of it, and the turtles were front and center.

Should we consider this an ending for the Archie series? Well, just like it happened with Volume 3 before Urban Legends came out, this is all we can get. It's technically just the story, and not a proper ending, so you could still consider "Year of the Turtle" the final story (I assume that it not being referenced was intentional). There is one reference to "TMNT: Odyssey" (because for some reason, all these projects need to share the same multiverse), but it can be easily ignored... I think.

Maybe one day IDW will decide to do their own version of Forever War, but I don't think Chris Allan would go through this ordeal again... I think it could be published as is (fourth-wall monologuing included). Perhaps censoring some of the blood, to keep it consistent with Archie guidelines.

Now, let's take a look at those spoilers after the break...

You guessed it, most of the chapters take place in an alternate timeline. This allows for familiar characters to return even if they were already dead. And also introduces Carter to the Archie universe... and he may be British... I don't know.

Most characters show up to die... which isn't unusual on alternate timeline stories, but feels like a waste. Carter and Claire had very little time to do anything, and Claire being April's sister is an interesting twist... but I wonder what caused it? It is implied that they may have been separated at some point, but the existence of the same photograph without her suggests there wee further alterations to that timeline.

The Mutanimals play the bad guys... probably for the better. I wonder if the reason they didn't undo their deaths, or brought back Cherubae, was so that it could all tie into "TMNT: Odyssey"? Whatever the reason was, I appreciate it.

Perhaps the biggest reveal was that Chet was the Rat King. While this is a fun twist, some things are a bit too convenient. Why did he choose the H'antaan name? And why didn't he ever mentioned this to anyone in the original timeline? (Apart from the flashback in this book).

Overall, Shredder's plan makes sense (for once), although he somehow recreated all the mutants from the original series, even the ones that weren't mutants (like Katmandu)... perhaps he and Al'Falqa simply joined the cause.

There isn't much characterization for the turtles, but I think is in line with the original book as well. And to be fair, the main focus is the story.

The Jim Lawson back-up also introduces another problem, a Shredder that finally remember everything (this may be the one in "Year of the Turtle"). Mr. Null decides to share all of this, searching for the Turnstone (a "TMNT: Odyssey" plot). I don't like these fan-projects being all connected, but I appreciate the long explanation of the Shredder paradox in the Archie adventures. It also officialized that Armaggon created the Archie universe.

I would have appreciated a Mr. Null origin story... but I guess that would have clashed with "Odyssey" (and this is why I don't like them being connected).

I may sound negative, but my nitpicks only took two points from the overall score. I am happy with the results, and I think we can now stop wondering what it could have been.

Although... can you imagine what it could have been in 1995?

That my friends... is the forever war.

[Include some super serious celebrity quote here]

[aggimaginary]

The Bad Guys season 1: Our Own Story (chapter 28) - Let's Ride!

First Previous Next

Hey guys, sorry I didn't stick to my schedule anymore. I was very busy at school and my fanart. I guess my updates might be weekly or less. I hope you'll like my new chapter here.

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Intro

Mr. Wolf: Yeah! I'm bad!

Mr. Snake: You're bad!

Ms. Tarantula: He's bad!

Mr. Hornet: She's bad!

Mr. Piranha: We're bad!

Mr. Shark: Who's bad?

The Bad Guys: Yeah! We're the Bad Guys!

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It's another day under the bridge of the 6th Street Viaduct as the Bad Guys car skid along the way. Inside the car was Wolf and Snake, but this time, Wolf wasn't doing the driving this time, it was Snake! Wolf had been teaching Snake how to drive for years. Wolf didn't want Snake or the other Bad Guys to depend on him to drive the car. He is the team driver, but he can't be at the wheel all the time. So, the next one in line would be Snake. Despite having no arms or legs, his whole body could be his legs and arms. His body is long enough to reach the pedals, the stick, and the wheel, so he might be compatible to drive.

Today, Wolf was testing Snake to drive the car as the former graded the latter's skills. Wolf held a notepad and a pen to write down Snake's grade.

While Snake was driving the car around Wolf, Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet sat aside, watching the whole scene.

"Here we are again, guys,"

"Today is once again the day of Snake's driving test with Wolf.

"Let's just hope that'll be Snake's last driving test, and if Snake does not pass this one, it means another whole year of driving lessons."

Snake crashed into a pedestrian dummy made out of sack and hay with button eyes and a hat.

"What happened?" Snake asked, sticking his head out from the window to check what happened in front

"Oh, nothing, Snake, you just struck another pedestrian," Wolf shrugged, and wrote the point on the clipboard, "Minus 20 more points."

"How many does that leave me with?" Snake inquired.

"-224," Wolf answered

"How many more minutes are left in the test?"

"The test is over."

Snake slammed his fisted tail on the board, and exclaimed, That's enough time, I can make up those points!" He pulled the gear lever into reverse.

"No, Snake, you didn't hear me!" Wolf tried to explain, but the car rammed into reverse, and Wolf screamed, It's too late, Snake!" He pleaded with his best friend to stop as the car knocked over a whole row of cones, knocked through a brick wall, and crashed in front of the other Bd Guys, creating a huge dust cloud.

The Bad Guys coughed out the dust from their mouths and throats as Snake eagerly asked, "Okay, Wolf, what's my final score?"

Wolf looked down at his clipboard, and answered, "6."

Yes!" Snake clenched his tail into a fist, and grinned, "And how many do I need to pass? "6-." Wolf replied as Snake smiled proudly until his best friend continued his sentence, "-00." Snake was shocked by this, "What?"

Wolf explained clearly, "600. You need 600 to pass. You got 6".

Snake sighed sadly, "Sorry, Wolf. But it'll be alright. Besides, this means that I get to have another driving lesson for a whole another year!" he smiled while booping Wolf's nose, and slithered out of the car.

As Snake left, the other Bad Guys approached Wolf from outside of the car, checking if he was alright.

"Oh well, Wolf, I guess we have another whole year that you'll drive a car, and take us wherever we go," Tarantula smirked while standing at the open window

"Yep!" Piranha exclaimed, "That means you'll take us to the mall…"

"Or at my work at the restaurant…," Hornet added

"Or in the computer shop…," Tarantula stated.

"Or at the beach…" Shark smiled.

While the four Bad Guys ranted about the list of places they would go with Wolf driving for another year again, Wolf suddenly talked to himself in his mind, "Oh, God. Another year of teaching Snake to drive while I do the driving around here. I've got to do something to save myself. I can't be the one to drive the car for the team again. Oh, there's only one way out: a teacher's ace in the hole!" That's when Wolf had that idea as he declared, "Extra credit!"

Before Snake slithered into the tunnel where the entrance of the Bad Guys' hideout would be, he heard what Wolf said as he stopped his way before slithering back to the car, "What was that, Wolf?"

Wolf came out of the passenger seat with the other 4 Bad Guys stepped aside, and shook Snake in joy, "Extra credit, Snake! The extra credit! You still have a chance to drive."

"What's extra credit?" Shark asked.

"It's when you get credit for the things you weren't able to do before," Hornet replied.

"Exactly, Hornet," Wolf said before turning to his reptile friend, "What do you say, Snakey? You want that extra credit?"

Snake thought of it while rubbing his chin with his tail, and answered, "Oh yeah? I'm in!"

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In the Bad Guys' hideout, Snake sat down at the dining table with a paper, holding a pencil with his tail, while Wolf was standing at another side of the table, where a teacher should be with his student taking the activity.

"Now, Snake, are we ready for that extra credit?" Wolf asked.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Snake smirked.

"That's the spirit, Snakey! So all you have to do to earn your extra credit and pass the driving test, and you never have to take more lessons from me again, is to write a 10-word sentence on what you've learned from my driving class," Wolf explained.

Snake tapped the bottom of his pencil on his face while thinking, and said, "But I've learned so many things from you.

Just pick one, I don't care which. Here, I'll help you get started," Wolf cleared his throat while Snake was writing what his teacher said, "What I learned in Wolf's driving class is…" There! That's already eight words! Only two more!"

While Snake was writing with just his tail, the tip of his pencil snapped, "dang it!"

"What's wrong?" Wolf asked.

"Got to sharpen my pencil," Snake said as he sharpened the pencil with the electric sharpener.

When Snake went back to writing again, Wolf started to feel impatient waiting, until he heard a snap from a pencil. Snake sighed as he was about to sharpen his pencil, but Wolf took his pencil.

"Give me that!" He pulled out a blank pen, "Here's a pen."

"Wow! Thanks, buddy!" Snake grabbed the pen, and went back to writing. After a couple of letters, Snake put the pen down, and handed the paper to Wolf, "There."

"Fantastic, let me see it," Wolf was about to grab the paper, but Snake yanked it away from him.

"Wait, Wolf! I changed my mind!" Snake exclaimed as he crossed out his writings with the pen

" I'm sure whatever you've written is fine, just let me see," Wolf demanded, trying to be patient. Snake jumped on top of his paper, covering his work with his body, "No, Don't look! It's not ready."

Wolf was getting impatient as he tried to control his impatient anger by forming a crazy smile, "It's so simple, only 10 words! 'What I learned in Wolf's driving class is blankity, blank!'"

"I can do this! I can do this!" Snake nervously thought of the words while pointing the tip of her pen on the paper

Wolf couldn't take it anymore as he jumped on Snake, and forced him to write with the pen on the paper, "You only need two… more… words!"

The table finally collapsed and broke as Wolf fell on top of Snake. Wolf got off of Snake, and reached for the essay, "Okay, let me see what you've written."

Wolf grabbed the paper, but Snake grabbed the end of the paper.

"It's not ready yet," the reptile said

"It's okay, Snake. Show me what you've written," Wolf still got a hold of the paper.

"No!" Snake exclaimed, trying to pull the paper from Snake.

"Give it to me!"

"No!"

"Let me see it!"

As Wolf and Snake tried to pull the paper from each other, the paper was ripped in half. Seeing the paper was in half, Wolf grabbed Snake's other piece, and attempted to read it, "What I learned in Wolf's driving class is… Uh…" On the page, it said 'What I learned in Wolf's driving class is how to drive.' 'Class,' 'how' and 'drive' were crossed out, and below were pictures of a car, Snake, and a bird. Realizing that he couldn't read the essay properly, and he won't be able to finish his class with Snake in time, Wolf didn't care about the paper as he threw two pieces on the floor, "Well, the rest doesn't matter! You pass! You pass!"

"Wolf, I don't feel like I really did anything," Snake doubted himself.

"That's how extra credit is supposed to feel."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and it means you are compatible to drive just like me!"

Snake suddenly smiled that his best friend believed that he could drive on his own now, "Wow, thanks, Wolf," Snake turned around as he slithered towards his room, and spoke, "Which means, I can drive wherever a want!"

This was where Wolf realized something as Snake's words echoed in his mind. If Snake was able to drive, despite his driving skills being terrible, Wolf just imagine what would happen if Snake would indeed drove the Bad Guys car on his own.

A vision of Wolf's worries was shown that Snake was driving the car all over Los Angeles. He hit several innocent pedestrians, crashed other vehicles, and ran over partygoers in parks.

Los Angeles was on fire as citizens ran and scream in fear. Tiffany Fluffit was reporting live about the incident that Snake created with the car.

"So much destruction... this reporter asks, 'Why?'" A photo of Wolf was shown on-screen beside Tiffany, "Local consensus places the blame on this negligent, selfish teacher who–" Tiffany was then ran over by Snake. Tiffany got a chance to get up, and grunted, "Let's- not- use that take."

Wolf snapped out to reality from his horrible vision, and shook his head.

"That's preposterous. He did the extra credit. There's no need to worry. I just- I just need a nap," The leader of the Bad Guys said to himself before placing a paw on his forehead, and walking to his bedroom to rest after a long class he had with Snake. Hopefully, he'll feel better when he wakes up.

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When the early night came, Wolf woke up from his nap. He let out a big yawn as he realized he took a nap from all that stress of teaching Snake some driving lessons. He rubbed an eye with his paw, and slowly walked towards the door.

When he opened the door, the main room was so dark. But all of a sudden, the light turned on, and a loud cry was heard.

"Surprise!"

Wolf snapped awoke from tiredness when he opened his eyes to see his team holding a cake that said, "Thank you, Wolf!"

"To the greatest driving instructor ever!" Snake held up his goblet as a toast.

Wolf was really surprised to see his friends surprising him with the cake, "Whoa, guys, what is all this?!"

"This is for helping Snake drive," Hornet declared.

Wolf's frown dropped as he saw how his friends appreciated how he successfully taught Snake to drive, which was never been true.

"Wolf, we were starting to think Snake was never going to drive. But you never gave up on him, you never quit, you never took the easy way out!" Tarantula stated.

"Aww," Wolf cooed in touch.

"And, maybe someday, because of your success in helping Snake, you can help us learn how to drive too!" Piranha said.

Wolf shook his head in surprise, "Say what?"

"Yeah, so we can drive around the city independently," Shark mentioned.

"We could be free!" Hornet squealed.

"We could do whatever we want," Tarantula added.

"Yeah, whatever we want," Snake nodded in agreement before turning to Wolf and smiling at him.

Wolf just showed a fake smile, but deep inside, he was worried. If he falsely made Snake pass the driving class, he'll not only make destruction in the whole city, but Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet would end up causing the same thing if Wolf made them pass the easy way.

"No. I tricked Snake into passing the class. Now the rest of my team wants a lesson too?" Wolf said in his head nervously. The whole Bad Guys would ruin their reputation and throw themselves in jail for good. And worst, Wolf would become the worst friend and driving teacher ever!

"Maybe tomorrow, you can try driving on the street for real!" Snake suggested as Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet cheered in agreement.

But Wolf then thought, "No. I won't let it happen. I won't let my best friend or all of my friends risk their lives trying to drive. I've got to end this before it begins."

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Later at night, a dark figure snuck out of Wolf's room, and ran to the elevator with the car. It's just Wolf, wearing a black bodysuit. He pushed the down button, and the elevator doors closed.

When the elevator made it all the way down to the tunnel, the door opened, and Wolf turned the keys to start the engine before driving out of the tunnel.

What Wolf didn't know is that Snake was sleeping on the passenger seat next to work. He woke up, and felt the car moving. Something didn't feel right. The car was moving, and he wasn't behind the wheel.

Snake turned to the driver's seat, and Wolf turned around to the passenger seat where the two noticed each other, and screamed, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Wolf skid off the road for a bit, then returned to normal.

"Who are you and what are you doing with my car? And why are you wearing that black suit?!" Snake hissed while Wolf was still driving. Snake then gasped in horror, "Oh gosh, I know who you are!"

"No, you don't! You don't know who I am!" Wolf exclaimed nervously

"Yes, I do! I know that you're... a carjacker! Only me and my buddies can do such a thing! I never thought I'd have to use this pepper spray!" Snake took a pepper spray, and was supposed to spray it at Wolf, but the nozzles pointed the wrong way, it got in his eyes, and he screamed in pain, "Aaahh! Somebody help me! Somebody help me!"

Wolf then kicked Snake out of the car, "Sorry, Snake, but it was for your own good."

But to Wolf's surprise, seeing through the side mirror, Snake was hanging behind the car, biting the rear bumper.

"You'd better stop this car!" Snake demanded with his mouth still occupied from hanging on

Wolf didn't give up yet as he slammed the brake, and Snake tightened his bite on the rear bumper.

"I'm… not… letting… go! Nothing will stop me! Not even…" Snake then gasped as he saw ahead where a line of tropical palm trees that had spiky stumps, "Tropical Palm Trees?!" Snake bumped into the trees' spiky stumps, scratching and poking him along the way, but he was still in one piece, "I'm… not… letting… go… even for…" He gasped again as he saw ahead were flower bushes that can produce powder/pollen, "Flowers with pollens" Snake bumped into flower bushes as pollens flew all over his face, stinging his eyes and irritating his nose, but he tried to hold his sneeze as he was still hanging on onto the rear bumper, "If you think I'll let go for a little…" He gasped in horror to see high schoolers getting ready for prom night while waiting for their school bus at the bus stop as he approached them, "High schoolers for prom?! Oh no!"

Wolf could hear Snake screaming until it faded to silence. Realizing that he lost Snake, Wolf sighed in relief, "Looks like that got rid of him. Now for some tunes!" He turned on the radio, to play some music.

"And now back to KIIS, with all of your personal 'you won't get away with stealing my car!' hits."

Wolf thought that voice from the radio sounded familiar as he looked down at the radio. From there, the radio face opened, and Snake squeezed out of the box, and jumped on Wolf.

The two got into a giant brawl, and the car went out of control.

Two cops in a car were standing by to patrol the streets, only to see the Bad Guys Car driving in circles.

"Hey, look," One of the cops said.

The car then sped up toward the squad car. The cops screamed in fear and clutched each other.

While plummeting, Snake and Wolf were still brawling.

"Ugh! I'd never let you have this car! Not even if you were…" Snake pulled the hood of the bodysuit off, revealing who the culprit was. Snake gasped in horror to see that the carjacker was his best friend, "Wolf?"

The car crashed into the police car. Seconds later, the siren went on, activating their rights to arrest someone responsible for this.

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The next day, Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet went to the visiting room in jail to check on Wolf and Snake as they talked to the two on the phone.

"So, how's it going with you two?" Tarantula asked while speaking through the phone behind the glass window.

Snake answered happily while Wolf held the phone for him "Pretty good, actually. Like we did last year in jail, it's like a jail-cation in here with my best friend."

Feeling guilty about what happened last night, ad he was the real reason he and Snake were in here in the first place, Wolf sighed, and confessed, "Uh, Snake, I'd like to… apologize. I never should have passed you. You really weren't ready."

"So, I guess I can't drive anymore, huh?" Snake guessed sadly.

Wolf wrapped an arm around Snake, and answered, "Don't worry, buddy. I'll give you a lot of time teaching you to drive once we're released."

"Speaking of release, the warden said he'll let you two go early, if you do him a favor," Shark declared.

"What's that?" Wolf asked.

"Free driving lessons!" Shark, Piranha, Tarantula, and Hornet said in unison, and laughed.

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Credits:

Sam Rockwell - Mr. Wolf

Marc Maron - Mr. Snake

Craig Robinson - Mr. Shark

Anthony Ramos - Mr. Piranha

Awkwafina - Ms. Tarantula

Rhenzy Feliz - Mr. Hornet

Lilly Singh - Tiffany Fluffit

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Author Aggimaginary

Co-Author TU4QU0I53T4IAN6L3

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So you're a tough guy Like it really rough guy Just can't get enough guy Chest always so puffed guy

I'm that bad type Make your mama sad type Make your girlfriend mad tight Might seduce your dad type I'm the bad guy

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This chapter is a reference to Spongebob Squarepants, No Free Rides.

Special thanks to TU4QU0I53T4IAN6L3 for giving me a few ideas for this chapter.

Until next time!

First Previous Next

[maple-cinna]

I've been sitting on a blank post page for quite some time. I eventually decided to draw up something quick and post it along one of my introspective textwalls - y'know, take advantage of, well, what this website is.

I honestly wasn't around for very long the first time around, just long enough to meet some folks here and there. Some of those folks ended up being still close friends to this day, others I drifted away from, as it goes.

I deleted my account back in mid 2016 - if you know this site's history, that should sound a good bit earlier than The Exodus, and well, it was - those that know me probably know that the policy update actually wouldn't have affected me a huge amount; rather, the decision to get rid of it was rather emotionally charged, and I'll be the first to admit a pretty bad idea. It was a...Throw It All Away kinda day. I don't necessarily regret it, but there are definitely days that I wish I could go back and look at those extra old posts, just see how different things are now.

...and Boy Howdy are they different.

I'd fully embraced my orientations, finished college, gone through the revolving door of the workforce plenty of times, moved cities, moved cities again, moved cities one more time, put on about 20 lbs, started streaming games, stopped and restarted a few times (current status is stopped for those of you keeping score at home), tried out a whole bunch of different treatments, developed a tic, started and ended a couple relationships, experienced this one weird thing called a pandemic not sure if you've heard of that, gotten a streak of dye in my hair, started taking art commissions intermittently, got into VR, picked up a new hobby using that (maybe I'll tell you more later), and finally came to peace with the way friendships will come and go as they will.

...All the while still dealing with the sheer emotional turmoil that comes with simply being me.

So why am I throwing all this out there for my first post? Well, I guess it's just been a while since I could write a 400 word essay on a single post and format it in a way that flows the way that I'm actually trying to talk. It's a freedom that I don't think I realized how much I missed until I started writing this.

Well...I would say "glad to be back", but I'm not sure just how "glad" or how "back" I am yet. We'll have to see.

[starseungs]

heyyyy ^^

(sorry it's a bit long)

THANK YOU FOR REVIVING SCORE A GOAL. I literally sobbed seeing your notification. And you updated a day earlier????? noice stuff. Thank you so much for that

I have read the recent chapters and I am thoroughly invested and happy. It's funny that before all this I wasn't a seventeen stan. Not that that's the main point of the story but since y/n is a carat I guess it is key. And now I am a carat too so when someone mentioned Woozi I was like yessss I knowwww him😭

The recent chapters are good. I loved every second and didn't want it to end😭😭😭seriously, after chapter 21 I was scared that there wasn't more left. AND NOT MINHO GOIG STRAIGHT TO THE POINT AND ASKING IF Y/N IS IGNORING IN and wdym you're not fine Jisung???👀please I need to know.

ngl there's a couple of things I had forgotten so I'm going to reread it right now. But do tell us when the next updates come in. Of course at your own pace. Thank you for writing this🤍

HELLO BFF IM GLAD YOU LIKED THE UPDATES!!! 🫶 if you cried seeing my update notifs, i also cried seeing this ask bcs omg thank you so much for the feedback 🤧💓 i love seeing reader reactions to my works they keep me going (ofc its fine too if you dont have much to say, even a like makes me happy to know that someone read it atleast)

tbh i wasnt really sure when i was going to bring back score a goal... the reason why it stopped in the first place was bcs school happened and i needed more space in my phone for files- unfortunately i accidentally deleted the file i had for the old plan and didnt notice until i couldnt recover it anymore 💀 i just didnt have time to remake the notes so i left it on hold. now recently one of yall mentioned score a goal again and i really wanted to bring it back for them so i read the previous chaps and reworked a draft!! i promise i'll make sure to finish this series, even if the updates come slow. speaking off, i dont have an exact plan yet when the next batches come out but its probably next week? i have another fic incoming + critical hit batch so yeah around tuesday or wednesday next week (take this with a grain of salt tho)

and omg ur a carat!! i am too hehe a horangdan 🐯 you could probably tell that score a goal is kinda self indulgant bcs of the interests y/n has 😭😭 to the story, yeah minho is pretty straightforward in general here. thats his character shshsh while jisung is the shipper!! a hopeless romantic who (self) proclaimed himself as the fanclub president of jeongy/n 💀 that was the reason for the "im not fine" reaction cause he thinks his ship is sinking (with y/n ignoring jeongin and all)

overall thank you for taking the time to send this ask!! i loved reading and replying to it 💓💓 have a great day luv!!

[quahogchowda-blog]

I'm really totally excited about this... It's a "Hybrid" loaf... Made with Yeast AND Sourdough starter... White flour... a tiny bit of wheat flour... Bananas and cinnamon... I really just wanted to make a sweet loaf this time because I've been doing savory for quite a while.... Unfortunately due to my rebel ways... 😂😂😂 I have to sit down and write down the recipe exactly the way I did it... That's the only problem sometimes when you fly by the seat of your pants... 🤪 But I used my new covered loaf pan... Only I didn't use the cover this time cuz I wanted to see how well the recipe would fill the pan... And I waited till this morning to cut it just to make sure the crumb was exactly what it was supposed to be... Anyway the recipe will follow. It'll just be a few... Images go in reverse...

Update.... Adding recipe...

Ok here's the recipe for the cinnamon swirl loaf I posted earlier.... Keep in mind... It's a first time recipe... And could probably benefit from a tweek or two. Also noting that with my recipes I don't normally use milk. I use water and whipping cream powder as a substitute... but most people don't have that on hand... So for ease I just put milk as the ingredient...

1.25 cups WARM milk

1 egg

.25 cup oil I used vegetable

.25 cup sugar

1 teas salt

4 cups white flour

.5 cup wheat flour

1.5 teaspoons yeast

.5 cup sourdough starter

2 very ripe medium sized bananas

Cinnamon... Just for dusting the dough before rolling it up into a log. And sprinkling on top prior to cooking.

I literally put all ingredients into a bowl at the same time. Squished it all up with my hands. It's a very wet and sticky dough. A bit messy. 😂 Once it was all mixed up. I formed a very loose ball shape. Oil your hands to assist with being able to form it. Or you can wet them with water. Then let sit in a covered bowl for about 30 minutes.

Every thirty minutes for approx 1.5 hours I completed stretch and folds. The amount of time this takes may vary a little bit depending upon the wetness of your dough. Due to the variables in how wet your starter is or how big your bananas are. But it'll start to come together pretty good (and be less sticky). It'll also begin to rise as well becoming thicker/more mass during this time. It'll still be a bit tacky. Try to avoid adding flour... You don't want it to be too stiff.

Once the dough is stable enough to hold it's shape without totally flattening out you want to leave it to rise for 1 hour or until at least doubled. Once it's doubled gently pat out on counter top form a rectangle. As if you were making cinnamon rolls. Sprinkle liberally with cinnamon. At this point you could add some sugar cinnamon if you want to... I just didn't do that. I used cinnamon only. I think next time I WILL add sugar at this time though... because I think I'd like it a little bit sweeter.

Roll into a log and place in loaf pan. I used 1 large 1000 gram pan. But this would make 2 regular size loaves without a problem. Allow to rise again until at least doubled. This took a little less than an hour. I wasn't really concerned about the time I just made sure that the dough has risen pretty close to the top.

Score top if you choose. I did one long slit down the center.

Preheat oven to 425°. Place loaf pan in oven. Immediately turn heat down to 375° I baked this one large loaf for 46 minutes.

Note... at 40 minutes the loaf registered 171° (I think). So I added another 10 minutes to the timer. Waited only 6 minutes before checking it and it was already at 205°. I think 205° might have been a little bit too much for this. So I'll probably take a minute or two off the time off next time.

I have found that being able to take the temperature of the baked loaf has been very helpful. In the past I've had an issue feeling like the bread was done and taking it out... Only to find out it wasn't quite ready. But of course if you are an avid bread baker and can do this without the thermometer by all means do so. 😍

[callioope]

fencing update ~ equipment rant

I have three assembled practice ("dry") blades and three electric blades. (The "dry' blades just mean they have a rubber tip at the end and they do not have a wire running through them, so they cannot be connected to the scoring equipment.)

I also have several spare blades (three again, I think?) that are not assembled with a guard or grip.

At the new school I joined, they fence electric for the whole class. Not how my previous instructor back in the day used to run things, fwiw, which may be relevent in a second.

So, of my three electric blades, one is broken. When I audited my equipment back in November 2020 (when I first started writing the rebelcaptain fencing AU!), I found it that way. I don't remember if it broke at one of the last classes I went to 15 years ago, or if it broke at some point during storage, but that's how I found it. (After that I invested in some PVC pipes to protect my blades moving forward.)

Another blade is this kind of fancy one that I won at my last tournament at my club. (Not an official tournament, just one that my instructor ran for all his students.) It is very pretty; the blade has this blue tint iirc (I haven't looked at it since 2020). It hasn't had much use because it was a prize. But also because it has a slightly different angle to it than any of my other blades, and a part of me is like, "is this legal*? was this assembled correctly? was this assembled intended to be used or just a showpiece?** assuming it was legal when it was assembled is it still legal?"

*legal in regards to fencing rules

**i'm sure I knew the answers to these at the time i received it but have i mentioned it's been fifteen years?

So in other words I'm just a ittle weary of using it.

Finally we come to my last blade. This is the one i've been using the past four or so classes I've attended. Now, all my blades are old, and I couldn't say how much use they've gotten since originally purchased/received. I can guess the fancy blue one that I'm afraid to use ... wasn't used much back in the day either. But this one? No clue. I've been perpetually worried it could break at any moment.

Compounded with this worry is the fact that it just is slightly bent at the end in the wrong direction. Fencing blades usually have a slight bend and for me, as a right-handed fencer, that's usually a little towards the left, but this bends a little right. And I am fighting this bend every time I fence.

Last Sat the instructor kept telling me to fix my blade, "you'll hit more if you fix it" like yes. i know. this blade will not Bend. and i'm afraid if i work it too hard it's going to break.

so he was helping me with the lesson and he's repeating himself that it's not bent right and goes to fix it himself and I'm like, "yeah, I'm afraid it's going to--"

*crack*

"--break."

We examined it and it didn't *appear* to be broken and it functioned okay -- still scoring correctly and such once I hooked up to the scoring machine. But. I'm also a little worried that the moment I untape it, it WILL fall apart. (Typical to tape the... idk 5 or 6 inches at the end of the blade.) and I do need to retape it bc the tape is peeling.

All this to say -- I'm fast approaching the period where I will need to change out these two broken blades (assuming the last blade is broken) with my spare blades. AND. I. DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DO IT! I don't know if my former instructor taught me and i forgot, taught me and I didn't pay attention at the time, or didn't teach me.

I'm a bit nervous about doing it right bc I'm sure it's complicated. I mean basically you have the button at the very tip of the blade, the spring that goes behind it, the wire that connects the button to the socket in the guard, the blade, the guard, and the grip. And like. also. I am not even sure if -- like I think you're supposed to make sure the blade you have will fit the grip and that the end point of the blade that screws into the grip doesn't poke out the end of the grip and. ;aksdf UGH

all this to say that I REALLY need to audit my fencing gear again and i keep intending to do it after my kid goes to sleep at night and EVERY NIGHT. it's like. 'but i'm cold and sleepy and want to snuggle under the blankets' and then here i am. like. UGH another night i did not audit my equipment. if i do not fix what i have I am going to have to use the fancy prize blade and hope that it is in fact allowed.

[ilkkijangege]

134

So after nearly 3 years, I saw him again at our work Summer Party on the 30th of September.

I really did not expect to see him there. I'm certain he saw me but I didn't say hi to him at all. It's too awkward.

Anyways, all the what ifs came back to me and man has it been a whirlwind.

I've completely moved on and I do wish him happiness, whether he's in a relationship or not.

We'll be back to the office by the 15th of December but idk how much run ins we'll have because we'll be working at opposite sides of the office, unless they change the seating arrangements haahha but oh well.

He hasn't changed one bit. I wish I had said hi but too late now ahahhah

Byeee

......

17 October

So today, I found out that he's returning back to the office on Monday, the 23rd and I honestly expected him to WFH til December. I was going to volunteer but I enjoy WFH still so I'm waiting til December.

But I keep thinking, what if I volunteer early so we can have moments while the office is quiet? 🤣

Charrrr

......

20 October

Well, guess whaaattt???

I checked our seating arrangement in the office and it looks like he is sitting beside me ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

I swear that seat was empty last week and I was shook, I thought I was imagining it 🤣🤣🤣

Oh gosh gonna be so awkward now will it.

I wonder what he thought when he saw me beside him?? 🤣🤣

But I am sure that the seating arrangement will change again, I just have a feeling. I should ask hahaa

But I'd be relieved if we do change ahaha

......

25 October

Update: we're moving to the other building 🙄🙄🙄

He's probably going to leave soon since the other building is way out for him.

Meaning, our seat assignment will also change 😂

......

4 November

Wow, it's been a whole minute since I last dreamt of him. I dreamt that he left the company.

Though, I honestly think he could leave cos the other office would be too far for him but we shall see.

......

13 December

So today was my first day back in the office and I did not expect to see him so casually.

He's definitely gained weight especially in his face.

We didn't say hi to each other but maybe one day.

........

19 December

So I was sick since Thursday and came back to work today.

I swear to God he kept using the toilet in our section today like fam you have one in your corner 😂 I mean to say that I probably saw him (from afar) like 3 times today. We still haven't said a word to each other 😂

But he's been such a turn off lately because his quality scores haven't been good 😂 like fam kasi if di mo ako ni-reject, tinulungan pa sana kita at naging inspiration mo ako to do well in life CHAROT ayan tuloy pinag uusapan ka sa work 😂

.......

4 Jan

Let me share something funny 😂

So we were literally inches away earlier in work but he didn't say hi, like fam if ayaw mo ako kausapin edi wag 😂

Tapos we have this community blackboard thing. 2 weeks ago, I wrote " the QAs are watching" and my sistar told me he overheard Chad tell her SME about it and how there was a response to it: NO. Like out of all the things written there, you pointed that out? Ahahah that was the work of Bianca 😂

......

6 Jan

So today, I saw that Chad is going to be put on an action plan. Like damnnn di ka ba nahihiya senior analyst ka tapos your scores are shite???

Also GG told me that he thinks Chad is gay, like we were on the same team for a long time but he said it only clicked with him recently. He said like the way he talks is just so off 🤣 I told him if he could do more digging around that would be great so I can have much more of a closure like sealed in an envelope and stamped kinda thing 🤣

I mean Niel has always told me that he could be gay but he just never came across to me as one. He wasn't manly manly but he likes boy stuff like Spiderman, boy-ish video games and basketball. The usual things 🤣. Also he does hang around with straight men in work. (Which I wonder if he's ever told them that I had asked him out.) And okay, as I am writing it, I suddenly remembered his profile picture on our old workplace chat. It was Peter Griffin with long nails, so maybe he could be gay???

GG also told me he just seem non sexual/asexual to him 🤣

I mean if he is gay then I guess that's the closure I need 🤣 kasi it made me question my worth, di nya lang pala ako type 🤣

.....

16 Jan

So it's been 2 years since I got rejected by him. I'm super over him but of course I still joke about and do mention him a lot 😂 but honestly, I would feel terrible if i like him again, he's shite like ahaha buttt i don't understand why we cannot be civil with each other haist

.....

18 Jan

So I kept seeing him today (DUH) but there was a point where he literally sat beside us QAs during lunch with his friend but immediately got up and left 😂😂😂

Then he was in the kitchen with GG and I wanted to talk to GG but I couldn't

Then I went to the kitchen again a few hours later AND HE WAS THERE AGAIN LIKE FAM

I should say hi whenever he's alone the next time cos like....

.....

23 January

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA we got on the same lift today after lunch. I really wanted to say "Hi" but he went on his phone when he saw me.

I was with another QA (his QA btw) but it was still very awkward 😂

Hay Chad, let's forget the past and let's talk 😂

......

7 February

So yesterday was a bank holiday in Ireland. i was technically not supposed to be working but I did so I hid from the analysts and booked a dat office on the 5th floor.

He was on the early shift so he should have finished by 4. I went down to the our microkitchen in the 3rd floor and I saw him on one of the couches and I had to do a double take cos i was so confused as to why he was still there?? He was watching something on his phone but idk what it was ahahah

But another week, another silent treatment. 😂

........

8 February

I had a dream about him but I forgot but we were on speaking terms.

But!!! Today, for the first time, we crossed each other, like I was walking back to my desk and he was coming out of the toilet. I think we locked eyes briefly, I wanted to smile at him buy I got shy 😂

I mean sya rin naman dapat nag hello, bakit ako? 😂

Am I really over him?

AISH HI IT'S ME I'M THE PROBLEM IT'S ME

.......

13 Feb

Lol tumawa ako ng malakas and i could have sworn napatingin xa sa direction ko ahahah (he was using the standing desk feature and i can see him from like 20 feet away from my desk)

......

9 march

So I heard he applied for the SME role and today, GG told me that he interviewed for it. I'm seriously surprised that they are actually considering him for it 😂

But man, if he gets it parang wtf tlga.

(I also found out that he is now an aspiring full stack developer 😂 ok bro 😂)

[burymeinblack2022]

so i turn on the tv and the german are winning...because of us...we gave them not one but *TWO* AUTO GOALS THIS IS PORTUGUESE CULTURE AT ITS PEAK BEING A DUMBASS IS PORTUGUESE CULTURE

[torturedpoetemotions]

yo i dont wanna discourse on ppls posts and cant message u, u can decide whether to post this or not, but i just wanna say that the reason ppl call az/crowley homophobic is bc gaiman only made them word of god genderless Because people were saying oh theyre acted by two cis men so their relationship would be gay.

i, as a nonbinary queer person, wouldve loved if it had been a genuine thought out piece of representation, but it wasnt, he just said it because he didnt want people interpreting his characters as queer, and continued to do so when people said ok but theyd still be having gay sex and he said well angels are sexless and (i cant remember if he said so actually theyd be asexual or if ppl just took it that way).

im really sorry if this is news to you and obviously i dont speak for everyones opinion and interpretation of characters, but gaiman's word of god nonbinary and (again iirc) asexual canonization of them was unfortunately Not him trying to give more nuanced/marginalized rep, it Was born of homophobia because he didnt want people to see his characters as being gay/having gay sex. thats why people call it homophobic. :( again sorry but i hope this explanation helped show where others are coming from when they call it homophobic :(((

They literally cast a non-binary actor to play a non-binary character and openly showed this in marketing as a positive point for the show. They literally did non-gendered casting where they picked whoever was right for the part regardless of gender and also proudly used that fact in marketing. They had angels and demons alike be gender nonconforming/androgynous in appearance on purpose because they are stated in the book written 30+ years ago to be genderless. But go off I guess? Sure, no thought went into it, it was allllllllll just a panicked reaction to people suggesting Aziraphale and Crowley might have gay sex! /s

No seriously, all of this is so wrong I don't even know where to begin, and the "gee golly I guess you didn't know" tone doesn't help like, at all. Maybe that wasn't your intention, but I have actually read the book. I've been a fan of Neil's for years. I watched the show when it first dropped and read every single thing the man has said about it, both here and on IG and in interviews.

He was writing queer representation long before it was considered profitable or "woke" to do so (and even when it could actually have hurt his career to do so). He has been an advocate for queer people and our stories since before I was born. He has openly owned up to instances where his attempts were imperfect, and taken steps in modern adaptations to update the material based on his increased understanding. In short, you could not be more incorrect.

Neil Gaiman has also made a consistent habit, since long before Good Omens, of two things: 1) he will not answer questions about his writing with his own headcanons, ONLY what he (or in this case he and Terry) intentionally put down on the page or screen. 2) Beyond that, he leaves EVERYTHING up to fans' interpretation, because he believes once a story is released, it belongs to the fans.

This isn't new. He was like this long before the GO adaptation. And only after being pressed repeatedly and called homophobic for increasingly stupid reasons did he finally explain that no, he would not confirm Aziraphale and Crowley as gay (because genderless) but that didn't mean they weren't queer. And he still left room for fans to see what they wanted, just refused to pretend to have been writing something one way when he wrote it another. When frankly it would have been so much easier to be like "oh yeah totally they were gay men the whole time." But no. He was writing agender romance, not gay romance. That's still queer representation.

And the willful decision by scores of people to read that as homophobia is either a function of ignorance, or bad faith, or both. But I'm really tired of seeing it written down as fact when the evidence is literally there on his own fucking tumblr account that this isn't the case.

[projectema]

Canada 🇨🇦 Student Permit Pathway Journey

I started thinking about migrating to Canada way back 2016. Back then, I'm not aware of any other pathways aside from being employed (Express Entry). I was still single then and I never really was serious about it because 1) one must have a big amount of money to pursue it and I don't have that and 2) I think that it will be difficult for me to be employed because of my work experience (it's either you're an engineer, nurse, or caregiver then you'll get a higher chance of being employed hence higher chance of getting PR).

At the latter part of 2019 and at the beginning of 2020, I started to gather my courage and learn about the different pathways. I even went to immigration agencies in Makati to better understand them.

Fast forward to now, we're currently just at the beginning of everything. This blog will be updated from time to time to see the progress of our journey. I might not write a detailed one though.

Sep. 24-Oct. 17, 2020

As mentioned, the problem with our Canadian dream was MONEY. Fortunately, my tito Nestor and tita Ana were willing to support us in our endeavor. Which leads us to the 1st step and that was to pay the immigration agent 50% of 2,500CAD. This was a very hard decision for me to make because paying an immigration agent does not guarantee that I'll be granted a student permit. It will all depend on the strategy and the supporting documents that I'll submit. After paying, the agent asked me to sign a retainer agreement and to submit the following:

Resumé

Passport

Birth certificate

College diploma (my diploma was in Filipino so I still had to request for my english diploma - it costs P100 for 2pcs plus P200 for the shipping fee from LB to Sta. Rosa. I had to wait for several days before receiving it)

College Transcript of Records

After submitting all these, I still had to take an english exam as required by my chosen college (Langara College). Without the pandemic, I had to take IELTS Academic for this one. However, it's like a blessing in disguise because Langara temporarily allowed Duolingo Online English Exam as an alternative. It's way more cheaper and easier than IELTS Academic. IELTS Academic will cost around P11,000 while Duolingo is only $49 or P2,500.

The minimum required overall score is 110. I was so nervous while waiting for the result of my exam because there were questions that I weren't able to answer well. I got an overall score of 135, thank God! 😊

After submitting the result of my exam to Langara and also sending a copy of my exam result to my immigration agent, I have to pay the admission application fee of 155CAD (once again, thank you tito and tita) and sign a consent form stating that I am allowing my immigration agent and the educ. agent to handle my application and registration.

Right now, I'm still waiting for the response from the school and it will take 2-4 weeks to hear from them. After the school confirms a slot for me, I can then pay for the tuition for the 1st sem only.

Oct. 22, 2020

Ate Lala sent me a checklist so that I'll know the other documents needed while waiting for the response from Langara. She also sent me a receipt that showed that the application was already sent. While waiting, we can start doing the following:

Study plan - among all the other documents, this is the most crucial one. A guide questionnaire was given.

Bank statement/certificate of financial support from my tito/tita

Letter of support from tito/tita - ate lala provided a template for this one

Letter of parents property - affidavit form

Nov. 25, 2020

After more than a month of worrying, I finally received my LOO (Letter of Offer) from Langara College! 😭🥳 Now, I just have to ask my sponsors (Tito Nestor and Tita Ana) to pay for the tuition (1st half of the year only) including the non-refundable deposit fee amounting to 1,500 CAD. After paying, the school will send me my LOA (Letter of Application).

Dec. 2, 2020

There are many options on how to pay for the International Deposit fee (6,000 CAD) . There's the good old credit card, Flywire, and Western Union. All of which are connected directly to Langara College. There was quite a delay in payment because my sponsors had their Thanksgiving. Of course the "hiya" in me kicked in (as always). But, I have to ask them to pay for it ASAP because we were given just 10 business days to pay for it. At first, I told them that it's easier if we use Flywire. However, the exchange rate is too high. I can't wait for it to go down you know. So I insisted to ask my tita to just give me my uncle's credit card details (hihi). I just have to wait for the actual receipt and forward a copy to my consultant so that the educ. agent can already process for the LOA.

Jan. 22, 2021

I know. I skipped a lot of updates last December because of the holidays. Fast forward to 2021, I lodged my application last Jan. 16. After lodging, I got a biometrics request. We are currently busy at work that I didn't avail for any WFH sched because we are pressed for time (I wasn't surprised. Lagi na lang ganito 🙄). But because having my biometrics is important, I, instead, took a leave. But it's like a WFH as well because I had to attend to an online meeting in the afternoon. It's kind of unfair actually. 🙄 I think I'll be having another leave once I get a medical request. Or I might as well schedule myself for my medical even if there's no medical request yet. I'll still check my budget.

February 3, 2021

At last I received my medical request! However, the earliest schedule is on the last week of February. We're still too busy at work so I decided to schedule my medical on March 5. For preparation, I ate well and exercised for the last weeks. Let's see how it goes.

March 5, 2021

Last time I went to Makati was for my biometrics. I took the 7am schedule and I didn't anticipate the traffic jam at SLEX and that it was a Friday. I barely made it to my appointment. Thank goodness, after several petty fights with my husband (because we're really not Makati peeps so we easily get lost), I just came on time. This time for my medical, I decided to take the 6am P2P bus going to Makati. Oh, I opted to go to IOM Makati instead of St. Luke's because it's a lot cheaper. Aside from finding the right building, we still have to find a reasonable pay parking space. Yup. I just mentioned reasonable because pay parking rates in Makati is NOT cheap. Kung wala lang COVID-19, malamang nagcommute na lang kami all throughout. Going to Makati will always start an argument between Kim and I because of the directions and parking issues. I hate it actually. We seldom see each other and when in Makati we always argue about these things. Thankfully we found this pay parking spot which is not full and is somewhat reasonable (I'm not really sure, we didn't have any other choice). It was too early then so we ate our packed breakfast (to minimize expense) and watched Cobra Kai on Netflix.

We started to walk to the Trafalgar building at 8.30am. My appointment is at 9.05am. I brisked-walk my way going there. When we got there, we still have to wait for several minutes then the guard let us in. They do not allow companions so Kim had to go down and spend his waiting time at Starbucks just right across the building.

Before entering, the security guard will check your appointment then he will endorse you to their health declaration area. Once okay, you will have to fill-in an application first and then they will get a photo of you for your emedical form. These are the procedures I underwent:

Chest X-ray

Height, weight, blood pressure, eye exam, medical history

Blood chem

Urinalysis

Physical exam

The medical exam was relatively fast. It only took my 2.5hrs to finish all the tests. IOM Makati is very organized. The receptionist told me to wait for 10 business days for IOM to complete all the medical tests.

I’ve also read from this group/forum that I am in that if within 3-5 business days there aren’t any calls/email from IOM then it means that there’s no issues with my medical and that they have already forwarded this to IRCC. 

March 15-24, 2021

I followed up my consultant on March 15 whether my medical results were already reflected in the dashboard. Unfortunately, there’s none. At this point, I’m still okay. My patience is still holding on. Come March 19, which is already counted as the 10th business day from my medical, I followed up again my consultant if my results were already reflected in the dashboard. Still, there’s none. This is when I decided to call and email IOM to check if they already submitted the results to IRCC. Don’t ever try to call their office. It’s just a waste of your energy and time. Try emailing them instead but you’d still have to wait for 24-48hrs for their reply. I emailed them on March 21 and got their reply on March 23.

It said there that they already submitted my completed medical result on March 13. Due to my neglect (actually, it’s not neglect really. I just waited for the 10 business days because I don’t want to insist myself early on when they already told me to wait for 10 business days), if I had known that they can already submit this early, I should’ve followed up that early as well. 

I forwarded IOM’s email to me and the completed medical result to my consultant on March 24 and on March 25 she was able to submit the webform. It will take again 7-10 business days before my results will be reflected on the webform. Patience is still there.

Today is April 5 and it’s the 7th business day from the submission of webform of my consultant. I’ll wait for the 10th business day, which is on April 8 (or 9 for them). 

April 6, 2021

IRCC already replied and said that they had a technical issue that’s why they haven’t forwarded my medical result to the Canadian VO in Manila. My consultant had to re-send the files (e-medical sheet) via webform. 

April 9, 2021

IRCC replied and confirmed that they had already forwarded the e-medical sheet to the Canadian VO in Manila. 

April 30, 2021

After how many weeks of waiting for my medical result to reflect in the dashboard, finally it came out as MEDICAL PASSED on April 27, 2021. Manifesting and praying to have an APPROVED decision in the coming days or weeks. 

May 10, 2021

No words. 🥺 THANK YOU, LORD ☝️

May 12-20, 2021

PASSPORT REQUEST TIMELINE

●May 12 - Sent passport through LBC

●May 13, 14 - Received by VFS and transferred to Canada Embassy

●May 18 - Under Process

●May 18 - Received Correspondence Letter and counterfoil status sa GCKey. — Canada Embassy sent back the docs sa VFS

●May 19 - Received an update na sinend na ng Canada Embassy to VFS yung envelope with stamed passport. After few minutes received another update na sinend back na sakin yung passport. I contacted VFS after that to ask for the LBC tracking

●May 20 - Received my passport

[xeezhiah]

24 July 2018: My "baptism of fire" in the semi-pro basketball league

Tonight, I once again moved out of my comfort zone and proved that I can be a versatile scribe.

I have to use my little knowledge in basketball, tried to remember how I used to cover the Letran Knights in the NCAA and perhaps use what I can recall in this specific ball game. I remember my Kable stint, on how I write about the remarkable happenings per quarter and report it on cam later on - suffice to say, I did practice being the courtside reporter that I have never been. The only difference is, I don't have to face the camera to report each quarter, armed with my mobile phone, I did live tweet updates of the ball game.

Technically, it is my first time doing a live basketball coverage for Fox Sports so it really is brand new to me. It also is my first time doing two games in one day. Those and a few other things comprises my "baptism of fire" in the semi-pro league.

I was stoked, why won't I when I get to spend four hours or so of my life inside the place where I do have shares of fond memories especially during my Official Student Correspondent days for Chalk Magazine and my student days in Letran? I remember NCAA games being played in Cuneta Astrodome, watching a Manny Pacquiao fight in there, too. In fact prior to tonight, that Pacman fight was the last time I have ever been in the venue.

Stoked because the players I have known and had been cheering for back in college were there, suited up for all four teams who played. Stoked all the more that there were personalities whom I have only seen on television during the rare times I switch it on pro basketball that fast forward to tonight, I have been introduced and met. Massive bonus was seeing Pacman himself as I was seated about 15 chairs away from him at the jampacked Cuneta Astrodome.

I did not make efforts to walk near the Boxing Champion Senator because his entourage, along with his wife were there. I don't even want to go through the hassle of passing his securities just to win a selfie. That stolen shot of him shall suffice, for now. My league ID may soon be of great purpose to achieve a courtesy selfie with the athlete Pacquiao.

Then there are moments like this - being at the press room is something I am used to already because spending my Fox Sports duties mostly at the PFL made me feel that the press room is my home. What I am not used to is sharing a meal with the league commissioner who also happens to be one of the country's greatest basketball players - Captain Marbel himself, Kenneth Duremdes who is so nice and welcoming to a newbie me.

I can only say surreal.

On the first game, I remember this team from the now-defunct Philippine Basketball League - Toyota Oitis as the player who dominated the scoring for Cebu Sharks used to play for that team - Patrick Cabahug. He still has the same form as how he was way back in 2007. Superb.

Then there was that moment where I have seen a familiar face, sitting at the Cebu bench. I have not seen him in 13 or 12 years but how he looks like is still vivid in my memory. I am not sure if he has seen me but we were seated almost across each other, I don't know either if he still has 20/20 vision to even notice me on the other side of the court or if he can even remember me. What I am certain is that the whole time Cebu and Manila were playing, I feel distracted by his presence.

Truth be told, I would have wanted to walk up to him after the game, not because I wanna catch up but because I wanna personally thank him for his massive contribution in my life - my being a Letranite. I give credit where the credit is due, I won't be where I am now if, to begin with, there wasn't someone like him who motivated me to go back to school and fulfill my dreams even if it takes baby steps. The moment I saw him, his last word to me when we decided to part ways flashed back to me out of so many memories we have had - "finish school no matter how long it takes." I may have not cried the moment I saw him, in fact I wanna believe I smiled because even from such distance, I have seen my greatest love. In my mind, at those times that I am guilty of stealing glances from him, I was thanking him for his "legacy" in my life's history. Ours may have been a closed chapter but I am eternally grateful that he played a great factor in shaping me to the woman that I am now. Out of respect, I will choose to withhold his name and his identity and would just settle for the facts that I have stated in here.

On to the rather frustrating home game on which I felt as I was the jinx. I was originally invited by the home team to just watch the game but since Sir Rey is also my boss, I ended up covering in behalf of Fox Sports. But just like each Ceres Negros FC fixture in the PFL that I get to cover, it is very hard to stay neutral knowing that the team of the city I call my home is playing. I shamefully admit to being biased for Pasay Voyagers and was even cheering proudly.

Hopefully I could learn how to get over being biased when I cover the next Pasay Voyagers home game again.

I must say, their game was intense that I was expecting it would go into overtime but my expectation failed the same way as how my home team failed to win tonight.

Big consolation for me though is getting this rare chance for a selfie with my fave UST Tiger - Emerson Oreta who is serving as an official in the MPBL. The former USTYJ Cheerleader me sure was so ecstatic the moment I saw the former Growling Tiger enter the press room.

Beyond that, there are those moments as well which the camera fails to capture - just like how Sir Marc introduced me to the Team Consultant of the Pasay Voyagers; Rich Alvarez. I was able to interview him, even had brief college ball reminiscing. Good thing there is that my boss gave Pasay Voyagers to me as my beat so I get to see the former UAAP star in the home games and in the games in the neighbouring cities like Manila, Makati and even Parañaque.

My fangirl heart has surely reached its quota! 🤣