Yeah Its Advanced… Advanced Gayness

12. [orv] joongdok

‘laser tag’

.

“Yoo Joonghyuk,” says Dokja, warily, “why did you bring me here?" 

"Tactical retreat,” Joonghyuk replies. He’s doing that thing that’s in all the substanceless fluff romance novels, with his arm on the wall next to Dokja’s head and caging him in– not that Dokja reads those sorts of novels, of course, it’s obviously just osmosis– and his distressingly good-looking face is equally distressingly close to Dokja’s. This is not at all how Dokja had planned this day to go.

“We’re on opposite teams,” Dokja points out. Then they both pause while the outraged yell of probably-Kim-Namwoon echoes faintly from the other side of the field. “And I’m pretty sure that was your teammate. Whom you abandoned.”

“I have something more important to do.” Joonghyuk leans in and kisses the corner of his mouth before Dokja can formulate a response. “So? Planning to shoot me?”

The expression on Dokja’s face is probably not very attractive right now, stunned as he is. “I guess not,” he says, faintly.

Joonghyuk kisses him on the lips this time, tilting his head for an angle that lets him slide his tongue deep into Dokja’s mouth. Dokja can’t do much else other than wrap his hands around Joonghyuk’s unnecessarily thick biceps and kiss back, messy and eager.

When Joonghyuk finally leans back, they’re both flushed, hips pressed against each other still. “Are we still playing?” Dokja asks. Joonghyuk runs a hand down his side and he shivers.

“We are,” Joonghyuk informs him, and unceremoniously shoots him right in the chest.

Watching Yoo Joonghyuk saunter arrogantly away as his vest lights up and the stun sound plays in his ears, Dokja discovers, to his lasting shame, that he’s entirely capable of getting turned on by sheer bloody annoyance.

Kulay ng lupa at mga biyaya nito

instagram.com/Ililikhaanceramics

Mythology from A-Z: @lxcuna vs. @ibuzoo​

H - Haliya, Philippine masked goddess of the moonlight.

i'm procrastinating so here are notes instead

so in ph mythology we have this moon god called Bulan (and for this post we'll look at him from Bikolano myths perspective).

Anyway.

Bulan is very good-looking, and kind, described as 'comely' and 'docile' which is very much how you feel when you're looking at the moon: tranquil.

And you'd think this Precious Boi™️ will be a prey to the hundreds of monsters prevalent in PH mythology but aCTUALLY he befriended most of them including:

the Magindara (Bicolano mythology) - described as vicious mermaids

Asuang (also Bicolano mythology) - considered as a dark and evil god, father of monsters

... and other vicious creatures that seemed to become tame in his presence. He also earned the admiration and favor of most gods, even the Big and the Bad, like:

Magindang - powerful god of the sea and sea creatures

Bakunawa - the deity of the deep and the underworld, who later on tried to eat him (the moon) and was believed to be the cause of lunar eclipse.

Sidapa - god of death, showered Bulan and his sister with gifts after the whole debacle with Bakunawa

There's some parallelism with Visayan mythology, where some stories say Bulan is another form of Libulan, or there's just Libulan and Bulan is a whole other different deity, but there he's also admired by:

Luyong Baybay - deity of the sea and the tides, and this was believed to be the reason why the tides rise to greet the moon

Bakunawa - in this particular version, there are seven moons, all of which Bakunawa desired, and had managed to swallow the other six except for the seventh, which is Bulan.

also Sidapa - I can't remember where I read this version, but there's something about Sidapa rescuing Bulan from his other admirers (who can get a bit aggressive; case and point, Bakunawa).

Don't ask me why versions are different, the Philippines is made up of a lot of islands and divided into regions, hence the differences

I just find it a point of interest how Bulan is so pure he literally overcomes creatures with the power of friendship and kindness, when all the other legends describe physical strength and brutality. He's amazing.

And also it probably helps that anyone messing with him would mess with his fierce protectors, esp his sister Haliya

TL;DR

Bulan is precious and in this house we love and appreciate him.

So it has been discussed that Dark Academia is quite Eurocentric and a bit (if not so much) elitistic. If you like it, it's alright, though.

If you, my Filipino mutuals, felt that Dark Academia is pretentious, maybe (just maybe) it's because we cannot really relate to it while its western practices cannot awake our connection to its roots. For us, it is just "aesthetics" and will never be a "way of life".

Personally, I like the dark hues of dark academia, but I'm a lover of Filipino culture eh.

I would like to gather your thoughts about the Dark or Light Academia aesthetics and lifestyle in Filipino cultural settings. I'm sure I can find many Filipinos here who have ventured more into reconnecting with the indigenous academic culture than I have.

Let's start! (lol haba ng intro ko, eto lang pala 'yon)

Share any media, books, movies, objects, study materials pertaining to the following categories: my examples, without pictures because I'm uncreative.

Book Reco: any myth book, tbh

Poets to read: Andres Bonifacio (for those who don't know, this boi made a poem about Sidapa)

Writing Instruments: Bamboo and ink

Classical Musical instruments: Talaandug (alam nyo yung bamboo flute ni Agilus sa Mulawin, yun 'yon)

Must study: Baybayin

Study Table snacks: Puto pao

Coffee and Tea Reco: Barako, tanglad tea, lavender tea, turnate tea, and Sampaguita tea, all of which are grown in south east asia and can be found in shopee/lazada.

Philosophy and ethics: I'm blank on this one. Sadly, I only know Nietzschean and Confucian.

Objects that should adorn your study table: sari manok, because I'm basic and edgy.

Objects that should adorn your wall: T'boli weaving, Fernando Amorsolo works, random wooden stick you found in the wild

Objects that should adorn your book shelf: clay pot, random wooden stick you found in the wild

Garments: red saya (I have 3! Who cares about heat death!)

All I can give are basics and general, I'm that surface level. Please share your knowledge to celebrate Filipino Academia aesthetics/life style.

((edit: ah, the problem of study aesthetics is the consumerism that comes with it. So a reminder, don't feel forced to buy anything. We're just vibing. And if you can buy things, go local as much as you can.))

land spirits

in cities and towns, you won’t really have to worry about this but it’s important to be careful and respectful of the land you plan to cross, especially if it’s your first time visiting and especially if it’s in a forest. land spirits like duwende live in trees, rocks, dirt mounds, caves, and pretty much everywhere else. duwende can be playful but will get angry if you destroy/disrespect their home, so always ask permission before you pass through and don’t spit, urinate, or even run around ((be really careful not to crush mounds))

their love quarrel is in a different kind of level

REBLOG IF ITS OKAY TO TALK TO YOU.

Please.

philippine myth creatures gothic

they talk of creatures lurking in the night, always reminding you of their ways whenever you do something bad. using your fear as a way for you to obey them.

they talk of the tiyanak, and how they attract travelers by imitating a baby cry and then attack the victim. you walk home late one night from school, you hear the baby crying, not so distant. you stop for a second, the hairs on your arms rising, a shiver running down your spine. you resume walking. you don’t turn back.

you remember the tikbalang one time you got lost with your friends. you drive and drive but you keep returning to that tree with the branches that look like arms and it feels eerie. you had your stereo on full volume and you turn it down. you tell your friends to keep quiet and to turn their shirts inside out. you keep driving and this time you get out. but it’s been five hours when it felt like five minutes.

you think of the manananggal when your mom gets pregnant. you think of it flying to your house and using its long proboscis-like tongue to suck out the heart and blood of your would-be sibling. you think of its severed torso, the upper doing the job while the lower just stands there. you sit up every night waiting for it. you don’t get much sleep, too scared to sleep in case it comes.

you wait for your friend one time. you hear, ek ek ek. it seemed very far so you don’t pay much attention to it. you tell your friend this and they say it was probably an ekek, similar to the manananggal. your friend also says that they fool people into thinking they were far when they were actually very close.

your mom tells you that your maid’s mother is an aswang, a vampire-like witch ghoul. your maid is probably one too. you remember what happened to your neighbor, how he didn’t seem like himself and then he became sick and died. you hear people saying it was your maid and that it was the way of the aswangs to replace their victims with doppelgangers only to become sick and die. you’ve been very nice to you maid ever since. you don’t know who’s real, you don’t know who’s a doppelganger.

these are some of the creatures you’ve been afraid of your whole life. they tell you to let go of it. they tell you it’s not real. but you can’t, you can’t, you can’t.

my old doodles with winter sengen ❄️