a not-so-review of TRESE: MASS MURDERS

a disclaimer:

i am about to write about the new trese book, so if you don't live under a rock and had had the decency to read this AWESOME book, be warned of spoilers.

you have been warned.



and finally i was able to read this book i have oh-so-long-awaited. no thanks to my pangit cousin who lied his ass off! he told me he'll get me a copy for christmas, and yet, christmas passed and where was my trese?

anyways, i just can't believe it! i hate to go all fan-girl here, but my mind was indeed blown away! i had thought the 5 next chapters would be separate cases just like in the first two books, but no! they were actually a long story cut into parts! though there was a bit of a time difference between the 12th and 13th stories... anyhow...

how psyched i was to finally learn what kind of character anton trese was! and how he did business. i was a bit confused... if alexandra was 18 when anton died, how old was anton, even having 4 older sons...?

and the kambal! i think i have a fan-girl crush! i am drawn to the smiling kambal(drawn? to a comic book character? how pun-ny!) because of his attitude, and well, his smile... but the frowning kambal is just as mysterious... i always wondered what kind of half-breeds they were, like, what half of what. and how come they grew into manhood just in a span of a few years... i mean, the kambal must have been born a few years back in the first story, when alexandra was 15... and on her 18th birthday they're already teenagers? then on the current timeline, they are already men! is it because of their demigod genes? i super love the kambal in their teens!!! so lanky...

and i never knew there were 4 tribes of aswang, i mean, i only knew aswang as the meat-eating, blood-drinking monster-people very much filipino in essence. but 4 tribes? ok, the manananggal could be a type of aswang, but what about the two other ones portrayed in the book? there was an insect-like one, so does that mean oriol the enchantress is an aswang? here father was called 'asuang'... and what about those pig-men? tikbalang pigs? my ate said they were baboy-ramo, but these are wild boar, not boar monsters.

i do feel a bit sad that i only got to read about the segben pack which is anton's bodyguards/henchmen. oh well, i am happy with the kambal though. especially the smiling one. hee-hee!

i was excited that there were deities in the book. after reading i tried searching for 'talagbusao' and 'darago and darranga', but wikipedia gave me no answers... but it is still so cool to see alexandra fight and outwit deities! so that means these deities are not omniscient... hmm....

and all of alexandra's allies fighting for her? that was so cool! i like ammie and hannah so much, so ditzy and air-head-ish... haha. they are from the tribe of wind you know. and finally, kapres have been featured! though not as the creature du jour, but i did finally see these giants in the trese universe.

and now we finally have alexandra... i must say i like the long haired, side swept bang-ed alexandra. it works for her. makes her seem a bit more mysterious. and i wish we could have read more about her test! but how old is trese anyway?

all in all, this book was worth every centavo. i certainly feel much better reading it after all the waiting. but doesn't that mean the trese series is over? i did read that there would only be 13 stories... though the author said it might not yet be the end.

if you are still clueless as to what i have been blabbing about, try going here: trese and might as well get a more colorful imagination.

careful where you tread...

a strappy christmas

happy christmas!

grow up

this will be the first of my 'grow up' series...

i just kind of felt like writing after all this time.

'grow up.' that was what my dear ate joy told me when i was being a bit immature.

and somehow, it struck me.

i, of twenty four years of age, living as a woman, still have not yet grown up.

or grown up in the sense of being an adult.

or how an adult is commonly perceived as.

i haven't graduated, i don't have a job right now, much less a career, i still live at home with my parents, and worse, my sisters currently support me.

i still play pc games, watch cartoons and eat chocolates.

grow up.

why is that concept so strange to me.

somehow, i never saw myself growing up and being an adult. i mean, i want to be independent and grow up, stand on my own, but i don't know. it just never happened. and now my life is more stuck to my parents and sisters than before.

and now i can't see myself growing up.

what is growing up anyway?

making decisions on your own.

having a degree.

having a career.

being able to pay the bills.

having a relationship?

and here i go rambling.

don't get me wrong, i do want to grow up.

i just don't know how.

STOP TRANSPHOBIA!!!

Official Statement of the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) on the recent happenings inside the Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) House involving Rica Paras
“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”
--Anonymous

She-man. Mumu (Ghost). Half-half. Samson and Delilah. These are just a few of the derogatory comments heard recently from PBB Double Up Housemates Rob Stumvol, Patrick Villanueva, Hermes Bautista, Mariel Sorino, Yuri Okawa and most especially Rocky Salumbides in referring to Rica Paras. We, her sisters in STRAP, join the rest of the world’s loyal audiences who watch PBB Double Up diligently in expressing our dismay, disappointment and disbelief in this blatant show of anti-transgender prejudice or transphobia. STRAP condemns to the highest degree this senseless bigotry and calls on Big Brother to intervene and put a stop to the hate happening right under his watchful eye.

Ever since Rica entered the PBB House, she has always carried herself well. She has never been a burden to her housemates but instead has proven to be an asset to them with her leadership skills, quick thinking and positive attitude. She has helped in household chores, shared her talents selflessly, related wholeheartedly with her housemates, and always contributed to the completion of tasks in the best way she could. The whole world knows that Rica has been nothing but a consistent team player, a shoulder to cry on, a loyal friend and a loving and reliable sister to all of her housemates.

We are therefore calling on all the housemates to STOP BASHING RICA for she has done nobody any harm. STOP DISRESPECTING RICA for she has only treated all of them with grace and care. STOP DISPARAGING RICA for she is simply being herself. The asinine machismo being directed at her is the same kind of misogyny that leads to violence against women. The narrow-mindedness being displayed by some of the PBB Double Up housemates is the same kind of bias that leads to abuse, insensitivity and cruelty towards others. This is totally unacceptable behavior and must be stopped at all costs.

This has to stop if we believe in the equality of all persons. This has to stop if we want to create a world where the uniqueness of all is valued. This has to stop if we want to create a better world where kindness, compassion and respect reign, a world that upholds the inherent dignity of all. STOP TRANSPHOBIA SA BAHAY NI KUYA!

so tired.

sometimes, people just get tired. physically, emotionally, psychologically... the worst thing is that the first one is the easiest to get over. one just needs to rest, after some time, the body repairs whatever cell that got damaged, one's muscles get rejuvenated... blah blah blah... but when one gets emotionally tired? and psychologically tired? it can make a person crazy.

and alas, it seems i, i of such brilliant sparkling intellect, i of such unbelievable beauty, i of everything else, is tired. and not physically.

i feel like a sponge that absorbed too much water, and this water is all the negative things in my life that became magnified to an exponential magnitude. and no, it's not the hormones. it's too early.

i just feel so tired of everything, you know? i feel so tired of living. i feel so tired of being me.

i wish, there was a way of being not myself even for just one day. perhaps by then i could find that thing that has eluded me so: love. and maybe happiness.

and i'm afraid. afraid that one day, this exhaustion will finally be the end of me. i know suicidal people don't really kill themselves when they tell people they will, but well, i could always break the statistic.

i just feel that this tiredness i am feeling won't just go away by sleeping my fears and my sadness away.

i just want to rest. so badly.

maybe rest forever.

stay tuned.