Tuesday, October 29, 2019

I have a new son, and his name is Prosper Redding.




"Being different was its own kind of bravery.”

If you know me enough online, you’ll know that I have a lot of fictional characters that I claim as my children. Prosper Redding is now one of them.

The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding follows 12-year-old Prosper who has to deal with a demon living inside of him. Said demon - who goes by the name Alastor - holds a grudge against the Redding family because he was betrayed by Prosper’s ancestor over a contract that was not followed through. I make it sound like it was No Big Deal but the betrayal pretty much caused Alastor to lose all his magic and powers, so basically he went from this big bad wolf to some nobody who had to go in hiding.

So, okay, I get it. I mean I’ve never had supernatural powers or anything, but I can imagine how demeaning that must have been for Alastor and his superiority complex. Let’s just agree that a betrayal is a betrayal whether you’re a sly demon from another realm or otherwise.

Back to Prosper. He’s a precious bean who loves his parents and his twin sister Prue, no matter how much he is overshadowed by the latter’s achievements and popularity. What I gathered early on was that Prosper doesn’t think much of himself, and this mindset is further perpetuated by the bullying he has to deal with at school. This experience makes Prosper very empathetic towards others who are made fun of, and while he struggles to stand up for himself, he definitely doesn’t back down from defending others, especially when they’re family.

Not only does this book delve into bullying and how important it is to stand up for both yourself and the people you care for, it also explores themes of self-acceptance (it’s really, really okay to be different, kids), challenging gender stereotypes, and simply celebrating who you are, no matter how much other people might try and bring you down. These are such important lessons anyone of any age can benefit from, but I think it’s especially crucial to the book’s middle grade target audience.

A big highlight of Prosper Redding is for sure the dynamic between Prosper and Alastor. The relationship these two share is essentially parasitic in nature, but their banter is very much entertaining and it somehow gives Alastor more depth. It definitely reminded me a lot of the dynamic between Naruto Uzumaki and the Kyuubi, or perhaps the one between Eddie Brock and Venom. I loved all the quips these two threw at one another; they added a touches of humor throughout the story.

Another strength of this book is how atmospheric it felt. I don’t live in a place that has an autumn season, but reading Prosper Redding made me feel like I was surrounded by fall leaves and pumpkins - just in time for Halloween! That said, given the premise of this book, the story does feel a little creepy at times, but it’s mostly in its ambience if anything. (The grandmother at the beginning definitely freaked me out a bit, though.)

I felt like the bits set in school took me away a bit from the story, but on the other hand, I feel like it was also there to show another side to Prosper: the side that shows what he’s like around other people his age and generally what he’s like as a regular boy, regardless of the fact that there’s a demon inhibiting his body and mind. It was also during these sections do we get to see Alastor’s perspective on other facets of everyday humanity and how his more aggressive, get-what-I-want personality pushes Prosper to break out of his shell.

Prosper Redding doesn’t dilly-dally and gets the ball rolling right off the bat. As this book is a bit of an urban fantasy, it benefitted from not having much world-building, which in turn allowed it to dive straight into the plot after some minor introductions to Prosper and his life. I do think the plot could have been stronger with just a liiiittle more meat in its backstory, but as this is a duology, I’m assuming more details are provided in the second book (which I’m currently in the middle of as of writing this).

I’ve heard a lot of people recommend Prosper Redding as a ~*~fall~*~ and/or ~*~Halloweentime~*~ read, and honestly, I have to agree. As I mentioned, the book is very atmospheric, so I can imagine how the season/time of the year could totally add to someone’s reading experience and overall enjoyment of the story.

This is my first Alexandra Bracken book, and though I’m pretty much indifferent towards her writing style, I absolutely love how she develops the friendships between her characters. I'd definitely recommend this to fans of middle grade books that have a bit of darkness to them but aren’t too heavy on the fantasy aspect.

Also, just read it for our boy Prosper.

Thursday, May 31, 2018

Untitled II






Hello! Inspiration and motivation have been very fleeting these days, so when I was actually inspired to take pictures for the first time in 39487 years, I asked Jam if she could drop by before her show for a few quick and simple portraits. Also, LOOK AT HER NEW HAIR. This is what self-care looks like.

Thanks for making time for me, Jam.

Sunday, October 1, 2017

Internet Friends


Some old work that never saw the light of day until now because I kept putting it off because wHo KnOWS really. As evidenced by Lianne's hair, these were shot waaay back in 2016. The illustrations, by Diigii, were also done that same year. Sorry for the delay, guys, BUT THANKS FOR STILL BEING MY FRIENDS ANYWAY (?????)









Model: Lianne Fondevilla / loskatt
Illustrations: Diigii Daguna
Special thanks to Jam Alas

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

#TheReadingQuest (or: Ina Tries to Read More Books)

What's this? Ina's making a blog post? About books, no less? TRULY IT IS THE YEAR OF OUR LORD

In any case, I found out about this reading challenge called The Reading Quest via my incessant Booktube-lurking. To be honest, I was never one for TBRs -- and readathons/reading challenges, no less -- but I was sold on this one in particular for its RPG elements. That alone pretty much got my stamp of approval.

It's interesting because it works like a sort of board game where players can move forward after every book read. In classic RPG fashion, it even has a set of character classes to choose from.

Character designs by CW of Read, Think, Ponder
There's a bunch of rules that explain more on the mechanics and points system here. Participants who reach the highest EXP and HP at the end of the quest (it runs from August 13 to September 10) actually win a prize, which is cool.

Honestly though, I'm participating mostly to get through so many of my unread books than anything. I have an embarrassing amount of them, and yet, I continue to buy books anyway. Seriously, it needs to stop. (Knowing me though, will it really?)

I've pretty much penciled in the titles I'll be reading for each character class, and a lot of them are old books bought some years ago that I've left unread up to this day. I've been pretty horrible with my book buying lately (then again, when am I not?), so I'm hoping that this reading challenge will really help me read more of my books.

The class I've chosen to start with is the Knight role:

The first book of a series: The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
A book with a verb in its title: The Search for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi
A book with a weapon on its cover: Heartless by Marissa Meyer
A book with a red cover: As Old as Time by Liz Braswell
A book that has a tv/movie adaptation: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

(Post to be updated as quest progresses.)

I AM EXCITED AND TERRIFIED. My TBR for the whole challenge is fairly ambitious -- at least for me -- so it's just a taaad risky, but hey, WHAT'S LIFE WITHOUT LIVING ON THE EDGE AMIRITE???

I highly doubt that I'll be able to complete the entire quest, but I really do hope that I don't just give up halfway like I do with the rest of my life whoops. Ultimately, my goal is just to read more of my unread books. And maybe accomplish my 2017 reading goal of 50 books...

Thanks again to Read at Midnight for hosting this challenge! GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE PARTICIPATING WOOHOO

EDIT 100217: I FAILED MISERABLY HAHAHA THE END

Thursday, March 2, 2017

ootdon't @ me


Things that have changed since my last outfit post:

  • my glasses
  • I got some new tattoos
  • I turned another year older
  • my family and I travelled to another continent (The Land Down Under)
  • I got to see another part of Asia (Indonesia)


Things that have stayed the same since my last outfit post:
  • I still wear glasses
  • I'm still blonde


Once every 83 years, I might document my outfit. This was an attempt. I was too lazy to go outside to take pictures, so I made do with my cramped (and messy) room with the help of my trusty wide angle lens (hence the weird proportions.... then again my proportions are pretty short, so what does that matter).


See you in another 83 years or so.

Sunday, January 8, 2017

Lonely Hearts


First shoot of the year! Thank you to Alex for letting me photograph you as usual, and to Janelle and Beau for being my (ghetto) ~*~lighting crew~*~ Dunno what I'd do without y'all!

2016 was weird. I may or may not make a recap on it. (For my own sake, I prolly should.) It was a curious feeling, losing all motivation and inspiration to shoot ANYTHING towards the end of the year. As much as I had wanted to continue shooting and attempt to pull off a proper one-shoot-per-month thing, I really couldn't bring myself to force it. I could hardly even bring myself to pick up my camera.

I don't know what my plans are -- photography-wise -- for this year. Do I try shooting once per month again? Or do I keep it casual and simple, like I did with Lonely Hearts? I don't know. Let's see where 2017 will take me.

Monday, October 10, 2016

2016 BTS Live Hwa Yang Yeon Hwa On Stage Epilogue In Manila

Or: The night I finally got to attend a Bangtan Sonyeondan concert.

A little over two weeks ago Some months ago (this was drafted about two weeks after the concert) was BTS in Manila. I've been able to sort my feelings a little more since then (though admittedly, I'm totally REKT now thanks to Agust D's release yesterday BANGTAN'S RELEASE OF THEIR NEW ALBUM WINGS TODAY R.I.P ME), but I still thought I ought to record this, if only just to look back on the memory with fondness (and tears). I didn't get to blog about EXO'luXion in Manila from January that I got to attend with friends, and I want to be able to preserve some of these particular memories on some kind of outlet.

In any case, I very nearly wasn't able to get tickets to BTS in Manila. On the day ticket sales went live, the SM Tickets website kept crashing, to the point where the site pretty much became inaccessible. By then, tickets had already sold out.

You can just imagine how upset I was, considering I had finally come to the conclusion -- after three years in K-pop -- that Bangtan is my bias group. There were a lot of tears. Lots and lots.

Fast forward to a few weeks before the concert, I find out my niece was going to watch, though I had already (bitterly) warned her that tickets were already sold out. To my surprise, she managed to get tickets, and so she advised me to just check the website one more time. Lo and behold, I find a new section had opened (some standing area that wasn't available upon initial ticket purchasing, so I assumed they had created the new section to accommodate more people) -- that, and one seat available in the section I had originally intended to buy from.

I didn't click and buy right away, for some reason. I think the scorn from being unable to buy the first time around had emotionally scarred me somewhat, so the prospect of going to the concert had lost some of its initial appeal. After a chat with Jam and some egging on from my mom, I bit the bullet, and all of a sudden, all the excitement came rushing back.

Come concert day, I was totally ready to lose my voice (and money... and panties). I didn't have anyone to go with as none of my friends were much fans of Bangtan, and seeing as they're my bias group, I went all out with tickets since I didn't have to conform to anyone else's budget. (Read: bye money.)

I ended up getting in line a little too early for my liking (compared to EXO'luXion, where there were hardly any lines because we went in a few minutes before the concert was to start), so being by my lonesome self was just a teeny bit awkward since almost everyone else in line were with friends -- or parents, for the younger ones.

Compared to the other concerts I had attended alone (Stars and B.A.P in 2013), I'd say being in line for this one might have been a little higher on the awkward scale, probably because I had more time to myself whilst everyone else was in the company of friends. But anyway, I ended up making some small talk with this group of friends who were in front of me (and later ended up behind me because we were all confused with lining up), which was pleasant, because it's always nice finding people who share the same interests as you who share the same caliber of love for said interests.

Going in early had its perks though, as I was able to get an official light stick --  a.k.a. the one piece of official merchandise I really wanted. (The next day, I later regretted not getting the tote bag that was there, but it was just so expensive.) Once I finally got inside the actual concert arena, I was blown away by how CLOSE I was to the stage. My only other concert at this place was the EXO one in January, and I was rather far away from the stage, so you can just imagine how excited I was upon reaching my seat this time around.

Even simply waiting for the concert to begin was fun. They showed random BTS music videos, and as early as then the crowd was already singing along and cheering. The boys later brought this up later on and mentioned how excitable we were, which only prompted more screams from us lol.

Very early on in the concert was already the beginning of the feels (read: crying), because the boys performed some of my highly anticipated tracks, like Butterfly and Love Is Not Over (Full Ver.) and Dead Leaves. In fact, much of the concert consisted of a lot of the songs I was hoping for them to perform, which only cemented the repeated reassurances I told myself regarding not being able to attend (or even be aware of, for that matter) their first concert here back in 2014. At least this time around left for higher chances of BTS performing more songs that I really wanted to see live.

Getting to attend this concert by myself was really no big deal. It was SO much fun with SO many feels. Dope live was such a party, getting to see Tomorrow's choreography up close was amazing, I got to hear Jungkook say "I'm a whale" in real life, and I was ultimately blessed by seeing Jimin's abs in the flesh. And let's not forget BTS Cypher 3, which was SUCH. AN. E X P E R I E N C E. I never knew what life and death was until BTS Cypher 3 live.

And -- of course I'm going to mention this -- everyone was so attractive so up close. It was so surreal getting to see them in the flesh and just simply experiencing these songs with the boys and my fellow ARMYs. It was amazing, and made all that money spent on one ticket worth it HAHAHA GOODBYE MONEY I-----

In other news, Bangtan's latest album, Wings, just dropped today, as I mentioned earlier. Kindly play the entire album at my funeral, I'm dead already, y'all are invited, see y'all in hell.