teacherbuknoy

Francis Rubio

@teacherbuknoy@masto.ai

I eat cringe for breakfast. I produce content for @antaresphdev

Toots include:
- and
-
- ukay-ukay finds
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- Gawking on red carpet events and outfits
- Religious trauma as an ex-Jehovah's Witness
- Pinoy excellence
- Philippine politics
- Encantadia

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francisrub.io/
Antares Programming
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“Panghahawakan ko ang iyong isinabi”

This was a line said by Rhian Ramos as Mitena in yesterday’s episode of Sang’gre. A line in a fantasy series that famously uses archaic and poetic language—with a glaring grammatical error only made by the newbies.

The error here is the word “isinabi”. There’s no such word. The correct form is “sinabi” from the root word "sabi” + “-in-” past tense midfix.

The mistake is in thinking that there should be an “i-“ prefix, possibly from confusing it with other words like “inilathala” which use the prefix “ini-“ to denote past tense.

On hindsight I probably shouldn't have said that "only newbies" make this mistake, as I often forget Filipino is quite a hard language to learn. But come on, these are Filipino writers. And even if it was an error on the actress’ part, someone should have caught it during and after production.

But oh well, they also do a lot of stuff that I think are blunders. For example, they use “ay” all the fucking time to put the subject to the start of the sentence to make it sound archaic/literary (e.g. “Ako ay hindi na anak ng isang Sang’gre” vs. “Hindi na ako anak ng isang Sang’gre”).

Literally peeves the hell out of me because having the subject in the middle of the sentence is *fine*. It *still* sounds fantastical and poetic. And it flows so much better too.

It's okay to use "ay" of course, as well as its contraction (e.g. Ako ay -> Ako’y). Just don’t use it all the fucking time. Especially when you have actors who are *clearly* not well versed with Philippine literature and have come from dominantly English backgrounds. The entire thing sounds so manufactured and awkward it actually hurts not just my ears but the audience’s perception of what literary Filipino sounds like, with the series being their only exposure to literary Filipino.

Idk, I just think this isn’t too high an expectation, no? They literally invented not one but *two* fictional languages for this new series (well, the 2nd one’s half baked, and with the recent episodes, it’s clear they got tired of developing that new language lol) so why not do a little bit more research into the words instead of winging them 😭

Y’all need to reinstate a Filipino language/literature class in colleges. This ain’t right.

Minor spoilers for Fantastic Four: First Steps

But ngl, it really took me back. But not because it was set in the 60s but because it had that idealism to it that people can and do come together for the common good. Whereas superhero movies that drove us to "superhero fatigue" told stories of grief and the reality of evil's nature and existence, F4 brought us back to the early 2000s story of what heroes really are: hope and catalysts for unity.

A lore I have is that since I became Jehovah's Witness at 14 years old (officially, but I've been with them since I was 9), I did not know anything about Lady Gaga and the whole ARTPOP fiasco.

When I left the group (informally) when I was 19, it was around the time the promo for A Star Is Born started. I came across the trailer and when I saw Gaga without makeup, I was like "the fuck??? What the hell happened??"

I do remember that Oscar performance she had of the Sound of Music medley. I remember my aunt* going "weren't you a huge fan?" when that scene was in the literal Philippine TV news. I was like 'yeah I guess, but no longer.'

I also caught wind of her stripped down country era Joanne, but this was during a time when I was really deep into the church's operations so I didn't really pay attention.

___
* my aunt was never a JW

I remember seeing that movie trailer and going like "oh yeah! I used to like Lady Gaga what the hell? Lemme catch up." And I started listening to all of her songs up to that time. There was also a slight anxiety about what my churchmates would say if they find out, which at that point I shouldn't have cared anymore, but I still did.

But that catching up, the first time in ages that I pressed play again, that felt like an act of rebellion, the first step to freedom if you will.

It wasn't until a couple of years later that I officially left the church by way of formally disassociating through a letter. And it was a *long* process. It took me years to do major steps, and most of those years was just me avoiding anyone and everyone I knew from there. Until now, I still talk about my time in church in therapy. It still comes up in the art I create and consume.

I guess I just wanna talk about how Gaga's music has been there in quite a few turning points of my life. It was Born This Way's anniversary when I publicly came out as bisexual. Marry The Night has gotten me through multiple… let's just say "dark hours". And now that I'm in a much much much better place, the music's still here.

It's nothing too serious. No one's going to be replaced. We as a company still believe that AI isn't going to replace anyone. Right now, it's just a mild annoyance. But hey, some of our developers already use it. This is just making it more formal and integrated with our workflows.

I didn't know Benebell Wen, writer of the encyclopedic book "Holistic Tarot" also wrote a post about episode 7 of Agatha All Along. This article, as expected, is insightful. And I loved reading it, seeing that this specific episode is also the exact reason why I finally got into Tarot in the first place.

benebellwen.com/2024/10/27/aga

benebell wen Safe Passages Spread from “Agatha All Along” If you haven’t been watching the 2024 Marvel TV series Agatha All Along, it’s a spin-off from WandaVision focused on the character Agatha Harkness. And the episodes have been chock full…

They told me because I went by they/them pronouns on top of he/him/his and my outfit give enby vibes. Now I feel slightly like a fraud 🤣🤣🤣 here i am appropriating enby culture lmaooo

The first time was when she had a brawl in that Makati bar. That was disappointing lmao.

But I can't be wrong this time for sure; that Sir Jack Team-Payaman-wannabe was really transphobic towards her. And the fact of the matter is that the Filipino people at large are still transphobic.

Mga nakatira sa condong may aircon: Stop making jokes about the typhoon, people are literally suffering!!!

Mga residente ng iskwater na may butas ang bubong at nag-akyat na ng ref sa second floor dahil sa baha: *numero unong nagshe-share ng memes about sa bagyo*

apaka performative lang ateh tantanan. yung bahay namin walang bintana kaya tinatakpan lang namin ng trapal pag maulan at mahangin. may slight trauma ako sa ulan pero nagme-memes pa rin naman ako teh it's not that serious di naman ganon kasensitibo mga tao.

At this point, The Mayhem Ball is quite literally a jukebox musical of Lady Gaga songs.

Well, all her concerts have been like that with the exception of ArtRave and Joanne World Tour. They'd always have a storyline because this girl was a theater actress first before she was a pop star and a film star.

What's funny is if the Teyvat Chapter ends and Paimon is just revealed to be the most random ass creature from an extinct species that had nothing to do with any of the moons or the Heavenly Principles or the Shades, kinda like that mushroom god from Varesa's story quest.

In the end, it's really just Paimon is Paimon.

From the international DR franchises:

Ivory Glaze (Down Under S3)
Kitty Space (France S2)
Madame Yoko (Belgique S2)
Siam Phusri (Thailand S3)
Suki Doll (Canada S2)
Sum Ting Wong (UK S1)
Yuhua (US S10)

Irita ako dun sa Sir Jack na tahasang nagpaka-transphobic dahil ginamit ng ABS-CBN ang she/her pronouns ni Awra sa isang news report.

Irita kasi oo, transphobia is transphobia. Pero another layer kasi yung kabilang side naman ginagamit yung pagiging bingot ni Sir Jack against him na para bang magandang argument yon.

No one wins with these kinds of hate-fueled discussions (kung matatawag mang discussion ito).

In summary, in the Philippines, a cookie is a chocolate chip cookie. Everything else is a biscuit.

Or if the speaker doesn't feel like what they're eating fits the term "biscuit" quite enough, they just say the brand of that food and move on.

So im planning to get a cat, but they say cats can't be alone so now i gotta get two cats, love them equally, and make sure they both have their own hiding spots in my tiny studio-type apartment. Alright.

Y'all being burnt out is really weird. Idk about you, but I get random urge of productivity as the norm, but right now I don't even have the energy to act on any of them. Even eating when hungry is too tedious for me.

A school in the Philippines just announced they're holding an "AI Art" contest. Wouldn't just be a competition between who's the better one at crafting prompts... might as well be an essay writing contest.

And what pisses me off is that it sparked a debate about whether or not AI-generated images can be considered art—after the rest of the world have already agreed that it's not!

They even had the nerve to caption their announcement with "Because creativity isn't confined to brushes, hands, stylueses, tablets, etc."

????

What happened to our annual culture of creating artworks with oil pastels?? With acrylic paints? With construction papers and gluesticks?

Ignorance. Stupidity, I'm telling you.

div { align-content: center; }

Bam. That's it. That's all you gotta do now to center a div vertically. You're just dumb at this point if you still think those div-centering memes have any merit other than being artifacts of a past long gone.

Mentions of death

Since I started working, I've always dreaded the day my aunt (who is practically my mother at this point) dies at the background of my daily goings on.

And it's not even about me losing a loved one; after three deaths in quick succession in my family, I think I'm ready for that mentally. But the sheer exhaustion I'll get from doing everything—paperworks, organizing the wake, contacting funeral homes, planning the interment, and what not.

Mentions of death

Also, the keeping up of appearances for visitors, a lot of which are relatives I'll see for the first time and I'll only ever see once and never again. Just thinking about it now already makes me tired 🤣

And for sure, I'll still have to go to work because how the hell am I going to pay for everything...

Mentions of death

And as the eldest, I'll have to make sure my little brothers are okay through this entire process. Really when I think about it, the proper grieving time I'll have is when everyone has already moved on. And even then I'll have to be prepared for when people say shit like "it's been years, I think it's time you let go" and Imma be like bitch I haven't even got the chance to hold it yet leave me alone 🤣

Mentions of death

Well, I *have* to ask my aunt how she did all this when my mom died. Or when my grandma died. Or when my grandpa died. Or when her other two sister died. Maybe she has some tips; she's gone through this five times at least. Poor woman 😭

Mentions of death

Also, she's approaching 60 now. I think that's still young, but she's at a point when people are starting to die out around her. I can't imagine how lonely that feeling must be. That's another shit I'm gonna dread, but that's anxiety for another day.

Right now, I gotta sleep; it's 3 AM 💀

May nagpaalala na naman saken ng payabangan kung aling brand ng vaccine ang naiturok sayo nung pandemic 🤣 pag-Sinovac tahimik lang, pag Pfizer ini-story sa lahat ng socmed platforms 🤣🤣🤣

Naiintindihan ko siya kung bakit ayaw niyang i-celebrate yung birthday niya. May mga kuwento kasi ang bawat isa sa atin na tayo lang ang nakakaalam. Malay natin may traumatic palang nangyare sa kanya dati kaya ayaw na nya nagbibirthday. Irespeto na lang natin sha at ang mga kagustuhan niya.

Wilma Doesnt celebrates her 50th Birthday. July 10 2025. (Poster by Enem from Main Pop Girls)

sa totoo lang, ang pinakamalaking hamon ng buhay bilang living alone ay ang ubusin ang Gardenia/Pinoy Tasty bago ang expiration date 😭 baket tatlong araw lang sha madalas

Mentions of self-harm and suicide

There was a time when there were no limits to how dark my humor could be. That was when I was 19 and didn't see myself living past 25 for maybe religious or socio-political reasons.

Nowadays, my dark humor is pretty much constrained to mentions of how my dead mom didn't hug me enough as a kid. Although a good suicide joke still makes me laugh like an idiot, it's like I've been chained not to joke about it myself. I wonder why...

Nahhh they're really going for the time travel storyline 😭 I hope they execute it really well because we know how ratings dipped when the original 2005 Etheria did the time travel thing.

I'm scared especially now that we have a crisis in literacy, and there is a significant chance people won't get it. .

We were rooting for both Klarisse and Esnyr to be the first LGBTQIA+ Big Winners, only for Mika Salamanca to say she's bisexual in passing ever so casually and snatch the win in a huge plot twist.

Tried my hand at Blender modelling. The last time I picked 3D modelling up was back when I was in college and it was an elective we took. Tons of things have changed, definitely overwhelming at first, but look at my first red gem!!!

The texture of the floor was downloaded from somewhere, but I modelled the gem itself and I built the material from an online tutorial. I remembered how fun this can be. :)

A red gem on an ancient floor

I am looking to get for a full time position (boosts appreciated).

I'm a web developer/designer from the Philippines looking for remote working opportunities. I can do front end (HTML/CSS/JS or TS) and back end (Java + Spring Boot, NodeJS), and I am also looking to work in UI/UX design.

I have more stuff on my website, and interested parties may send me a DM here or an email (also listed in my website).

francisrub.io

Francis Rubio Francis Rubio A web designer, developer, and educator from the Philippines

Most of my experience are building enterprise software for internal use by corporations and government agencies, leading the software architecture and the development team. I also have experience working on public-facing e-commerce websites.

So I just remembered that in , Emre is actually an angel who remained neutral in the celestial war, and as punishment they were exiled away from heaven. He then subsequently created the realm of Encantadia.

If that's the case, then Terra (Danaya's second daughter and promised savior of Encantadia) is actually more powerful than anyone in Encantadia because she has the blood of a Sang'gre *and* a human a.k.a. creation of *the* actual God, like from the Bible.

I swear this story would've worked better as a game or as a novel, not as a Philippine TV series. The lore is sooo rich that it being aired daily is a disservice to the narrative. This should've been a cinematic universe with a companion game, web comic, novel, and encyclopedia.

I don't care what these tech reviewers say, the new Nothing Headphones (1) looks sooo badass!!! They made this for me!!! I just imagine I could be riding the LRT on my way to work and I would rock the shit out of these headphones. They look sooo cool!!!

Ofc it looks silly for a regular average joe, but if you're wearing an outfit that's like punk-leaning or rockstar/popstar-adjacent, these would look lovely.

The Nothing Headphones (1) in the white color way.

Akala ko nung una masaya yung part sa InDrive na makikita mo kung ilan at sino-sinong drivers na ang nakakita sa request mo.

Kaso masakit pala siya kalaunan lalo pag sampung driver na tumingin sa request mo tas walang kumukuha 🤣

Finally got around to making my first step to a fully automated home by installing smart LED bulbs as my overhead lighting. It's a trio of Firefly lightbulbs that with adjustable warmth and brightness that I hooked up into Google Home.

Now, the switch has to be perpetually switched on, because turning it off would reset the connections. So now, I keep saying "Hey Google, turn off the lights" instead of standing up and walking two steps to the switch in my small apartment.

Life is somehow... better? 🤣

But I'm not gonna lie, even on its first night, the setup has done wonders for my sleep. I set it in Google Home so that it turns off the lights at 2 AM (I sleep that late) and turns it back on at 6 AM. I immediately woke up from the barrage of bright lights and alarm sirens.

I feel tired af, but I woke up early. In theory, this should condition my body clock into sleeping earlier and earlier so I could wake up at 6 AM.

I also plan on creating an automation plan where the lights are bright and cool during my work hours and then transition into soft warm lights past that so I can relax.

And then my next order of operations would be to also make my gaming PC voice activated so I can command it to shut down when I'm already in bed and forgot to turn it off (which happens 5 nights every week lol)

Right now, I am using my Android tablet as the hub. I turned voice activation off on my phone because it's started to show its age and slowness.

Right now, my Android tablet is using Gemini (as opposed to Google Assistant from a few years back). I tried testing them both and I notice that Gemini is noticeably slow compared to Assistant. I reckon it's because its routing my request to the LLM first before then calling Assistant itself to then call Google Home. 🤷

I'm like damnnn I really was your son, like there's no denying and hoping I was actually the son of a business mogul that was swapped at birth damn i remain middle class and i have to work until im 80

But im really happy i am starting to see it. My second brother looks like my grandfather. My youngest brother is starting to look like my grandmother (and his dad ugh)

But I inherited my mother's cheekbones, curly hair, and thick eye brows. :)

Explaining in MCU terms, this is like if Loki and Thanos went head to head against each other with Loki having one infinity stone and Thanos having three.

Retired villain vs new villain lol

Pirena, smirking as she prepares to fight. From Encantadia Chronicles: Sang'gre Mitena, smiling menacingly. From Encantadia Chronicles: Sang'gre.

Had an idea for an Encantadia fan fiction and it literally is almost like it came to me in a dream, like a vision almost like a prophecy lmaooo the scenes quite literally played in my eyes like a movie

It's literally just Encantadia season 1, but retold such that no one knew what the gems were or what they did or what they were for. The gems started appearing one by one as heralds of apocalyptic doom, and the task for the realm is to put them back together while reality collapses from outside inward.

But it isn't that simple because 1. the Sang'gres literally have no idea what the gems were; 2. Cassiopea, the bitch who started everything, is MIA and no one knew her; 3. the gems have primitive minds of their own and you gotta go through a test before it attaches itself to you as its chosen guardian; 4. Nunong Imaw has an idea what was happening but doesn't believe it because he's become Encantadia's man of science and doesn't believe in mystical shit.

Number 4 is my favorite plot point because I have a subplot where Nunong Imaw was a student of archaeology and history while the whole Great Etherian War was happening around him and he was literally just minding his own business. Like he had heard of rumors that the queen Cassiopea had this mystical gem that held time and space together and that she split it into four fragments, but he wasn’t really interested in all of it because his mind was research about ancient Etherian ruins…

And then centuries pass, he becomes the oldest person in all of Encantadia, becomes the village wise man, head of Adamya, and yet he doesn’t believe that the gems that are now appearing out of nowhere and are clearly mystical are also the same fragments that came from the gem Cassiopea split into four.

Something about an ancient and old man not believing something mystical despite being around for every mystical event ever just scratches my brain in a very nice way.

So in this new lore, the mother gem that Bathalang Emre gave to Cassiopea was something that held the reality of time and space together. It was used as weapon against Etheria, but then Cassiopea split it into four so no one would be too powerful to claim its power for itself.

But it had a consequence because now reality is in disarray. So Emre cursed Cassiopea to never again speak in anything but the language of Sang’gres.

A few centuries later, reality breaks down. There are huge waves in the seas of Adamya. Volcanoes and earthquakes plague Hathoria. Sapiro is, well, desolate and abandoned as usual. And Lireo is tormented by perpetual thunderstorms.

And then suddenly, the gem of fire appears, heralding the end of everything.

Really holding out on purchasing that Haus Labs foundation bc it's sooo expensive at 3K pesos, but everyone's got nothing but good reviews about it 😭 I'm gonna get it one day

I went to this year's Pride March after all. I brought my family with me; it’s their first time. My aunt enjoyed it a lot seeing people of all colors and outfits. My brother was visibly uncomfortable seeing that many queer people dressing up provocatively, but he can take it 🤣

My brother learned what “intersectionality” means! He now knows better why SOGIE bill is important.

Got wet due to the rains last night but it was fun. I dressed up with the express purpose of getting wet and dry. I still looked good by the time we went home at around 8 pm.

Girl what the fuck is going on in Encantadia goddamn. Danaya has lost a husband twice in two weeks, she got her eldest daughter killed by goons as well. Cassandra, the most mystical creation in all Encantadia, killed in a snap. Mira and Lira, the supposed next generation of the fairies, dead in a snap at the hands of lesser goons. Alena gets captured, and the water gem is once again stolen. Pirena the sole Sang'gre remaining in Encantadia the fuck...

I had low expectations, but goddamn does the magnanimously idiotic writing piss me off.

I get that they wanted to show how powerful Mitena. But you can't just go around killing main characters with no regard for their storylines??? Bad writing after bad writing. ChatGPT could've churned out something better than this after digesting decades' worth of fan fiction.

Tons of mischaracterizations. Pirena doing shit she wouldn't have ever done in 2005 and 2016. Danaya going through the worst timeline for who knows why. Emre staying silent. Cassiopea being dumb as hell, being promoted into a Bathaluman while also seeming to be weaker than when she was a mere ancient fairy.

Suzette Doctolero, you are tired. Step the fuck down. I hate you 😭

Legit, I could write something better than this. I could come up with better storylines. I could come up with better executions for *this* storyline. Give me one week to brush up on Encantadia 2016 lore and I'll get to it.

This is disservice to the highest level. This is embarrassing.

And I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish, I wish, I wish they were still shoot-to-air 😭 give me back that cartoon-ass CGI and telenovela-level cinematography if it means the writing is good 😭 For all its faults, Encantadia 2016 at least had its lore together.

Once again, Glaiza de Castro is carrying this show on her back omfg. At least this time, she has both Rhian Ramos and Sanya Lopez to help her because girl... the story is NOT it 😤😭

“I wanted the power to write the narrative because the shame around my natural self was so strong I wanted to make people see (and fucking tell me) that I am beautiful according to The Standards™.”

AN AUTOPSY OF THE UNDEAD SELF
(and a funeral for performative identities)

francisrub.io/gallery/nico-bur

Francis Rubio An Autopsy of the Undead Self And a funeral for performative identities.

Welcome to the version 5 of francisrub.io. I sat down with Francis Rubio to talk about the process and development of how it got here.

(It's weird, I know. I just wanna do something that would potentially land me in the psych ward lmaooo but I sat down with myself to interview myself about the website that I did myself for myself. It's a narcissist's haven and resort)

francisrub.io/writing/en/versi

Francis Rubio Welcome to the New Website Welcome to the version 5 of francisrub.io. I sat down with Francis Rubio to talk about the process and development of how it got here.

really disappointed with these old hags Rene Salud and Ricky Reyes. You'd think being as old as they have become that they'd be pillars of the LGBTQIA+ community in the Philippines.

Putangina.

And you know what, these two are the exact reason why for the longest time Filipino mainstream media has portrayed the gays as people who work in salons as hair stylists and nail artists. Their shows are at one point the literal sole representation of gay people in media.

They birthed a stereotype, and I am not saying that it's their fault. But goddamn, you bitches could've just stayed quiet in your mansions and let the orgs do the work.

In just one interview, these two hags who betrayed their community has dismantled decades of work to give the LGBTQIA+ Filipinos a fighting chance to at least change the public perception.

But yeah, tolerance is better than acceptance they say. We have been tolerated for a long time.

Acceptance is respect. Acceptance is seeing you as equals.

Tolerance is seeing you as a nuisance. Tolerance is what gets trans people killed in this godforsaken hellhole of a country.

Me and God don't see eye to eye right now, but if He wills in his holy heart, I pray that he doesn't allow me to grow old like these two. I pray that I never betray my community like this.

Nawala na naman internet. Sabi saken nung nag-ayos kahapon natamaanndaw ng truck. Eme niya. Di lang pulido pagkabit niyang mga iyan. Nagsimula sila mag-ayos ng 3pm tas never na bumalik net ko, sisisihin yung mga truck?

"I felt unworthy"

"Why did you say that? Of course you are."

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA yawa tawang tawa pa rin ako teh 😭💀😆

Words of Affirmation ❌️
Words of Confirmation ✅️

Nag-ayos ang mga line man ng Globe Fiber dito sa amin wala man lang pasabi. Si gagang bading tuloy ay nagpanic magpa-load jusko 😭 buti na lang puwede kami mag-emergency leave.

At kung ka-work kita na naglu-lurk dito sa acct ko na to at balak mo akong isumbong, let me assure you, this does NOT make me happy. I'm a Capricorn. I *need* to work!!! 😭💀

“When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!”—1 Thessalonians 5:3 (NRSV)

For context, this is what Jehovah's Witnesses have been (excitedly) waiting on since, like, 1914 when WWI started. It's a past time for them to watch the news looking for *any* declaration of "peace and security", hoping that it is finally the shit that would trigger Armageddon.

I will forever mourn how GMA decided to turn the elemental gems in into CGI. Look at the material. There could've been soooo much drama if they were practical props that the actors could physically hold. You could even put LEDs inside them so they'd light up the hand that hold them.

The gems look cartoonish since they switched to CGI tbh.

Shot from Encantadia (2005) with Karylle as Alena and Sunshine Dizon as Pirena physically holding the gem of fire, which seems to be a red resin prop.

Pilipinas Got Talent just crowned Cardong Trumpo as its grand winner after 6 seasons of consistently crowning musical and dance acts.

Now *this* is Pilipinas' talent. We sing and we dance, that's our culture. But to crown someone who does tricks with tops? That's exceptional.

There's a scene in the trailer where Mitena grants Danaya a dagger. And this entire thing started because Cassiopea started having visions of her being killed. I would love for it to be a full circle moment to have Danaya be the person to kill her.

Give Danaya her villain arc!! She deserves it!!!

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