Is Eva Longoria Filipino?

Lately I’ve been poking around old family photos and gravestone rubbings, and the language people use for burial places kept catching my ear — it’s surprisingly rich. In mainstream Tagalog the go-to word is 'libingan' (from the root 'libing' which refers to burial or funeral rites). 'Libingan' covers a lot: a single grave, a family plot, even formal names like Libingan ng mga Bayani. It sounds a bit formal on paper or in announcements, so you’ll hear it in news reports, plaques, and government contexts. But Tagalog speakers don’t only use that one term. In casual speech you might hear 'puntod' in some regions or older folks using words that came from neighboring languages. 'Sementeryo' (from Spanish 'cementerio') is also very common for cemeteries, and 'lápida' or 'lapida' shows up when people talk about tombstones. There’s also the verb side: 'ilibing' (to bury) and related forms, which remind you that some words emphasize the act while others point to the place itself. If you map it across the archipelago, the variety becomes obvious. Many Visayan languages — Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray — commonly use 'puntod' to mean a grave or burial mound; it carries a familiar, sometimes rural connotation. In Ilocano and some northern dialects you’ll hear forms built from the root for 'bury' (words like 'lubong' appear as verbs; derived nouns can denote the burial place). Spanish influence left 'cementerio' and 'tumba' in pockets of usage too, especially in formal or church contexts. So in everyday Tagalog you’ll mainly use 'libingan' or 'sementeryo' depending on register, but if you travel around the islands you’ll hear 'puntod', local verbs for burying, and loanwords weaving into speech. I love how those small differences tell stories of contact, migration, and how people relate to ancestors — language is like a map of memory, honestly.

I've always been fascinated by how words carry whole worlds, and in Tagalog the concept of a deity is layered and living. In old Tagalog cosmology the big name you'll hear is 'Bathala' — the creator-supreme who sits at the top of the spiritual hierarchy. People would address Bathala with reverence, often prefacing with 'si' or 'ang' in stories: 'Si Bathala ang lumikha.' That very specific use marks a personal god, not an impersonal force. Beneath Bathala are different types of beings we casually lump together as deities: 'diwata' for nature spirits and guardians, and 'anito' for ancestral or household spirits. 'Diwata' often shows up in tales as forest or mountain spirits who demand respect and offerings; 'anito' can be carved figures, altars, or the spirits of dead relatives who are consulted through ritual. Priests and ritual specialists mediated between humans and these entities, performing offerings, rituals, and propitiations. Colonial contact layered meanings on top of this vocabulary. 'Diyos', borrowed from Spanish, became the everyday word for the Christian God and also slipped into casual exclamations and expressions. Meanwhile, 'diwata' and 'anito' persisted in folklore, sometimes blending with Catholic saints in syncretic practices. To me, that blend — the old reverence for land and ancestors combined with newer faiths — is what makes Filipino spirituality feel so textured and human.

Boulder' by Eva Baltasar hit me like a ton of bricks—not just because of its raw, poetic prose, but because it captures the messy, beautiful chaos of motherhood and autonomy in a way I’ve rarely seen. The novel follows a woman nicknamed Boulder, who’s fiercely independent until her partner, Samsa, decides they want a child. The tension between Boulder’s love for Samsa and her terror of losing herself in motherhood is visceral. Baltasar doesn’t sugarcoat the contradictions—Boulder’s ambivalence swings between tenderness and claustrophobia, and the writing feels like a punch to the gut in the best way. What stuck with me is how the book frames the body as both a prison and a vessel for desire. Boulder’s relationship with her physical self shifts dramatically as she grapples with pregnancy and partnership. The sparse, almost fragmented style mirrors her fractured sense of identity. It’s not a book about 'solutions'—it’s about the gnawing, unresolved questions that linger long after the last page. I finished it in one sitting and immediately wanted to debate it with someone.

If you only glanced at the back cover of 'Bared to You', the blurb's version of Gideon and Eva feels like a crash-course in opposites magnetized together. Gideon is sketched as the impossibly wealthy, dangerously private man — brilliant, controlling, and scarred by a violent, secret past that leaks into everything he does. The summary leans into his dominance and the way his wealth and power let him shape the world around him, while also hinting at the fragility under that exterior. Eva is presented as the slightly younger, resilient woman with a complicated history of her own: bright, moral, and cautious, but drawn to Gideon's intensity despite knowing it might hurt her. The blurb focuses on the push-and-pull: obsession, desire, and the difficulty of trust. It frames their relationship as immediate and overwhelming — chemistry that’s almost dangerous — and promises emotional stakes beyond the sex scenes. It also teases conflict rooted in their backgrounds: trust, past abuse, secrets, and the jealousies that follow in the wake of passion. That framing makes the story sound like a headlong tumble into a relationship that could be as healing as it is destructive. To me, that summary sells the emotional rollercoaster: you expect fireworks, arguments, and raw vulnerability. It doesn't hide the darker themes — trauma, control, and dependency — but packages them in an addictive romance hook. If you go in wanting glossy fairy-tale romance you’ll be warned; if you like intense character-led drama, the blurb reads like an invitation to buckle up and stay for the messy healing process.

I got hooked on 'Lone Wolf Eva: Back to Have Fun in the Apocalypse' the moment I heard it was actually adapted from an online novel, and I still enjoy comparing the two. The show takes its core premise and main beats from the serialized novel of the same name, which originally built its audience on long-form chapters released online. That source material gives the world more room to breathe: there are extra backstory scenes, inner monologues, and smaller character arcs that the series had to compress or skip for runtime. If you like deep-dive lore, the novel delivers a fuller sense of the apocalypse setting and the slow-burn development of Eva's relationships and tactics. Watching the animated version, I appreciated how they distilled the essence of the novel into tighter arcs and punchier visuals. The adaptation sometimes rearranges events for pacing, and a few side characters get less screen time than they do in print, but the emotional core—Eva's sardonic wit and survival instincts—stays true. I also noticed a handful of original scenes in the show designed to highlight action or humor that play better on screen than on the page. If you want both experiences, read the novel for depth and then watch the show for the visual energy; personally I alternate between the two depending on my mood and love how each format complements the other.

I was scrolling through a streaming thread and the title 'Lone Wolf Eva: Back to Have Fun in the Apocalypse' popped up — I dug in because it sounded delightfully wild. Short version: it isn't on Netflix in most regions right now. I've followed a lot of niche anime and indie adaptations, and this kind of title often lands on specialty platforms or goes straight to physical release first. For me, the easiest way to confirm is to check a streaming aggregator and the official publisher's channels; when I did that earlier this year, it showed up on a couple of smaller services and a limited Blu-ray listing, not Netflix. Licensing windows are weird: sometimes Netflix picks up series months later and rebrands titles, especially if it hopes to bundle a catalog. So keep an eye out for alternate names — translations and sub vs. dub releases can change how a show is listed. Personally, I added it to my watchlist on a niche app and pre-ordered the disc because the art direction looked too good to miss; I still hope Netflix will grab it later, but for now I'm enjoying the collector route.

I just finished reading 'Albularyo the Filipino Shamans', and yes, it's packed with supernatural elements that dive deep into Filipino folklore. The albularyos aren't just healers—they’re conduits for spirits, communicating with ancestral entities to diagnose illnesses no modern doctor can explain. The book details how they use orasyon (mystical prayers) to cast out demons or cure curses, often while holding rituals with herbs that glow under moonlight. Some chapters describe shape-shifting aswang spies lurking in villages, or duwendes (dwarves) sabotaging homes unless appeased. The most chilling parts involve soul retrievals, where albularyos battle dark shamans in spirit realms to rescue stolen lifeforce. It’s less fantasy and more a documentation of beliefs still alive in rural provinces today.

'Tae' in Filipino is quite the slang. It nonchalantly refers to feces. It's often used in various contexts, sometimes expressing annoyance or frustration, or to emphasize a point. Be careful though, not everyone might appreciate its use in conversation.