#tohil

So I've commissioned a few art pieces to celebrate!

With more coming soon.

First by @sofiaebby Nota with Tezca, and her other jaguar bois

Next by @evelenciaart on twitter, Rex carrying Nota for her b-day

Next by @juiceofcoconut Nota with 2 of her kids, Andres and Emilia

Next by @calastinepalaiologos Nota with Kirschtaria

Day 23: “Ancient”

@mpxtohil

The blackened scar cutting into his forest has begun to grow over with new life. There’s no surprise in it. Destruction generally begets resurrection in this way. And with Pan around, it would be more unbelievable if new sprouts hadn’t begun to peek out of scorched grass and branches turned to charcoal. Much of the destruction has long since been covered over with fungi, and then moss. Spores and seeds had settled back into the dust and now they’re coming back full force. It draws a smile out of Pan. New life. That means it’s time.

His skin is new, the regrowth has ensured that. There’s no sign of the flames that had once licked at his skin with their boiling tongues, so sign that Pan is anything less than the healthy spring god he has always been. It’s autumn now, the season of change, Pan’s second favorite season. More importantly, his forest is beginning to paint over with leaves the color of flames. They bring the forest god and the fire god closer than they usually are. The world over, there are hidden places in flaming colors, abandoned to the creep of time and earth. Pan had promised to visit those places with someone. Better to do it now while the world is on fire before the earth dies and enters its long sleep.

Winter is his least favorite season.

At first, Pan can’t decide where to search for him. Would showing up at his work be too impersonal? Would showing up at his home be too formal? Pan supposes he could hope to simply run into the fire god, but somehow that doesn’t sound like it will be terribly convenient for the other. But who knows, maybe he would be happy for the excuse to drop everything and run away for a little while. Fire is chaos incarnate.

The god of the wild ends up waiting across the street from Noona, waiting for Tohil to finish work. He has waited this long, a little longer won’t make much difference. He can only hope that Tohil will be happy to see him. Pan hates to admit that he has missed the fiery fool. Life hasn’t been quite the same without him. So it’s time to get him back.

The instant Tohil emerges from the doorway, Pan hesitates for a single moment before stalking over like the jungle cat he knows he is. He walks straight up to Tohil to block his way, then speaks.

Episode 7 of Season 2 was all about family. This show is all about family, but this episode really showcased it in the best ways. We have the Reyes family and the Cruz family. We also have the Mayans family saving a migrant family. There was some beautiful vulnerable moments, as well as some excitement we’ve come to know and love about this world. There was also too much Emily for my liking, as usual, but that’s neither here nor there. 

Let’s get into it. 

EZ is staying with his pops after the events of the last episode unfolded. He got into a brawl with Marlon, the city clerk Emily had sent him to intimidate into confessing to taking bribes from the Chinese on the Agra Park deal. A gun was drawn on EZ and all EZ did was push the gun out of his face and the gun went off. It ended up looking like the city clerk killed himself, so EZ just went with it. 

Throughout the entire episode, EZ is declining Emily’s calls and ignoring her texts, especially when she learns that the clerk is dead. Her actions directly got somebody killed. He wasn’t an innocent man, but nobody on this show is truly innocent. She’s clearly stressed about not being able to reach EZ to find out what happened. Miguel can see how she’s acting and knows something is up with his wife. In fact, I don’t know if he just doesn’t trust her or if he’s just plain worried about her, but he wants eyes on her at all times. 

Anyways, back at Casa de Reyes, Angel goes to meet with his brother and hopefully talk with his father. There is a lot still weighing on his mind after what EZ told him and what they’ve been working with Happy on. Angel does confront Felipe and it’s actually my favorite scene of the episode. He tells his father that he knows Felipe isn’t who he says he is and that there’s a disconnect between the two of them. He recognizes that their relationship is different than Felipe’s relationship with EZ and Felipe takes all the fault with that. Felipe knows he shouldn’t have treated Angel differently or EZ differently. It would seem like they both want to have a more open and honest dialogue between the two of them and I hope things will be easier between them, especially because Angel tells his father that he and Adelita are going to have a baby together. Angel and Felipe are so open with each other here. Felipe assures Angel that he will be a good father who loves his child deeply because he can see just how insecure Angel feels about being a dad and being a good dad, at that. 

While Angel is opening up to Felipe, Felipe does the same with Angel, in regards to actually being Ignacio. He tells him that it was much easier being a cop on Galindo’s payroll at the time than not working for him. Jose Galindo liked Ignacio and trusted him, he quickly became a part of his inner circle after a couple of years. It was only when his wife was pregnant with Angel that he decided to leave the cartel and Ignacio behind all together and become Felipe Reyes. He picked up and changed his whole life for the better for Angel Reyes and I can’t say that I wouldn’t do the same. It’s what Angel deserves: someone to move hell and high water for him. 

Leti’s back, y’all! She’s living with Coco and going to school. He’s her father and he’s looking out for her, but she hasn’t always known him as her father, so their relationship is still a work in progress. Leti went out and got Coco his favorite breakfast and it almost feels like she’s trying to soften him up for something. Turns out, she had been letting a friend, Gabriela, stay there, despite Coco not knowing and just not allowing that. Coco is upset until he learns that Gabriela’s mother and brother, her only family, were being held by the Malditos MC, who are human traffickers. Gabriela was essentially being threatened to keep giving them money she didn’t even have for the safety of her family. Leti loaned her $5,000 of her own tuition money in an offer to help and that’s something Coco isn’t too pleased with either. 

The group that is holding Gabriela’s family is an MC that has encroached on Mayan turf, so that alone brings the Mayans into the fold. There is a huge amount of disrespect there too since Leti told this other club that her father was a Mayan and they laughed and then proceeded to rough her up a bit, since she was trying to help Gabriela. Since the Mayans MC are full of softies, honestly, not only are they going to get rid of this threat, they are determined to reunite Gabriela with her family. 

The Mayans find the house they’re camping out in and go in, guns ablaze. They find several locked doors in the house with migrants huddled together. They learn from these prisoners that if families don’t pay, the young ones are trafficked and the other ones are killed. The ones being trafficked are moved to a separate location closer to the border. The club finds where the other are being kept and finds them locked in cages. The rival club is killed off and the house is set on fire after freeing everyone. There is one mother and son pairing in the fray and its Gabriela’s family!  The club was able to reunite this one family and remind people not to mess with the Mayans all at the same time!

The episode ends with EZ and Emily finally meeting up. Emily had previously been on the phone with Miguel and told him that Ileana was upset about Marlon’s suicide and needed her there. Miguel surely didn’t look like he believed a single word coming out of her mouth, so he instructed Nestor to make sure somebody is watching her 24/7. Turns out, he had every right to feel that way because she met up with EZ in secret. They spoke about the events at the clerk’s house and how it really looked like a suicide, so EZ wrote a “suicide note” and sent a confession to the mayor’s office about the Chinese agra park deal. 

EZ finally asks Emily for a favor, regarding his family. I’m wondering if EZ and Emily are going to discover that Miguel is Felipe’s son. Are all these lies finally going to catch up to Dita and Felipe? 

Some thoughts on the episode:

I’m very pleased to have Leti back. I’m thrilled she’s in school and thriving like that.

I love that there seems to be a spark between EZ and Gabriela. EZ needs to move on from Emily, but he keeps going back and she’s literally getting him into shit he doesn’t need to be involved in. 

I love when the Reyes men open up to each other and are vulnerable. The show is at its strongest when this happens. 

So...did everyone see who’s going to be on next week’s episode? Who else is freaking STOKED?!?!

Sarah’s episode rating: 🐝🐝🐝🐝

@mpxtohil

A demigod inflamed had fled, leaving a god aflame.

The candle Dakota had left in offering to Pan had been knocked astray, at first going entirely unnoticed. Until the dead and golden grass began to smolder and turn to deep grey ash. It was the smell of smoke that drew Pan’s attention, turning to find a fire starting to blaze. The helpless amnesiac god could only watch in terror as the fire slowly spread, turning gold to black and streaking red-brown earth with death and darkness. A scattering of coals, an offering left over from the mid-autumn festival, was next to be consumed.

The fire leapt to life as it feasted on the coals and the dead and dying foliage of autumn. The color of fire that had fallen from the trees turned to real flames as fire jumped and cracked at spread around his fairy-tale forest and his wildflower throne. A single lilac petal, half blackened, floated right by Pan’s face, leaving an angry red mark on the god’s cheek and evoking a yell from deep in his chest. Any animals that hadn’t already run from the growing little brush fire were startled off by his shout of Panic, leaving only the very bravest souls to find him, to get anywhere close to the lost god.

What is happening?

Where am I?

Who am I?

A stubborn pout marks Pan’s features as Tohil sits beside him looking over the light burns. What had been only a friendly wrestling match had turned a little scary for the wild god when Tohil got a little too excited and began flaring with flickers of fire. Tohil had had no intention of hurting Pan of course, but sometimes instinct just takes over for the both of them. Unfortunately for Pan, the god is terribly flammable, and plant vines don’t do much to tie down a fire god.

“Not fair, you’re disqualified this time,” Pan mumbles, wincing as Tohil cleans the burns. They will heal quickly enough, especially for Pan, but the collection of burn scars along his arms and chest only seem to grow. That’s what he gets for continuing to roughhouse with Tohil. Not that he has any intention of stopping.