jem vargas

7:33 PM

Sa'n ka na?

Told you to let me know where you are, tsk.

jem vargas

8:16 PM

???

Lowbatt na 'ko pero nasa training pa. Patapos na.

jem vargas

8:34 PM

sorry i just got done with socsci

san ka na

🔒 @yvannugh

nakakalimutan kong may update stage pala ako omg strangle me

jem vargas

9:15 PM

Hey, you.

Finally.

Blue na 'ko.

Umihi, kumain, at uminom ka na ng tubig?

yes, yes nagpadeliver ako frankie's and cookies, and no

kaya pala ansakit ng ulo ko

Water. Now.

bossy!!!!

You keep forgetting to take care of yourself. I'm going to have to remind you every time you decide to disappear for four hours.

😾

Frankie's? And cookies from where?

yup ang sarap ng boneless nila 😍 and bakescout, my fave dessert

Okay.

Sinamahan mo pa si JM?

isa pa, yung walang attitude

Sinamahan mo pa si JM?

Di ko kaya, e.

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

and no, umuwi na ko kaagad 😂

K. Good.

Uminom ka na ng tubig?

read

Don't make me say it a third time.

🔒 @yvannugh

wait, something clenched 🥵

🔒 @yvannugh

TIYAN KO YON AH

jem vargas

9:21 PM

yes done na pooooo

Good. :)

kamusta training?

Good, the usual.

Coach was mad, wala namang bago do'n.

And we talked about your The Loop article in our GC.

expected.

and?

There were a lot of opinions.

read

🔒 @yvannugh

my stomach is sinking.

jem vargas

9:22 PM

First of all, you really find Teo charming?

totoo ka ba

Oo, bakit?

he IS charming. objectively. it's in the feature

are you going to tell me i'm wrong?

No, but it's annoying to read.

Anyway, they weren't bad, but you have to understand that your writing carries weight in this league.

You and The Loop sway public opinion whether you mean to or not. (More so you, the platform boosts it).

I think they're just conscious of that.

Especially when it's about one us—considering the nepotism article.

ok that's fair

e ikaw?

Ako?

what did you say

Oh I'm not bothered.

not bothered

You said it yourself: accurate, transparent, brave.

That's your goal. That's your job.

You wrote the truth about Teo. He didn't love all of it, but he can't say it wasn't true.

Why should I be affected by you doing your job well?

🔒 @yvannugh

ngayon umaakyat na nasusuka na ko pota

jem vargas

9:35 PM

well

Thought you know me better than that by now.

just managing expectations so i don't get crushed

You wrote the truth. And I don't have a problem with the truth.

Even when it's about people I know.

Even when it's eventually about me.

And it was excellent. It's like a look into your brain. It's fascinating.

there's nothing fascinating about my brain

Meron kung sinulat mong charming si Teo

IT WAS A PROFESSIONAL OBSERVATION

Oo na nga, sinabi mo na yan. 🙄

Anyway, it was brilliant. Ano ginamit mong film score?

baby driver, into the spider-verse, guardians of the galaxy and thor: ragnarok

Those fit really well, actually. Ano para sakin?

in the past, marami na iba-iba

spotlight, the social network, kingsman, cars

pride and prejudice, black panther, before sunrise

Those are interesting choices. E yung sa upcoming?

tbd pa. you gotta complete the interview 🤷‍♀️

Ah, right. Di pa pala tapos.

I'll answer this: What's the hardest part of being captain that nobody sees from the outside?

Honestly, it's knowing when to take over and when to step back. Everyone sees the decisions I make on the court.

Nobody sees the ones off it.

like?

Scholarship evaluations. Who starts, who's ready and who isn't.

And I'm terrified of getting it wrong, because these are people I play with every day. And my word influences a whole person's career or spot in the team.

Last season, there was a player whose scholarship was being reviewed. Numbers weren't there, performance was inconsistent. As incoming captain, Coach asked me what I thought.

I almost said to cut him just to agree with him.

And then I thought about what I actually knew about him—not the stats, but him—and said something different.

I said give him until the end of the season. Thankfully, he turned it around in the second half.

I don't know if I made the right call for the right reasons.

Maybe I just couldn't say it. Maybe I didn't want to be the reason someone lost their spot or scholarship.

To this day, I still think about whether I was being a good captain or just avoiding something hard.

And then there was a player with a conduct issue, and I'm not going to say what it was, but Coach found out and asked me if I knew anything. And I did. Not everything, but enough. And I had to decide whether to say what I knew or protect a friend and a teammate.

I said what I knew.

He didn't finish the season and he's not on the team anymore. We haven't talked since and I know he hates me for it.

I don't know if I'd do it differently, because I think I made the right call. Was I being a good captain or am I just convincing myself I was so I could live with it?

Those are the ones that keep me up.

And then there's Coach.

coach salvatierra?

Yeah.

He's hard on everyone, but he's hardest on me.

Which I understand. Captain means you answer for the team first.

When something goes wrong, it comes to me before it goes anywhere else. He expects more from me, more from any other captain he's handled.

Some days I think I deserve that. Some days I'm not sure I'm meeting it.

But I'd rather have that than the alternative.

which is?

Him going easy on me because of my last name.

That would be worse than anything he could say in practice.

At least this way I know whatever I'm getting, I earned.

Good or bad.

🔒 @yvannugh

oh yvanna, you're a bitch. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

🔒 @yvannugh

my heart hurts i hate this.

jem vargas

10:16 PM

you never asked your dad for advice?

And let him think I can't handle it? No way.

ganon ba siya?

No, he'd help if I asked.

But I want him to be proud, not worried.

I want him to see someone who deserves the title, not the person still trying to be one.

I'd rather figure it out on my own than have him find out I haven't yet.

it's good to ask for help, jem