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🌊 Water is life. It is death. It represents a cosmological cycle of both in many ethnic groups in the Philippines.

Today we are going to discuss and learn about some Ilokano folklore on the sea and water. From the Ilokano god of the rivers and sea, Apo Litao, to the cosmological beliefs involving the water and sea.

🌿 RECOMMENDED READING:

For more on Ilokano folklore and practices, I highly suggest reading El Folk-lore Filipino by Isabelo de los Reyes and Way of the Ancient Healer by Virgil Mayor Apostol @ virgilmapostol on IG . (Both books which I credit and gained all the info listed here).

The lovely sirena artwork pictured on the second photo is by Sarah DeMonteverde @ ilandtuitles on IG (go follow her because her artwork is amazing!) ❤

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Been looking into filipino mythology again cause I’m working on ocs and I thought I’d share some moon deities

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Forgot to put this up here oops.

Anyway, a manananggal for mythsona! 

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Reading all 19 days chapters in two days, I actually got to understand the plot a bit better. At first I didn’t understand why Old Xian was giving us less and less zhanyi content, I used to think it was because they were the characters she started the story with, so she needed more time to make us appreciate the other two boys (Mo Guan Shan and He Tian). Then I understood that there seemed to be less strips focused on Zhan Zheng Xi and Jian Yi only because I didn’t see much of a progress in their relationship, while tianshan were constantly growing.

Well, of course they were.

My otp in this manhua is zhanyi and I think that’s clear to everyone read my previous posts, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy tianshan’s dynamics. Still, the reason why I just absolutely adore zhanyi is that they alreayd have a solid bond. They communicate, they talk about their feelings, they are open with each other, they are comfortable with each other’s touch. Zhan Zheng Xi is often compared to Mo Guan Shan in terms of couples members, but he shows love and affection toward Jian Yi in almost every strip. He cuddles him, he doesn’t mind Jian Yi sleeping over him, he hugs him, he smiles often when they are together and he says things like “I want to get stronger so that I can protect you”, which is a proper declaration of love. Honestly it’s not like they need anything else to be an actual couple rather than just come in terms with their feelings. Jian Yi may seem fine with the fact that he’s gay but may I remember you the scene where he asked Zhan Zheng Xi if he was to be considered abnormal? Or all of the times he clearly showed to think that being gay was something shameful, something his friends and Xixi himself would have probably found weird and absurd. At the same time Zhan Zheng Xi is the one who told him that no, he was not abnormal, the one who hugged him when he was crying for the shame he felt after kissing him, the one who asked him straight (lol) if he liked him, if it was that kind of like. Zhan Zheng Xi seems fine with the idea of homosexuality, insofar as a fourteen year old Chinese guy can be. What he has not come in terms with are his own feelings. When he talks to Xiao Hui, he asks her “Must there be only like and dislike in human emotions?”. I’m not sure what he meant, but I personally think that he hasn’t understood what loving someone means and all the ways you can love a person: he loves his little sister and his parents, he loves his friends and he loves Jian Yi. All these relationships are different, but how can you say which one is romantic love? How is it different? Maybe because you want to have sex with that special someone? He may be asexual (he probably is? I don’t know). So what? When and why do his feelings toward Jian become different from the one he feels toward his family and friends?

So the point now is for them to understand their selves and each other completely. It’s a slow process, especially if we consider the one-year-gap when Jian Yi got kidnapped.

He Tian and Mo GuanShan are a different story. Of course Mo Guan Shan is not ready to admit to himself he’s attracted to guys (or at least to He Tian), but that is not the main problem at all. Their relationship didn’t start as a relationship, it started as a gross blackmailing in which the victim got at least payed for his service. I’m sorry to say this, but if I didn’t I would be disrespecting all the people who have been in a toxic and violent relationship and are now reading this. I know that He Tian cares for Mo Guan Shan and fell in love with him as the time passed, he even apologised for his attitude, but their dynamics are still far from heatlhy. They came to trust each other, Mo even managed to confide in him and finding his presence something reassuring and He Tian showed us he would do anything for him and to protect him. I also understand that for someone who grew up the way He Tian did it is not easy to become a saint all at once, just like that. Mo Guan Shan isn’t a saint either by the way. We can’t just ignore He Tian’s creepy background (besides, he still lives a pretty savage family situation). He changed if we consider how he used to behave in the earlier times but I still would not recommend a long-term romantic relationship with someone like that. At the same time I know that if sometimes he pushes way too much is also because he knows that Mo doesn’t always mean everything he says and does. He proved to care about him and to have a huge crush on him and even to feel attraction to him, but he still would deny everything at any time.

So of course the later strips are more focused on the two of them: they are the ones who need to grow up the most.

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if you’re offline or away and i message you something (like a link to a meme or a picture or w/e) honestly just assume that i’m just leaving it there for when you get back and not expecting you to answer straight away. i don’t need you to respond with “hey, sorry, i wasn’t at the computer!” or anything. i was leaving u a gift for later.

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gods the soft LongJun moments in S2 E5 is just… good shit good shit

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"Are you going to ride your own horse at all anymore?"

"It's too boring when I ride alone!"

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"Don't put numbers into your stories." Jeezus.

Guide: Keeping Numbers & Number-Related Details Straight in Your Story

I was midway through my answer when I realized this would be a good opportunity for a quick guide.

About That Post...

Honestly, I think the OP was probably a bit of a tongue-in-cheek, hyperbolic rant from a writer who had a frustrating review or critique. The problem is, a lot of people seem to be taking it as genuine/good advice, and that really concerns me.

Obviously, it's fine to be vague about dates, ages, distances, or anything else if that's what you want to do. But don't leave numbers out because you're not willing to do the work to keep your story's details straight. Doing the work to figure that stuff out and keep it straight is part of your job as a serious writer.

Hey, Buddy! Let's Do Some Research!

Look, I get it... when you're excited about a story idea, you just want to go wild and start writing. But if your story uses real world people, events, locations, items, or other elements--or heavily relies on them as inspiration--you need to sit down and do some research.

This doesn't mean you have to choose exact dates for your story if you don't want to. But if your story is loosely set in the 1880s (or inspired by an 1880s setting,) you'd better have a good idea of what did and did not exist in the 1880s so you can be sure you're not using a 1914 fashion trend or 1700s slang.

And, doing research doesn't mean you have to research every single element of your story before you start writing. You can stop and research as you go. In the middle of my writing session tonight, I spent 15 minutes researching what kind of pine tree would grow near the coast in my WIP's inspiration setting. And even though that location will never be named in my story, I care about my writing enough to take the time to make sure my details are accurate.

WQA’s Guide to Internet Research Researching an Historical Topic Writing About Difficult to Research Topics

Timelines: A Writer's Best Friend

Whether or not you choose to be specific about dates in your story, I strongly advocate the use of a story timeline, even if you're not usually a "planner." Having a detailed story timeline (that includes important back story events) helps ensure that you don't mix up dates, lose track of how much time has passed between events, or create overlapping events.

There are loads of different ways you can create a timeline, and no way is better than any other. You can jot important dates and events down on post-its, use an app, draw out a timeline on a piece of paper, create something in Word... whatever you want to do is great! Here are some different timeline styles I've used. Some of these are timelines from actual WIPs.

Standard Line Timeline

Calendar Timeline (You can print these out at Time and Date...)

Basic Scene List & Timeline

Complex Scene List & Timeline (This one is based on Save the Cat!)

Color-Coded Timeline

And, if you're like me and you have trouble keeping character ages straight throughout important back story events, I give you...

The Color-Coded Character Age Chart

And, honestly, that's how you keep numbers and number-related details straight in your story. Research and timelines. It's just that simple!

So, don't be afraid to include numbers or number-related details in your story if you want them there. :)

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Ok so a lil something different than Pokemons. I wanted to draw Philippine Deities in a somewhat surrealistic eldritch forms. Here are 5 of the most well know gods in Philippine mythology. Planning to do more as well.

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Lately I’ve been drawing Sano and Anina how they might appear in my novel, which means they tend to look simple – and sometimes even a little ragged – because they were pretty much broke throughout 90% of the novel XD. I wanted to draw them in Kataman colours but with a little more flare than usual. So, if they were a little more well off, they would probably wear something more like this.

And is it just me, or does Sano look younger every time I draw him XD? He really is canonically 16. He’s just… under-nourished and super-sheltered (and also super optimistic) which makes him look really young.

My next piece is an AU, and I’m really excited to get working on it!

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Okay. If you are doing research - especially history research, here are a couple steps to possibly save your life.

1) Get thee to wikipedia.

Seriously. You can’t site it because it has the academic credibility of some random graffitti, and you can’t quote it because the exact writing and content changes every time it gets edited, BUT:

It will almost certainly be more accurate than printed encyclopedias, which are updated every ten years or so, and only require a few eyes compared to wikipedia, where any trolling will probably get you banned or suspended in hours. Not to mention it’s getting a LOT more peer reviews. So you can’t quote it, but it’s probably fairly accurate.

And the best part? After just about every tidbit of information, there’s going to be a little citation number. If you click it, it’ll take you down to the references section (and even highlight the relevant one). You can then go to the original source - which will be much more credible. What’s more is you’ll have specific page numbers (if it’s a book), and you’ll know exactly what kind of information you’re looking for.

2) If it’s a book, Internet Archive is your best friend

The search function isn’t great if you’re looking up questions like you would into your google (or ecosia - if you want to do a good thing for the earth) search bar, but if you know the author and year the book was published, it’s great. You’ll have this information already on hand from step one, if that’s how you found the book in the first place.

There are about 30 million books on Internet Archive and counting, so there’s a good chance they’re going to have what you’re looking for. However, about half of them are check-out only. Checking out is actually easy. You need to set up a free account, and make sure to give them a valid email address because they will send you a verification email. After that, you can check out any book you want for an hour. (excelent for focus!)

If you are only looking at specific pages, you should be fine, but there’s also other longer options for checking stuff out for some books. (I think?)

Also, in many books, you can search for specific keywords within the book, and there’s a little slider at the bottom to find pages.

3) watch Overly Sarcastic Production’s “How to do research”

Seriously. It’s amazing. My first point is confirmed in the video which is just more proof that I’m right /hj

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taglist: @candlemouse @bookdragonfanish @book-limerence

as always, if you want to be added to/removed from any of my taglists, just let me know! Lists found pinned to the top of my blog :D

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The meaning behind famous Filipino Surnames

You guys know Filipinos have hispanic surnames, but not all. While most surnames meant places, beautiful adjectives, and son-of-Christ, Filipino surnames are whack.

Dimaano - Cannot be whatever. Can be interpreted as immovable and invinsible.

Pinagkaisahan - Mobbed

Tatlongsuso - Three boobs

Bagonggahasa - Newly sharpened

Katindig - The One I'm standing up with

Banaohan - Someone who has been hit with a coconut

Aglipay - To play with some kind of seeds

Mabini - Suave, likable, smooth af ((Insert Apolinario Mabini winking at you))

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I think I cracked the ancient Tagalog naming code

Just think of two random syllables then put -naya in the end.

Boom! You have an ancient girl's name.

Think of two random syllables then put -yog in the end.

Boom! You have ancient boy's name.

Gender neutral? Usually ends with -it, -ki, -ti, or -ag

You can also use syllables enclosed in consonants like Lan-, Gan-, Hik-, Sin-, Nag-,

Examples:

Girls: Halanaya, Gidanaya, Amanaya, Kalanaya

Boys: Halayog, Gidayog, Amayog, Kalayog

Gender Neutral: Sarit, Dalit, Araki, Saraki, Halati, Lanit, Ganyaki, Sinag

Source? Malay ko. Panaginip siguro. I just think they're neat.

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For historical fic writers

This chair is called a GALLINERA

It was a furniture often seen on the porch, gate, or balconaje of the rich. Farmers and servants sit on this chair to wait for the their Masters when they're giving payments for using the farmland. The payments are usually chickens. The space with the sliding door underneath is where they keep the chickens. The chair is made from heavy wood and is adorned in inticate design. It is a status symbol, and the prettier your Gallinera is, the richer and kinder you are (Imagine buying expensive chair for the peasants).

Ideas to use the Gallinera:

1. Rich neigbors with rivalry - compete by beautifying the Gallinera.

2. A Señorito who said he's living on his own - lives under the Gallinera instead and he's never found out.

3. A Señorita lying down under the Gallinera to practice being dead inside a casket.

4. Poetic cinema - showing the status of the family by the cobwebs accumulating around the Gallinera.

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Reblog if you call the wind by whistling.

I had the habit of whistling the call of birds when the wind is saturated. It’s not like I believe in it, but oftentimes, I suddenly feel the wind coming after one set of call. I learned it from the elders, and I’m still seeing some youth do it.

One time, I was with a non-local friend (he’s Filipino, just very westernized) and we were walking under the harsh sun with no wind. I whistled, and a gush of wind came. He asked why did I do that, to which I answered while the wind brushed my hair, “I’m calling the wind.” with such a serious voice I might be a diety. Later on I realized he doesn’t know about our force of habit, and since I didn’t want to be seen as crazy, I said, “FORGET ABOUT THAT! IT WAS A FORCE OF HABIT AROUND HERE.”

So yeah, we whistle for the wind. The only being in the universe you can whistle for.

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Just for fun. This is 30% baseless. Also as a naming reference when you're at your wit's end.

Also, it is normal to have two or more names depending on your mood. I know a diety who changes name according to seasons. This naming system is more related to birth, mind, and soul, so feel free to have more than one.

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Just a random lesson: How Manila got its name?

Answer: Water Lily

Water Lily = ilad

By the Water Lilies = May ilad

May ilad -> Maynila

Maynila = Manila (anglicized)

: I think it's quite romantic that the Capital city got it's name from Water Lily because old Tagalogs loved nature so much. Then you look at Manila now and there's no clean body of water. But it still makes me smile whenever I remember Manila means Water Lily. I don't know why.