#sanskrit tattoos

[nikidanger]

[Whitney Houston & her bestie Robyn Crawford on vacation in Aruba]

[royalwingstattoo]

Antah ashti prarambh Sanskrit word tattoo on forearm🏬... अंतः अस्ती प्रारंभ......

Tattoo done by @satishmandhare910

📝Book your appointment on ☎️ 8433934833..

[teatitty]

If you have any writing for it or any hcs, I am begging you to share some of that holmes examining watson's tattoo moments

Oh I'm absolutely planning to put it in a fic eventually (it's on my Holmes To Do List) but basically what started out as a simple "Watson has a lotus flower on his inner forearm" then gave birth to the idea of him also having a mandala on his back (look them up there's so many amazing designs for them) which... spiralled once I remembered that Holmes has canonically done extensive studies and research into tattoos and published a monograph about it!

Therefore I decided that. Well one day Watson also thinks about this and brings it up to Holmes and when Holmes confirms that, yes, he still studies the subject because there are gaps in his knowledge, Watson rolls up his sleeve to show the beautiful lotus there, and watches with amused indulgence as Holmes fully grabs his arm to get a proper look at it, muttering things under his breath all the while (in a good infodumping way)

One thing inevitably leads to another and Watson finds himself sitting shirtless straddling a chair or something as Holmes examines the mandala on his back with soft, almost reverent touches. Yes he gets close enough that Watson can feel his breathe on his skin and yes Holmes is very tempted to kiss the ink and has to clear his throat and speak a tad louder than usual to compose himself and back off. If I give Watson more tattoos he'd probably have them on his upper thigh as well just for the excellent image of Holmes putting that leg on his shoulder to get a proper angle for them as Watson tries his best to remember that breathing exists

[neuzboyx24net0]

5 Sanskrit phrases that work as excellent motivations and affirmations

Another Sanskrit phrase from the Bhagavad Gita, ‘कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते’ translates to – You have the right to perform your duty. And the full shloka means – You have the right to perform your duty, but not the entitlement of the fruit’. This simple Sanskrit phrase is not exactly an affirmation, but rather a motivation for the right-minded. It awares us about the importance of focusing on the action…

[sspacegodd]

Tibetan is a revision of the older Shamanistic Bon language, an esoteric hybrid of Tibetan, Chinese, Nepalese, and Sanskrit. It's called 'Kali' or 'Skull Alphabet because the shapes of its characters are patterned after the cranial sutures of the human skull.

The practice degenerated over the ages, eventually became phrenology, mutate and crawl even further into the social public to morph into "mind reading" and "hair tattoos."

[tattoo-artist-in-bangalore]

Jai Shree Ram Tattoo by Tattoo Artist Veer Hegde at Eternal Expression Bangalore India

[ohnoidroppedmydonut]

Still thinking about the fact that Claire Dunphy has a tattoo that says mother in Sanskrit

[telomeke]

THE SIGN – CULTURAL REFERENCES, MYTHOLOGY AND META

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This post comes on the heels of the one by @respectthepetty about mythology and meta of The Sign, linked here. 😍👍 If you've not read it yet, I recommend you do before watching any more of this series, because it will help things make more sense (especially if you're not familiar with some of the cultural references thrumming in the background).

Anyway, I'd previously done some research on the legend(s) of the Garuda and the Naga in Southeast Asia, and so I'm writing this post to share what I've found because it does have relevance to at least some of what we're seeing onscreen in The Sign, and elaborates on @respectthepetty's post.

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The Garuda and the Naga are mythical beings with origins in Indian mythology that have been transposed into cultures across Southeast Asia.

In Hinduism, Garuda is a single deity, depicted in either full-bird form or part-bird and part-human, and is the king of birds and also a divine sun-bird (with physical attributes similar to an eagle's). His elder brother, Aruna, is the chariot driver for Surya the sun-god, while Garuda himself is the mount of Vishnu.

In Buddhist mythology, the garudas (sometimes also spelt garulas) are a society and race of gigantic predatory birds, sometimes also depicted as part-human in form. The garudas are intelligent, social and blessed with might and magical powers.

Thailand may be predominantly Buddhist, but it has also been strongly influenced by ancient Indian culture and Hinduism, and thus both the concept of a single deity Garuda and the race of garudas co-exist in Thai mythological beliefs.

The nagas on the other hand, are snake-like or dragon-like creatures, whose realm is the water world. (The word naga is derived from Sanskrit and is also etymologically related to the English word snake.)

In mythology nagas and garudas are perpetual enemies, although neither side is actually identified with good or evil – they are simply two groups eternally at war with each other (so occidental-leaning minds should dispel any preconception that the water serpents are necessarily the bad guys in The Sign, even though the narrative seems to be tilting in that direction).

When borrowed into popular culture (as has been done for The Sign) you may sometimes see influences of Chinese dragon and phoenix mythology (as Chinese cultural influence is also present in Thailand, and the dragon/phoenix motif of Sinitic culture nicely parallels the naga/garuda conflict pairing). And because of Garuda's association with the sun in Hinduism, and a parallel with the fiery phoenix of Western mythology, you may sometimes see garudas portrayed as aligned with the sun and/or flame as well.

There are some hints of these in The Sign. The naga that Phaya encounters while struggling underwater during the open sea training challenge in Ep.1 is very Thai in appearance (especially with the curved, forward-pointing crest, making it look much like the nagas that adorn Thai temple architecture). But the array of pronged, backward-pointing horns and trailing antennae appear to be a design nod at Chinese or Japanese dragons (East Asian dragons are also strongly identified with the watery realm, by the way). And in the graphics of the series (e.g., in the poster at the start of this post), the sky (the realm of Garuda) is suffused with sunlight and speckled with what look like drifting sparks, referencing sun and flame.

Because of the wings tattooed on his back and his time in the air force, Phaya is most likely the reincarnation of a garuda in human form (and this is why he struggled with the water challenge, as he was completely out of his element).

This is also possibly why we see him smoking early on in the series (because of the alignment of Garuda with the element of fire), and significantly he does this while Naga Tharn (irked by Yai's teasing at the dining table) seeks refuge in the washroom (which is ห้องน้ำ/hong naam in Thai, literally water room):

‌Billy also describes Phaya's character in the promo video for the series (linked here) as being "like fire, always hot and burning... quite hot-headed." 👍

Elsewhere in the same promo video (linked here), Tharn's good friend Chalothon is explicitly identified as the reincarnation of an important naga, which immediately signals that he and Phaya will be at odds in the series:

‌

The water deity that saves Phaya during the open sea challenge – Wansarat, whom he drew in his sketchbook – is not just Freen Sarocha in a fancy scuba suit. 😂

If you look at her arm and hand when she reaches out to save Phaya (before she turns into Tharn) the green scales meld into the skin of her human wrist – they're part of her natural covering, and she's really a nakhee/nagin/nagini, a female naga, appearing in human form to save Phaya.

The narrative has made it strongly obvious that Phaya is a reincarnated garuda, while Tharn is the reincarnation of Wansarat, from the lineage of the nagas. And the teaser-trailer (linked here) tells us that Phaya and Tharn/Wansarat are lovers bound to each other through time:

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However, the special promo video (released 24 November 2023) also tells us (in Heng's interview linked here) that Chalothon and Wansarat were lovers in past lives, even while it is Phaya and Wansarat (reincarnated as Tharn) who are paired by fate in The Sign.

And as the nagas and garudas are bitter enemies, the love story between Phaya and Tharn/Wansarat that transcends time and reincarnation cycles is also one that must have been (and will continue to be) forbidden by their respective naga and garuda tribes (especially since Tharn/Wansarat also used to be naga Chalothon's lover), and will undoubtedly be a source of conflict in the series. This is way beyond the Montagues and Capulets! 😍

‌

So with this as the base, I took a look at the characters' names, and those belonging to Phaya, Chalothon, Tharn and Wansarat especially also reflect their garuda/naga origins. 🤩

Phaya's name (พญา) means lord, king or leader. While it can be applied to the nagas (พญานาค/phaya naak refers to the King of the Nagas) it is also used for Garuda (the Thai national symbol) – พญาครุฑ/phaya khroot, or Lord Garuda (and is what his name references in The Sign).

(above) Billy Patchanon as Phaya

‌

Chalothon's name (ชโลทร) is rare, but it is derived from Pali/Sanskrit and means river, sea or body of water, reflecting the watery homeland of his naga persona.

(above) Heng Asavarid as Chalothon

‌

Tharn's name (ธาร) also has a connection to his water-dwelling naga roots. Tharn/ธาร is short for ลำธาร/lam thaan and means stream, brook or creek (and he is thus a naga nong to Chalothon's phi).

(above) Babe Tanatat as Tharn/Wansa

However, Tharn is his chue len. His formal name is Wansa, and is the same Wansa in Wansarat (which the narrative lets us know at Ep.1 [3‌/4] 9.35).

(above) Freen Sarocha as Wansarat

Now Wansarat is spelt วรรณษารัตน์ in the subtitles (at Ep.1 [3‌/4] 9.02), and I can't find any translation of it that makes sense in the context of The Sign's world-building.

But Wansarat's name is spelt differently elsewhere on the Internet (on Thai drama websites, and movie databases, etc. like thaimovie.org), and I assume they've all based it on official releases from Idol Factory because the spelling is consistent across these other sources – it's วรรษารัตน์ there.

And Wansa/Wansarat spelt this way also reflects the nagas' dominion over water, because วรรษา/wansa (an archaic word, referenced in an older dictionary but not newer ones) means rain or rainy season (from the Sanskrit varsha) – in Thailand the nagas are also associated with rain control, and prayers are offered to them for timely and abundant rainfall when it is needed. (The -rat part of Wansarat is a feminine ending meaning jewel or gemstone, and may echo with meaning for speakers of Indian and Sri Lankan languages, since it's derived from the Pali/Sanskrit ratna).

‌

Just out of interest (because nobody asked 😂) some of these naga/garuda elements were also present in the early episodes of KinnPorsche – the den of the Theerapanyakuls (nagas, wealthy beings of the underworld) was full of watery elements (e.g., the waterfall, the various pools, and Tankhun's carp – which in Chinese belief are the original, natal form of dragons). The -nak in Kinn's formal first name Anakin (which is not a traditional Thai name) is also a nod at the word naga. Porsche had the tattoo of a fiery phoenix on his back, and was out of his element whenever water was concerned (e.g., his failed pool challenge, the mermaid costume punishment, his misadventure with the sprinkler when he tried to smoke in the store room – water vanquishing the flame). Kinn was unable to make fire when they were trapped in the forest, despite claiming to be friends with the flame, while Porsche could immediately do it.

But I didn't see the KinnPorsche narrative taking the naga/garuda themes much further than these random nods in the earlier episodes. Maybe it did (like Kinn and Porsche could be seen acclimatizing to each other's realms more), but I just couldn't be bothered to look at the show more closely since it didn't really stand up to deeper scrutiny, and after the first few episodes I just went along for the exhilaration of the ride instead. 👍

‌

Anyway, I'm totally bedazzled by the level of world-building going on in The Sign and look forward to more from the series. If the first episode is anything to go by, I think Executive Producer Saint Suppapong may be on to something! 😍

[fakecrfan]

You might think that Gerry Keay is super goth as an expression of rebellion against a strict upbringing and that's the stereotype about alternative lifestyles, but let's think about it harder. Given his mother was an actual witch who is described as bald and covered in visible sanskrit tattoos that she put on herself in order to achieve immortality, it's probably more a sign of him adhering to familial custom.

Gerry is basically the equivalent of those Catholic girls that leave the faith but still wear long skirts and dress modestly because, "Well it's what I'm used to, I guess."

[turiya-collins]

basics

full name: Turiya Jordan Collins age: 27 birthday:  November 14th 1997 hometown: Boston, MA sign: Scorpio sun, Aries moon, Aquarius rising occupation: tattoo artist

headcanons

ok, first things first, it’s pronounced too-REE-yah.

Boston born and raised, thinks that’s a personality trait.

Named after Alice Coltrane. Tattooed the Sanskrit spelling of her name on her mom when she first started working as a tattoo artist.

Parents got divorced fast and Turiya grew up with her mom, Ellie, a semi-prominent (in her field) erotic author.

Her mom is hotter than her tbh. Definition of a milf and basically a bit of a Samantha Jones. Riya may or may not have a chip on her shoulder about that.

They have a sex swing in the apartment. Turiya used to swing on it when she was like five.

Her dad is a biker. He’s out of town a lot with his girlfriend, a fellow biker who is Turiya’s age. She has a chip on her shoulder about that too :)

Started her apprenticeship the moment she was done with high school.

During that she met and fell in love with her ex, Cody, a fellow tattoo apprentice at the time, and they dated for three years.

He was the longest, most serious relationship she’s had so far and even though it ended like six years ago the effects can still be felt.

As far as her own tattoos go, her weeb ass got the one Nami from One Piece has on her left arm.

Other tattoos tbd. Sorry, I’m dumb.

Specializes in color. Linework is her jam. For the last year and a half or so she’s been dabbling in glow in the dark tattoos. Has never felt more powerful.

[moodymisty]

So about what history major anon said. While I didn’t know that the word bearers were inspired by scythians (since I always thought based on the name of their planet, that they were inspired by 1300BC-131AD West Georgia), I’ll add on to what they were talking about and say that since the name of one of Colchis’ most important cities (Vharadesh) has the “-desh” suffix, which is derived from Sanskrit, we can surmise that the word bearers are at least a little bit based off of India too. And historically India has a lot of practices regarding tattooing, with some cultures seeing it as a way to banish spirits/bad luck, a way to accentuate a persons beauty, a form of religious devotion, or (historically in the case of the Apatani people) make someone less likely to get stolen away due to their easily-identifiable looks.

I also have to add that in the book (visage by mccormick) it specifically describes how Erebus tattoos his serfs, so maybe it’s just a really strange hobby of his and not something that’s done by the rest of the legion. Idk

Also the “Siberian Ice Maiden”, was found buried in the Ukok Plateau, which borders on modern day Kazakhstan, China and Mongolia. And based on the clothing she was buried in and the way her tattoos looked, I’d say that this could actually be a fun way to headcanon tattoos into the White Scars legion. Just imagine getting matching stylised animal tattoos with your astartes bf! Wouldn’t that be so cool?

I think no matter where we go for it, there's going to a ton of rich history or in lore references that could back up our arguments for having fun with tattoos. it's really awesome to see all this cool historial influence though, and I love the idea of getting matching tattoos with your white scars bf <3

[ukokunet]

Doumeki's Tattoo (chapter 51)

Apologies if just the title is a spoiler (I tried with the tags 😭), but I wanted to share my speculative information on Doumeki's tattoo, so folks outside discord could see it too.

As most folks know, Yakuza sometimes get elaborate tattoos called irezumi, usually on the back and arms, which mark them out as outsiders from society. I'm not going to go into the techniques and history here, that stuff is easy to find with a search of course. I'm just going to look at the content of the tattoo.

Source: my useless college degree, and my irl pals in the tattoo industry.

First I'll add: "Doumeki has a secret tattoo" was definitely something speculated by the fandom. Good job, everyone. 👍

We don't get to see a complete image of Doumeki's new ink, we only see a couple flashes under his shirt, and one larger panel of the "reveal". It's basically a swirl of motifs (you can find people posting it on the terrible-bluebird-site if you haven't seen). I think it's shown this way because Yashiro wouldn't really "see" any specific image or theme, and would only see a mishmash of typical fancy Yakuza-esque motifs. That's the point between our boys, of course, since it "proves" Doumeki is a "real" Yakuza and can never go back to "normal" life.

The motifs we see are: • a long thin snake or dragon • peacock feathers • edges of swirling robes on a (maybe feminine?) humanoid • a lotus With a traditional irezumi tattoo, the image choice is somewhat picked by the artist, and then discussed with the recipient. (I think the idea is they're supposed to be "inspired" by the "sense" of the individual.) Normally, Yakuza want images that enhance their tough-guy image, of course. Buddhist themes, along with other traditional cultural symbols like koi, sakura, and samurai, are very typical choices for tattoos.

• The lotus is a standard symbol in Buddhist images. Many Buddhist deities are depicted either sitting on or holding a lotus.

• Dragons are of course common for tattoos, and would be appropriate for a tough-guy, but we don't see any claws/horns/heads etc here, plus the body is very long and thin. Therefore I think this is a snake and not a dragon. There are various uses of Buddhist snake symbols.

• Robes would of course indicate a Buddhist deity if the rest of the theme is Buddhist, as opposed to some other humanoid like a samurai or kabuki figure. Some readers felt there was a feminine quality to the figure though maybe that's hard to tell.

• Peacock feathers are the most interesting point here. They are indeed a symbol used in Buddhist art. Naturally we all expected bird themes for Saezuru. But specifically peacock ones really narrow down the image, I think.

My conclusion is this tattoo features Kujaku Myōō (孔雀明王), known as Mahamayuri in Sanskrit. She is a Wisdom King, a class of protective deities, and she is generally depicted as female. She rides a peacock and holds a feather in one hand, and a lotus in another (and other symbolic objects). Peacocks eat snakes, and therefore symbolize protection from poison, both literal and spiritual. Kujaku Myōō is invoked for the removal of poison and pain.

Interestingly, most Wisdom Kings are depicted in "wrathful" aspect, looking like angry demons; Fudō Myōō is a popular deity in Japan and would be a very typical tattoo choice, especially for a tough-guy. But Kujaku Myōō is always shown in "merciful" aspect with a peaceful loving face.

All of this is very interesting to consider for Doumeki. It's perfectly possible that Doumeki himself would not actually be familiar with any of this symbolic meaning, and not be intending to mean anything in particular outside "I'm a dedicated Yakuza". It's also possible that Yoneda-sensei also doesn't mean anything so specific, but only picked the motifs for more vague reasons ("peacocks are birds"). We'll have to wait to see as the plot unfolds. But even as a happy accident, we have a great symbol for Doumeki, don't we?

(I'll also note, there seems to be a hiccup in the timeline. Doumeki's back was partly revealed several chapters ago and there was no tattoo. But not enough time has passed realistically to get such a large one. So either (a) they didn't know how long tattoos actually take to get, or (b) they forgot to draw it on that panel. A mistake either way, but let's just pretend we didn't see it, okay?)

[stxrrynxghts]

There is no KHMK in Ba Sing Se

(Or, the one in which Shyama is back with another fascinating show!)

This show is by Ekta Kapoor so I never had any expectations

Ft. Star-studded cast!

The show begins with .....a crying Yudhishthira? Plz, he never cried while this...whole thing-

wait, is this the game of dice

Also, Shakuni is bald

the headpiece is weird as fook

Cannot believe that they are playing this whole game in the backdrop of something that lowkey looks similar to the work done in the Taj Mahal #Mughal-Kuru bhai-bhai?

andddd a scene with the Pandavas.....CHESTS?! wtf is this asheelta going on-

Bhima is standing as if he needs to poop, tbh

ANDDD Draupadi has the 2000s lip gloss smeared across her lips.

And she has clumsily spilt sindoor. #dhumtanana

weird bg, tbh

Shakuni is cackling like a witch

actually, none of the shows show the game of dice as per the books, but still, it isn't as weird as this

Yudi is shedding crocodile tears. Pls, if u regretted this so much, you would have done something to stop this. tbh, the only acceptable version of Yudi was presented by StarBharat.

Draupadi: "Usne mujhe chhua"

"Sasur", "Bhaiya", and "Guru Ji". Also, why is Drau calling them by their names?!

"Maang ke sindoor ko bikhera hai"

Draupadi has a tattoo #do rupees ki pepsi

The Pandavas have random sanskrit stuff and OM tattooed wtf

The whole praja is watching this wtf

"Mere bhaiya ko andhi bolne waali aaj khud andhi ho gayi"

er...didn't Bhima say so many things during this whole sequence? Has he lost his voice?

Dushasan is saying that a woman is just an object for a man.

Why are the dialogues that belong to Karna given to Dushasan?

Polyandry was not unheard of, tbh.

"Tu Panchali nahi, tu Pehli hai" someone explain me the meaning of this dialogue T-T

Draupadi wasn't the first to be married to multiple men. Ever heard of the Ashwini Kumars and their wife Usha?

"Rajshahi vastra" eh....you mean the chiffon saree she is draped in? No seriously, it is a saree with 0 work done on it-

Yada Yada the trap remix

Duryodhan is giving the order to disrobe Draupadi. Oh God.

ANDD KRISHNA'S THEME SONG IS....OM JAI JAGDISH HARE?!

A saree is coming out of the sudarshan chakra, and this saree shall cover Draupadi.

Why was she screeching so much? My ears are goners.

*Sigh* we end with Vyasa contemplating suicide and some rishi (is that Brahma?!) stopping him

[epraim1992]

The Abductor in Wano is Vegapunk

I have a theory that the person abducting people in Yamato's cover story is the "Zero" of the Numbers and Vegapunk's 7th Satellite.

I think he will resemble Yamato's hannya mask for a couple of reasons.

I think it is foreshadowed by Sukiyaki calling Oden a yokai for infiltrating a mountain temple and abducting women for his own personal harem.

I think it will play into the gag of characters describing others with their own features.

The kidnapper is mostly targeting women which I think is connected to the Oden harem due to the similarities.

Yamato is walking in Oden's footsteps and this is part of his past.

I think it's plausible for their to be a "zero" number. Numbered theme groups tend to have a zero. Vegapunk turned Kuma into PX-0.

Kaido's crew is playing card theme and The Fool is number 0 in tarot cards which appeared through Hawkins who joined Kaido.

I think Zero is the silhouette Number in Vegapunk's flashback with Clover. A new dragon was revealed which I think hints at a new Number.

According to Big Mom the Numbers are failures it was not stated why but the popular fan consensus is it's because of their low intelligence.

I think Vegapunk's fix was to augment the Numbers with his own blood to pass on his intelligence. I think he tried it on "Zero" and thought it was a failure. I think that is another reason why he will resemble Yamato's hannya mask because Japanese phonetic transcription of the Sanskrit word prajñā which means wisdom. I think a hint he has Vegapunk's genius.

I think there are hints to this. Usopp humorously asked if he was Vegapunk when he found out about the Satellites which I think is foreshadowing there is one more Satellite.

Luffy called Vegapunk a ninja when he found out he cloned himself which I think hints he has a clone there.

Orochi demanded Vegapunk in exchange for weapons which turned out to be a double irony because of the Satellites and order to kill them all.

I think this is another hint since Orochi could grow 7 more heads which I think means there is one more Vegapunk.

I think "Zero" was in contact with Vegapunk because he knew about the second dragon in Wano. Vegapunk was about to be assassinated so it seems like their would be no reason to keep Vegapunk in the loop about it.

Also Vegapunk's technology that allows objects to eat Devil Fruits somehow got into the hands of Sukiyaki.

I think "Zero" might be the one responsible for the Marys. They are a surveillance unit that utilizes cyborg animals which is a hallmark of Vegapunk. The Marys use eye face mask which seem inspired by the eye tattoo of Who's-Who.

Which is similar to Vegapunk basing and naming the Pacifistas after Kuma. Also Kuma and Who's-Who have a small connection due to both being imprisoned by the World Government and idolizing Nika.

There is Orochi's horse Gifters who were uncharacteristically normal looking. I think "Zero" perfected them.

As to why he is normal sized I think he developed a method to shrinking himself. Vegapunk found a way to reduce the size of the Punk Hazard children.

We know Minatomo was also kidnapped.

Minatomo is a master carpenter I think like Vegapunk Zero needs more helpers to make his ideas come to fruition. I think that is why kidnapping people.

I'm guessing at the end of Yamato's cover story that Zero will heal those who ate failed SMILE fruits.

[atiny-for-life]

Ateez's Full Storyline Explained - Part 16

Masterlist

Halazia (Unnamed World)

I'd first like to say that all the information I’m referencing here comes from the MV, Prologue and Epilogue, Hongjoong’s Q&A shorts and the MV reaction video

In short: I'm just theorizing here but let's get going

First: the name "Halazia" - it's just a combination of "Hala" from Hala Hala (which can be translated from Sanskrit to 'black mass' or 'time puzzle') and "zia" which refers to the sun -> "Be the light, oh Halazia"

looking it up, you'll find some information about the Pueblo of Zia where a very specific symbol has been used for hundreds of years among the indigenous people to represent the sun that looks like this:

You'll now also find this symbol on the flag of New Mexico but the actual natives whose ancestors created and passed it down didn't consent to this and now there's a lot of (very justified) debate regarding intellectual property - this part has nothing to do with the Ateez lore, I just thought it was interesting and important to share in case anyone was thinking of getting this symbol tattooed or sth

Theory no 1 (basically confirmed by Hongjoong in his short lore Q&A vid): we're dealing with neither Ateez, nor the Black Pirates here

The main indicator to me was the lack of Mingi's "Fix on" and Hongjoongs lil giggles before their respective rap parts (which had previously been a constant, regardless of whether they were acting as Ateez or the Black Pirates)

But aside from that, it also seems like Yunho is the leader of this group with Hongjoong being his right-hand man as opposed to the other way around (and we get to see Yeosang’s birthmark which was previously always covered)

We do still see Hongjoong wearing an armband with the Cromer logo on it - so maybe it's more like Yunho's the public-facing head of the group while Hongjoong's in charge behind the scenes

Alternate reality-wise, we're in one very close to the Z-World where the Revolution has already ended but not quite so successfully, as we can see by the city up in smoke and rubble in the background

Since we've got Yunho sitting inside a ginormous, shattered Cromer, we can assume either (A) these guys themselves have already traveled through time and alternate realities to get here (which would align with what we see in the iconic Mnet livestage with the red and black outfits) and are now stuck until they found another one to take them back home - wherever that home may be or (B) this entire room is the remainder of the Black Pirates' hideout and the Cromer was destroyed by one of them before they were captured so it wouldn't fall into the hands of the government (which could mean one of them escaped to another reality)

Side-note: We've seen such a gravitational anomaly before during Diary Film after Hongjoong first received the Cromer in the A-World and was alone in the Ateez hideout

Side-note 2: You can find my theory on why a Cromer may be intentionall shattered by someone who understands its powers here)

Going by the lyrics, they've already been here long before the Revolution and used to live as regular citizens in Strictland before they had their microchips removed by the Black Pirates - I'm largely basing that on the iconic "No more, keep control" and "No more, keep your soul" -> they want to be in charge of their own lives, to feel and have free thought as opposed to the mindless drones the chips had forced them to be

Another thing worthy of noting is that, as the bell rings, we can see Seonghwa glitch which could have several meanings: they've got hologram technology which helps them make public appearances in the daytime more safely OR (given the ominous vibes of the sound and the association with the bell) they're either not fully human (which would also explain the post-production added CGI glint we see in Jongho's eye at two separate points in the MV) or otherwise existing in this world on borrowed time.

Alternatively, the bell could also indicate that our protaganists are more powerful at certain points in time and this is a visualization of that power. As the moon phases affect the Cromer, they may also affect them.

Regarding the Black Pirate outfits we're seeing throughout the video: our protagonists here were freed by them, alongside all the other people we get to see in the plaza and abandoned mall, but without Ateez's help, they didn't manage to stay undetected so the government either captured or straight-up murdered them

Left behind and without guidance while everyone is praying for the Black Pirates return (see: the Prologue), our protagonists have now stepped up and are rebuilding the movement - though whether they're burning the Black Pirates' outfits as a funeral ritual, out of frustration and anger due to feeling abandoned... or because the tattered clothes were strung up that way by the government to scare off further acts of rebellion Vlad-the-Impaler style which would make this a symbol of defiance, is unclear

Regardless, many of the other citizens who were freed seem willing to join their cause and their current mission seems to be to take down this anti-gravity orb

I can only make a rather baseless guess as to what the purpose of these things is but since it's actively rising here, it seems to be something newly installed that's meant to rise above city-level

The central government presumably built and installed it so maybe it can send out some kind of pulse or signal to regain control over the population - after all, the chips seem to have only had the link cut but weren't removed so re-establishing the link could be possible as long as the hardware wasn't fully fried (which would've probably needed harsher, more painful for the skin interference but what the heck do I know about this world's technological advances)

Either way, to me, that would explain both the fear in the lyrics about returning to their prior state of being pre-awakening, as well as why San was so ready to risk it all to break this thing

Either way, we've got Yeosang bringing in the chains to tie this thing up

Based on the skyline compared to the one from the prologue, it seems like the thick smoke pillars might be originating from the crash sites of the other orbs which would mean they already brought down all the other ones successfully and have now reached their last stop

They wrap the chains around the orb, tie it up all nice and neatly (which must've been a pain in the ass to do since that thing is floating in mid air, makes lightweight shit in its vicinity float and is well, the shape of a super smooth ball) and all start pulling together up until everyone seemingly leaves San to finish the job by himself

To me, there could be multiple reasons for this: (1) it was always part of the plan (highly unlikely imo), (2) everyone but San lost hope this was gonna work out since they're already exhausted af from doing this several times before and don't seem to have made all that much progress and maybe they think they've already done enough since this is seemingly the last orb left, (3) San convinced everyone to leave as they were working/everyone but him got too scared to continue because Android Guardians or another government entity were underway and would've killed or captured them if they were caught

Either way, it all ends with the orb evaporating the moment it collides with San as if his existence somehow canceled out the orb's. While this is very likely to be a creative decision since no one wants to see this human embodiment of sunshine get crushed to death, it could also mean San is still alive if he possesses abilities that go beyond a regular human's or if the orb isn't made up of regular matter/material.

Moving on to the Prologue and Epilogue:

Aside from what I already covered, there are also quite a few other things I want to bring up regarding what we get to see in these two bonus videos, starting with the numbers behind Hongjoong in the Prologue here (which were also pointed out by him in the Making Of video)

You can put these numbers (22152984) and decode them with A1Z26 in which case you'd get this (yes, I still use the Gravity Falls: Break the Code website for this kinda stuff - I refuse to be judged for it):

While this is rather nonsensical, it is quite close to "Bluebird" which would fit the lyrics but it's still just a lil bit unsatisfying since, properly encoded, it should have been "2-12-21-5-2-9-18-4", meaning they forgot a "1" twice.

Regardless, I couldn't find anything better - it can't be coordinates, there's no cypher like this for Hangul that I could find, and using Base64 only gets you "my8" which doesn't make too much sense but Ateez are 8 members so that's nice, I guess.

The first thing that pops up in my search results when I look up the numbers is "Buy 22152984 from Oxygen Electronics" by the way - shout out to life support machine parts you can order online (no affiliation, though I do hope they're an ethical company)

Regarding the numbers, I'll leave it at that for now but if I ever find something that makes more sense, I'll update this!

Ah yes, the mysterious blonde person that pops up toward the end of the Prologue and disappears in the blink of an eye as someone walks past

Seonghwa is the only one who takes note of them and, based on his neutral expression, it doesn't seem to be the first time he's seen them

Are they the Witness? I do think so but we'll come back to it in a moment.

Skipping ahead to the Prologue uploaded yesterday, we're opening with a shot of the bluebird we've already gotten to see in the Prologue and which has also been referenced in the lyrics - it's a symbol of reclaiming freedom, of escaping your shackles, of finding your voice and using it. They've now made it. They've chosen freedom. They've chosen to fight.

The bird's path now guides Seonghwa through the abandoned mall where the orb was brought down and San was sacrificed. It whistles a lil tune and disappears near a lone white-clad figure we've seen before.

Last seen among a small group on the rooftop at the end of the MV, our blondie stands by themselves again, though the others aren't far as we'll soon see

Since the mission is now over, Seonghwa let's his curiosity win and follows the figure up a dark staircase, letting his flashlight guide him

He finds the group of four from the rooftop standing in a dark room against the backdrop of the smoking skyline behind the large windows - they were waiting for him

A white flash, rolling thunder and they're gone. Just like after Yeosang broke the Cromer, we also got to witness the Cromer's powers here. This marks the third Cromer, meaning these four are from yet another reality and they've now become Witnesses of our protagonists' achievements.

They also left behind a departing gift: a silver bracelet engraved with the words "Be Free"

Like A-World's Seonghwa, it seems the blonde Witness has also gotten inspired by their world's version of the dancing girl (whom I theorize to be Left Eye's daughter) and they've now left behind this bracelet, hoping it'll inspire this world's Seonghwa the way it inspired them

[shyjusticewarrior]

Gotham Incorrect Quotes Pt 136

Barbara: *showing off new tattoo*

Ed: Very sexy.

Oswald: Very nice.

Barbara: Yeah. Well, it's sanskrit for "mother" and Babs is gonna get one that says "daughter."

Barbara Lee: Well...

Barbara: Well what?

Barbara Lee: It's just, um, I- I'm not totally sure I'm not bailing?

Barbara: No, no you're not. Barbara Lee, if you don't get "daughter" it's gonna look like I did this for my mother, and then I'm gonna have to saw my leg off.

Lee: Or you could just add to it. Hey, what's sanskrit for "issues?"