#yucatec mayan

[sol-nocturno]

Josué Maychi on teaching Maya to the Wakanda Forever cast and a word play in one of Namor's lines.

The actor told us about a word play that only Maya speakers can understand. ---spoiler ahead--- “There is a phrase that Namor says that I had to translate that goes: 'Máansa'ab u nej miis tin wich' which in Spanish literally means 'They passed the cat's tail in front of my face with the hope of an alliance'. If you see cats, jaguars or panthers wag their tails when they go hunting because it is a way of hypnotizing their prey, so that image is what happened to Namor, that someone did that to him with their tail. I proposed it to the director and he loved it, because it refers to the panther that warned Namor, ” he said. Josué Maychi told us that in English the phrase was translated as: "I was blinded with the hope of an alliance", which in Maya metaphorically means that someone was deceived, since in Spanish or English it is not literal.

Compillation of Namor's lines in Yucatec Mayan In the interview for Cultura Colectiva, Josué Maychi, who plays the shaman in Black Panther : Wakanda Forever, spoke about his experience in the film in which at the same time, he collaborated as the Yucatec Maya coach for Mabel Cadena and Tenoch Huerta, every day for a period of seven months. “No one knew anything about Maya and my first approach with the actors was to ask them if they could pronounce the consonants and sounds that do not exist in Spanish, English or other languages, and I was very happy to discover that they could pronounce them” he commented.

How was the process of teaching Maya? “We had sessions by Zoom and then in Atlantla we had scheduled meetings because I needed to listen to them. The first thing I taught them was the sound of the words, because in Maya there are five types of vowels that have to do with time, and if if they prolongued (a vowel) it can mean one thing or another. I asked them to imagine their lines as a melody and also gave them recorded audios to listen to, read and even write. For example, Mabel created her own way of writing, she created her own writing to have a personal approach to the language, ” he said.

Do you remember any funny anecdote? “There is a phrase that we say in the film that is Líik’ik Talokan, (there's Wakanda Forever) which is said by the people of Wakanda. Once, Álex Livinalli wrote to me and asked what we could say for the world we were creating, about the new universe and in Maya. I thought about it and thought it might be that phrase, which means something like 'Long live Talokan' or 'Rise Talokan'. I proposed it to them, they proposed it to the production, they loved it and it was integrated into the script, ” he said. Finally, the actor pointed out that the representation of indigenous languages ​​IS very important to him and mentioned that there are Mayan people who have proudly written him messages of gratitude, since they understood what they saw on the big screen.

[redwitchredspeedster]

A moment of appreciation from an anthropology student regarding BP2: Wakanda Forever…

After the disaster that was The Eternals trying to recreate Tenochtitlan as a weirdly small looking RAINFOREST settlement (did they mix up the Aztecs/Mexica and Maya??? Wtf) with only one temple and no lake or canals in sight, I was so thrilled to see Namor’s Maya community be far more accurately depicted as being located in the Yucatan. The inclusion of Chaac and their prayers to him mirroring ancient Wakandan’s prayers to Bast and her gift was a very nice parallel that showed the similarities between Namor and Shuri before showing the stark differences between them in how Namor murdered the Catholic priests (honestly cannot blame him though).

Honestly there is so much I could say about Namor and how well the movie handled him and the Talokans. The traditional indigenous clothing, the use of jade (especially in Namor’s jewelry), the rainforest setting, the involvement of underwater caves, Chaac, the smallpox that the conquistadors brought with them when they colonized Mesoamerica, Namor’s very real rage towards the Spaniards for what they did to his people, the depiction of the enslavement of other Maya… it was so well done. Even Namor’s winged feet resembling hummingbird wings felt like a reference to how many Mesoamerican cultures believe hummingbirds to be connected to their most important and powerful deities. I give the movie a million thumbs up for those accuracies alone.

PS: I do still adore Eternals, but those inaccuracies… no thank you ma’am

[lemonmeringueprincess]

Namor Aesthetic Board

Holy shit... I just made my very first aesthetic/ character moodboard. Damn.. that means you, aguapapi, are even more special than cap daddy. Move over nomad steve, there’s a new boi in town 😌.

P.S: those of you who encounter this post and decide to repost, like or reblog, i would like to thank you so so much for doing so! Sending you virtual loves and hugs. Should I do more? 

[feasibilities]

K'uk'ulkan when he’s threatened/enraged Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) Directed by Ryan Coogler

[wakandaiscoming]

After viewing Wakanda Forever again, I think Namor says his catch phrase "Imperius Rex" twice. I could be wrong. But he yells something before throwing the water bombs at Ramonda and the caption just says "speaking Mayan" but I think it's the same as at the end with Shuri.

Can anyone who speaks Yucatec Maya confirm or deny?

[silveragelovechild]

Jonathan Majors has been dropped by Marvel Studios. At least they waited until the results of his trial.

I’m curious about the status of Tenoch Huerta. He was accused of misconduct back in June. Although the case isn’t criminal (at this point) it puts doubt whether he’ll appear as Namor in the MCU again. (As far as I know, Marvel hasn’t announce whether the character will appear in future films. That’s a shame because I thought the his Yucatec Mayan origins were an interesting twist.)

[tangerineseed]

.☀️🌙.

[amanita-muscaria-lover]

Let's talk about how Namor actually looks badass in Wakanda Forever. Talk about a glow up.

[iamherevnv]

About the Indigenous representation in Wakanda Forever...

[moider-time]

Do you know of any english to yucatec translators that are accurate? I'm sad they don't show the actual Mayan words being said in wakanda forever.

No I don't. Sorry

[ex1st]

Xunantunich Mayan Ruins

[gxrlcinema]

Okay so Yucatec Maya is a really cool and I'm glad I'm researching it to use in my Namor fic but it does borrow a lot from Spanish and I keep trying to find ways to say things that aren't Spanish words because Namor would obviously speak a pre-Spanish version of it.

Anyways if someone has advice on a way to say "storyteller" in any Mayan language that doesn't use Spanish I'd appreciate it.

(I have tried literally saying "story person" because that's what I've had to do for other words but when I reverse translate it it says "images of history", so I'm clearly missing something culturally that I need to understand in order to find the best option).

[seasonofthebxtch]

That entire temple sacrifice scene? Terrifying. And not just because of the heart and head thing.

[spiritofjaguarshamans]

[dontlikeit-toobad]

Chichen Itza: Archaeologists discover scoreboard for ancient Maya ball game

Awesome.

[delulu--lulu]

The two of Azusa and Henry stroll down to the edge of the bridge. The waves crash on the shore and she knows Xiomara and Aapo will be arriving soon. 

Before she knows it, the water stirs and Xiomara emerges from the water with her brother. She walks up to Azusa and hugs her tight. “Ma’lob chi’inil K’iin. Did you sleep well, guys?” She asks.

“Yes, we did… I just wanted you to meet my friend.” Azusa motions over to Henry who is taking in their whole features. He walks over to her, towering over her. 

“Pleasure.” Henry says, taking her hand placing a kiss upon it. 

“Pleasure is mine.” Xiomara nods. Azusa’s eyebrows furrow a tiny bit but quickly go back to normal when Xiomara returns to her. “Will you come with us now?” Xiomara asks her. “I will show Henry to come as well, Aapo will watch him to be safe.”

Azusa nods and walks back to Xiomara and agrees to let her take the both to her world. Xiomara speaks in her native language to Aapo and then turns back to her, she leads her into the water. 

Azusa’s nervous, she senses, but her eyes tell her to trust her. Azusa glances over at Henry and sees Aapo helping Henry as they submerge into the water. 

“Are you ready?” Xiomara asks Azusa. She hesitates a moment before nodding at her. She wraps her arm around her and they submerge down into the cold water.

They stop and Azusa stares at her in confusion until she feels Xiomara’s lips on hers. Azusa then feels air being pushed into her mouth. 

It hits her. 

That’s how she gives her air. She sees the same thing being done to Henry by Aapo and he’s completely dumbfounded after. 

They reach a certain depth and Azusa starts to feel the pressure of the water built up and swirl around them, Xiomara swims back to Azusa holding her tightly. She lets them both get sucked in and Azusa closes her eyes and holds onto Xiomara with all of her might. She expects Henry to be doing the same with Aapo. Before Azusa’s shot into complete darkness and her grip somehow tights more.

“I am not going to leave you, I've got you.” Xiomara assures her. She frantically looks around trying to find Henry but it is too dark to see. “He’s safe.” She tells her. “I see Aapo and he has him.” She swims Azusa all further out until she can see and she suddenly shrieks as a huge whale swims overhead. 

“Wow…” Henry says, as he swims up next to her, Aapo on the other side of him. Azusa gazes out into the distance and sees The Deep. Their world.

They take Henry and Azusa through The Deep, civilians greeting and swimming up to them to see what’s going on. They always bow to their prince and princess and well Azusa’s impressed by their royalty manner in which they’re acting and being addressed. Xiomara catches Azusa staring and smiles, taking her hand and motioning for Aapo to follow with Henry. Azusa is in awe of the beautiful underwater nation and its inhabitants. Xiomara and Aapo watch as Azusa and Henry delight in the curious onlookers who study and welcome them.

They reach an underwater cavern where Azusa and Henry are able to breathe without a moon breath and Aapo orders his guards to make sure they are both comfortable and given a change of clothes, putting them in proper Water moon garments. However, Azusa’s seems a bit more… royal? Aspects matching Xiomara’s, adorned with gold, beads and earrings matching hers as well.

Xiomara and Aapo walk back in as Henry’s helping Azusa and he nudges her to the side for him to finish looping the buttons in her top. He brushes his fingers lightly on her skin and she tenses against his touch. Xiomara smiles and looks at Aapo. He says something they don’t understand in Yucatan.

“You’re looking beautiful.” Henry says taking Azusa in. 

Xiomara walks in with red paint. “I promise it won’t do anything to you, it's just paint.” She smiles and applies the paint to Azusa’s face, dotting her cheeks and brow bone. “Royalty.” She says once she finishes. She bows to her. 

“Why did you bow to me...?” Azusa questions, going into her hug. 

“You are the queen of Aqua, we must show the same respect to you as others do for me. They all must.” 

“Xiomara…” Azusa starts to say but she’s already leading her out of the cavern.