"Are You Going To Ride Your Own Horse At All Anymore?"

#creating

I remember watching this interview of Hajime Isayama where he said that, when he presented the story of Attack on Titan to its current publishers, he was at the lowest possible point of self-esteem in his life, about himself and about his work, so much so that he was on the brink of giving it all up. It marked me so much because… I was watching this interview precisely because I deeply admired this man’s artistic work. I could not fathom that he would have ever doubted it himself.

It reminded me that you can only trust the work. It really doesn’t matter what your opinion of yourself or your abilities as a creator is. It is entirely irrelevant, even. Worse: it gets in the way of creation. When you focus too much on it, you stop trying and doing. And if there is one thing that cannot be doubted, it is that nothing is achieved without trying and doing. Nothing bad and nothing good.

So really, as long as the desire to create burns your insides and keeps you awake at night and makes your fingers shiver from the need to grab a pen or a brush, there is only one option: keep making. Doubt won’t ever disappear. Creating shall remain this uneasy, vertiginous activity, keeping you on the brink of the abyss.

Follow your guts and have faith in the process. Trust that the work needs to be done, no matter the whims of self-confidence. At the end of the day, your creation may have sprung out of your mind and your knowledge, your experiences and your emotions, your time and your dedication, but it is not you. It may be better; it may be worse; but it is a thing of its own that needs to be done and that only you can do.

In Philippine Mythology, Apolaki, the son of the chief of the gods Bathala, was the god of the sun, wisdom, and war. 

 It was said that when the spanish colonizers arrived, Apolaki descended from his heavenly abode to scold the Tagalogs for welcoming such men.

He is the brother of the moon goddess Mayari, who rules the night sky and the earth as his equal.

Jujutsu kaisen fanfic centred around the Philippines

hindi na maliligaw - 1st chapter posted! 

Summary:

Childhood friends, Megumi, Nobara and Yuji, reunite in the Philippines years after Yuji disappears from their lives.

OR

Nanami and Haibara retire to the Philippines. Gojo and Geto are insistent on bringing their kids along to visit them.

85 vs 139

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.

mythology family ♥︎ hanan for @gisabarrovv​

in tagalog mythology, hanan is the goddess of morning, dawn, child birth and new beginnings. she is one of the three demigod daughters of bathalang, the creator of the universe. hanan is the sister of mayari (goddess of the moon), and tala (goddess of the stars).

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.

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

+++++++

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

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.

Trese, as a story that features various mythological creatures from the Philippines, may give the impression that all these beings belong to only one group. That's not how it is. For one, Ibu and Talagbusao are not from the same pantheon.

This book (PDF) is an introduction to Philippine folk spirituality and religion.

Here's an excerpt relevant to the series.

[Edit 6/14/2021] Just checked. Yep, this is definitely one of Budjette Tan's references. From the Trese: Mass Murders (Visprint ed) afterword:

While doing research for Trese's next villain, I read about the Talagbusao, the god of war, in "The Soul Book" and he sounded like a formidable foe. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me that the Kambal needed to be more powerful than any aswang or enkanto.

Transcription:

Assistant Deities and Powers

Below the Lord of the Upper Sky is a host of anitos or diwatas, many of whom can do as they please the more distant they are from him. According to Barton, who studied the Ifugao spirit world (1946), these spirits are believed to be immortal, to change form at will, to become invisible, and to transport themselves quickly through space. There are other attributes associated with these powerful spirits. While they can diagnose and cure illness, they can afflict men with misfortune, ill-luck, disease. They can recover a soul if it has been carried off, but they can also coax away a person's soul. Though they prevent the dead from molesting the living, they too cause death. Indeed they can devour parts of the living human body. Men's minds they influence to suggest courses of conduct, such as payment of debt without losing face; passions they dampen so that men will not fight during a celebration; and stomachs they tie to dull the appetite for food and drink. Those who propitiate them know that these invisible presences can increase rice even after it has been stored in the granary, ward off trespassers, make the hunt safe, and bring victory in battle.

Powerful spirits roughly divide into three categories: ancestor spirits, nature spirits, guardian spirits.

Spirits of Ancestral Heroes

Some ancestors, particularly those who were outstanding in farming, hunting, warfare and the arts, acquired more and more powers in the memory of their descendants as time went on. They became fabulous beings. The more illustrious hero-spirits arc remembered in the great epics. Others arc remembered as culture heroes who taught their people new skills.

Some ancestral heroes (Cole 1916; de los Reyes 1909):

Lumabat - first Bagobo mortal to attain the Skyworld (Cole 1916).

Handiong - the hero of the Bikol epic who freed the land from the ravages of wild animals, brought Bikolanos rice, and planted the fruits.

Lumawig - taught the Bontok headhunting, agriculture, the art of building council houses and men's dwellings, and a code of ethics.

Bantugan - the charming, indestructible, much-wedded hero who could repulse any invasion. His cult probably began when the Maranaws were still animist.

Nature Spirits

Not all ancestral spirits become deified. Many remain nameless spirits residing in dark majestic trees and in the deep woods.

Nature Spirits reside in the natural environment, such as trees, rocks, crags, rivers and volcanoes. Humanlike, but much more powerful, these unseen beings are credited with feelings and sensibilities. Accordingly they may be offended and thus cause harm, or they may be propitiated and their friendship gained. Some spirits are represented as being sensitive to a fault as many Filipinos are when confronted with an unfamiliar or unpleasant situation. People do create spirits according to their likeness. On the other hand Frank Lynch, the anthropologist, says that the Filipino's care in handling interpersonal relations may in fact be the result rather than the cause of this belief in an environment filled with sensitive spirits (1970). In moving about, he takes care not to displease the many invisibles who could punish him.

Nature spirits can be either malevolent or beneficent. As in Philippine society as a whole, it all depends on how you deal with them. If you ignore them and hurt their dignity, they can make you sick; however, if you acknowledge them and ask permission to pass by and give them offerings on occasion, then they will reward you.

Some nature spirits:

The Lord of the Mound - spirit of an old man who lives in a termite mound. Throughout prehistoric Southeast Asia, the earth mound was a locus of power probably because of its phallic shape. "Tabi, tabi po baka kayo mabunggo" (Excuse me, please, lest I bump you) is the polite way to pass one of these inhabited hills. Though invisible, the nuno can be grazed and thus retaliate with a fever or skin rashes.

The Tree Dwellers - Spirits reportedly resided in trees. Thus the Mandayas, who are the largest ethnic group in southwestern Mindanao, believe that tagbanuwa and tagamaling are spirits who dwell in caves and balete trees. The belief persists to this day even among Christian Filipinos. The Ilokano pugot and the Tagalog kapre are gigantic, cigar-smoking black spirits who sit in deserted houses and up a balete or banyan tree with feet dangling to the ground. They can, however, assume any size they want including that of an infant. Engkantos also dwell in trees. But the term itself and the description of them as tall, fair-skinned and light-haired beings with high-bridged noses is post-hispanic. Engkantos, male or female, sometimes fall in love with mortals and lavish gifts on them (Ramos 1971).

The Babes in the Woods- probably the souls of foetuses or dead children. They arc called by the Ilokanos kibaan. The creature is a foot high, dwells in the fields, can be scalded with boiling water, and even die. The kibaan gift friends with gold, a cloak that confers invisibility and a large cup of coconut which is inexhaustible. To those who throw hot water at them, the kibaan scatter powder which produces a disagreeable affliction (de los Reyes 1909). Closely related is the Tagalog patianak which wails in the forest, like a baby, but inflicts harm. Common in pre-Christian times was the practice of exposing infirm deformed babies in the fields and forests (Alcina 1960). Their heart-wrenching wailing must have given rise to these beliefs.

The Bloodthirsty and Implacable

Among traditional Filipinos, the embodiment of evil is a being that is neither fully human nor fully animal. It stands upright like human beings and has a face; but it preys on human flesh and makes the living sick so that when they die there is carrion for food. Unlike the devil of the Judaeo-Christian-Moslem tradition, this being does not harm the soul by tempting it to sin. The death it causes is physical rather than spiritual. Other spirits can be negotiated with: offerings and kind words win their toleration if not help. It is not possible to do so with these implacable beings. Thus people fear them the most.

The busaw feared by the Bagobos of Davao, people the air, the mountains and the forest. They are limitless in number. Most malignant is the busaw called tigbanua. One eye gapes in the middle of the forehead; a hooked chin two spans long upturns to catch the drops of blood that drip from the mouth; and coarse black hair bristles on the body (Benedict 1916). It frequents graves, empty houses and solitary mountain trails. Indeed it may make an appearance at any place outside the safety of one's home.

Guardian Spirits

They are believed to preside over specific human activities such as birth, marriage, and death; over hunting, fishing, farming and fighting. Beneficent and powerful, guardian spirits generally rule from the sky; some, however, stay in their areas of responsibility on earth or in the underworld.

SOME GUARDIAN GODS

ON THE FARM

lkapati- Tagalog goddess of fertility. guardian anito of agriculture

Magbangal - Bukidnon planter god who became the constellation that appears to signal the start of the planting season

Damolag - an anito of the early Zambals who protects the fruiting rice from winds and typhoons

Lakan-bakod - Tagalog guardian god of the fruits of the earth who dwells m certam kinds of plants used as fences. Some anitos carry the title "Lakan" or Prince They could have been deified kinglets

Pamahandi - protector of carabaos and horses of the Bukidnon.

WHEN FISHING

Amansinaya - anito of fishermen of the ancient Tagalogs to whom they offer their first catch. Hence the term pa-sinaya ("for Sinaya") still used today. Following the theory of god-making, Amansinaya could be the soul of a maiden who was drowned and became an anito of the water.

Libtakan- god of sunrise. sunset and good weather of the Manobo.

Makabosog - a merciful diwata of the Bisayans who provides food for the hungry. (He was once a chief in the Araut River on the coast of Panay)

IN THE FORESTS

Amani kable - ancient Tagalog anito of hunters.

Makaboteng - Tinggian spirit guardian of deer and wild hogs.

WHEN REARING A FAMILY

Mingan - goddess of the early Pampangos mate of the god Suku (Consorts of the gods fall under the " guardian" category)

Katambay - guardian anito for individuals, a kind of inborn guardian angel of the Bicols.

Malimbung - a kind of Aphrodite of the Bagobos This goddess made man crave for sexual satisfaction

Tagbibi- diwata protector of children of the mountain tribes of Mindanao

WHILE AT WAR

Mandarangan and Darago - Bagobo god and goddess of war Mandarangan is believed to reside in the crater of Apo Volcano on a throne of fire and blood

Talagbusao - the uncontrollable Bukidnon god of war who takes the form of a warrior with big red eyes wearing a red garment. This deity can enter a mortal warnor's body and make him fight fiercely to avenge a wrong. But Talagbusao can also drive him to insanity by incessant demand for the blood of pigs, fowls and humans.

AT DEATH

Masiken - guardian of the underworld of the lgorots, whose followers have tails

lbu - queen of the Manobo underworld whose abode is down below at the pillars of the world.

This information came from the following sources: Jocano 1969; de los Reyes 1909; Garvan 1931; Garvan 1941; Cole 1922; Benedict 1916; Dadole 1989; Mallari-Wilson 1968

--

Demetrio, F. R., Cordero-Fernando, G. and Zialcita, F. N. (1991). The soul book. GCF Books.