PIGILAN NINYO AKO sorry fam
(my take on Sidapa, the god of Death who resides on Mt. Madia-as)
Any living thing (sans those of the realm of the divine (e.g. gods, spirits, creatures of magic) and certain plants bc there are spirits living in them) withers when they touch him.
It’s why he’s so cautious and jittery all the time especially when surrounded by that much life.
The mountain’s inhabitants, the ones who know him for his true nature are super kind to him.
They talk to him. They keep a good distance from him (normally a foot away, close enough to be intimate but far enough to be safe) so he can be comfortable. The only ones capable of touching him are the spirits, but even then, it is a rule that he has to be the one to touch them first. They can’t touch him out of no where or else.
The animals love him. They just do. He’s so sweet to them, even if he can’t touch them.
Awww, you hungry? Alright, lemme ask some of the diwatas to give you some fruits.
The crocodiles are so restless today, I wonder– Oh! There’s a dead tree in the way of the river I’m so sorry, ok let me move it aside for you.
You’re about to give birth! How wonderful! … D-Do you m-mind if I’m there? When it happens? Or after? I’d love to meet your new born– Really? Oh, thank you.
Dork.
He’s big and broody and broad shouldered but he tries so hard not to touch anything look at this small precious child.
He sleeps all curled up too, wrapped in his own arms because he’s too afraid that at night he might reach out to something and make it wither accidentally.
For a god of Death he revels way too much in life. He’s so amazed by everything. By flowers and by silver fishes in the stream. By the trees and the sweet smell of fruits in the summer. By the ground and the little insects crawling on it.
He adores everything, but he can never be part of anything. Poor baby child.
Sometimes, children come into the mountain and get lost.
He always makes sure that they find their way home. And if he knows the child came into the mountain bc they were running away from something, he looks for a better home for them.
Just think of a little tribe maybe sa foot of the mountain just going “Quit dumping kids on us!”
… one time, somebody abandoned their baby up there.
When he found out Sidapa lay beside it, a foot away, out of reach, with his hands clenched into light fists held against his chest.
The child didn’t know Sidapa. But it did giggle a lot when Sidapa spoke gently to it, trying to give it some moments of happiness before the inevitable.
When it did die he cried. Gave the poor thing a proper burial.
He was inconsolable for days after that.
The spirits baby him. They always want him to smile. When he’s feeling down, they make flowers bloom and the animals will follow their lead, prancing about and showing him the things they find most beautiful.
Sometimes, they even give him portions of their fruits, or maybe shiny things they find around the forest floor.
He always eats the fruits. And the gifts? He either fashions into jewelry or he keeps in a special place.
When he fell in love with the moons he was really shy in asking the spirits and the mermaids to help “woo” them.
They teased him about it, but they couldn’t keep it up for too long because teasing Sidapa is cruel and uncalled for.
So they helped him woo them.
Except really, it wasn’t wooing. He just wanted the moons to be happy. Because the flowers and the siren songs made him happy so he wanted the moons to see them and be happy too.
… When Bulan came down after the whole fiasco with Bakunawa Sidapa was both giddy and nervous.
Bulan didn’t know about the one foot away rule. Plus, he’s kinda touchy, seeing as he had siblings who loved to hug so the first time he touched Sidapa–
which he did because he caught Sidapa smiling at a spirit busy blooming the flowers around him and he didn’t notice Bulan creeping lightly behind him until the boy moon touched his shoulder
– Sidapa jumped and began to shake, curling into himself. Oh, did the spirits have a field day after that.
It took awhile. Lol, some of them took Bulan aside and scolded him explained, the others tried to calm Sidapa down with Siren songs and the sweet scents of all the flowers and fruits on the mountain.
He calmed down eventually.
That night though, he slept alone, curled up into himself again, replaying in his mind again and again the moment when Bulan touched his shoulder.
Dork.
They figure out the touching thing eventually. Of course they do.
Sidapa is nothing but accommodating (you have to be, especially when human souls have questions they want answered or last requests they want fulfilled). He understands that Bulan likes to touch. That Sidapa lived in a world that was filled with love but devoid of touch. That Bulan came from a place rich with warmth and comfort.
Bulan taught him, (with his permission of course and very gently), how to receive touch. How to react to it.
Sidapa taught Bulan to see the beauty around him, how sometimes, sitting back and allowing yourself to overwhelmed by how happy everything makes you feel is the best thing about living.
Hope this isnt too heavy to type about but where do you get online sources of precolonial filipino stuff? I've been wanting to learn about those too since I only have info on during the colonialism.
I'm so sorry I hadn't been checking my blog for a long time :(
Mostly, my sources were books in DLSU library, and I didn't remember the sources because I'm that stupid. Lol.
About the online sources... Well... I went to Wikipedia. As long as I see Damiana Eugenio and some credible historians in the references, it's okay.
Aswang project... I remember citing them once or twice. Still, remember to look at the references. If the article writer cross-checked at least 3 sources, that's okay.
Google Schoolar and university databases are also the pool of credible research papers about the topic. Unfortunately, they're usually aggregate Phil History books, and they only have 1 chapter for precolonial. I don't usually trust history books that only have a brief info about the precolonial.
AND LASTLY, Tumblr. Many Filipino Tumblr users have sources on the precolonial. Just search tags and you will probably see many. We're mostly mythology crazy, tho. (I will tag them when I gather them all)
Recently, I discovered this website where you can take online sources dedicated to Filipino Culture and learning. It's called Suyomano.
Still navigating this site, and woop, it's not free. There are lessons about filipino sophisticated arts and traditions here, it's just sad that only a handful can have access.
When I get my hands on them, I'll share them to you, lol. Who cares if that's illegal.
I hope these helped.
I think we should separate the two salute in 132 and 139. This is totally two different things.
The salute in 139 is a whole SC thing, (we still have Hange in the centre and she was the only one who has a different facial expression) Anyway it is hard to tell Hange was stand out from the other (we know it is kinda focus on her). Also “are you guys watching” thing, I think it is more refer to Hange in 132 “do you think our comrades are watching us?” And Levi in 136 “the hearts you guys dedicated”
It’s give me a strong SC vibe (with low-key Levihan). Levi saluted to them and they saluted back means the duty of SC is done, and Levi gave the meaning to all his comrade.
I would be mad if we only get this. But no, the Levihan is in the FINAL panel of levi.
The shinzouwosasageyo in 132 was definitely an ONLY Levihan thing, because if it was a normal salute, Isayama would just concluded in the SC scene. (Maybe will let Levi mentioned Hange in that scene). So other than a normal salute, it’s more like Levi confessed his feeling to Hange with the salute, and only Hange can understand it.
Therefore we can exclude the normal meaning of the salute: sacrifice yourself to the mankind . Which Levi definitely means more than that and this is not the main purpose.
Remember the Levihan bird, they complete each other, and they really are. The 132 sasageyo was more like, take my heart with you and I will keep your heart with me. Hange will live inside Levi. (*Over interpretation: Don’t be scared Hange, I will be with you, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it I will live for you, as long as I’m alive, you will live inside me, with yours and our dreams)
I saw some Levihans said Levi didn’t wear an eyepatch because he think Hange will be seeing from his right eye (prefect explanation👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻) This more like the answer of 132 sasageyo to me, Levi and Hange literally became Levihan.
OK then talk about Hange’s dream and Levi’s dream, actually they shared the same dream, “the dream world” in 136
Hey it’s only the mf ZOË talking shit in 136. We don’t know the others, but we knew Levi remembered EVERY SINGLE WORD Hange Zoe said and would took her daily shitty talk seriously (He just love her...) , from that moment Hange’s dream also became Levi’s dream. And what did Levi do in the post war? Travel! Maybe not exactly is, but he is exploring a new world that could be their dream world, they shared the same dream, and mf Hange Zoe will do the same, to travel around with him if she was alive....
And finally the plane was the answer to 132 “keep watching me Hange”
The reason I don’t think the 139 SC scene is refer to this because 132 means more to Levihan, Levi wanted Hange to look at him even though their duty was done (which is the SC scene, and literally everybody were really watching from the path lol)
The plane scene is somehow confirmed that Levi wanted more from Hange, he wanted her to stay with him, just Hange and just Levi, but not the member of SC or commander and captain, their true feeling was acknowledged by a non SC member, Onyankopon. (It seem a little bit far-fetched, but I feel it means after Levi left SC, he will not remember Hange as a part of his SC duty or SC promise, I can see when Levi and Onyankopon talk about Hange, Levi was always talk about the stupid and funny thing Hange did other than her SC career and achievement, he cared and respect it but Levi just loved to remember the bright side and funny stupid side of Hange.
Sadly Hange can’t control the plane like Eren lol, but thanks for the parallel we know that plane was 100% symboling Hange, Hange was keep watching Levi. The look on Levi when he look at the plane and Onyankopon Levihan shipper stare confirmed Levi was also keep thinking about Hange.
Which means HANGE LOVE LEVI and LEVI LOVE HANGE
The moment I think Levi started to realise his feeling towards Hange was probably here:
Another Bakunawa drawing! I wanted to change up my artstyle and I really liked this
Forgot to put this up here oops.
Anyway, a manananggal for mythsona!
Mythology from A-Z: @lxcuna vs. @ibuzoo
H - Haliya, Philippine masked goddess of the moonlight.
Omg I shall read this! I love jjk and my country and this combination is just <333
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.
[playing twister]
Han Sooyoung: Yoo Joonghyuk, right hand red.
Yoo Joonghyuk: *ends up on top of Kim Dokja*
Kim Dokja: Alright, you are doing this on purpose, aren't you?
Han Sooyoung: I stopped spinning like, 15 turns ago. Honestly I'm surprised you guys didn't notice sooner.
does it ever drive you crazy— just how fast the night changes?