too many ppl who know nothing about Filipino folklore n culture r talking shit about my ate. she’s based off of the manananggal, which you can compare to the European vampire, if that helps you understand it better. although, i’m reluctant to mention that becuz some ppl, who choose to be ignorant, currently hold the view that she’s just an Asian-colored vampire mishmash monster. she is not. other than the fact that she manages to exist at all, here are some details i appreciate about her.

first, she has a face that looks like my family’s. that’s my lola’s nose. that’s my mom’s birthmark. shit, those are my uncle’s cheekbones. the headpiece features jasmine, our national flower. the translucent petals are cool.

second, you can display her in two pieces, split by the torso. its not just a “cheap gimmick” you ignorant pos. at nightfall, the manananggal severs itself in two, leaving behind a vulnerable lower half while its upper half hunts for nourishment - blood, raw hearts, livers, fetuses. the red fringe represents her dangling intestines, hanging loose as she flies after ripping her body apart. the string detail is on the skirt for consistency, but also, intestines are long as fuck? why wouldn’t they also hang from the bottom, assuming they also get split in half.

while we’re on the outfit, the top is an extremely traditional (Spanish colonial, ugh) style in both fabric and shape. i have attire that looks exactly like it, minus the monster high red foil pattern. the tiny, “woven” sleeve cuffs are a nice touch. the earrings and bracelets look to be woven palm too, but aren’t as effective in plastic. the bottom half skirt is quite a bit shorter than is traditional, and the heels higher. it’s a monster high doll.

most accurate would be barefoot, tbh. but you guys would riot, and again, its a doll. actually, the shoes reference a lot from Filipino culture. the heel is a coconut tree overlooking a kubo, a one-room stilt hut built with natural materials such as bamboo and palm, and specifically made to be remade as necessary. the sole is “wooden”, also an accessible material of which some shoes were made with. it is attached by braid to what looks to be a straw strap. also not unusual for a shoe.

her fan and wings feature embroidery, and if you look closely at the latter, you will see a thin and delicate flora design in between the spider web pattern. this is extremely reminiscent of calado, a type of traditional hand embroidery akin to lace that is difficult as fuck. a dying art, btw.

i didn’t wake up looking to ride this hard for a plastic woman lmao. but if you’re gonna come for her, it better be because of the fluorescent green in her colorway and not because you don’t know what you’re talking about. honestly, a lot of Filipinos are just happy to be considered and celebrated. “wins” like this mean everything. maybe it’s not good enough for your collection, but now you know more about my culture than you would’ve gone out of your way to. and that’s good enough for me.

The shoes aren't just another example of MH object heels--it's a kind of shoe called bakyâ, with elaborately carved heels, that reached its peak popularity in the Philippines in the mid 20th century

(I knew about them from general interest in vintage fashion)

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you know what really gets my goat?

el chupacabra

I’m sorry!? What?!

Whoa, chupacabra’s a millennial?

Omg happy birthday el chupacabra!

The big 30!!!

Someone get this thing a cake made of goats!!!

Happy birthday to this legend!

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Thinking a lot about the curse on the House of Atreus and how it shows itself in Agamemnon and Menelaus’ lives.

Tantalus kills Pelops. Pelops kills his prospective father in law (and also some other guy). Atreus kills Thyestes’ sons. It is a cycle of bloodshed, of people killing those they should not.

Agamemnon kills Iphigenia, He kills her for his ambition, for his pride, for his honor, and ten years later, he dies for it.

In most versions of the story, Menelaus wanted to kill Helen at the end of the war, but he didn’t. What if this act of mercy is what saved him? Helen, regardless of whether or not she left of her own volition, hurt Menelaus’ honor and pride. He has every reason to be angry, every reason (by Greek standards) to punish her. But by refusing to put his pride before Helen’s life, he saves himself. He broke the pattern of violence and rage, and now he gets to live out the rest of his days in comfort and happiness with his wife. Sure, he has to wrestle a god to get there, but compared to his brother and the rest of their family, he’s got it pretty good.

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I think what I love most about mythology is that the “Trickster God/Spirit” is an archetypical character found in almost every body of folklore. It’s like “Oh, here’s our God of the Sun, our God of the Sea, our God of Fertility, and our God of Being A Wretched Little Gremlin Who Causes Problems On Purpose”

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Foxes disguised as monks. On the left from Japan and on the right from Denmark.

It was a global problem

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The Call of the Sirens by Burrel, c.1915

do it, go into the gay ocean and be free

I feel like starting an urban legend about a demon that kills you if you don't have headphones on when browsing tiktok in public

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Just a little comic.

A long, long, LONG time ago (five years, jeez), I did a little comic about two sisters.

I finally got someone to let me do a bigger book about them.

THE RIFT is coming 2029.

@spiritspodcast 🧜🏼‍♀️

some insight on Ba'It Garaang physical development. By 20 years of age they finish their most rapid period of growth and develop their individual "adult" plumage. Ba'It Garaang will continue to slowly grow for the entirety of their life, depending on available resources and their environment.

these weird dogs are from my comic Sacred Bodies!!

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yeah sure whatever

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All the gifs about selkies

@hollowedhaunt @keymintt

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men in greek mythology? scoundrels. just terrible. woeful social skills. murderers. kidnappers. violent misogynists. most of them… never described as handsome so we have to assume they were ugly. 

narcissus? unproblematic. beacon of transformative self love. king of the swerve. gay icon. couldn’t recognize his reflection but neither can my dog, we aren’t holding that against him.

Narcissus wrote this

I refuse to believe Narcissus could read.

i’ve been thinking about this response for the better part of 2 hours and it hasn’t gotten less hysterically funny to me

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Four of Swords. Art by Jesse Lonergan, from The Unveiled Tarot.

it is done

Siren Philosophy 1

Transcript:

Male Siren 1 (MS1): I do not think that humans eat animals.

MS1: I have never seen one do such a thing, and humans have animals that they do not eat. So they must not eat animals.

MS1: Furthermore, their mouths are small. They cannot eat animals properly. And they cannot rip animals apart, as trolls do, because they are so weak.

Male Siren 2 (MS2): I do not know if that is correct. Many small and weak animals eat smaller and weaker animals. Foxes are small and weak animals, and foxes eat mice and voles.

MS1: That is true, you are correct. We cannot conclude that humans do not eat mice and voles.

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