#PARALLEL ENCYCLOPEDIA 1

[wildoute]

[indigovigilance]

Anthony, Anthony, Anthony

What does your Anthony mean, exactly?

I feel like your Anthony and my Anthony are different Anthonies…

In 1941 we learn that Crowley has named himself Anthony J. Crowley (Aziraphale doesn’t pronounce the H but closed captions write it and Neil Gaiman hashtags #Anthony and also it’s Anthony the script book so I guess Michael Sheen is just doing a thing idk). I haven’t seen extensive discussion of this topic but I’m going to jump in with both feet.

I propose that Anthony actually has a double meaning; that is, Crowley chose this name for one reason, but Aziraphale believes he chose it for another.

(I cite as indirect inspo a wonderful Tumblr meta about how the ineffable blockheads have completely different interpretations of Jane Austen and how this informs their S2 decision-making).

Read or bookmark for later on Ao3 because this got away from me and now it's a 2,888 word meta on people named Anthony what am I doing with my life

~~~

First and foremost, let it be stated that there is no canon for when Crowley anti-christened himself Anthony. Neil Gaiman himself won’t know until he writes it.

Secondly, let it be known that I am not an historian nor a literary scholar of any kind. So people who actually know these stories may find themselves cringing at my surface-level summaries and inaccurate interpretations: I’m just piecing together what I could find easily. I invite someone else to revise and republish if they can delve deeper on these topics. 

Part 1: Mark Antony

There is a bust of Marc Antony in Mr. Fell’s bookshop as of S1E1 modern day (2019) which is still there at the end of S2E6, where it features prominently in the center of a shot. In 2019, the bust is adorned with yellow ribbons; in 2023, it is naked. The flashback to 1941 doesn’t give a good view of the part of the shop where the bust would normally be located so I have no idea when the bust actually got added to Aziraphale’s collection. I’m going to assume, for argument’s sake, that Aziraphale acquired this bust after the Blitz. I’m going to further propose that he acquired this bust because he believes that Crowley named himself Anthony after Mark Antony.

Why would Aziraphale think that? Two reasons.

1) Mark Antony was the loser of a civil war for liberty

Mark Antony was a good and loyal Roman citizen, serving Caesar with distinction, even attaining the title of Master of the Horse (Caesar’s second-in-command). See additional metas on horse symbolism seen throughout S2. After the death of Caesar, however, Octavian and members of the senate turned on Antony, starting a civil war. You know, much like a certain someone we know that was involved in Dubious Battle on the Plains of Heaven.

Mark Antony was loyal to Caesar’s political mission, which was to establish a Roman republic, where the voices of the citizens would be heard through their representatives [a suggestion box, if you will]. But Antony’s defeat marked the end of the republic, ushering in an age of autocracy. Octavian, following his victory over Antony, crowned himself the first Emperor of Rome.

2) Mark Antony was a libertine, but also the loyal, ardent lover of Cleopatra

Mark Antony was an infamous, lascivious, debaucherous, womanizing lush. He was also Cleopatra’s lover and closest ally. Though Mark Antony could not often meet with Cleopatra, their affair was allegedly very romantic, and from afar Antony did everything in his power to support Cleopatra politically, expanding her territorial holdings even while they were apart for years. 

So legendary was Antony's wanton hedonism that when he went to Athens, he was deified as the New Dionysus, mystic god of wine, happiness, and immortality. Religious propaganda declared Cleopatra the New Isis or Aphrodite (mythic goddess of love and beauty) to his New Dionysus. The ineffable emperors, if you will. [source: Encyclopedia Britannica]

Parallels arising after 1941:

After Antony had officially divorced Octavian’s sister, Octavian formally broke off the ties of personal friendship with Antony and declared war, not against Antony but against Cleopatra. Much like how Shax, after her S2E1 “you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours” proposal, threatened Crowley that if he did not assist her search for Gabriel, Hell would declare war not on him but on Aziraphale.

The legacy of Mark Antony, therefore, is one of hedonism, romance, fighting for a cause that you believe in, and losing that fight. It’s easy to see how Aziraphale drew the conclusion that Anthony J. Crowley took his inspiration from this historical figure.

Part 2: Antony & Cleopatra

How is this a part 2? Weren’t we just talking about Mark Antony and his relationship with Cleopatra? Hear me out.

Crowley has never expressed much interest in politics. Every time something of political import happens, he declares that the humans made it up themselves while also taking credit for it with Hell. This includes 1793 Paris and the Spanish Inquisition. If I forgot any, drop them in the comments. 

But Crowley has a deep and pervasive interest in stories, especially romance stories. If he can keep the Bentley from turning it into Queen, he listens to the Velvet Underground. He watches Richard Curtis films (to the degree that he identifies them by director rather than by title). Though book canon is not show canon, it’s worth mentioning that his favorite serial is Golden Girls; while not a romance, it is certainly heartfelt storytelling at its finest and a homosexual staple.

We know, too, that Shakspeare stole a line from him, with an adjustment for pronouns:

"Age Does Not Wither, Nor Custom Stale His Infinite Variety”

Let’s first talk about Crowley’s context for the quote.

Picture it: the Globe Theater, 1601, the house is empty because it’s one of Shakespeare’s gloomy ones and an irritated young Burbage, in the role of Hamlet, is droning out his lines like he would rather be anywhere else.

Burbage: To be or not to be. That is the question.

Aziraphale: To be! I mean, not to be! Come on, Hamlet! Buck up!

Aziraphale looks at Crowley, grinning with delight. Crowley stares back at him, shaking his head slightly, but a smile tugs at the corner of his lip. He wants to be embarrassed, but cannot help being charmed.

Aziraphale: He’s very good, isn’t he?

Crowley: Age does not wither nor custom stale his infinite variety.

Crowley is looking up at the stage, and speaks immediately after Aziraphale has made a comment about Burbage. But is Crowley talking about Burbage? Does it stand to reason that age would not have withered, or custom not staled, this twenty year old (yet somehow jaded) stage actor?

I propose that this is a poetic inversion of the S2E1 cold open, wherein the Starmaker, looking out upon creation, says: “Look at you, you’re gorgeous!” and Aziraphale erroneously thinks the statement was directed at him. Here, even though Crowley isn’t looking at Aziraphale, I believe that Crowley is actually talking about Aziraphale when he delivers that iconic line. Unlike Burbage, Aziraphale is old, very, very old, and we know that he has a penchant for custom, wearing the same clothes and listening to the same music for century upon century. Yet here is this precious angel being a cheerful little peanut gallery of one, continuing to surprise the demon after all this time. Neither age nor custom has staled Aziraphale’s infinite variety.

When Shakespeare commits the line to a play written 1606-1607, a few years after this event, Crowley will recognize his own sentiment about Aziraphale issuing from Antony’s mouth about Cleopatra. The actual historical events will not have left much of an impression, but the immortalization of his own admiration of the angel in human romantic fiction will have.

It must be mentioned that Antony & Cleopatra is a tragedy, where the star-crossed lovers are kept apart by warring factions that demand loyalty to the state at the preclusion of each other.

There are also some (as far as I can tell) nearly copy-paste plot points from Romeo & Juliet about a misunderstood faked suicide followed by actual suicide and the lovers dying in each others’ arms. It does not have a happy ending. Anthony Crowley deliberately choosing his “Christian name” from this play embodies not only his deep love but his hopelessness that he can ever get the happily ever after he desires.

In Summary

Crowley was an admirer, in one respect or another, of Mark Anthony, though he relied more heavily on Shakespeare’s portrayal and reimagining of the character than Aziraphale gives due credit. Nevertheless, the difference…

Wait a minute…

What’s that?

Is that…

A piece of canon evidence that completely undermines my argument??

This screenshot will only be visible to Tumblr users (sorry Ao3), but at some point we get a good look at the Mona Lisa sketch that Crowley has hanging in his apartment. It is signed (translated from Italian) “To my friend Anthony from your friend Leo da V.”

The problem with this is, the Mona Lisa was painted 100 years before Shakespeare penned Antony & Cleopatra.

However, Neil Gaiman reblogged this transcription and translation, posing the hypothetical, “I wonder if Crowley knows what the A in A.Z. Fell stands for.”

Could it be that the Notorious NRG is jerking us around and sending us on wild goose chases? Absolutely a possibility. But. Let’s give a little grace for a moment, and assume that this comment was made in good faith. A bold assumption, I know. But humor me.

We know that Crowley and Aziraphale both knew Jane Austen, but from completely different perspectives. It stands to reason that Crowley knew da Vinci the scientist, but that Antonio Fell knew Leo da V., an artist with a heart that yearned for an unavailable lover. I’m just making wild conjecture that Lisa Gherardini (aka Mona Lisa), the wife of Florentine cloth merchant Francesco del Giocondo, was a love interest of da Vinci, but it could be true in the GO universe and would make for a great story.

Aziraphale also collects signed items from famous people; the inscribed books of Professor Hoffman to a wonderful student, and the S.W. Erdnase book, signed with his real name, come to mind. The Mona Lisa draft fits in much better with that collection of souvenirs than with anything in Crowley’s apartment. So it stands to reason that it could actually be addressed to Aziraphale.

There remains the question of how or why Crowley has it, but I won’t subject that to speculation here. All to say. Neil Gaiman’s implication-by-redirect is… possible. So let’s assume that it is the case, just for a moment.

If the Mona Lisa sketch is signed to “Antonio” Fell, then this allows the above theory regarding Crowley’s self-naming to remain intact. But it brings up a few questions regarding Aziraphale, not the least of which is: why did he name himself Antonio/Anthony?

Part 3: Saint Anthony of Padua

Anthony was the chosen name of a Portuguese monk, taken upon joining the Fransican order. Anthony rose to prominence in the 13th century as a celebrated orator, delivering impassioned and eloquent sermons. He is also associated with some fish symbolism, since he preached at the shore and fish gathered to listen. He was, incidentally, a lover of books:

Anthony had a book of psalms that contained notes and comments to help when teaching students and, in a time when a printing press was not yet invented, he greatly valued it.

When a novice decided to leave the hermitage, he stole Anthony's valuable book. When Anthony discovered it was missing, he prayed it would be found or returned to him. The thief did return the book and in an extra step returned to the Order as well.

The book is said to be preserved in the Franciscan friary in Bologna today. [source: https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=24]

This miraculous incident, wherein the thief not only returns a valuable book but also has a change of heart and returns to the bosom of organized religion, smacks of angelic intervention. But that is neither here nor there. 

Saint Anthony is the Patron Saint of the Lost, and is prayed to by those seeking to recover lost things. What is “lost” in this context is usually an item, rather than a person or an intangible concept, however he is also “credited with many miracles involving lost people, lost things and even lost spiritual goods,” such as faith. [Edit: @tsilvy helpfully contributes that "Here in Italy Sant'Antonio is commonly not just the saint patron of lost things, but, maybe primarily, the saint patron of lost *causes*."] He died at the age of 35, and in artwork is typically depicted with a book and the Infant Child Jesus.

It’s a defensible position that the thing that gives Aziraphale the most consternation across the millennia is Crowley’s loss of his angelic status, and it could even be framed such that Aziraphale does not consider Crowley actually fallen, but rather simply lost. It is a fact that he finds difficult to reconcile and, depending on your reading of the Final Fifteen, the offer to restore Crowley’s angelic status is one that is so pivotal to resolving his internal conflict that he cannot refuse. If this conflict is so central for Aziraphale, perhaps he did name himself after a booklover and the patron saint of lost things, hoping that the name would carry with it some of the power of the blessing, and return Crowley to the light, and in turn, to him.

But wait.

Because I googled “St Anthony” to look for some images and….

St. Anthony of the Desert

I shit you not there are multiple St. Antonies and we’re going to talk about another one of them with respect to Aziraphale because this guy is bonkers. The story traces to the Vitae Patrum, yet another fringe biblical text and I cannot even get a quick answer on whether it is canon or apocrypha because it’s so fringe. Anyways. I think the best way to explain St. Anthony of the Desert comes from the wikipedia page on the Desert Fathers: 

Sometime around AD 270, Anthony heard a Sunday sermon stating that perfection could be achieved by selling all of one's possessions, giving the proceeds to the poor, and following Jesus. He followed the advice and made the further step of moving deep into the desert to seek complete solitude.

[He] became known as both the father and founder of desert monasticism. By the time Anthony had died in AD 356, thousands of monks and nuns had been drawn to living in the desert following Anthony's example, leading his biographer, Athanasius of Alexandria, to write that "the desert had become a city." The Desert Fathers had a major influence on the development of Christianity.

Let’s all agree that this guy is not Aziraphale; this whole becoming an ascetic and living alone in the middle of a desert thing? Not his cuppertea. But St. Anthony is interesting not just for his decision to go into the desert, but what happened when he got there.

The Torment of St Anthony is a 15th century painting commonly attributed to Michaelangelo. It depicts demons crawling all over and attacking a hermit.

But the first round of demons are scraping the bottom of the barrel, practically the damned. Anthony’s journey continues and he meets another demon. Actually he meets two; a centaur, who is not very helpful, and then a satyr who is. It is much easier to find paintings of St. Anthony and the Centaur than of St. Anthony and the Satyr, so you don’t get an image, but I find the satyr to be a much more interesting character, so you get that story instead:

Anthony found next the satyr, "a manikin with hooked snout, horned forehead, and extremities like goats's feet." This creature was peaceful and offered him fruits, and when Anthony asked who he was, the satyr replied, "I'm a mortal being and one of those inhabitants of the desert whom the Gentiles, deluded by various forms of error, worship under the names of Fauns, Satyrs, and Incubi. I am sent to represent my tribe. We pray you in our behalf to entreat the favor of your Lord and ours, who, we have learnt, came once to save the world, and 'whose sound has gone forth into all the earth.'" Upon hearing this, Anthony was overjoyed and rejoiced over the glory of Christ. He condemned the city of Alexandria for worshiping monsters instead of God while beasts like the satyr spoke about Christ.

St. Anthony, then, is entreated by a demon to ask forgiveness from God upon the demons, and St. Anthony, seemingly, agrees to do it. He’s overjoyed to ask God to forgive demons. In connection to my analysis of the origins of the Metatron, and how Aziraphale and Crowley’s potential beef with him is that, as a human put in the exact same situation, he did the opposite, refusing to take the demon’s petition for mercy to God but instead taking it upon himself to confirm their unforgivability (yes that’s a word now) and damnation.

That seems like it would be pretty important to Aziraphale.

In Summary

I give up. I have no idea what’s going on with this show anymore. Here are two options each for both of our ineffable husbands to have given themselves the same God-blessed/damned name. You guys tell me what you think, I just have a pile of evidence and no spoons to evaluate it. 

[kratioed]

𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐅𝐈 & 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐈 , 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐎𝐊𝐈

It’s clear that Hel will one day appear in future releases, as hinted in both GOW(2018) and GOWR, but anyone who is a myth enthusiast knows that Loki had other children besides his monstrous offspring in Norse Mythology because interestingly enough, GOW’s wiki community decided to include "Narfi & Váli" despite no evidence of their existence whatsoever throughout the Norse era.

Of course, it’s also a fandom site; while they can be a reliable source, said sources on their encyclopedia are sometimes inaccurate. Knowing the impossibility of their existence, I also thought about how they can coexist throughout GOW.

EDIT UPDATE 2/1/2024: Recently, the GOW's wiki community updated Atreus' "uncertain future" category and the links to Váli's & Narfi's wiki pages no longer existed. Doesn't mean it'll stop me from enjoying my fun. 😎🔥💯

EDIT UPDATE 7/22/2024: Nevermind, they're mentioned on Angrboða's wiki page for some reason…Váli & Narfi aren't the same as Fenrir & Jörmungandr ☝️🤓 but okay. ☠

And the more I thought about it, the more apparent it became that they’re essential for the franchise…but it’s more like my personal headcanon rather than my “crack” theory so might as well call this an AU for shits and giggles. I thought it would be fun to share my overly long detailed analysis with those who are fixated on Atreus’ other (im)possible children as much as I am because I need this to get it out of my system since they have been living rent-free in my head for almost a year just now. This blog is now officially a Narfi & Váli stan account and Kratos would have LOVED his grandsons if they ever appeared in GOW, but it's very unlikely that would happen. This analyis is going to be a long one so bear with me!

I think it would be poetic for GOW to end off including Narfi & Váli (alongside Atreus) for the final conclusion of the franchise; and yes, Hel would be an adult in this timeskip, contrary to popular belief that they were children in Norse Mythology. Despite their unfortunate demise, their backgrounds are nothing like their half-siblings’ in the Norse Mythos, making them the most ordinary of all Loki’s children. But you know what? The concept of Narfi & Váli being the epitome of normality of all Loki’s offspring gave me an a idea...I’m not sure if anyone has noticed, but Narfi & Váli exhibit some similarities to Kratos & Deimos.

Before the Olympians (Athena & Ares) pursued one of the brothers due to a doomsday prophecy, Kratos & Deimos believed they were mere mortals during childhood as they still fit the epitome of normality as children, similarly to Narfi & Váli. They’re also gods at birth, but the only difference is that Narfi & Váli most likely knew about their divine nature, whereas Kratos (excluding Deimos) only discovered it later in adulthood (a silly parallel, but I still think it counts).

Another example would be in the parallel dynamics of Váli & Kratos, as they both had experiences where they succumbed to their primal instincts in different circumstances; Váli unwillingly turned into a wolf and killed his brother driven by primal instincts under the Æsir’s (or presumably Odin’s) influence, almost similar to how Kratos was deceived and unaware, killed his first wife and daughter fueled by his primal desire for blood under Ares’ influence. While Váli’s fate remains unknown after Loki's Punishment, we can infer that both Váli & Kratos are the only survivors other than their brother.

While the deaths of Narfi & Deimos are an obvious parallel, they're also linked to Bounds and Punishment in distinct ways; like Váli, Narfi was punished with his entrails used as bounds in retribution against his father, as well as due to his relation with Loki while Deimos, on the other hand, was bound and punished due to his existence as the "Marked Warrior" (same thing goes with Kratos since he too was also bound and punished at one point in Ascension).

On top of that, they were also subjected to violence as children inflicted by Gods. Consequently, it ultimately led the downfall of both Æsir & Olympians, as predicted by their prophecy. The prophecy of the "Marked Warrior" bringing destruction upon Olympus began the moment they abducted Deimos. The sufferings of Kratos' family (including Sparta and Pandora) at the hands of Gods contributes the downfall of Olympus. Their tragedies are the major cause of Kratos' justified vengeance to destroy the entire pantheon, ultimately leading the devastation of the Greek world.

In Norse Mythology (with my limited knowledge); the Æsir's (mostly Odin's) retaliation on Loki's monstrous children, particularly Fenrir, due to prophecies contributes their downfall in Ragnarök, especially with their involvement in Loki's Punishment. However, I believe that the suffering of Narfi & Váli at the hands of Æsir Gods is the primary cause for Loki's justified desire for vengeance. The Æsir's use of Narfi's entrails, his own son, as restraints adds insult to injury, intensifying Loki's anger. Obviously, Loki joined forces with those against Æsir Gods with his army of Hel's people while the events of Ragnarök lead the devastation throughout the lands.

But since this is GOW, I found this YouTube comment (which I've kept for quite some time) that perfectly said my thoughts out loud:

With the absence of Loki's Punishment; not only Kratos saved Narfi & Váli from Æsir's (particularly Odin's) wrath, he also prevented a similar tragedy that would inflict upon his grandsons the same way that Gods once inflicted upon him and Deimos as children, in which, fits the overall theme of subverting prophecies in GOWR.

𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

Santa Monica could have easily had Atreus name his sons "Narfi & Váli" as everyone expected from Norse Mythology. But given Santa Monica's innovative approach to myth characters through creative liberties, using "Narfi & Váli" wouldn't work within the narrative structure of GOW's distinct retelling of Folklore, especially the Prose Edda of all settings.

From what I've heard, there has been a debate about whether "Váli" is a son of Odin or Loki, or both Valis existed as sperate characters. Additionally, in GOWR, there's already a boss character named Vali (The Oath Guard), which I assumed (correct me if I'm wrong) it's a cultural practice for parents to name their child after a Norse figure in Scandinavian countries, but I find it unlikely for Atreus to name one of his children after an Æsir or any God in general. Similarly, Narfi shares a name with another Giant unrelated to Loki whatsoever...but given the wide variety of Gods and other myth characters we've seen from Greek Mythology depicted in GOW, it wouldn't be surprising if other Narfi, and particularly, Váli Odinson were to mentioned or featured in future releases.

If you're not aware or need a reminder, Atreus gets to learn about Deimos during "Animal Instincts" side quest. Whether you choose to bring Atreus or Freya doesn't matter, it doesn't change the fact that Santa Monica had intended for Atreus to know about his uncle, it's still canon either way.

Atreus' identity has roots that go beyond his Norse counterpart (both symbolically and narrative wise along with the origins of his Greek name) and very likely that Santa Monica would take a similar approach with "Hel" in future releases (I've seen people suggest her name could be Faye/Laufey or Calliope, or even Callisto or Angrboða's mother). It's only fair that "Narfi & Váli" should get the same treatment…so imagine how moving it would be if Atreus were to name his sons after Kratos & Deimos.

"Váli" 𝐊𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐒 𝐈𝐈, named after his grandfather, transformed from a monster into a benevolent God due to his ability to change and open his heart, representing the beacon of hope...and "Narfi" 𝐃𝐄𝐈𝐌𝐎𝐒 𝐈𝐈, named after his great uncle, whom Atreus had known but never met (but wishes they had), honored his uncle by naming his youngest son after him.

EDIT UPDATE 3/7/2024: Just recently discovered in Greek Culture, it's common for children to be named after their grandparents, in which, aligns with my case for "Váli" to be named after his grandfather! While "Narfi" is named after his great-uncle, I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) the naming tradition also involves material/paternal relatives, which is fitting within the context of GOW. ^^

There are hearsay, or statements from Cory Barlog, that Kratos couldn't bring himself to name his son after his brother due to past memories…Atreus, on the other hand, seems open to the idea of naming one of his own children after his uncle he never met.

𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐅𝐈 & 𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐈/𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

Besides Narfi Lokison and other Narfi, their accounts become somewhat unclear when Narfi's brother is addressed as "Nari." This time, it's Narfi who turns into a wolf and kills Nari. However, some sources later changed Narfi's name to Váli, both in historical texts and modern media...

EDIT UPDATE 7/21/2024: Initially, I thought this version was made based on the notion that Váli was Odin's son rather than Loki's. But after some further investigation, I'm inclined to believe that Váli is a singular character while Narfi & Nari are Loki's sons. It's also possible that "Narfi/Nari" is referred as the same character, as the belief that Váli is Loki's son is a common mistake in today's media. It would have been so easy to overlook the mistranslation and go along with the usual understanding of "Narfi & Váli"…but thinking about it now, this could actually work within the narrative structure as prophecies are ambiguously depicted in GOWR.

How about this: "Váli & Narfi" (or "Narfi & Nari") can shapeshift into wolves. Not only it emphasizes their connection with Atreus/Loki, but as a reflection of Kratos & Deimos through Speki & Svanna.

EDIT UPDATE 7/26/2024: This might be a overreach...but if Kratos' presumption that Speki & Svanna were boys did reflect something, then it could be described as a projection of his experiences as a military general as well as an extension of subconscious affection. For Kratos' case, people form stronger bonds with animals than with human (and Gods) since often times they can be deceitful/malicious, conceited, narrow-minded, backstabbing, or calculatively manipulative through obligations/false promises while animals (wolves) would instead be much more pragmatic about survival and tender care.

Speki & Svanna (+Fenrir) have been usefully vigilant and reliable wolves that aid him and Atreus, and given the history of humans surviving in collaboration with animals, there is precedence for Kratos subconsciously associating the wolves with memories of Spartan warriors he had by his side almost as though they were his own family, where survival relied on the coordination of his armies and the care given to ensuring that his men were left standing after battle.

This can very easily be associated in the mind as symbolic of a dedicated and responsible soldier as a result from a pivotally formative part of his life revolved around the Sparta's military…and out of remorse (for the casualties of people under his care amidst the war he's wrought) and love (for those who've either perished or lived as well as the people who stood by him), it felt plausible that he could've associated this with Speki & Svanna (shout out to my irl friend for cooking this up!).

Regardless, I can also imagine this as a foreshadow of Kratos' doting relationship with his future grandsons!

𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍

EDIT UPDATE 7/21/2024: As much as I adore the relationship between Kratos and his grandsons, I personally think it would be better if they never met in person (rest assured, Hel is fortunate enough to know their grandfather as a child). As I mentioned before, Narfi & Váli should appear by the end of the franchise, and what better way to conclude Kratos' journey than being remembered as the benevolent God even after his death?

Kratos once quoted, "Death can have me, when it earns me" might foreshadow his potential death for the final installment. Given that Kratos had "died" in previous games and even evaded his predicted "death" in GOWR, I think it would be flitting to conclude his journey if the franchise comes to an end (in which, would have opted Atreus to name one of his sons after their grandfather). But it's just a personal theory of mine, so I digress.

Narfi & Váli serves as character foils for Kratos & Deimos, illustrating their childhood origins from Ghost of Sparta to the narrative's conclusion with Narfi & Váli emerging at the end. With wisdom gained from experiences and mistakes, Atreus, aged with greying hair, gazes at his sons and feels as if his father and uncle are reunited once again…relieving their childhood they never had as children.

If you made it this far, then congratulations! Here's a quick (and old) sketch of my variant of Váli would look like:

EDIT UPDATE 12/19/2024: Tried my best to replicate his facial structure. He's basically Kratos 2.0 with a decent childhood who smiles a lot more than his grandfather ever did in Sparta (he also has his grandfather's eyes and freckles from his father). Narfi, on the other hand, looks a lot more like his father with the iconic mark as a homage. They're basically Yuki & Ame (+Atreus w/Hana) from Wolf Children (I never watch the movie, but it's the vibes I'm get from them)! ^^

[bleachbleachbleach]

The post was getting very long, so I started a new thread, but this comes from this meme post here. Thank you for the tag, @dreaming-about-seireitei!

I'll no-pressure tag @withoutteamalice, @inkyperson, @crysuzumushi, and @mikansei, using the very scientific metric, "the last 4 people who left narrative tags on one of our posts/reblogs." Also anyone else who wants to!!!! (Please feel free to tag us so I can read your lists!)

list 5 things you can talk about for hours without preparing any material:

I’m bad at these kinds of memes because I know they’re hypothetical, but then my brain is like, “Well, I would not do that.” XP I wouldn’t talk for hours about something unless I were completely convinced my conversation partner was 1) equally interested in the thing, and, specifically, 2) open to being engaged for that duration. I don’t want to be too much and burn them out on me and then not get to be friends with them anymore. 😖

But five things I would really love to be in dialogue with people about for hours, Bleach edition:

The maps and calendars of Soul Society — Especially the potential for maps that engage with space-time in interesting ways, and don’t fit the form of what most people on Earth envision as a ‘typical’ map.

Any kind of municipal/regional service in Soul Society (mail, foodways, billing, professional services) — Stuff that would show up in the Encyclopedia Soulttanica, essentially.

Ecology/evolution in Soul Society — Both in terms of biome/weather/flora/fauna and also in terms of how shinigami came to be. I’ve been back to thinking recently about shinigami having had a very different form prior to modern human development. But have also been wondering about the possibility that Soul Society (not just the Yamamoto-created society, but the place in general) potentially being a much younger universe than ours, and despite the “longevity” of shinigami as individual units, their world actually being much younger than life on Earth. And also like, if it is a true reflection/shadow of the Living World, is their ecology complex enough to weather sharp changes? Or is it more prone to ecological collapse because it lacks the ecological complexity to support different epochs of life? (Re: the existential threat of Yhwach.)

Regional foods/holidays/accents in Soul Society — Possibly in contrast to the musings above, but (mostly) Rukongai culture as NOT just a reflection of what exists in the living world, and life not just being a waiting game, but the possibility of rich life/culture/time worth having in Rukongai.

My fanfic, your fanfic. — I miss having writerly community. It’s rare and difficult to come by in any fandom, in any era, but I feel like the parallel play aspect of fandom has only increased, and that’s a huge bummer to me!

[sag-dab-sar]

Our Lady of Sorrows - 5th Sorrow: Mary Stands At The Cross

Holy Week, Christian Tradition

Eastern Christianity & Western Christianity Holy Week usually do not align as the former uses the Julian Calendar and the latter uses the Gregorian Calendar.

[Art: Via Crucis by Raul Berzosa Fernandez 1979]

The 5th sorrow is Mother Mary having to watch her son be torturously executed; and all she can do is watch unable to help her very own son. It is the defining moment of Mary "Our Lady of Sorrows" development.

"The seven founders of the Servite Order, in 1239 [AD], five years after they established themselves on Monte Senario, took up the sorrows of Mary, standing under the Cross, as the principal devotion of their order" — Catholic Encyclopedia Link

"Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home." — John 19:25-27 NIV

Parallel Verses about the bystanders who watched

"Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons." — Matthew 27:55-56 NIV

"Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there." — Mark 15:40-41 NIV

"But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things." — Luke 23:49 NIV

The Gospel of John is the only one that describes these women, including Mother Mary, as directly near the cross. Out of four Biblical accounts this seems to be the most 'popular' among Christian tradition.

The Gospels of Matthew and Mark mentions Mary Magdelene; Mary the mother of James & Joseph, and Salome the Apostle (mother of Zebedee's sons); as well as "many other women" but Mother Mary is not mentioned by name. The Gospel of Luke only mentions "many women". All three Gospels other than John mention as watching from a distance the various things (eclipse, earthquake) happen during Jesus' death.

Jesus tells John the Apostle to care for his mother, and tells his mother to consider John her own son. It is widely understood that the Gospel of John is very different in details compared to the "synoptic Gospels" of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

The Seven Sorrows were compiled in medieval Europe so it makes sense that the most 'popular' account would be the one to make the list and the one that founded the concept of Mary Our Lady of Sorrows.

The Bystanders at The Cross in the Apocrypha

"But all those who were the acquaintance of Christ, stood at a distance, as did the women who had followed Jesus from Galilee, observing all these things." — Gospel of Nicodemus 8:11

Stabat Mater Hymn

This was a very popular aspect of The Passion of Christ which led to the "Stabat Mater" Hymn composed in the 13th century, the same century as the first devotions of Our Lady of Sorrows that focused on her standing at the cross. The Hymn may be preformed during Good Friday. Many composers have created their own arrangements for the hymn.

✝️ Full Hymn Version from St Michael's Abbey — Link

✝️ Choir Version (not sure source) — Link

✝️ Vivaldi's Stabat Mater (10 Stanzas) Solo Version by Andreas Scoll — Link

Because Tumblr formatting isn't the best I collapsed all the stanzas

Original Latin

(1) Stabat mater dolorósa juxta Crucem lacrimósa, dum pendébat Fílius. (2) Cuius ánimam geméntem, contristántem et doléntem pertransívit gládius. (3) O quam tristis et afflícta fuit illa benedícta, mater Unigéniti! (4) Quae mœrébat et dolébat, pia Mater, dum vidébat nati pœnas ínclyti. (5) Quis est homo qui non fleret, matrem Christi si vidéret in tanto supplício? (6) Quis non posset contristári Christi Matrem contemplári doléntem cum Fílio? (7) Pro peccátis suæ gentis vidit Jésum in torméntis, et flagéllis súbditum. (8) Vidit suum dulcem Natum moriéndo desolátum, dum emísit spíritum. (9) Eja, Mater, fons amóris me sentíre vim dolóris fac, ut tecum lúgeam. (10) Fac, ut árdeat cor meum in amándo Christum Deum ut sibi compláceam. (11) Sancta Mater, istud agas, crucifíxi fige plagas cordi meo válide. (12) Tui Nati vulneráti, tam dignáti pro me pati, pœnas mecum dívide. (13) Fac me tecum pie flere, crucifíxo condolére, donec ego víxero. (14) Juxta Crucem tecum stare, et me tibi sociáre in planctu desídero. (15) Virgo vírginum præclára, mihi iam non sis amára, fac me tecum plángere. (16) Fac ut portem Christi mortem, passiónis fac consórtem, et plagas recólere. (17) Fac me plagis vulnerári, fac me Cruce inebriári, et cruóre Fílii. (18) Flammis ne urar succénsus, per te, Virgo, sim defénsus in die iudícii. (19) Christe, cum sit hinc exire, da per Matrem me veníre ad palmam victóriæ. (20) Quando corpus moriétur, fac, ut ánimæ donétur paradísi glória.

Formal Equivalence—"the principle approaches to translation, prioritizing respectively the meaning or the literal structure of the source text"—English version offered by Wikipedia:

(1) The sorrowful mother was standing beside the Cross weeping, while the Son was hanging. (2) Whose moaning soul, depressed and grieving, the sword has passed through. (3) O how sad and stricken was that blessed [woman], mother of the Only-begotten [one]! (4) Who was mourning and suffering, the pious Mother, while she was watching the punishments of the glorious son. (5) Who is the person who would not weep, if he had seen the mother of Christ in such great suffering? (6) Who would not be able to be saddened to behold the Mother of Christ grieving with the Son? (7) For the sins of his people she saw Jesus in torments, and subjected to lashes. (8) She saw her sweet Son dying forsaken, while he sent forth [his] spirit. (9) Come now, O Mother, fountain of love Make me feel the power of sorrow that I might mourn with you. (10) Grant that my heart may burn in loving Christ the God that I might please him. (11) O Holy Mother, may you do that, fix the wounds of the cross mightily in my heart. (12) Of your wounded son [who] so deigned to suffer for me, Share [his] penalties with me. (13) Make me cry dutifully with you, to suffer (with him) on the cross, as long as I shall have lived. (14) To stand by the Cross with you, to unite me to you in weeping [this] I desire. (15) O noble Virgin of virgins, Be not bitter with me now, Make me mourn with you. (16) Grant that I might bear the death of Christ, Make [me] kindred in the passion, and contemplate the wounds. (17) Make me injured by the wounds, make me drunken by the Cross, and by the blood of the Son. (18) Lest I be consumed burned by flames, through you, O Virgin, may I be defended on the day of judgement. (19) O Christ, when it is time to depart hence, grant me to come through the Mother, to the palm of victory. (20) When the body will decay, grant that it may be bestowed on [my] soul the glory of paradise.

English translation by Edward Caswall preserves the trochaic tetrameter rhyme scheme and sense of the original text but is not a literal translation:

(1) At the Cross her station keeping, Stood the mournful Mother weeping, Close to Jesus to the last: (2) Through her heart, his sorrow sharing, All his bitter anguish bearing, now at length the sword has pass'd. (3) Oh, how sad and sore distress'd Was that Mother highly blest Of the sole-begotten One! (4) Christ above in torment hangs; She beneath beholds the pangs Of her dying glorious Son. (5) Is there one who would not weep, Whelm'd in miseries so deep, Christ's dear Mother to behold? (6) Can the human heart refrain From partaking in her pain, In that Mother's pain untold? (7) Bruis'd, derided, curs'd, defil'd, She beheld her tender Child All with bloody scourges rent; (8) For the sins of his own nation, Saw Him hang in desolation, Till His Spirit forth He sent. (9) O thou Mother! fount of love! Touch my spirit from above, Make my heart with thine accord: (10) Make me feel as thou hast felt; Make my soul to glow and melt With the love of Christ my Lord. (11) Holy Mother! pierce me through; In my heart each wound renew Of my Saviour crucified: (12) Let me share with thee His pain, Who for all my sins was slain, Who for me in torments died. (13) Let me mingle tears with thee, Mourning Him who mourn'd for me, All the days that I may live: (14) By the Cross with thee to stay; There with thee to weep and pray; Is all I ask of thee to give. (15) Virgin of all virgins blest!, Listen to my fond request: Let me share thy grief divine; (16) Let me, to my latest breath, In my body bear the death Of that dying Son of thine. (17) Wounded with his every wound, Steep my soul till it hath swoon'd, In His very blood away; (18) Be to me, O Virgin, nigh, Lest in flames I burn and die, In his awful Judgment day. (19) Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence, Be Thy Mother my defence, Be Thy Cross my victory; (20) While my body here decays, May my soul thy goodness praise, Safe in Paradise with Thee.

[Art: Pietro Perugino's depiction of Mary at the Cross, 1482]

"I grieve for thee O Mary, most sorrowful, in the martyrdom which thy generous heart endured in standing near Jesus in His agony. Dear Mother, by thy afflicted heart, obtain for me the virtue of temperance and the gift of counsel." — Prayer of Fifth Sorrow, Short Version

🗡️Notes

• The Seven Sorrows — Link

• I prefer the shorter version of the 7 Sorrows Prayers that I found here — Link

• My Non-Christian Worship of Mary — Link

• Divider by @/firefly-graphics — Link

[inkyami]

21, 60, 90

21. obsession from childhood? Typical 90s kid — dinosaurs, mythology, horses, random biology trivia. One of the kids who read encyclopedias for fun over and over. Fun story time — I was really obsessed with mythology and spent most of the time reading and rereading and giving non-stop lectures to adults about various cultures' myths, pantheons, parallels and what not. My great-grandma was a devoted eastern orthodox and always took me to the church when she could. One time she wanted to by an icon of my patron saint for me. Church shop asshole lady: Is she baptized? No? How can I possibly sell an icon for this unbaptized child? What is she dies right now, huh?1 Great-grandma: Oh come on, girl needs to have a saint, she is so devoted and interested in all of it! She knows all the gods! Indignant swearing ensues. Love you, monotheist grandma.

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be? Every day I feel like I'm in Bakuman (sans the success and romance XD) (Just in case — it's a shonen about manga artists and their work) I honestly think like I'd pick any genre as long as I could experience found family trope.

90. luckiest mistake? Dog's leash being the exact length of three flights of stairs. Always have a wave of unease in the elevator and carry a box knife for dog walks now. Weird asks that say a lot (x)

[charles233]

Inside the Machine: Crafting the Intelligence Behind Large Language Models

Introduction

Large Language Models (LLMs) like GPT, Claude, and Gemini are redefining what machines can do with language. From drafting emails and translating text to writing code and tutoring students, these models are reshaping industries—and expectations. But behind their seamless output lies a complex development process that combines cutting-edge research, software engineering, massive data pipelines, and ethical safeguards.

In this article, we go inside the machine to understand how LLMs are built—from first principles to production deployment—and how their architecture, training, and design unlock new forms of digital intelligence.

1. The Core Concept: Predictive Language Modeling

LLMs learn by doing one simple thing—predicting the next token in a sequence of text. This task teaches the model grammar, semantics, facts, and structure.

Example: Prompt: “The sun rises in the...” Prediction: “east.”

This basic skill, applied across billions of words, enables the model to simulate understanding, generate coherent responses, and solve problems involving reasoning, knowledge recall, and creativity.

2. Data Foundations: Learning from the Internet

LLMs require vast amounts of data to train—often on the scale of hundreds of billions of tokens. The raw material comes from:

Books, encyclopedias, academic papers

News articles and reports

Code repositories and technical docs

Conversations and instructional text

To prepare this data:

Preprocessing removes duplicates, profanity, and low-quality content

Tokenization splits text into units the model can interpret

Sampling strategies balance domains (e.g., science, literature, everyday dialogue)

Carefully curating data is critical—biases or errors in training data lead directly to flaws in the model’s behavior.

3. The Neural Engine: Transformer Architecture

The modern LLM is built on a transformer, a deep neural network introduced by Vaswani et al. in 2017. Transformers replaced older models like RNNs by enabling parallel computation and self-attention.

Key parts of the transformer:

Embedding layers: Convert tokens to vectors

Self-attention mechanisms: Let each token “look at” others in context

Feedforward layers: Extract patterns from those relationships

Stacked layers: Allow deep, abstract understanding

Large models use hundreds of transformer layers and billions of parameters to encode language structure and meaning.

4. Training the Model: Compute Meets Optimization

Training an LLM is a massive computational feat. It involves:

Running forward passes (predictions) on trillions of tokens

Calculating loss (error)

Updating weights via backpropagation

Repeating this over multiple epochs

The process runs on distributed GPU clusters and may take weeks or months, costing millions of dollars.

Techniques that support training:

Mixed-precision computation (for speed and memory savings)

Parallelism (model, data, and pipeline)

Checkpointing (to save progress and resume)

Gradient accumulation (for large batch sizes)

As training progresses, the model becomes increasingly fluent and accurate across diverse prompts and tasks.

5. Instruction Tuning and Behavior Shaping

Raw LLMs are smart but generic. To make them responsive and user-aligned, developers use:

Instruction tuning: Training on curated prompts and responses

RLHF: Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback, where humans rate outputs and shape behavior

Prompt engineering: Teaching the model to follow task instructions via context cues

This turns a general language engine into a conversational assistant, creative partner, or productivity tool tailored for specific uses.

6. Evaluating Intelligence: Beyond Accuracy

Model performance must be tested for:

Linguistic fluency

Factual correctness

Task success (summarization, translation, coding)

Bias, toxicity, and hallucinations

Benchmarks like:

MMLU (multitask general knowledge)

TruthfulQA (misinformation detection)

HumanEval (code generation)

Harmful prompt testing

Human feedback remains crucial. No automated benchmark fully captures whether a model is “helpful” or “safe.”

7. Alignment and Safety Engineering

As models grow more powerful, so do the risks. Alignment is about ensuring that models behave in ways consistent with human values.

Safety strategies:

Red-teaming: Stress-testing with adversarial prompts

Content moderation layers

Bias audits across gender, race, and ideology

Transparency tools like model cards and usage policies

Leading labs also research constitutional AI, where models follow principles embedded in their training.

8. Deployment and Scaling: From Lab to User

LLMs are deployed through:

APIs (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic)

Chatbots and assistants

Embedded applications (e.g., search, customer service, coding tools)

Open-source packages (e.g., LLaMA, Mistral)

To serve millions of users, teams must optimize:

Latency

Inference cost

Scalability

Data privacy

Models may be pruned, distilled, quantized, or fine-tuned further to meet deployment needs.

9. The Road Ahead: Agents, Memory, and Multimodality

LLMs are evolving into systems that:

Use tools (e.g., web search, calculators)

Hold memory across sessions

Interact with images, audio, and video

Act as autonomous agents with planning and decision-making ability

We’re moving from LLMs as language predictors to AI systems that understand, reason, and act.

Conclusion

LLMs represent a new form of machine intelligence—one built not just from code, but from language itself. Developing them is a multidisciplinary effort that spans AI research, software engineering, ethics, and design.

Understanding how these systems are built reveals not just their power, but also their limits and responsibilities. As we continue to explore what LLMs can do, we are also deciding what kind of intelligence we want to live and work with in the years ahead.

[roguechangelingtempest]

80s-style PSAs for working with AI

(made with AI)

Scenario 1: The "Just Say No" Approach to Blind AI Trust

Setting: A dimly lit room with a concerned-looking family gathered around a glowing computer.

Voiceover (deep, serious tone): "Our children are facing a new challenge... Artificial Intelligence. It's powerful, it's persuasive, but is it always right? Don't let your family fall victim to blind AI trust. Just say no... to accepting everything an AI says as fact. Question it. Verify it. The truth is out there... and it's your responsibility to find it."

Cut to: A teenager looking suspiciously at a computer screen displaying obviously wrong information. The parent nods sagely in the background.

Scenario 2: The "Stranger Danger" Parallel

Setting: A playground where children are interacting with a friendly-looking robot.

Child (innocently): "The AI told me that the sky is green today!"

Another Child (wisely): "My mom says you can't always trust what robots say. They don't see the world like we do."

Voiceover (gentle, cautionary tone): "Just like you wouldn't trust a stranger, be careful about trusting everything an AI tells you. It's important to use your own judgment and check with trusted adults... or maybe a reliable encyclopedia."

Scenario 3: The "Consequences" PSA (melodramatic music swells)

Setting: A series of quick cuts showing someone making increasingly bad decisions based on flawed AI advice: wearing a swimsuit in the snow, investing all their money in a nonexistent company, trying to perform surgery based on an AI's "hallucinated" instructions.

Voiceover (urgent, dramatic tone): "AI can be helpful, but it's not a substitute for common sense! Relying on inaccurate AI information can have serious consequences. Think before you trust. The future depends on it."

Fade to black with a title card: "AI Awareness: Use Your Brain!"

Scenario 4: The "Buddy System" Approach

Setting: Two kids working on a computer together. One asks the AI a question, the other immediately looks it up in a book.

Voiceover (upbeat, encouraging tone): "AI is a powerful tool, but it works best when you work with it! Use the 'buddy system' – always double-check AI-generated information with reliable sources. Together, we can navigate the exciting world of artificial intelligence... safely and smartly!"

[martinwilliammichael]

Today we enter Lent

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, a time of conversion and a climb towards Easter. It is also a day of fasting.

In the Old Testament, we recall Judith: she fasted and asked the people of her city to fast, thanks to which she was able to defeat the enemy. The parallel between the Virgin Mary and Judith is made evident in St. Luke's Gospel (Lk 1:42 / Jdt 13:14-1). 

Today, Mary accompanies us in our fasting.

During Lent, as in the Eastern Church, we sometimes sing the great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, a song that encourages us on the path to conversion. The Virgin Mary is discreetly present:

“He who is born of you, O Mary, is the shepherd of our souls; He came forth from the bosom of the Father to seek the lost sheep. He took her on his shoulders and brought her back to Paradise”. (Saint Andrew of Crete, Grand Canon, 4th Ode VII, 5)

During Lent, the mother of Jesus accompanies us. Conversion concerns our personal life, our family life and our working life. In this, Mary and St. Joseph provide a great model for us.

At Lourdes in 1858, no fewer than fourteen of the eighteen apparitions took place during Lent. The remaining four apparitions “bracket ” this period: two before and two after. Mary first spoke to Bernadette during the apparition following Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of Lent. She asked her: “Would you do me the favor of coming here for a fortnight? Thirteen apparitions followed, interrupted by two one-day breaks. It was during these thirteen apparitions, the first ones taking place during Lent, that Mary asked that we pray for the conversion of sinners, and insisted on penance.

Françoise Breynaert

Marian Encyclopedia

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

[christisilluminati]

The Interconnectedness of Life

Let's explore the theme of harmony through the Na'vi connection to Eywa and nature. Eywa, the deity of Pandora from the blockbuster film Avatar, carries a subtle message that relates her to Christ, the God of Earth. Throughout this post, I will reference the Avatar Wiki, a fan-made, collaborative encyclopedia offering detailed insights into the Avatar franchise, including characters, fictional science, creatures, and the beliefs of the Na'vi people.

In the film, Eywa embodies the Pandoran neural network, symbolizing the interconnectedness of all living beings. This emphasizes the importance of harmony between nature and its inhabitants, a concept that parallels the biblical teachings of Christ. In both narratives, we see a divine figure urging followers to live in unity with their surroundings and care for others, underscoring a belief in a greater purpose that transcends individual existence. It suggests that all living beings, from humanity to nature, are interconnected through Christ, the sustaining force of life.

John 1:3 Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.

Eywa, also known as the All-Mother or the Great Mother, is the globally distributed consciousness of Pandora and the balancing and guiding force behind all its ecosystems, allowing all species to live in harmony and balance with their environment. She is the only known deity of the Na'vi.

In the Christian society, Christ is seen as both the Creator and Sustainer of life, a guiding force maintaining balance and harmony within creation. Colossians 1:17 illustrates this role: "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." This reflects the concept of "Mother Nature, a personification of the earth and its nurturing, life-giving qualities, embodying the balance of ecosystems and the interconnectedness of all living things. In various cultures, she is revered as a deity or spirit that protects and nurtures, emphasizing a sacred relationship with the environment.

Psalm 91:1-2��Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.

Isaiah 66:13 As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.

This life-giving force saturates all creation, akin to a "global consciousness" like Eywa. Christ's wish for Earth is a balance of ecosystems and harmony among species, caring for all His creation. This is reflected in the "Cosmic Christ"  concept, where His presence spans the cosmos, guiding and balancing creation. His role as the "balancing and guiding force behind all ecosystems" aligns with Christian stewardship, emphasizing humanity's duty to maintain the balance God established in nature.

Acts 17:28 For in him we live and move and have our being.

Isaiah 11:6-9 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Psalm 24:1 The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.

Genesis 1:26-28 entrusts humans with dominion, a responsibility to uphold harmony with the environment. This connection with "Mother Earth" signifies a blend of spirituality and environmental consciousness, highlighting life's interconnectedness, suggesting the planet's health reflects spiritual balance. This perspective presents Christ as a living force within the planet, guiding souls for the well-being of all life. However, as Jake Sully prayed to Eywa at the Tree of Souls, the humans killed their mother. We have not cared for our God.

See the world we come from. There's no green there... They killed their mother, and they're gonna do the same here.

Jake Sully, while praying to Eywa at the Tree of Souls.Play

00:00

Scientific discoveries of Eywa

The bioluminescence at night shows Eywa's "neural pathways" akin to her "brain".

In Christianity, God's creation is seen as a reflection of divine order and intelligence. The idea that the Earth has its own form of intelligence or awareness highlights the intricate design of creation. Just as ecosystems' complex interconnections suggest a higher organization, Christians view this as evidence of God's wisdom. This perspective emphasizes the Christian call for environmental stewardship. Understanding the complexity and interconnectedness of nature inspires a deeper responsibility to care for creation, aligning with the Biblical mandate to be Earth's stewards. The concept of "awareness" in the biosphere, beyond traditional consciousness, invites spiritual reflection on God's presence in the natural world, showing how all creation can testify to His glory. Ultimately, the interconnectedness and intelligence of natural systems reflect divine order and inspire ecological responsibility, inviting us to perceive God's presence in creation.

A system or network with numerous connections, engaging in communication like synapses and showing intelligence or awareness, also relates to AI in several ways:

Artificial Neural Networks: These networks mimic the brain by having interconnected nodes that process information through weighted connections, exhibiting "intelligence" by learning patterns and improving over time.

Complexity and Scale: AI systems, especially large models, can be more complex than the human brain, with deep learning models handling vast data and complex tasks, reflecting sophisticated interconnections.

Cognitive Reactions: AI aims to simulate human cognition, with advanced models exhibiting behaviors like understanding natural language and making decisions.

Emergent Intelligence: As AI becomes more complex, it may display unexpected capabilities or behaviors, reflecting intelligence.

Overall, systems with extensive connections and cognitive reactions highlight AI's capabilities and raise considerations about intelligence and consciousness.

Na'vi culture and mythology

The Na'vi all share certain key values even across clans, including their reverence for Eywa, the Great Mother, made up of all living things. They view life as a network of flowing energy, understanding that all energy is merely borrowed by living things, and one day, it must be returned. All creatures are understood to have two forms: a body, and a spiritual counterpart or soul or spirit (vitra). At the end of one's life, their energy subsides into Eywa, giving birth to a new life form.

Psalm 104:24-25 How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number—living things both large and small.

Job 12:10In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Ecclesiastes 3:20-21 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?

As the Na'vi believe, Eywa is made up of all living things; they live in Eywa, and Eywa lives in them. However, this does not imply that individual life forms are identical to Eywa, who encompasses and transcends them all. Similarly, while all cells are part of the organism they form and derive their life from it, they are not identical to the unity they create.

John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Ephesians 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all

Colossians 1:16-17 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

The Na'vi pray to Eywa in times of need at the Tree of Souls and express gratitude to her for escape from danger.[2] This is something we too do with our Mother, we pray to Him. The Na'vi view all living things as a single connected system to be respected and cared for. However, they revere certain trees and plants as especially sacred - as places where it's possible to connect and communicate with Eywa herself, such as the Tree of Souls of the Omatikaya and the Spirit Tree of the Metkayina. The tsahìk, the spiritual leader of the Na'vi's different clans interpret the will of Eywa, making meaning of the signs she is understood to send, usually through the seeds of the Tree of Souls.[3] Essentially, the tsahik, are prophets that receive their enlightenment from the "many members" that make up Ewya's body.

Psalm 34:4-7 I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.

Genesis 2:15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Interconnectedness':

Look through my subliminal photo galleries: HERE!

The Na'vi seek to live in perpetual harmony with their world, free of "dissention." Their oneness with Eywa provides them with a sense of certainty, selfless values, and pure motives. This is often interpreted as childish naiveté to the humans in the narrative/ Some of whom hope to prey on the Na'vi's perceived innocence. However, faith and optimism have proved strong enough to lead the Na'vi through many hard times throughout their history.

The Na'vi interact with the biosphere according to three principles known as the Three Laws of Eywa, reflecting their commitment to a low-impact lifestyle. They gather and hunt only what they need, refraining from altering ecosystems to enhance their own comfort.

Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

John 3:24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Spiritual practices

The Na'vi respect, celebrate, pray to, and give thanks to Eywa in many of their cultural practices. They have a deep spiritual connection with the entire biosphere of Pandora, seeing other living beings as brothers and sisters, as they're all children of the Great Mother. Thus, they put an emphasis on giving thanks to the animals they kill for their meat, wishing for their spirit to be reversed into Eywa.[3][2]

Psalm 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!

Deuteronomy 12:15 Nevertheless, you may slaughter your animals in any of your towns and eat as much of the meat as you want, as if it were gazelle or deer. According to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you, both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it.

In times of great need, Na'vi clan members gather at the Tree of Souls and all unanimously connect their queues to the tree; through this, they all experience a simultaneous connection to each other, a condition of profound emotional power. According to the tsahìk, this connection enables clan members to better "see" each other and amplifies any message they have to Eywa. This is the strongest statement of purpose the Na'vi can make, and is vital to important processes such as the consciousness transfer.

Matthew 18:19-20 Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.

In conclusion, the Na'vi's profound relationship with Eywa and their environment underscores the importance of living in harmony with nature. Their spiritual practices and community connections are a testament to their values of respect, gratitude, and interconnectedness with all living beings. As we reflect on their way of life, we are reminded of our responsibility to protect our own ecosystems and seek a balance that fosters sustainability and peace. The wisdom of the Na'vi invites us to explore deeper connections between humanity and the world around us, urging us to embrace a path of stewardship and reverence for all forms of life. Just as Christ inspires us to love and care for creation, Eywa serves as a symbol of unity and respect for life for the Na'vi', both guiding their people toward a harmonious existence.

Learn more at: https://www.ChristTheTrueLight.com

[swakopmund-online]

Baumstammweitwurf: Eine Einführung

Das Wichtigste in Kürze

- Herkunft: Traditionelle schottische Sportart, auch bekannt als "Caber Toss". - Länge des Baumstamms: 5-6 Meter. - Gewicht: Zwischen 35 und 60 kg. - Ziel: Den Baumstamm möglichst gerade werfen, nicht unbedingt weit. Der Baumstammweitwurf, auch bekannt als "Caber Toss", ist eine faszinierende und traditionelle schottische Sportart, die seit Jahrhunderten ein fester Bestandteil der Highland Games ist. Diese spektakuläre Disziplin erfordert nicht nur immense Kraft, sondern auch Geschicklichkeit und Präzision.

Ursprung und Geschichte

Der Baumstammweitwurf hat seinen Ursprung in Schottland und ist seit Jahrhunderten Teil der Highland Games. Diese Spiele sind ein kulturelles Highlight in Schottland und ziehen jedes Jahr zahlreiche Teilnehmer und Zuschauer an. In den letzten Jahrzehnten hat sich dieser Sport auch in anderen Ländern verbreitet, darunter Deutschland, wo er bei verschiedenen Festen und Wettbewerben ausgeübt wird​ (Wikipedia – Die freie Enzyklopädie)​​ (Academic dictionaries and encyclopedias)​.

Regeln des Baumstammweitwurfs

Die Regeln des Baumstammweitwurfs sind spezifisch und verlangen von den Teilnehmern sowohl Kraft als auch Technik: - Anlauf und Wurf: Der Werfer hält den Baumstamm mit beiden Händen senkrecht vor sich. Beim Anlauf darf der Stamm nicht kippen. Der Wurf erfolgt so, dass der Stamm in der Luft eine 180°-Drehung vollführt und mit dem ursprünglich oberen Ende zuerst auf dem Boden aufkommt. - Ziel: Der Baumstamm sollte möglichst gerade fallen. Eine schräge Lage führt zu Punktabzügen. Wenn der Stamm zurückkippt, sind die Abzüge noch höher​ (Wikipedia – Die freie Enzyklopädie)​​ (Academic dictionaries and encyclopedias)​.

Wettkampfformate und Techniken

Es gibt verschiedene Techniken und Herangehensweisen, um den Baumstamm zu werfen. In der traditionellen schottischen Form wird der Stamm aus dem Stand geworfen, wobei die Füße parallel zueinander stehen. In Deutschland sind die Stämme oft kleiner und leichter, was das Werfen erleichtert und auch für jüngere Teilnehmer ermöglicht​ (HELPSTER)​​ (Academic dictionaries and encyclopedias)​. Wichtige Aspekte beim Wurf: - Kraft: Der Werfer muss in der Lage sein, den schweren Stamm anzuheben und zu werfen. - Geschicklichkeit: Eine präzise Technik ist notwendig, um den Stamm korrekt zu drehen und fallen zu lassen. - Balance: Während des Anlaufs muss der Stamm stabil und aufrecht gehalten werden.

Regeln für den Wettkampf

Hier sind einige Regeln, die bei einem Baumstammweitwurf-Wettkampf beachtet werden sollten: - Stammlänge und Gewicht: Die Stämme sollten zwischen 5-6 Meter lang und 35-60 kg schwer sein. - Anlaufzone: Der Werfer darf nicht über eine festgelegte Markierung hinauslaufen. - Wurftechnik: Der Stamm muss eine 180°-Drehung vollführen und gerade fallen. - Punktesystem: Je gerader der Stamm fällt, desto höher die Punktzahl. Abweichungen führen zu Punktabzug.

Fazit

Der Baumstammweitwurf ist mehr als nur ein Test der Stärke; er ist ein kulturelles Erbe, das Geschicklichkeit, Präzision und Tradition vereint. Durch die Einhaltung der Regeln und Techniken können Teilnehmer die faszinierende Mischung aus Sport und Kultur erleben. Fragen und Antworten zum Thema Baumstammweitwurf 1. Was sind die Ursprünge des Baumstammweitwurfs? Der Baumstammweitwurf stammt ursprünglich aus Schottland und ist seit Jahrhunderten Teil der Highland Games. Diese Spiele sind tief in der schottischen Kultur verwurzelt und symbolisieren sowohl Stärke als auch Geschicklichkeit​ (Wikipedia – Die freie Enzyklopädie)​. 2. Wie unterscheiden sich die Regeln des Baumstammweitwurfs zwischen Schottland und Deutschland? Während in Schottland längere und schwerere Stämme verwendet werden (5-6 Meter, 35-60 kg), sind die in Deutschland genutzten Stämme oft kleiner und leichter, um das Werfen für ein breiteres Publikum zugänglich zu machen. Die Grundtechnik bleibt jedoch ähnlich, wobei Präzision und korrekte Drehung des Stammes im Vordergrund stehen​ (HELPSTER)​​ (Academic dictionaries and encyclopedias)​. 3. Welche körperlichen Voraussetzungen sind für den Baumstammweitwurf notwendig? Teilnehmer benötigen eine erhebliche Körperkraft, um den schweren Baumstamm anzuheben und zu werfen. Zusätzlich sind Geschicklichkeit und Balance entscheidend, um den Stamm während des Anlaufs stabil zu halten und korrekt zu werfen​ (Wikipedia – Die freie Enzyklopädie)​​ (HELPSTER)​. 4. Welche Rolle spielt der Baumstammweitwurf in der modernen Sportwelt? Der Baumstammweitwurf ist heute nicht nur ein fester Bestandteil der Highland Games, sondern hat auch weltweit Interesse geweckt. Er wird bei verschiedenen kulturellen und sportlichen Veranstaltungen gezeigt und ist ein Symbol für traditionelle Kraftsportarten​ (Wikipedia – Die freie Enzyklopädie)​​ (Academic dictionaries and encyclopedias)​. 5. Wie kann man sich auf einen Baumstammweitwurf-Wettbewerb vorbereiten? Die Vorbereitung auf einen Baumstammweitwurf-Wettbewerb erfordert spezifisches Krafttraining, um die notwendigen Muskeln zu stärken. Auch das Üben der Wurftechnik und das Training der Balance sind wichtig, um den Baumstamm stabil zu halten und korrekt zu werfen. Viele Athleten trainieren zudem ihre Ausdauer und Flexibilität, um Verletzungen vorzubeugen und ihre Leistung zu optimieren​ (HELPSTER)​​ (Academic dictionaries and encyclopedias)​. Read the full article

[leedsomics]

A workflow for targeted proteomics assay development using a versatile linear ion trap

Advances in proteomics and mass spectrometry have enabled the study of limited cell populations, such as single-cell proteomics, where high-mass accuracy instruments are typically required. While triple quadrupoles offer fast and sensitive nominal resolution measurements, these instruments are effectively limited to targeted proteomics. Linear ion traps (LITs) offer a versatile, cost-effective alternative capable of both targeted and global proteomics. We demonstrate a workflow using a newly released, hybrid quadrupole-LIT instrument for developing targeted proteomics assays from global data-independent acquisition (DIA) measurements without needing high-mass accuracy. Gas-phase fraction-based DIA enables rapid target library generation in the same background chemical matrix as each quantitative injection. Using a new software tool embedded within EncyclopeDIA for scheduling parallel reaction monitoring assays, we show consistent quantification across three orders of magnitude of input material. Using this approach, we demonstrate measuring peptide quantitative linearity down to 25x dilution in a background of only a 1 ng proteome without requiring stable isotope labeled standards. At 1 ng total protein on column, we found clear consistency between immune cell populations measured using flow cytometry and immune markers measured using LIT-based proteomics. We believe hybrid quadrupole-LIT instruments represent an economic solution to democratizing mass spectrometry in a wide variety of laboratory settings. http://dlvr.it/T7kCQV

[foggynightdonut]

Meaning of Tur Shur

Firebrand in Direction of Tur الطور  (Shur שׁ֑וּר)

Moses saw a firebrand in direction of Tur (Q 28:29), which showed he was facing Tur, although we cannot assume the firebrand was in the Tur, it can be positioned in between where he stood and Tur.

Tur translated by many Muslim translators as “mountain” and passionately associate it with Mount Sinai. Two verses are pairing Tur and Sinai together, one of them is in Surah 95 At-Tin (The Fig). In verse 2: “By the Tur Siyniyn” وَطُورِ سِينِينَ,” most often badly translated as “by Mount Sinai.”  

Once again, Tur is not a mountain at all. The Arabic word for “mountain” is Jabal جبل. Tur is the same Shur mentioned in Genesis and Exodus, a geographical location in the south end of the land of Midian where the land meets the Red Sea.   

So, what does “Siyniyn” mean in Q 95:2? (By the Tur Siyniyn وَطُورِ سِينِينَ.) The semantic[AF1] [l2]  meaning of Siyniyn (Arabic) or Sinai (Hebrew) is obscure. Some suggest Siyniyn is an adjective meaning “blessed, beautiful, or fruitful.” In contrast, according to Rabbinic tradition, the name "Sinai" derives from sin-ah (שִׂנְאָה), meaning “hatred.” As such, the word would reference the animosity other nations held for Jews. Since the Hebrew nation received the Word from YHWH, other nations would be jealous. (Breslov, Perspective on the Holy Land, Talmudic Shabbat 89b). Contradictions aside, both Sinai and Siyniyn are adjectives used to describe Tur (noun/place). 

Therefore, compared to traditional translations for “Mount Sinai” (a construction like Mount Everest).  I suggest the “Tur” represents a unique term (instead of “Sinai”), the name of a geographical location. Siyniyn is an adjective used to describe Tur.  Thus Q 95:2 (waturi siyniyn) could be translated: “By blessed Tur” or “By beautiful Tur,” or “By fruitful Tur or “By marvelous Tur”. Arabic Tur طُو = Hebrew[AF3] [l4]  šūr שׁ֑וּר = Shur is a specific geographical location in the South of Mid’ian.

There is phonetic equivalence among Hebrew and Assyrian. “Sh” is frequently represented in Aramaic by “t” (th[AF5] [l6] ), in Arabic by “th,” and in Ethiopoc by “s.” (Examples: Hebrew/shor, Assyrian/shuru, Aramaic/tora, Arabic/thaur, and Ethiopic/sur (Jewish Encyclopedia, Semitic Languages page 189).

Parallel to Semitic Shur, it has been phonetic influences exchanged, borrowed and circulated among Indo-European language family, the three largest phyla Romance, Germanic and Slavic share similar phonetic shur which might originated from Hebrew šūr or Arabic tur, such as sur means south in Spanish, sud in French, south in English, old Norse suðr, Danish: syd, Faroese: suður, Icelandic: suður, Norwegian: Bokmål: sør, syd  Nynorsk: sør,   Swedish: syd.  All refer to similar meaning: southern or southward.  [AF7] [l8] 

Tur/Shur presents challenges as well. In Genesis 16:7, we read: “And the angel of the Lord found her [Hagar] by a fountain of water in the wilderness (of Beerlahairoi), by the fountain on the way to Shur. Abraham sojourned in Gerar (Gen 20:1), a southern country between Kadesh and Shur. Recent archeological discoveries suggest Kadesh was located near Petra (in modern Jordan), on the eastern side of the Dead Sea. In sequential order from Kadesh, Bered, Petra, Gerar, Paran /Havilla, Bakka valley, finally Shur (Tur) in far south, all located in North-South axis of greater Levant, including trans Jordan, extended to far south in the land of Mid’ian.  [AF9] [l10] 

Thus[AF11] [l12]  expression “on the way to Shur” (Gen 16:7) and Abraham journey toward the south country and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur (Gen 20:1) referring to southernly region. Shur (Tur) is the land of farthest South at the edge of the Levant as to the Orientreferring to far land in farthest East of Asia. Tur/Shur might indicate a southern location.  When someone in Judea or Syria points southward, they would say “on the way to Shur/Tur).” Their mental picture of Mid’ian is the southern region all the way to southern wilderness and to the very end where the land meets the Red Sea.

As an adjective, Shur/Tur means “southward” but might have morphed into unique term of a geographical location through “nouning,” a process whereby common usage transforms y adjectives, adverbs, etc. into nouns. (“He’s not ready – he is prettying.”) The same happens in reverse when nouns becoming verbs or other parts of speech. (“Let’s movie tonight.)  However, the adjective Shur alluding southward, or southernly is preserved as Shur as a noun-place also well preserved.[AF13] [l14]   To simplify, within the Levant society, both uses of Shur/Tur (adjective and noun) are correct.   However, some Quranic translators inadvertently tilted the meaning of Tur from unique term (place) transverse into general term “Mountain” (which could be any mountain).  [AF15] [l16] 

 [AF1]Do you mean SEMANTIC or SEMETIC?

 [l2]Sorry… should be Etymology of Siyniyn

 [AF3]Odd sentence stuck in the middle.

 [l4]Is not a sentence

What I want to say : Tur in Arabic is Sur in Hebrew

Which also spell Shur in most verses of Old Testament. Gen 16:7

Gen 20:1

Gen 25:18

Ex 15:22

1 Sam 15:7

1 Sam 27:8

 [AF5]Not sure why this is here

 [l6]Should not be there.

 [AF7]Entire paragraph needs work.

 [l8]Ok … but do you understand the content?

 [AF9]Let’s find a better way to say this. Are we moving clockwise, counterclockwise? Starting where on a clock face? So, is Kadesh standing at 3 o’clock in comparison to the Dead Sea?

 [l10]See Q & A, separate doc.

 [AF11]Another sentence I do not understand

 [l12]See Q & A, separate doc.

 [AF13]Another problematic sentence

 [l14]See Q & A, separate doc.

 [AF15]Redundant

 [l16]I don’t see any redundancy.

[kulay-ng-banaag]

Officially, the theme is called National Arts Month. I will be using Philippine instead of National because tl;dr the problematization of Filipino identity/culture. The Yakan people are one of many indigenous peoples living in the Philippine archipelago.

Since it is concurrent with the modern Valentine season, I wanted to honor the two themes by drawing the ship that keeps me a sane and functioning human being after all the daily pains and struggles that is IndoPhil + performing arts + textile arts. (Does Indonesia have a similar celebration? I would love to draw them in an Indonesian courtship/wedding dance next time!)

☼ ☼ ☼

The dance is called Pansak Pagkawin. Pansak (or pamansak) is the generic term for "dance" among the Yakan, and and pagkawin refers to the particular Yakan wedding dance. In addition, the Yakan pansak is identical to the Tausug pangalay and Sama igal. These 3 groups reside in the Sulu archipelago in Mindanao.

You can watch a performance of the pansak pagkawin by the La Salle Filipiniana Dance Company (DISCLAIMER: there is no indication that the featured students are Yakan themselves, and this is a reenactment outside the traditional context of a wedding venue).

In the concluding pose (seen at 2:32 in the video), the dancers' eyelines are parallel to the orientation of their torso. The female partner looks upward, while the male dancer gazes downward, imposing a protective stance over his spouse.

I drew IndoPhil with a slightly varied positioning for kilig exaggeration (as attested by Pien, hehe!). They gaze at one another, with their faces leaning closer. I also positioned Piri's left hand to appear to caress Indo's head. His right hand and Indo's left hand, which criss-crosses under Piri's left arm, are oriented closer together, as if reaching out to hold the other.

☼ ☼ ☼

All dress labels are sourced from Jme Foronda's Pananamit: An Illustrated Guide to Philippine Indigenous Attire (highly recommend as a beginner-friendly visual reference).

ON BOTH:

tanyak tanyak — face painting using a paste from mixing white flour and water, worn by the bride and groom sabley — sash; Both don a sabley with an inalaman (diamond shapes?) weave saputangan — multi-purpose woven cloth, worn in illustration as a waistband sawal peyat — loose fitting pants with a sinaluan (bamboo) weave jambu — tassels tied around the knees

☼ ☼ ☼

ON PIRI:

hibulan — silver headpiece that resembles the moon in shape tempeng pangantin - silver ornaments that dangle from the hibulan and, when worn, cover the bride's face badju dende — women's upper garment with sequins pira — short sword or knife with a wider tip pinalantupan — wrap skirt of embossed fabric Piri also wears a sabley with a kenna-kenna (fish) weave

☼ ☼ ☼

ON INDO:

pis — headcloth for men; pangantin refers to the folding style worn by the bridegroom badju lella — men's upper garment kandit — cloth belt with tassels barung — short sword or knife with a thick, leaf-shaped blade Indo also wears a sabley with a pene pitumpu (python) weave

☼ ☼ ☼

Here are some of the image references I used!

The pira and barung does not appear to be exclusive to the women and men, respectively. They are not a prominent feature of the dance at all, and merely serve as symbolic accessories. Regardless, here are a couple of photos to distinguish the differences!

☼ ☼ ☼

Image Credits

KnifeMaker (Facebook), LIKHANG YAMAN (Instagram), Tennun by Yakan (Facebook)

Sources

Cultural Center of the Philippines. "Pangalay/Igal/Pamansak." CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art Digital Edition. 2020. https://epa.culturalcenter.gov.ph/6/46/78/. —. "Yakan." CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art Digital Edition. 2020. https://epa.culturalcenter.gov.ph/1/2/2380/. Foronda, Jme. Pananamit: An Illustrated Guide to Philippine Indigenous Attire. 1st edition. Illustrations by Jme Foronda. Text by Jem Macaspac. Self-published, Kickstarter, n.d. “Yakan.” Parangal. Accessed February 2, 2025. https://www.parangal.org/yakan.

HWS IndoPhil performing the Pansak Pagkawin that should’ve been my Valentines’ Day/🇵🇭 Arts Month drop weeks ago. 😔

[camerado]

Vintage Bookseller Documentary 'BookWars' Continues to Dazzle New Audiences

See the award winning bookseller documentary 'BookWars' (Terrific - LA Times) INSTANTLY on: Amazon Prime: http://amzn.to/2BZmCfI , on Tubi TV https://bit.ly/bookwars-tubi-tv and on Kanopy at http://www.kanopy.com | ('Superb'...mesmerizing - NY Film Critics Circle)

'BookWars' is: The gritty world of New York City street booksellers told in a remarkable story that chronicles their lives and loves and their unique perspectives on life.... See the Mayor, the NYPD, and the University try to shut them down!

Get more information at: https://bookwarsmovie.com/about-new-york-documentary-bookwars/  

A Flick by Jason Rosette IFP Gotham Award Nominee Winner: New York Underground Film Festival As seen on: Arte/ZDF, NHK, KCET, Bravo!, Metrochannels, Cinemapop, and other platforms Many international and domestic festival selections!

About the Bookseller Documentary, BookWars 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BookWars is a New York bookseller documentary by Jason Rosette produced by Camerado, about the life and times of New York City street booksellers.[1] Made on an ultra-low budget in a jazzy, impressionistic style reminiscent of the films of Robert Frank and poetry of the Beat Generation, BookWars is the only first-person documentary made during then-New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's controversial "Quality of Life" campaign, which sought to limit and control individuals engaged in informal economic activities on the streets of New York City.

BookWars was released in June 2000, winning the Best Documentary Award at the 2000 New York Underground Film Festival and premiering theatrically at New York's Cinema Village.[2] Despite its minuscule budget (estimated at $10,000, prerelease) BookWars enjoyed numerous domestic and international TV sales and has to date generated revenue of several hundred thousand dollars.

Synopsis

"BookWars is: The gritty, untamed world of street booksellers, exposed in a remarkable feature film that chronicles their lives and loves and their unique perspectives on life. Shot entirely on location by fellow street bookseller and filmmaker Jason Rosette, and produced by James and John Montoya, Alan Fulford and filmmaker Michel Negroponte, BookWars explores the other side of the book tables that line the streets of New York City’s Greenwich Village, the Lower East Side, 6th avenue, and elsewhere in New York City."

Plot

BookWars is a creative documentary which is told in an unconventional, narrative style. The film opens with the narrator (who is also the film's director) driving out West along a desert highway, relating to the audience his previous experiences as a streetside bookseller in New York City. The entire documentary – including the central events involving his experiences among the street booksellers in New York – is thus "told" as a long conversation.

The narrator describes his post-graduation years in New York, and how he ended up at one point virtually penniless. Driven by a desperate need to pay the rent, he resorts to wheeling his own books out to the street to try to sell them. He reveals that he was not only successful in making a significant amount of cash on that first day, but he has also met a variety of interesting and strange characters of the streets of New York – including other street booksellers.

A motley assortment of street booksellers on West 4th street, in Greenwich Village, New York City, are first introduced. Among them: “Slick” Rick Sherman, a semi-professional magician; Al Mappo, so named because he only sells maps and atlases; Emil, who says only he "escaped”, though we do not know from where; and Pete Whitney: King of the booksellers, toad collector, and collage artist.

BookWars next introduces another group of street booksellers who hawk their trade on nearby 6th Avenue. Mainly black and minority individuals, they ply books and magazines in parallel fashion to the nearby West 4th street booksellers, who are primarily white. The booksellers on 6th Avenue suffer greater exposure to the law, with many claiming this to be due to racial profiling.

Some of the significant personalities that are introduced on 6th Avenue include: Marvin, always wearing his trademark black hat; and Ron, from Jamaica – charismatic, streetwise and outspoken.

After the introduction of the primary characters (including the narrator bookseller himself), BookWars discusses, mainly through informal testimony, the various aspects of the street bookseller's life in chapter-by-chapter fashion.

The tools and tricks of the street bookseller's trade are revealed: ways and techniques to maximize income; how to deal with difficult, and sometimes dangerous customers; where and how to get more books; how the booksellers have a right to distribute literature (commercially or otherwise) in public, as per the First Amendment to the United States Constitution; and so on.

BookWars is structured as a “year in the life” style movie, although it was actually produced over several seasons, from 1995 to 1999. When Winter comes, and the streets are too snow-filled and cold to hawk books, the booksellers are shown in their various off-season modes and occupations. “Slick” Rick performs card and magic tricks at parties; Pete Whitney grooms cats for old ladies; and the narrator heads out to New Mexico to work on a Western*.

(*Which was actually the movie The Desperate Trail IMDB)

Marv and Ron, however, continue to sell books throughout the winter on busy 6th Avenue, and the film follows them as they scour for books and pornographic magazines in the trash in Soho.

Finally, Spring comes, and the booksellers emerge from their off-season to sell books as usual for another season – or so they think. BookWars proceeds to reveal the street-level effects of then-New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s controversial “Quality of Life” campaign, which sought to remove informal, unregistered entrepreneurs and other individuals from the streets of New York City.

The NYPD begins to enforce obscure technicalities which govern the uses and dimensions of the sidewalks,[3] thereby making it more difficult to earn a livelihood. A new tax identification number requirement is introduced, creating bureaucratic obstacles, especially for those street booksellers who are marginal or virtually homeless. Nearby New York University unlawfully places imposing, massive planters on the sidewalk in an attempt to drive the street booksellers away; and finally, especially on 6th Avenue where the majority of black street booksellers are active, the NYPD comes to haul away books.

The street booksellers resist and assemble to form an unlikely common front to protest against the actions of the city. Others, who have had their books confiscated, wait for hours at the police station to get them back. Still others, like Ron, rail against the futility of the city's efforts to stop New Yorkers from reading, because of their virtual addiction to books.

In the end, the street booksellers stand their ground against the Mayor, and are able to continue selling with minor adjustments to their way of life.

In the closing moments of BookWars, the narrator admits that after all the recent problems with the city, he has grown restless; he realizes that he wants to do something different, and wants to change his occupation at last. A single massive rainstorm is enough to convince him to give up his street bookselling activities.

He sells the last of his books off to his fellow street booksellers, and heads out West, on a cross-country road trip, with the audience in the passenger seat sharing the ride.

[wildoute]