Twitter things (scrabble mahjong + Philippine mythology)

[halfcactus]

Didn't want to lose these links to the chaos of my Twitter timeline:

1) "Chinese people playing Wordle like" [video]: so much happening in this video, I keep rewatching it lol

2) Twitter thread by bjrecio:

One of the things that commonly get lost in translation when talking about "Philippine Myths" to folks outside the country is the idea that they're not... actually myths to us.

(I think this is something that even our diaspora counterparts don't always get.)

I mean, sure, the tikbalang is a cool looking horse creature that haunts our campfire stories. What gets omitted sometimes is that the stories are often first or secondhand. You've either actually encountered a tikbalang before, or know someone who swears that they did.

Do I believe that this encounter actually happened? That's an irrelevant question, I think. What matters is that to our culture, these are real encounters.

I say tabi-tabi po when passing anthills, not out of belief in nuno, necessarily, but because that's part of my culture.

SO TRUE, for our SEAsian neighbors as well, it's also why I feel so strongly about Zen Cho's short fiction. The stories that feature Malaysian mythological creatures inhabit a really familiar space, even for someone like me who grew up in the urban parts of the Philippines. My classmate's sister has encountered a tikbalang (she didn't find out until she played a recording of their interview), my friends have lived near kapres... (I don't really hear these stories in adulthood anymore. Maybe they just don't come up in our conversations, maybe I'm lucky enough to have grandmother who vets houses for supernatural presences, maybe it's a provincial thing, maybe those with higher educational backgrounds don't believe in them--it's hard to tell because I have a hard "no horror or supernatural stories" rule unless it will directly and immediately impact my life lol.)

3) Found my old planners/journals while attempting to declutter, here's a short thread of photos and notes. This is my favorite find hahahaha:


I'm trying to figure out if there's a way to compile these so they don't take up so much space, one whole hardbound or springbound notebook a year adds up. A problem for another day.

Comments

[cortue]

1. Haha, there really is! That movie goes so fast I have to watch it again to catch more.

2. A good thread! I grew up in a place that very much believed things that couldn't be "proven" and so I've always associated the word 'superstition' with things that are best respected, one way or another. I am the same as you where I just try to remain adjacent to it all by having the same 'don't tell me stories about supernatural encounters' rule.

3. Your doodles are so cute! I also like there's no wrong way to love a chocobo :D

[halfcactus]

1: The chaos energy in that vid... 100%

2: OMG YES A FELLOW PERSON WHO NEVER WANTS TO KNOW UNLESS NECESSARY. XD Did you live in a more rural/nature-adjacent area? Superstitions and old beliefs seem much better preserved there, for obvious reasons.

3: Thank you! ♥ (That actually is a quote from a game, hahaha.)

[cortue]

Yeah! I lived/had family in both rural and city areas, but it was definitely in the rural areas that I would get stories about, you know, the thing that lived out on the island, or in the graveyard. Things felt a lot more real and possible there.