#lihangin

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Hello from the random oc questions tabby kitten!!💙

How is your character wrong? What misconceptions about the world, others, and/or themselves do they have? Do they ever work past these misconceptions?

Hello! I’m going to answer this OOC, since I feel like a character answering would be airing out everyone else’s dirty laundry. Despite their squabbles and differences, the Twelve Guardians are one big family.

Tala: Thinks she's the center of the universe and that everything is about her. If she's not included in something, she gets angry.

Mayari: Way too single-minded in her goal to defeat the Bakunawa; this leads her to neglect spending time with the other Guardians or occupying herself with other things.

Oryol: Somewhat manipulative. Given her hypnosis powers, she sometimes charms people to get what she wants.

Lidagat: Super pessimistic. Fitting as the Guardian of heartache, but she just needs to lighten up sometimes.

Lihangin: Can't pay attention to a task to save his life. He's always switching from one thing to the next, rarely finishing anything.

Mariang Makiling: Set in her ways. She thinks everything can be solved by doing what was done before.

Anitan Tabu: Has loose morals. She'll stir up trouble if it means getting a good laugh out of it.

Mapulon: Laidback to the point of laziness. He'll let the other Guardians solve problems and rarely gets involved.

Ikapati: Excessively patient and forgiving. She believes in the good of people, to the point that she tolerates mortals taking advantage of her generosity.

Mariang Sinukuan: Doesn't really act on emotions - might not even have any? She operates on pure logic and empirical data, although she knows her limits.

Mariang Kakaw: Has a short fuse and a big mouth. If something displeases her, she'll say it even if it means the other person getting hurt.

Magwayen: Acts like her word is law when it comes to mortals. She's inflexible with her judgments on their morality and is a stickler for the rules of the afterlife.

On a whole, self-awareness isn't really their strong suit. They're gods, and don't really change or grow up the way mortals do. I want to explore these flaws in future stories, so thanks for prompting me to come up with them!

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Early concepts for the other Guardians! Unlike Tala and Mayari, they didn't take as many iterations to finalize. As you can see, they resemble their final designs quite a lot. I am sad I had to sacrifice a lot of things in the revisions, such as Mariang Kakaw's halo, Magwayen's wings, Oryol's sea turtle shell and flippers, and Lidgat's more monstrous appearance.

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Lihangin Design Notes

My interpretation of Lihangin! In the Visayan creation myth, Lihangin is the personification of the wind and the son of the supreme god Kaptan. In this reimagining, I made him the Guardian of direction, speed, change and freedom - all things you associate with the wind!

As for his design, I took inspiration from the color palette of the Feathered Serpent from Aztec mythology. His six wings, halo and sash are a reference to angels in general, especially the six-winged Seraphim.

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can any of the guardians help me with my math i have class in 10 minutes wait-

Lidagat: The other Guardians are busy in their respective realms... So you’re stuck with me and my husband... But I think we can help.

Lihangin: Yup, I can do any computation faster than you can say Pythagoras! Just let me at ‘em! There’s lightning fast, and then there’s Lihangin fast!! Why there’s this one time I-

Lidagat: I think... The mortal wants us to teach them... Instead of us just doing the homework for them...

Lihangin: Ohhhh.

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Character Lineup

A full-body lineup of all twelve Guardians! Worked really hard on this, so I’m proud of how it turned out!

Some thoughts on their character designs under the cut:

In Tagalog mythology, Tala is the goddess of the stars and the daughter of the supreme god Bathala. In my reimagining of her, she's also the deity of feasts, holidays and family. I gave her the traits of a cooked crab to tie her to feasts, as well as her relationship to Mayari.

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In Tagalog myth, Mayari is the one-eyed goddess of the moon. In my design for her, she's a coconut crab as a reference to the Bagobo belief that a giant crab causes earthquakes by pinching a giant eel wrapped around the world. Fitting, since here she fights the serpent Bakunawa.

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In the Ibalong epic of Bicol, Oryol is a half-serpent demigoddess with a hypnotic voice. For her reimagining, I gave her bright colors (like a sea snake) and a flower in her hair to give her a tropical look.

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In one of the Visayan creation myths, Lidagat is the goddess of the sea. I tied a lot of my OCs to the sea, so I specifically made her deity of the deep sea and made her look like an angler fish to reflect this.

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In one of the Visayan creation myths, Lihangin is the god of the wind. I designed him to have the traits of various types of angels, such as the six wings of a seraph, as well as a sash and halo.

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In Tagalog belief, Mariang Makiling is the kindhearted goddess of Mt. Makiling. I wanted to reimagine her a deity of time, earth, and stability, hence the rotting flowers on her shoulder. She also has a hornbill beak since hornbill cries are used to tell time.

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In Tagalog mythology, Anitan Tabu is the goddess of wind and rain. She's described as being fickle-minded, and I wanted to play this up by making her the deity of rivers, mystery, lies, and ambiguity. Crocodiles are sacred in some Philippine belief systems, hence her crocodile traits. It’s also a reference to the expression “crocodile tears”, meaning fake expressions of sadness.

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In Tagalog mythology, Mapulon is the god of seasons. In my OCverse, I also made him the deity of relaxation and the protector of provincial towns, hence his rooster tail and comb-like hair.

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Again drawing from Tagalog myth, Ikapati is the goddess of agriculture. I gave her the traits of a horse, a farm animal, as well as the attire of a farmer. I also wanted to reference the myth of the tikbalang, a creature with the head of a horse.

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In Kapampangan myth, Mariang Sinukuan is the goddess of Mt. Arayat. She settles disputes among mortals, so I made her a deity of justice with a light motif. She has the wings of a moth and glowing eyes because of this.

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In Cebuano legend, Mariang Kakaw is the goddess of Mt. Lantoy, named after its numerous cacao plants. I gave her a warm brown color palette to reference dried cacao beans' brown color. I also modeled her after the provincial girls often featured in Amorsolo's paintings.

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In Visayan myths, Magwayen is the goddess of the sea who ferries the souls of the dead. I gave her the motif of estuaries (where the river transitions into the sea; death is believed to be a transition). She has the lower half of an anaconda, a sacred river-dwelling animal.

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> [S] Guardian Record.

Well, what do you think of this heat, Or of our values that don’t agree with yours?

Got inspired again by the art of the Mekakucity Actors album, so I made a homage to it featuring the Guardians!

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Zodiacs: Lihangin & Mariang Makiling

LIHANGIN - Sign of the Explorer

March 21-April 21

Those born under Lihangin are great multitaskers. They can split their attention and juggle many things at the same time, which suits them well since they hate being bogged down by minutiae. They like to get things done as soon as possible, and can sometimes be careless in their work. Lihangin-born are also natural explorers, their minds often jumping from one topic to another even mid-sentence. Because of this, they can be quite chaotic; they also dislike rules, commitments, and social conventions.

MARIANG MAKILING - Sign of the Overseer

April 22-May 23

Makiling-born are the managers of the zodiac. They excel at thinking ahead and planning contingencies, and thus thrive in leadership roles. With their intelligence comes a great amount of self-assuredness - this can sometimes make them obstinate and hard-headed. They often adhere to tradition, and have an interest in topics such as history or religion. These people rarely rock the boat and often work to maintain the status quo, for better or worse.

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Profiles: Lihangin & Mariang Makiling

Lihangin, the Hazeforger

Guardian of the winds

Swift and furious, Lihangin represents direction, speed, and change. Lidagat helped you get through your sadness; Lihangin gets you back into the swing of things! He tells you to zip around from place to place just as he does - he’s Guardians’ delivery boy. Nothing’s holding you back now, you’re free! Whatever chaos is in front of you, you’re ready to face it. Life has cast you into a storm, but Lihangin has granted you wings.

Mariang Makiling, the Earthlayer

Guardian of time

The guardian of her eponymous mountain, Mariang Makiling represents stability, foundation, institution, and tradition. She advises you that it’s time to settle down and regain your footing. A mother more than anything, Mariang Makiling protects those living near her mountain with her magic. On her part, she encourages you to think ahead. Her domain is that of time and its constant, forward march. Her symbolic bird is the hornbill, whose calls were used by the ancients to tell time.