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chaithetics · 18 days

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Late Night Mends

Pairing: Kid (Monkey Man) x reader

Word count: 2.1K

Warning: 18+ MDNI, mentions of anxiety, injuries, not a lot of spice, some fluff, not proof/beta read lol, does not contain spoilers for Monkey Man.

Note: Absolutely am in love with Dev Patel, he adores the world and fandom love! Also special mention to my friend @mittos who helped with this prompt/story ideas. Go and see Monkey Man if you haven't already! And if you have go and see it again! Also jaan is a Hindi term of endearment. Also can we take a moment for Dev Patel's side profile?! Comments, and reblogs are always appreciated as well! I hope you enjoy!

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It was late, extremely late. It had been a slow night but it was quickly becoming the latest it had ever been without his tired, bloody presence. It made you uncomfortable how late it was becoming, he never took this long to show up after a big match. You bit your nails as you couldn’t help but think about the possibility of where he was and scarily, what condition he was in.

It was a risky field that Kid was in, especially when he was the losing dog for the overeager, sweaty crowd not to bet on. He took the punches and rarely complained about it, you’d only ever been to one of his fights before and never again. It was too painful to watch, you’d bitten each of your fingernails right down to the beds, and you swore that it gave you a few grey hairs. If you had any, each of them could be traced back to being his fault, you were sure. You loved him, truly adored him, but he certainly knew how to stress you out.

You’re sitting down waiting for him to arrive. You don’t even realise that you’ve put your hand up to your face to bite your nails but now you know that you must’ve as you’ve been subconsciously biting them as you look out the window waiting, lost in your thoughts. You could think and use that as a distraction but no, the more you think or gaze off, the more you think about him, worry about him and overanalyse every little thing to be analysed, including what would need a magnifying glass to do so. You sigh and rub your face tiredly and also as another poor attempt at a distraction to take your mind away from him.

It was a ridiculous thought, nothing could distract you from him, Kid lived rent-free in your mind 24/7, no matter what you did or wanted. And now was his prime time for filling your head.

You rub your face some more and then look up, you can hear the door quietly open and the sound of gentle footsteps start to make their way to you. You look up as you try to glimpse the start of his lean shadow to confirm that he’s really, really, finally here. The light switch turns on as you see his arm stretch out and then he’s standing there in your doorway.

You look up at him as he stands, he just looks at you for a moment. His gorgeous doe-eyes are wide, he looks exhausted and defeated but there’s a small smile on his face as his eyes meet yours. Ever since you’d known Kid, he had always been a man of few words, which seemed to balance out just how expressive his handsome face was. You liked that though, that his eyes truly were the window to his soul. You did like his voice though as well, you’d have no problem with him using it more. Sometimes he would talk though, about his sweet mother, the stories of Hanuman that his mother had told him and that had vividly stuck with and inspired him still.

You quickly take him in, there’s sweat in his hair, a cut in his cheek, and his knuckles are bloody as always. You bite your lip as you look at him, chewing over your words so you don’t come across as either a scolding lover or treating him like a patient.

“Your hands…” You finally say as he steps closer to you and you can see that he made some attempt to cover them with a bit of cloth but the blood is all over his right hand.

“It’s fine.” He says in a soft whisper, his voice is melodic as always but a little hoarse and deep. He looks down at his hand he tries not to flinch when you take his hand and it’s further proof that no, it really isn’t fine. You sigh and move his hand to check his fingers, it causes discomfort but based on the movement you know it’s not broken at least. It was genuinely impressive that he was still alive, still functioning and not just with everything he’d been through as a young boy, but with the amount of beatings he’d taken at the club. That he’d somehow avoided major damage to his body, that his handsome looks were still intact, and also his teeth. That was a big surprise you had to admit.

“Sit down.” You look at him with a look of concern, one that he doesn’t like. “Come on, I’ll clean it up.” You say softly. He runs his right hand, his good hand through his damp but perfect locks and he sighs, sitting down, waiting for you to fix his wounds and to feel your tender touch.

You’d had the first aid kit ready to go, sitting on the floor waiting for his entrance. You always used it, he always needed it. Your medical background certainly helped, some nights you’d crack a joke that that was the only reason why he was with you. The first time you made that joke his eyes widened at first, and he immediately stuttered to try and reassure her that that wasn’t the case. He didn’t realise that it was a joke. You’d kissed him to reassure him and he kissed you back so sweetly. Now when you made the joke he’d just look at you and give you a small, precious chuckle. You just want to make him smile, make him laugh, bring him joy, and make him feel safe. He deserved that at the very least, especially with his gigantic hug.

His hand clearly had taken the worst of it, you hold it gently in yours, and his hand twitches for a moment. He’s spent most of his life being devoid of affection. He craved a gentle touch, to feel seen and safe in the company of another. He’d started to find that with you, in the way you looked at him, how you carefully held his hand in arms when cleaning an injury and wrapping it up. You somehow had never noticed it, he figured it was because of how attentive you were to his injuries, to him, and his lips quirked up into a secret smile you’d miss over the irony of you not noticing this because of how attentive you were being to him.

“You were later than usual.” You say as you clean his bruised and bloodied knuckles.

“I know.” He whispers as he looks up at you, he’s tired but there’s a small smile on his lips as he knows the scolding is incoming, just what degree is it going to be from you tonight, is the question.

“I was worried, my fingernails are almost as bloody as your knuckles because of how much I was biting them.” You say as you try to clean his hand gently, noting how his hand occasionally twitches in response.

“Would’ve been quite a match.” He whispers before he looks at your hands, noticing your nervously bitten nails. His cheeks heat up as he can’t help but feel a little bit of guilt about causing you to worry so, he’s spent so much of his life without someone who cares about him like this. You sigh and roll your eyes at his response.

“You’re going to be the cause of every single grey hair I have in this lifetime.” You say as you treat the knuckle wounds, making sure you’re gentle. “All I do is worry, you spend every night getting beaten, thrown off tables. It’s going to be too much one day. Something will go wrong. Then what?” Kid can’t help but look up at you, it’s a conversation that’s happened more than a few times. “What if it’s your spine or something? I won’t be able to fix that-” “It’s okay. It’s fine. I’m okay, jaan.” He says as he looks up at you, his big brown eyes are widened and he’s looking at you with his sad puppy dog eyes, he feels bad for making you worry so much.

You sigh, biting your lip as you try to stop yourself from saying anything else. He’s too sweet and so you nod and finish cleaning and bandaging everything. After a moment, you cup his cheek as you look at his warm eyes and you go to get him some water to drink. He watches you and continues to as he drinks the water. You two have become quite good at playing a game of watching each other, almost like it’s a sport to observe the other.

He looks at you, tilting his head which tousles the gorgeous locks he has a little. You sigh and run a hand through his soft brown curls, damp with sweat but somehow miraculously not blood. His hair has always been absolutely perfect. You feel bad for essentially venting your anxieties at him right as he’s come from a long night of work at the club.

“I only scold because I care.” You say but you’re not sure if it’s him or yourself that you’re trying to convince more as you say the words, but it’s true technically. “It’s a form of doting really.” You say as you look at him as he adjusts in his seated position, looking up at you with his wide, doe-eyed orbs. Even if it was a form of doting, you could never stay mad at him for long when having to look into those gorgeous eyes. They’d melt away any troubles and you’re sure if awards were given out for best brown eyes, he’d win. You hated that he did this, that this was how he had to get by. That he had to take these awful, unhealthy beatings but you love him anyway.

He was freshly bandaged now, he moved his hand up and Kid started to slowly caress your cheek, he traced some invisible line so gently with the pads of his fingertips as he looked at you. His doe eyes were filled with adoration and peacefulness as he concentrated on your beauty. You let him, it was soothing and sweet and you had no reason to even consider stopping this. You were his and he was yours.

Your eyes glance down at his fingers, and then you put a hand up to cup his cheek and look into the most beautiful eyes you could ever imagine seeing. After he feels your touch his eyes quickly close and he inhales. He isn’t sure if he’ll ever get used to the feeling of your fingers on his face, of how your hair feels against his skin, or your breath, but he knows for sure, that he’ll at least never tire of it.

His fingers glide down do your mouth and he traces your lips as he looks at them. He tilts his head and before he can even move, you’ve moved your head to press your lips together. There’s something about how gentle his hands are with you, how they feel even after everything that has happened to him and that he does. How it just takes a glance at you for him to melt into a puddle.

You put your hand back into his hair and run it through his curls as he kisses you back and the kiss deepens almost immediately. He cups your cheek gently as your lips move together in sync and you can’t help but start to tug his locks a little and his hand moves to your waist to hold you close against him. You continue to play and tug his hair as his lips move down your chin and jaw and he kisses your neck. You gasp out and tug on his hair a bit more as you feel his breath tickle your throat between his passionate kisses. You struggle to not let out a giggle as he does this and you feel your cheeks heating up as you tilt your head back so your neck is as exposed as possible for him while he kisses your throat and makes his way to your collarbone.

He always gets like this, and so quickly. He just needs a little touch, the reassurance of you being there and he feels an all-consuming need to make up for the years of loneliness, the lack of affection, the lack of physical contact outside of a fight he was guaranteed to lose. He has you in his arms and it’s something right for once, if it was a game this would be a victory, some kind of peace.

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catpriciousmarjara · 9 months

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Tell me: Is He Gay or In a Sherwani?

Imposition of western norms in fandom analysis of Asian characters

With the rising popularity of Indian cinema sparked by the recent success of RRR on international platforms as well as the easy availability of multiple streaming services, in addition to the appearance of South Asian characters in prominent roles in western, particularly US media, I've begun to see some concerning 'analysis' posts online. So I thought I'd address something I found common in most of these takes.

Guys, characterizing your blorbos as queer is great and all, love it, but you're making a fundamental mistake by making their clothing choices the foundation for your queer headcanons, especially when it comes to male characters. Do not apply existing western cultural ideas regarding male clothing onto South Asian characters and their dressing please.

The vast majority of the clothes being used by people in various online spaces as 'evidence' of a character being queer(gay or bi mostly) are just normal Indian clothing for men, like daily wear. A top being pink or a character's wardrobe being mostly pastel means absolutely nothing...cos Indian clothing tends to be colourful in general and the tendency to ascribe colours masculine and feminine qualities is considerably less in the subcontinent. I'm not saying it doesn't exist, but generally not a concern.

There's also this pervasive idea that colourful clothing = flamboyance = queer and that itself is something many people have already pointed as a deeply flawed way of thinking and a stereotype. Furthermore, even if you do lean into the archetype of queer men being flamboyant, subscribing to the 'stereotypes exist for a reason don't they?' school of thought perhaps, there's also the fact that ideas of what is considered flamboyant change dramatically across different cultures. What is 'flamboyant' for someone might just be normal for others. Like maybe pink or purple or yellow might be considered too much, unmanly, emasculating etc in the US or something but they're just perfectly normal colours for men to wear in many, many cultures.

It's the 'Is he Gay or European?' principle. Did you characterize this Indian character (or any South Asian character really) as queer because of their canonical behaviour and portrayal, or did you just see their clothing and decide they're queer because being well groomed and having a colourful wardrobe is a character trait you exclusively ascribe to being queer?

Like guys, I like Chaipunk like the rest of you, but if you consider Pavitr queer just because his costume is a lot fancier than the others' (An actual take I've seen multiple times) without taking into account his cultural background....¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Let me make this clear, I don't think people need a ten page analysis to imagine their fave as queer. Headcanoning a character as queer can have any reason ranging from 'I said so and so it is' to 'this is my light character analysis that makes a masters thesis look shabby' and they're all valid and an integral part of the fandom experience. What I am annoyed at are these so-called 'well-researched' theories that did not make the slightest effort to look into South Asian culture and simply transposed their western bias onto Indian media and confidently make flat out wrong judgements and mislead other people. Clothing based sexual identity determinism is the least of it. That I can at least understand through the lens of a habitual process built through years of analyzing crumbs of queer representation available only through queer coded characters and symbolism such as clothing choices being the only way to see an aspect of yourself portrayed in an aggressively heteronormative media ecosystem. I do that too, because media is tragically heteronormative everywhere. But the rest? Its just straight up misinformation and misrepresentation touted as truth.

Its the same with relationships between men. There are plenty of cultures where skinship between men is not unusual and dynamics and nuances tend to be vastly different from western representations of male friendships. In xianxia and wuxia fandoms you can see this same problem in a different font when outsiders, most often the western side of the fandom, try to apply their own standards and morals onto the original work and try to interpret it through a lens it was never supposed to be interpreted through in the first place, except maybe for comparative analysis. This practice itself isn't a major problem, its natural for people to apply what is familiar to them to try and understand something new. But when this is also accompanied by them foisting their personal interpretation and analysis as the 'correct' one and trying to impose it on the fandom as a whole, it escalates into a powder keg situation as you can imagine.

Again, not saying that western parts of fandoms are the root of all evil or anything like that, gods know how toxic netizens can be. But in this specific situation, where people try to impose western ideals on to non-western content and assumes the universalism of their own principles and value systems? Indeed an issue to be addressed.

#ATSV #South Asian Characters #Desi characters #South Asian culture #Desi Culture #Fandom analysis #LGBTQ+#Brown culture #Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse #Pavitr Prabhakhar #Hobie Brown #Chaipunk #RRR #Miss Marvel #Tagging Miss Marvel and RRR only because they're in the intro-two pieces of media that are good examples of the increased attention-#on South Asian characters and Indian cinema #Not included in the body of the post except under umbrella terms like South Asian character/South Asian media & other such categories

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melancholic-prose · 4 months

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Current WIP....

Details

#dedication #writing #books #writers on tumblr #writeblr #writerscommunity #writers and poets #current wip #novel #desi characters #desi novel

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olla-kalla · 2 years

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... Don’t get me wrong, I love Kamala Khan and Iman Vellani, but the first episode (at least) wasn’t the extremely revolutionary piece of desi immigrant media it seems to be. Of course, there is a significant improvement in where the brown girl stands in the story and it’s definitely a stepping stone in representation... I’m also not saying desi girls shouldn’t love the show. I’m saying that we cannot ignore some things about the show.

I don’t pretend to know everything about Muslim households or immigrant culture, but Ms. Marvel still subtly plays into the same tropes that we’re tired of, ie:

The brown girl is tired of her repressive, over-traditional family.

She needs to go to a party.

The parents are always very embarrassingly desi.

Her white friend is her only relief from this.

This along with several other things that are pointed out by Pakistani/ Muslim tumblrs, are very telling of how the show is repeatedly remolded to look more palatable to white people.

Again, I love Iman Vellani, but the rate at which characters of color (Storm, American Chavez, Wanda, etc.) just get lightened up on screen despite clearly being canonically a shade darker -- follows the trend of colorism that people just want to ignore. I’m tired of feeling obliged to digest it every time I want to see myself on screen.

Ms. Marvel has the potential to be a wonderful show, but the ignorance reflected in so many things just makes the desi inside jokes seem like a weak attempt to appease brown viewers while keeping up the conceptual trope of completely changing up culturally important details of the story like they don’t matter.

#but that's not new is it?#Ms Marvel #Iman Vellani #Ms. Marvel #Kamala Khan #brown media #brown characters #muslim characters #desi characters

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ashlenasharma · 1 year

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Didn’t realize I never shared this on here! Back in 2020 I tried designing what a South Asian inspired Zelda and Link would look like--it was a really fun project that I still hold dear to me.

#legend of zelda #breath of the wild #botw #illustration #character design #south asian #desi

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manincaffeine · 7 months

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Girls who grew up in their teen years without dating and only got romance via tv/books & films are the baddest bitches

#desiblr #desi tumblr #txt post #desi academia #dark romanticism #fictional characters #romance novels #dark academia #litreture #booklr #light academia #spilled ink #spilled writing #writers on tumblr

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mari-b · 6 days

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my desi rapunzel designs (cuz she is) ☀️☀️

#rapunzel #tangled #desi #desi tumblr #desi rapunzel #illustration #digital illustration #character design #character art

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lunannex · 5 months

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I’m a bit late but it’s the birthday boy!!✨

#my art #kaeya #kaeya alberich #genshin impact #genshin fanart #kaeya ragnvindr #my most beloved #him and kaveh are two of my favorite characters EVER #my desi prince

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maihonhassan · 4 months

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Everyone says;

"Tum khulay baalon main achi lagti ho"

But Salar Sikandar says;

"Tum baal bandh lou, main baar baar apni baat bhool raha hoon."

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yahvii · 2 months

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Aurat apne pasandeeda mard ko ye, aurat apne pasandeeda mard ko woh but mera kya?

Mere waala to exist hi nhi karta!!

#fictional characters #desi #desi tumblr #desiblr #desi tag #desi humor #desi thoughts

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etfrin · 4 months

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inspired from the ask: "Coryo feeding desi!reader with his hands while her mehendi dries"

—desi! brat(-ish)! reader x soft(-ish)! friends! Coryo Snow 💌—

“Coryo,” you whine, your lips forming a small pout as you look at the blonde man. Coryo rolled his eyes at you when you didn't notice it. He didn't understand the point of festivals he was asked to join though he did appreciate the cultural aspect of it all.

Your house was getting decorated with flowers and whatnot, each servant and family member busy perfecting everything for the holud ceremony being held in your house.

Coryo sighed when you whine his name again in the same bratty tone (the one he wished to fuck out of you). “I will do no such thing,” Coryo said, “It's improper, you're not a child.”

The pout doesn't leave your lips and it takes every ounce of his self-control not to lean forward and kiss you. “Please!” You requested, “Come on, yaar! I haven't eaten anything since morning!” “And that's not on me,” Coriolanus replied simply.

You huff like the spoiled brat you are. “Fine!” You said, standing up from your seat, “I'll ask Sejanus!” “He will understand the struggle, the henna will take time to dry.” You add, now close to walking past him and outside the bedroom to find Sej.

“Sit down,” Snow said, his eyes flashing in anger but his eyes cold. Despite a hint of alarm flashes in your mind, you knew he gave in to you. Coriolanus didn't like being challenged, the fact you were going to Sejanus. You knew he wouldn't like that, even if you aren't his girlfriend but just a friend (for now) he would be jealous nonetheless.

You grin in triumph and get back to your seat. In front of you was a small table and a tray filled with various plates of food. Specifically, a dessert that you want to try right now but are unable to due to the wet henna tattoos on your hands. His eyes flicker to the patterns you had drawn on your skin, various patterns seemingly meaningless yet so damn pretty. He knows that the result will turn out great and will only make you much prettier, too pretty for his sanity to survive.

He sits down beside you, picking up a bowl with what looks like carrots but he never saw anything like it before. Seeing his confusion, you explained, leaning towards sarcasm near the end, “It's Gajoer Halua, a carrot-based sweet dessert. Now please bless me and feed me, Coryo.”

He chuckles, feeling amused by your behavior, unable to help himself as he replies “Why should I? You're not deserving of blessings. You're a brat.” A brat he will take soon enough, no doubt on that. You rolled your eyes, “Pretty please, or else I'll smear all of this,” you flicked your eyes at your mehndi-covered palms (henna), “all over your damn face.”

If it was someone else, he would have thought it was teasing or bluffing but you? Yeah, you definitely would do it if he continued to drag this out any longer. He takes a spoonful of the vibrant orange dessert, he has the urge to coo you to open your mouth like one would to a child. But he was above that silliness so he said nothing, his eyes cool despite the fact his heart seemed to be going haywire when you leaned in to eat. You wink at him as you taste the halwa on your tongue, the sweetness dancing in your mouth.

“That's a good boy,” you grin, “Thank you, Coryo.”

‘Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,’ Coryo thinks, as a blush emerges on his cheeks from the praise. He shouldn't like the way you said it, a tad bit degrading but a compliment nonetheless. He shouldn't like that he wants to hear more thank yous (and 'good boys' but he will never admit that).

Coriolanus Snow thought of you as a friend and dreamed of you as a girlfriend but in reality, you'll be the end of him.

Current tag list: @stelleduarte @nowitsmissing @lifeonawhim @le-lena @dollfacedalls @motley-baby @champomiel @slytherinholland @randomstuff2040 @justacaliforniandreamer @emmalinemalfoy @hyuk4s @theamuz @watercolorskyy @littlebiwitchsworld

@skywalker1dream @darkangelkathiecookiesmith @ben-has-arrived @bucksdonkey @xyzstar @ellie-luvsfics @moons-forever-glow @daughter1of2anita3dearly @eir964 @nowsyhozey @ayaya-aa @serving-targaryen-realness @hansbasement @louweasleymalfoy @lettersandwhiteroses @arzua10 @wotcherpeak @ever8ea @daughter-of-the-stars11 @blippys-blog @iguanagwen @moonlight-by-the-sea @snowlandstop @hlg8 @hobireasns @floswife @weeeoosworld @ludasgf

@sushirolliee @poppyflower-22 @dilucpegg3r

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melancholic-prose · 4 months

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Hey! This is like my.....third or fourth? Time back on Tumblr so I'll make it short. Feel free to interact anytime nd also I'll be sharing a little about my current WIP on this blog so stay tuned!

Ok so here's a small intro to my wip novel:

"keeping you alive" is a slice of life novel that concentrates on the misconceptions of the society when it comes to a woman. It is about, trauma, tragedy, falling down, getting back up, paving the way and leading a fairly successful life. It has a Desi setting, where my MC grows up in a small town. So should out to all of you who's been looking for a Desi, empowering and clean novel to read!

#desi novel #novel #current wip #wip #writers and poets #writeblr #writerscommunity #desi characters #desiblr #writers on tumblr #writing #ocs

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deesi-academia · 1 year

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I'm the main character but inspired by a series of unfortunate events

#main character moment-#desiblr #desi #chaotic academia #humor #memes #desi culture #dark academia #light academia #desi academia #academia #books #bookblr #a series of unfortunate events

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sajan-sajan-teri-dulhan · 10 months

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Pretty girls read romantic books to fill the lack of romance in their lives and then cry over the fact that no one's ever going to love them like their favourite fictional character......

#desi #spilled ink #tumnblr #spilled quotes #desi shit posting #desiblr #desi stuff #desi tag #desi teen #indian tumblr #books and libraries #fictional characters #novels #romatic

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bell-of-indecision · 1 month

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rumor has it that if you ask me about porus 2017 I will vibrate at the speed of light and then combust out of sheer anger

#i postponed watching the last 6 episodes because I couldn't watch Hasti die yet i love him too much #and OH MY GOODNESS I should've just left it at that #this was by far the absolute worst ending I've ever seen #character assassination at its finest #and no I'm not talking about the fact that puru was literally assassinated in the end #I'm talking about the fact that Alexander did the most absurd things including murdering puru's brother #AND disrespecting his dead body #and by the end Puru was calling him friend #CHARACTER #ASSASSINATION #this can't be the same puru that brutally murdered ambhiraj out of vengeance #Alexander was the WORST he deserved DEATH and nothing else #it wouldn't be historically accurate you say???#WHAT about this show was historically accurate my guy???#anyway It's been a week and I'm still LIVID don't touch me I will explode #to whom it may concern.#the three people in this fandom come get y'all juice #porus #indian tumblr #desi tumblr #desiblr

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hobiebrownismygod · 4 months

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Let's talk about Desi representation again!!

I don't talk about this stuff often but when I do, I have some strong ass opinions

and yes I'm gonna be talking about none other than Pavitr Prabhakar at the end cuz he's just special to me <3

Hollywood is lagging behind on Desi representation

You'd think one of the biggest film industries in the world would be able to represent us properly, considering the fact that we make up the largest group of South-Asian Americans and the second largest group of Asian-Americans in the US, but instead-

Western Television forces Indians to conform to harmful stereotypes

Some of the most popular Desi characters on screen are Raj Koothrappali from the Big Bang Theory, Devi Vishwakumar from Never Have I Ever and Kelly Kapoor from the Office.

Indian men are almost always portrayed as robotics engineers and computer whizzes, but with terrible social intellect, making them seem like awkward nerds.

Indian women are almost always portrayed as "whitewashed", or wanting to appear more western, with zero understanding of their own culture or language along with an unrelenting need for attention from white friends/colleagues.

These are both based on stereotypes that Indian culture is "toxic" and "too traditional" and that Indians are only interested in studies.

Most Desi characters in western media have stories that are solely based around their ethnicity and/or racial stereotypes.

British television actually showcases a lot more representation than Hollywood does

I was watching Polite Society, a movie starring two Pakistani characters as the main leads, and there was a dance scene where both the leads are wearing traditional desi attire. My mom turned over, looked at me, and asked, "Is this Hollywood? It can't be."

And she was right. It's a British movie with British-Pakistani actors.

The reason she didn't believe that it could've been Hollywood was because the dresses the two leads were wearing were traditional and beautiful and the song playing in the background was authentic Hindi music, not some random westernized DJ version of it.

A Hollywood movie would've never dressed up their Desi actors in actually flattering attire (*cough cough the Patel twins from Harry Potter) or have used real, popular Desi music in the background.

You see my point?

It is so uncommon to see well-thought-out Desi representation in TV nowadays, where to see real diversity we have to watch movies made by the same country that colonized us.

Ironic.

British movies/shows with desi leads have far better South Asian representation than anything I've seen in Hollywood recently.

The Hollywood movies starring Indian leads, like Slumdog Millionaire or Bend it like Beckham were filmed in the UK, and because they were filmed in the UK, they had fantastic South Asian representation.

Not only does Hollywood refuse to create shows and movies about real problems that South Asians face, but they also don't cast South Asian actors in good roles.

When's the last time you saw a South Asian actor playing a character that wasn't a walking stereotype? When's the last time you saw a South Asian actor playing a character that was a genuine part of the story rather than just comedic relief or a random smart kid in the classroom?

Not often, right?

Me, personally, I didn't grow up with a lot of South Asian characters or actors in shows/movies that I watched. In fact, every time someone even close to my skin color showed up on TV, I was on the edge of my seat because it was just so rare to see it.

This is why representation matters.

You've heard about all the young girls with braids being so excited when the new little mermaid with Halle Bailey came out. Well, us desi kids wanted that too.

I wanted to see a Telugu speaking girl with wavy hair and dark skin who would wear traditional clothing to Desi get-togethers and parties, go to the temple with her family, eat vegetarian Indian meals, etc...

I wanted to see a character who was a representation of me and my experiences as an Indian-American. I wanted to see a character that was at least a representation of Indians or just South Asians in general.

Instead, we were given characters that ridiculed their own culture, were extreme stereotypes and furthered the existence of casual racism in western society today. So many Desi kids experience small acts of racism on a daily basis because people have been so desensitized to the existence of these stereotypes.

Telling South Asians that their culture is a joke and feeding non-asian children media which pokes fun at other cultures is harmful, not only to us South Asians but also communities that could end up being targeted next.

Pavitr Prabhakar; Representation Matters

If you've been following me or if we're mutuals, you probably know I have a tiny obsession with Pavitr Prabhakar. But why?

Because of all the reasons I just listed.

There are few South Asian characters us Desis can look up to these days, and Pavitr Prabhakar is one of the maybe two or three characters who have great writing, magnificent representation, and overall a fun vibe.

He's likable, funny, smart and best of all, unapologetically Desi.

He's just like all the other side characters, with a little bit of his own culture mixed in. He's not being shoved down our throats to further an agenda about fake diversity, he's not a walking stereotype and best of all, he was designed by Indian creators.

He's refreshing and exciting to follow in a world full of a demand for half-hearted representations and the people who created him were obviously putting their hearts and souls into it.

He's awoken a love for Indian culture amongst, not only Desi children themselves but also among westerners who, prior to this, had thought of India as a "3rd world" country, because that's the agenda that Hollywood pushes onto many South Asian countries today.

WE LOVE PAVITR PRABHAKAR!!

This was kinda all over the place but I just had to get this off my chest <3

Sources:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/06/10/discrimination-against-indian-americans-happens-more-than-you-might-think/

#for all the brown kids that never got to see a character that looked like them growing up #desi representation #desi writers #desiblr #desi tumblr #desi tag #desi culture #indian representation #pavitr #pavitr prabhakar #atsv pavitr #spiderverse pavitr #pavitr my beloved #astv #across the spider verse #across the spiderverse #spiderman atsv #pavitr Prabhakar

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