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demigod-of-the-agni · 1 month

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Spider-Man India, but... where from India?

A SUPER long post featuring talks of: cultural identity, characterisation, the caste system, and what makes Spider-Man Spider-Man.

I’m prefacing this by saying that I am a second-generation immigrant. I was born in Australia, but my cultural background is from South India. My experiences with what it means to be “Indian” is going to be very different from the experiences of those who are born and brought up in India.

If you, reader, want to add anything, please reblog and add your thoughts. This is meant to be a post open for discussion — the more interaction we get, the better we become aware of these nuances.

So I made this poll asking folks to pick a region of India where I would draw Pavitr Prabhakar in their cultural wear. This idea had been on my mind for a long while now, as I had been inspired by Annie Hazarika’s Northeastern Spidey artwork in the wake of ATSV’s release, but never got the time to actually do it until now. I wanted to get a little interactive and made the poll so I could have people choose which of the different regions — North, Northeast, Central, East, West, South — to do first.

The outcome was not what I expected. As you can see, out of 83 votes:

THE RESULTS

South India takes up almost half of all votes (44.6%), followed by Northeast and Central (both 14.5%) and then East (13.3%). In all my life growing up, support towards or even just the awareness of South India was pretty low. Despite this being a very contained poll, why would nearly half of all voters pick South India in favour of other popular choices like Central or North India?

Then I thought about the layout of the poll: Title, Options, Context.

Title: "Tell us who you want to see…"

Options: North, Northeast, Central, East, West, South

Context: I want to make art of the boy again

At first I thought: ah geez. this is my fault. I didn't make the poll clear enough. do they think I want them to figure out where Pavitr came from? That's not what I wanted, maybe I should have added the context before the options.

Then I thought: ah geez. is it my fault for people not reading the entire damn thing before clicking a button? That's pretty stupid.

But regardless, the thought did prompt a line of thinking I know many of us desi folk have been considering since Spider-Man India was first conceived — or, at least, since the announcement that he was going to appear in ATSV. Hell, even I thought of it:

Where did Spider-Man India come from?

FROM A CULTURALLY DIVERSE INDIA

As we know, India is so culturally diverse, and no doubt ATSV creators had to take that into account. Because the ORIGINAL Spider-Man India came from Mumbai — most likely because Mumbai and Manhattan both started with the same letter.

But going beyond that, it’s also because Mumbai is one of the most recognisable cities in India - it’s also known as Bombay. It’s where Bollywood films are shot. It’s where superstar Hindi actors and actresses show up. Mumbai is synonymous with India in that regard, because the easiest way Western countries can interact with Indian culture is through BOLLYWOOD, through HINDI FILMS, through MUMBAI. Suddenly, India is Mumbai, India is a Hindi-only country, India is just this isolated thing we see through an infinitely narrow lens.

We’ve gotten a little better in recent years, but boy I will tell you how uncomfortable I’ve gotten when people (yes, even desi people) come up to me and tell me, Oh, you’re Indian right? Can you speak Hindi? Why don’t you speak Hindi? You’re not Indian if you don’t speak Hindi, that’s India’s national language!

I have been — still am — so afraid of telling people that I don’t speak Hindi, that I’m Tamil, that I don’t care that Hindi is India’s “national” language (it’s an administrative language, Kavin, get your fucking facts right). It’s weird, it’s isolating, and it has made me feel like I wasn’t “Indian” enough to be accepted into the group of “Indian” people.

So I am thankful that ATSV went out of their way to integrate as much variety of Indian culture into the Mumbattan sequence. Maybe that way, the younger generation of desi folk won’t feel so isolated, and that younger Western people will be more open to learning about all these cultural differences within such a vast country.

BUT WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH SPIDER-MAN INDIA?

Everything, actually. There’s a thing called supremacy. You might have heard of it. We all engaged with it at some point, and if you are Indian, no matter where you live, it is inescapable.

It happens the moment you are born — who your family is, where you are born, the language you speak, the colour of your skin; these will be bound to you for life, and it is nigh impossible to break down the stereotypes associated with them.

Certain ethnic groups will be more favourable than others (Centrals, and thus their cultures, will always be favoured over than Souths, as an example) and the same can be said for social groups (Brahmins are more likely to secure influential roles in politics or other areas like priesthood, while the lowers castes, especially Dalits, aren’t even given the decency of respect). Don’t even get me started on colourism, where obviously those of fairer skin will win the lottery while those of darker skin aren’t given the time of day. It’s even worse when morality ties into it — “lighter skinned Indians, like Brahmins, embody good qualities like justice and wisdom”, “dark skinned Indians are cunning and poor, they are untrustworthy”. It’s fucking nuts.

This means, of course, you have a billion people trying to make themselves heard in a system that tries to crush everyone who is not privileged. It only makes sense that people want to elevate themselves and break free from a society that refuses to acknowledge them. These frustrations manifest outwardly, like in protests, but other times — most times — it goes unheard, quietly shaping your way of life, your way of thinking. It becomes a fundamental part of you, and it can go unacknowledged for generations.

So when you have a character like Pavitr Prabhakar enter the scene, people immediately latch onto him and start asking questions many Western audiences don’t even consider. Who is he? What food does he eat? What does he do on Fridays? What’s his family like, his community? All these questions pop up, because, amidst all this turmoil going on in the background, you want a mainstream popular character to be like you, who knows your way of life so intimately, that he may as well be a part of your community.

BUT THAT'S THE THING — HE'S FICTIONAL

I am guilty of this. In fact, I’ve flaunted in numerous posts how I think he’s the perfect Tamil boy, how he dances bharatanatyam, how he does all these Tamil things that no one will understand except myself. All these niche things that only I, and maybe a few others, will understand.

I’ve seen other people do it, too. I’ve seen people geek out over his dark brown skin, his kalari dhoti, how he fights so effortlessly in the kalaripayattu martial arts style. I’ve seen people write him as Malayali, as Hindi, as every kind of Indian person imaginable.

I’ve also seen him be written where he’s subjected to typical Indian and broader Asian stereotypes. You know the ones I’m so fond of calling out. The thing is, I’ve seen so much of Pavitr being presented in so many different ways, and I worry how the rest of the desi folk will take it.

You finally have a character who could be you, but now he’s someone else’s plaything. Your entire life is shaped by what you can and can’t do simply because you were born to an Indian family, and here’s the one person who could represent you now at the mercy of someone else’s whims. He’s off living a life that is so distant from yours, you can hardly recognise him.

It shouldn’t hurt as much as it does, yeah? But, again, you’re looking at it from that infinitely narrow lens Westerners use to look at India from Bollywood.

AND PAVITR PRABHAKAR DOESN'T LIVE IN INDIA

He lives in Mumbattan. He lives in a made-up, fictional world that doesn’t follow the way of life of our world. He lives in a city where Mumbai and Manhattan got fucking squashed together. There are so many memes about colonialism right there. Mumbattan isn’t real! Spider-Man India isn’t real!! He’s just a dude!! The logic of our world doesn’t apply to him!!!

“But his surname originates from ______” okay but does that matter?

“But he’s wearing a kalari dhoti so surely he’s ______” okay but does that matter?

“But his skin colour is darker so he must be ______” okay but does that matter?

“But he lives in Mumbai so he must be ______” okay but does that matter?

I sound insensitive and brash and annoying and it looks like I’m yapping just for the sake of riling you up, so direct that little burst of anger you got there at me, and keep reading.

Listen. I’m going to ask you a question that I’ve asked myself a million times over. I want you to answer honestly. I want you to ask this question to yourself and answer honestly:

Are you trying to convince me on who Pavitr Prabhakar should be?

... but why shouldn't i?

I’ll tell you this again — I did the same thing. You’re not at fault for this, but I want you to just...have a little think over. Just a little moment of self-reflection, to think about why you are so intent on boxing this guy.

It took me a while to reorganise my thinking and how to best approach a character like Pavitr, so I will give you all the time you need as well as a little springboard to focus your thoughts on.

SPIDER-MAN (INDIA) IS JUST A MASK

“What I like about the costume is that anybody reading Spider-Man in any part of the world can imagine that they themselves are under the costume. And that’s a good thing.”

Stan Lee said that. Remember how he was so intent on making sure that everybody got the idea that Spider-Man as an entity is fundamentally broken without Peter Parker there to put on the suit and save the day? That ultimately it was the person beneath the mask, no matter who they were, that mattered most?

Spider-Man India is no less different. You can argue with me that Peter Parker!Spidey is supposed to represent working class struggles in the face of leering corporate entities who endanger the regular folk like us, and so Pavitr Prabhakar should also function the same way. Pavitr should also be a working class guy of this specific social standing fighting people of this other social standing.

But that takes away the authenticity of Spider-Man India. Looking at him through the Peter Parker lens forces you to look at him through the Western lens, and it significantly lessens what you can do with the character — suddenly, it’s a fight to be heard, to be seen, to be recognised. It’s yelling over each other that Pavitr Prabhakar is this ethnicity, is that caste, this or that, this or that, this or that.

There’s a reason why he’s called Spider-Man India, infuriatingly vague as it is. And that’s the point — the vagueness of his identity fulfils Lee’s purpose for a character that could theoretically be embodied by anyone. If he had been called “Spider-Man Mumbai”, you cut out a majority of the population (and in capitalist terms, you cut out a good chunk of the market).

And in the case of Spider-Man India? Whew — you’ve got about a billion people imagining a billion different versions of him.

Whoever you are, whatever you see in Pavitr, that is what is personal to you, and there is nothing wrong with that, and I will not fault you for it. I will not fault you for saying Pavitr is from Central due to the origins of his last name. I also will not fault you for saying Pavitr is from South due to him practising kalaripayattu. I also will not fault you for saying he is not Hindu. I also will not fault you for saying he is a particular ethnicity without any proof.

What I will fault you for is trying to convince me and the others around you that Pavitr Prabhakar should be this particular ethnicity/have this cultural background because of some specific reason. I literally don’t care and it is fundamentally going against his character, going against the “anyone can wear the mask” sentiment of Spider-Man. By doing this, you are strengthening the walls that first divided us. You’re feeding the stratification and segmentation of our cultures — something that is actually not present in the fictional world of Mumbattan.

Like I said before: Mumbattan isn’t real, so the divides between ethnicities and cultural backgrounds are practically nonexistent. The best thing is that it is visually there for all to see. My favourite piece of evidence is this:

It’s a marquee for a cinema in the Mumbattan sequence, in the “Quick tour: this is where the traffic is” section. It has four titles; the first three are written in Hindi. The fourth title is written in Tamil. You go to Mumbai and you won’t see a single shred of Tamil there, much less any other South Indian language. Seeing this for the first time, you know what went through my head?

Wow, the numerous cultures of India are so intermingled here in Mumbattan! Everyone and everything is welcome!

I was happy, not just because of Tamil representation, but because of the fact that the plethora of Indian cultures are showcased coexisting in such a short sequence. This is India embracing all the little parts that make up its grander identity. This scene literally opened my eyes seeing such beauty in all the diverse cultures thriving together. In a place where language and cultural backgrounds blend so easily, each one complementing one another.

It is so easy to believe that, from this colourful palette of a setting, Pavitr Prabhakar truly is Spider-Man India, no matter where he comes from.

It’s easy to believe that Pavitr can come from any part of India, and I won’t call you out if the origin you have for him is different from the origin I have. You don’t need to stake out territory and stand your ground — you’re entitled to that opinion, and I respect it. In fact, I encourage it!!!

Because there’s only so much you can show in a ten minute segment of a film about a country that has such a vast history and even greater number of cultures. I want to see all of it — I want him to be a Malayali boy, a Hindi boy, a Bengali boy, a Telugu boy, an Urdu boy, whatever!! I want you to write him or draw him immersed in your culture, so that I can see the beauty of your background, the wonderful little things that make your culture unique and different from mine!

And, as many friends have said, it’s so common for Indian folks to be migrating around within our own country. A person with a Maharashtrian surname might end up living in Punjab, and no one really minds that. I’m actually from Karnataka, my family speaks Kannada, but somewhere down the line my ancestors moved to Tamil Nadu and settled down and lived very fulfilling lives. So I don’t actually have the “pure Tamil” upbringing, contrary to popular belief; I’ve gotten a mix of both Kannada and Tamil lifestyles, and it’s made my life that much richer.

So it’s common for people to “not” look like their surname, if that’s what you’re really afraid about. In fact, it just adds to that layer of nuance, that even despite these rigid identities between ethnicities we as Indian people still intermingle with one another, bringing slivers of our cultures to share with others. Pavitr could just as well have been born in one state and moved around the country, and he happens to live in Mumbattan now. It’s entirely possible and there’s nothing to disprove that.

We don’t need to clamber over one another declaring that only one ethnicity is the “right” ethnicity, because, again, you will be looking at Pavitr and the rest of India in that narrow Western lens — a country with such rich cultural variety reduced to a homogenous restrictive way of life.

THE POLL: REINTERPRETED

This whole thing started because I was wondering why my little poll was so skewed — I thought people assumed I was asking them where he came from, then paired his physical appearance with the most logical options available. I thought it was my fault, that I had somehow influenced this outcome without knowing.

Truth is, I will never really know. But I will be thankful for it, because it gave me the opportunity to finally broach this topic, something that many of us desi folk are hesitant to talk about. I hope you have learned something from this, whether you are desi or a casual Spider-Man fan or someone who just so happened to stumble upon this.

So just…be a little more open. Recognise that India, like many many countries and nations, is made up of a plethora of smaller cultures. And remember, if you’re trying to convince Pavitr that he’s a particular ethnicity, he’s going to wave his hand at you and say, “Ha, me? No, I’m one of the people that live here in the best Indian city! I’m Spider-Man India, dost!”

(Regardless, he still considers you a friend, because to him, the people matter more to him than you trying to box him into something he’s not.)

#long post + more tags that kinda spiral away BUT expand on the points above AND kinda puts everything together concisely #BROS THIS IS AN HONEST TO GOD ESSAY #THAT HAS BEEN COOKING IN MY HEART FOR A WHILE NOW. SIMMERING FOR MONTHS BEFORE FINALLY BOILING OVER IN THE LAST WEEK #genuinely hope you read MOST of it because yes it has Quite A Lot Of Exposition but it all matters nonetheless #put in a lot of thought into this so i expect you to do your part and challenge your thoughts as well #you see how i'm not asking for you to listen to me. but to actually Think. i want you to cook your thoughts and add some spice and flavour #and give it a good mix so you can come out of this a little more wiser than before #because!!! yeah!!!! spider man india is just that!! he's indian!!!!! we don't need to collectively agree on where he comes from #bc it gets rid of that relatability factor of spider man. at the most basic level #think of it as a schrodinger's. he is every single culture and none of them at the same time. therefore none of us are wrong!! sick!!!!#pavitr's first priority is making sure HIS PEOPLE are safe. that's probably as far as we can go that relates him back to peter parker spide #he loves his people and working in the name of justice to FIGHT for HIS PEOPLE is just the duty/responsibility he takes up #it makes sense that he loves everyone and every culture he engages with bc that's the nature of spider man i suppose #if peter parker spidey acts as the guardian for the regular folk.. then in my mind pavitr spidey stands as the bridge uniting the people #because society as its core is very fragmented. and having pavitr act as a connection to other folks.... mmmmm beautiful #that's what i'm talking abouttttt !!!#anyways guys this is literally 3001 words on my document EXCLUDING THE TITLE. THAT'S 7 PAGES AT 11pt FONT. i'm literally cryingggg wtf #pavitr prabhakar #spider man #spider man india #desi #desiblr #atsv #across the spiderverse #atsv pavitr #indian culture #india #desi tumblr #what the fuck do i tag this as #agnirambles

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heifolkens · 10 months

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Gay? Good for you!

the white G4Y tour shirts are for tie-dying pride colors obviously

(Bi Banri, Bisexual Homoromantic Yuki, Gay Momo)

#idolish7 #re:vale #revale #banri ogami #yukito orikasa #momose sunohara #banyukimomo #little hearts / lines on cheeks are just pride flag colors #just my personal headcanons btw not a big deal if you disagree #it's still june....if only for a few hours but it's still june u_u #yuki's shirt in my mind has a rainbow heart on the front that expands to bi colors while the back is just bi colors #its so hard to see tho with the logo...#i love tie-dye idc if they'd never wear it lmao

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camels-pen · 4 months

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hmmm. Monster trio + Jinbei getting separated from the rest of the crew on an island with enemies using hard or impossible to see attacks and Usopp's the one who's gotta keep his Haki up the whole time and direct the others/keep everyone safe.

Zoro got bored, having been at sea a while, and they were running low on meat, so when Luffy was about to run off, he suggests a hunting competition. Sanji yells at him not to go because he'll get lost. Zoro says something like Sanji's a wimp and ends up goading him into joining them. Jinbei is sent along by Nami to keep Zoro from getting lost. Thus the four left. Enemies showed up soon after.

The crew manages. Not perfectly, but they do. And eventually, maybe hours later, the monster trio and Jinbei (quartet? hmm) finally gets back. Nami's yelling at them as soon as they show up, but after a while the attacks slow down and stop and, despite not finding their attacker, all is seemingly fine.

Seemingly.

Usopp, having been wound up so tight with tension and still very concerned about finding their hidden enemy, keeps up his Haki even after the three had returned. The whole situation reminds him a little too much of Boin, so 'just in case' he decides to stay extra vigilant.

Meaning keeping it up until they leave the island.

Enemy attacks tone down after a while, and are much easier to manage when they've got their other Haki-users with them, so they decide on a quick supply run- Luffy accidentally stumbled on a decently sized town during their hunting trip- before shipping out.

This time, just Sanji, Chopper, and Franky go so that they can get the most necessary supplies. They're told to be quick, just in case their unseen enemy returns.

Some time later, Nami is chatting with Usopp when she pauses. She asks if Usopp's alright, because his eyes look red. Usopp just pulls his goggles on and says something got in his eye, but nothing serious.

More time later, Usopp notes that Sanji, Chopper, and Franky are taking a while. Longer than usual.

There aren't any big commotions or fires or anything though.

He parks himself on the bench around the main mast. He knows that Sanji would see any enemy that came for them. He knows that all 3 of them are capable fighters and can handle themselves. But he needs to check, needs to see-

So he pushes further. Further than he probably should, considering the way something feels like its pulling dangerously taut in his head.

He must've gotten past half of the island when, finally, he saw them.

Chopper, in heavy point, holding back a furious Sanji from kicking Franky. Franky himself was walking ahead of them, unperturbed.

Usopp let out a breath. They were fine, just taking their time getting to the town. He chastises himself a bit for not believing in them and chooses to ignore the relief from letting his range of Haki shrink back to normal. The temptation to let it go completely, to let his other crewmates handle things, was starting to get far too loud.

He brought an armful of mismatched bits and bobs on deck to fiddle with to take his mind off it. It helps with avoiding comments about keeping his goggles on anyway, if he was tinkering with something.

and blah blah blah eventually they come back with all the necessary supplies. Still no enemies have returned. No matter how paranoid Usopp is, he's starting to wane on whether he should just let it go, let the others handle it if they come back, instead of straining himself to the point his brain feels like it'll snap.

Sanji makes dinner. It's late too, so Nami makes the decision to ship out in the morning. She says they're switching up night watch just for tonight, in case those unseen enemies come back. The new schedule consists of Sanji, Zoro, Luffy, and Jinbei.

They get that they need Haki users on watch, but when asked why so many shift switches, Nami doesn't want them getting tired... or something like that, since she doesn't really know about how Haki works.

Eventually she, and everyone else, gets an explanation that properly trained Observation Haki doesn't have to be kept on all the time to be aware of imminent danger and isn't especially draining to use. Usopp is a little frustrated, maybe shows it outwardly, and even though the explanation reassures the others that 2 shifts- maybe 3- is enough, it only serves to make Usopp feel worse. He more firmly keeps up his waning Haki.

Long after everyone has gone to bed and Sanji has started first shift, Usopp was still 'tinkering' against the mast. Sanji comes down for a bit and tries to get him to head to bed or take a break, but Usopp made some excuse that he'd finish up his project soon.

Zoro doesn't say anything as he passes Usopp to relieve Sanji of his shift.

Sanji brings him some tea, the kind that makes you sleepy. Usopp can smell it. He gives his thanks and chugs it. Sanji sighs before heading to the men's quarters.

It isn't long before Luffy passes. Then Zoro. Jinbei, then Luffy.

Before he knew it, the sun was just barely rising and Sanji was standing in front of him.

"Your cup."

"Hm?"

Sanji gestures to the empty teacup and saucer next to Usopp.

"Oh. Sorry." He hands them over.

"Did you finish?"

"The tea? Yeah, it was tasty."

"No, your project."

Usopp pauses. Stares at Sanji between slow, burning blinks. "What project?"

Anyway, Sanji's worried now, but not enough to intervene. Breakfast comes and goes, then they're finally sailing off.

it takes another hour or so to leave the island out of a normal person's Haki range. They all think they're home free at this point, but not Usopp.

He plans to keep up his Haki until the Island is outside his maximum range. It's still just barely reaching the edge of his strained Haki range when he notices it.

Killing intent.

It's racing towards Sunny at breakneck speeds. Usopp doesn't know what it is, but he is not letting that thing hit their ship-

Except, oh, Usopp could almost see the trajectory of this thing, clear as if he'd shot it himself.

It wasn't aiming for the ship. It was aiming for Luffy.

Now, realistically, when it came within his own Haki range, Luffy would just dodge it himself. Even if he didn't, the most damage those unseen enemies had managed was a few slashes here and there. Mostly superficial wounds. It was more that they couldn't be seen without Haki and the sheer amount of them that had everyone on guard.

But Usopp had not slept. Had, at this point, gone a full 24 hours using Observation Haki. Was mixing up common, comforting, sounds of Sunny on the sea with giant bugs and carnivorous plants on an island miles and miles and miles away. Usopp was far past thinking realistically.

So, without any explanation or warning- no time, he thought to himself- Usopp aims his Kabuto just to the right of Luffy. His friends yell at him, when they notice what he's doing. He ignores them. Quiets his thoughts. He has to keep himself steady. Has to fire at just the right moment.

Luffy turns around, staring calmly at him. "Usopp?"

Now!

Usopp fires.

The others yell at Luffy to move. Luffy stares at Usopp. He stays put.

A Skullbomb Grass explodes next to him. He keeps a hand on his hat to keep it from blowing off.

Little bits of something shower down on Luffy's head.

He blinks a few times, then grins, "So that's what it is!"

Sanji and Zoro relax. Jinbei asks, "You couldn't have said something before shooting?"

"Eh? What? What happened?" Nami asks.

Luffy laughs, picking up one of the bits on his hat. "It's-"

"There you are you needle bastard," Usopp hisses, jerking his head towards the island. He turns and climbs to the roof of the crow's nest in record time. He aims high in the sky. "Surekill: Green Star-"

He shoots off his pop green, waiting a good while for the impact to be seen from the island. When the needle bastard's voice had finally shut up, Usopp starts to relax and let up on his Haki. "Skullbomb Grass…"

Usopp sways atop the crow's nest. His friends were yelling something at him, but he couldn't hear them.

With his fuzzy vision and aching head, he mumbles, "Ah, maybe I did overdo it afterall…"

In the next moment, he tips over the edge.

-and then Sanji jumps up to catch him and calls him a dumbass.

Luffy finishes explaining that somebody shot a big needle at him and Usopp shot down said needle. Then the others discuss why the hell Usopp passed out and who threw the needle. And how Usopp saw it coming before Luffy did, if both of them have Haki.

Jinbei explains that some people have wider ranges on their Observation Haki. Though, now, Usopp's is probably the biggest he knows of. Because what the hell that was insane.

Chopper takes off Usopp's goggles and checks him over. He asks the others if they noticed anything weird about Usopp that might've led to him collapsing. Nobody has anything but eventually Nami mentions his eyes being red yesterday after Sanji, Chopper, and Franky left. A few others pipe up about Usopp not sleeping last night.

Sanji is the one to put the pieces together.

He explains to the rest of them that Usopp must've been keeping his Haki up this whole fucking time, which wore him the hell out. He also explains that it's dangerous to do that, especially when his Haki is still untrained.

Usopp gets taken to the infirmary. The others (namely, Sanji) are kicking themselves a little about not having made sure that Usopp knew how to conserve energy with Haki / use it in a way that doesn't hurt him.

When Usopp wakes up many hours later, he's pretty fucked. Like his head is pounding, his stomach is queasy, and when he tries to test his Haki to make sure everyone was alright, he nearly passes out again. He takes some time to force himself to stay conscious, and then pushes himself up to go check on them in person. Sanji's right there though, and stops him. Tells him everyone's okay, other than Usopp himself. Tears into him a little about trusting Sanji, Luffy, Zoro, and Jinbei to pay attention and watch out for the others.

Usopp doesn't apologize, doesn't say much of anything. Some time, and warm food, make it easier for Sanji to wheedle out of him that the whole thing reminded him of Boin. And isn't that stupid? This wasn't the first forested Island they'd been to in the New World where people were trying to kill them. Usopp wasn't being chased down by man eating plants. The only thing he ate was the food Sanji made. And there was no routine 'Island Chow Time' where the island itself folded up and ate everything on it everyday. It didn't make a lick of sense.

But Sanji understood. Sort of. Having to watch over your shoulder for so long and then getting this power that lets you watch everything at all times? If it wasn't for Iva's scolding he would've been in the same state as Usopp while he was doing his own training.

And thus, heart to heart, and then Sanji offering to train Usopp properly in Observation Haki, which Usopp accepts.

#one piece #usopp #nemotime #idk about the 'took an hour to get out of normal haki range thing' i was just writing. like. dont take my word for all that #aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa usopp haki fics/ideas my beloved #also writing in present tense sucksssss im sticking to past tense from now on #didnt explicitly write this as sanuso but like. in my heart it is #and if i end up expanding on this in a whole fic. it'll definitely have more gay shit <3 i cant not do that

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imsociallyanxiousgetoverit · 6 months

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Fox!Danny is running from the Wolves-in-White (or maybe just Guys) towards the coast when the Bat’s clan steps in to save this, clearly, kit being chased by viscious full-growns.

#I like the idea of all of them being bipedal fluffy animals but I also still want him to be like The Batman ya know so idk #if y’all wanna expand keep or change whatever on this idea I think it’d be fun #I just want Danny to be the fox he is in my heart #but I know he’d be cute no matter what probably so #dpxdc #dcxdp #ghostly gotham #batpham #illijersois #my name for illinois and new jersey combined lmao #{ill-ih-jrr-soy}#kinda like illager-soy #pfft #this is so silly

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lethalhoopla · 2 years

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I am once again losing my mind.

This time: I went to look up references of Varric, and just typed "Varric Tethras" into the search bar. I was going to just tab over immediately to the images section, eyes barely glancing over the obvious top-result fandom wiki, then (more entertainingly, but still expected) Wikipedia link-

but. but the next one.

GOODREADS??

.... There's absolutely no tongue-in-cheek in the entry either.

(of course I immediately clicked on it who do you think I am)

There are 3 quotes from him relating to storytelling, both from 2 and Inquisition, as well as a book attribution:

The Dragon Age Novel Edition of Hard in Hightown.

ATTRIBUTED TO VARRIC TETHRAS.

with Mary Kirby*~

Absolutely unblinkingly written summary/bio.

I love this with my whole heart. Varric you beautiful bastard -- and DA writers/editors (Mary Kirby very much most importantly included) you even more beautiful, dorky, wonderful bastards.

---

*if you're not in the know, Mary Kirby is a cornerstone of the DA writing team, including being the one who was in charge of Varric (and Merrill!). To say she's his "trusted human confidante" is certainly putting it one (delightful) way.

#dragon age #dragon age 2 #da2 #varric tethras #i love things like this idk its just so delightful to see the love for a character so clearly echoed from the writers to fans and back agai #like it makes sense HiH is on goodreads - its literally a published book! (you can read most of it in dai codex in fact)#very fun and cheeky novella - not originally planned to be written #but mary kirby did it during DAI's development during times the team would work on 'related projects' that #would flesh out/expand on the world but probably/likely wouldn't see the light of day (which is really cool and immersive)#she apparently banged out most of HiH in a WEEK as codex entries (which are only 500 words long MAX so she had a hard cap!)#woke up in a fugue state with it finished kinda vibes apparently XD #anyways a couple years after DAI she was contacted and asked if she wanted to make it into a publishable novella that'd be illustrated #she agreed and here we are lmao #but! it's By Varric *with Mary Kirby*#and idk #my lil storytelling loving heart just is so delighted about all aspects #and its lead to Varric having a true-blue goodreads profile #so much good shit in the world man #including weird lil website entries on behalf of fictional authors that have 'real' published novels thanks to Dedicated Writers #fucking impeccable shit man

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summertimemusician · 5 months

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*downs coffee like a shot* Before we go back to our regularly scheduled Linktober/Linktober Shadow (because I don't leave things unfinished if I can help it), I gotta get the idea of Revenant First out of my system and y'all get to suffer with me until it eventually ceases being an idea and it turns into an actual story. For some reason we talk a lot about First already being alive or already a ghost by the time the Chain meets him, but I don't think I've ever heard someone talk about him actually coming back to life and so y'all get to suffer with my insane ramblings like I'm an 1800's psychic ward patient who believes themselves to be a witch.

Can be x Reader or not idk just an idea that won't leave my mind.

Might expand on this later so Part out of I/?

Revenant First, who died for his people and in the name of his Goddess. All alone on the surface, fighting, fighting, fighting, always fighting. Just to make the land a little safer before the next hero arrives, just to contain the Imprisoned for a little while longer with likely nothing than a ordinary, common sword to his name and a slowly rusting armor.

Always giving so so so much for his people, always doing his best to protect them, though they scorned him, loathed him, didn't believe or support him, rejected him.

With a spirit so strong and lovely that a Goddess fell for him, hated herself for having to manipulate and put him through such horrid experiences just to save the many, just to turn the diamond of his soul into an unbreakable lonsdaleite blade agaisnt a mad deity.

Someone whose will would be enough to keep him going, just one more fight right? Just one more kill right? Forward, forward, ever onward, it doesn't matter if the flesh decays, if the blood drips drips drips until he is dry of it, if the liver doesn't process nutrients, if the lungs don't draw air, if the nerves feel nothing but the cold cold numbness of the winter of his final years, if the heart doesn't beat. If the armor rusts or the sword breaks. He must keep going, he must keep fighting.

To keep them safe he must have faith, faith that he can keep going, to grasp onto that one.single.thread of purpose until the day that fiery, indomitable, determined will finally burns out. Even if his Goddess may have forsaken him knowingly or unknowingly, even if his people have rejected him to the point he isn't even human anymore, even though they reviled him, even if that rejection should by all intents and purposes chained his spirit to the land or ground the jewel of his unbreakable soul into dust, he still loves them, still adores them, still wants to protect them.

No matter how long he must keep going for it. He wishes to see those he holds dear happy, though they cursed and imprisoned him once.

The Chain getting dropped into a completely empty, desolated and undeniably dead version of Sky's Hyrule, only to find the only living thing besides monster is a single man, with rusted gold armor and an old sword, a faded tunic of green with a long, crimson scarf like a bloody banner. With hair and eyes like theirs, undeniably a Link. But so very frigid, so very silent they almost didn't notice him, that they can't help but wonder just how many years he has spent there, eroding away, ruined but still kind, kind, so very gentle. A shadow of his former self, yes, but still himself, still so so so good, doing all he can until Sky's Era comes and maybe, just maybe, he can finally rest.

Or maybe not, after all, someone has to keep the land safe until the Hero after Sky comes around, no?

Just Revenant First in general.

Or maybe we give him the House in Fata Morgana treatment, the House in Fata Hylia Au if you will- *collapses from sleep deprivation*

#linked universe headcanons #lu first #lu fic idea #Revenant First #lu first x reader #maybe? it's mostly just an idea lol #might expand on this later lol #Also knows as what happens when Summer is sleep deprived while doing essays takes a break by listening to The House in Fata Morgana OST #and suddenly gets First in the brain lol #still have way too much First Hero on the brain that man deserves the world but at the same time I want to put him into Situations lol #Feral Revenant First being protective of the Chain my beloved #Sky being so confused because Fi at the same time recognizes the man and has just started lowkey crying and screaming in chimes #Twi Wind Hyrule and Time not knowing wether to be morbidly intrigued or horrified because he registers as both dead and alive to them #Meanwhile First is just chilling #doing his own thing and probably bonding with Wild over 'Being Dead but Got Better'#Probably doesn't even register he shouldn't be moving anymore after taking a stab to the heart or something lol #if we want to make an X Reader kind of thing then it's literally his love for Reader which also allows him to keep going #alongside sheer force of will and determination #Michel and Giselle vibes ya know? lol #Wait would that make Hylia Morgana? Or could it be Demise or something? Eh #I dunno might expand on that later/write out that Au later on as a self indulgent thing #Anyway for now ya'll get this until I am finally not swamped with literature/language essays and fistfighting sleep deprivation #Summer Writes #Summer Writes Linked Universe Headcanons #Summer's Sleep Deprived Headcanons

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granturn · 1 year

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Vida season 2, episode 3

[image description: two gifs from season 2, episode 3 of Vida. Nico and Emma sit outside a wedding venue. Nico offers Emma her drink. Emma takes it from her and has a sip.

/end description]

#Vida #vidastarz #vida starz #roberta colindrez #mishel prada #nico silva #emma hernandez #i just really think the way nico holds out her drink is like... kinda hot i guess #also offering me a sip of your drink is the key to my heart idk #It's such a subtle intimacy! love when my friends offer me their drinks #i wanna expand on this scene eventually #but im tired and dealing with subtitles sounds annoying rn

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littledreamling · 1 year

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Something that's been rotating in my mind like pastas in a microwave lately is : how does Hob's brain, and particularly his memory, works with his elongated life ?

this is prompted by one of your latest reblogs regarding Hob's memory, the fact that's you're actually a student of science, and because I'm pretty sure you wrote or reblogged material for an AU in which Hob became a neurosurgeon instead of a History professor in modern days, which leads him to study people suffering of the sleepy sickness, which in turns leads him to Dream's identity, or something, but I cannot find it again on your blog and maybe I'm mistaken and this sounds completely out of the blue, apologies

Because, correct me if I'm mistaken but our brains aren't fully developed until ~30 years old, which is why it's easier to learn during this period of our lives. But then it retains a considerable plasticity and we may reprogram entire neural pathways for purpose they weren't initially generated to fulfill still (like when someone goes blind and they develop extremely acute hearing or sense of touch because the part of their brain previously alloted to vision has been reprogrammed for hearing/touch instead). Right ?

Which means Hob's brain and memory is functioning just as fine as any 33 years-old's, since he is sparred the decay of his grey cells. But also ... Hob's brain, and memory is, ultimately, finite. There's only so much grey matter his skull can hold !!

He has probably started establishing sorts of "well-memorising" rituals at one point in his life, to make sure not to forget certain precious memories ... and it's probably a non-negligible reason why he got into History too !! He gets to make a living out of churning and reflecting on the past and keeping it vivid.

But there are also parts of his brain, memories and skills that necessarily get overwritten by new memories and skills ? And of course, our brains aren't like hard drives, entire sections of his memory wouldn't suddenly be wiped out. Some memories and skills would simply wither away at the outskirt of his brain, rustying until they get vacuumed into oblivion ... but what do I know about how amnesia work ?? I'm just a Japanese undergraduate and a librarian who writes !!

But combining that with a warped sense of time passing ... Hob used to be excellent on horseback. Of course, he's ridden more horses than any rider throughout his life as a soldat and a bandit, and later as a knight. Sure his title was honorary, and he was no longer a warrior then, but one didn't carve out a niche in England's nobility for themselves, let alone hosted the Queen, without virtosity in horseback fox-hunting.

Then time passes, centuries come and go, and it's been a small eternity since Hob last rode a horse. And he misses it, but he's a busy man, and one does business much more easily inside of a coach than on a horse's back. Plus it's fine, riding a horse is like riding a bike, one simply doesn't forget how to once they've learnt it. Speaking of which, bikes are fantastic !! Such elaborate mechanic would have looked like witchcraft to actually-33-years-old-Hob and yet, it's one about anyone can afford in these days and age ...

Before he realises, centuries have passed without riding a horse. And then Hob finds himself invited to monitor a Renaissance Fair as an historian, and there is jousting on the program, and he somehow finds himself arguing with the knight-wanabees over the inaccuracy of their horses' harnessing, and all they can respond is that historically-accurate harnessing wouldn't be safe for them to ride with, and Hob finds himself oddly riled up by this, and he might not say it, but he thinks loud that "Ah ! Back in my days, people didn't need all of that frill, because we knew how to ride horses," as he climbs on one, intending on demonstrating the ease of today's riders ... and almost breaks his arm in his fall upon a few steps from his mount.

Hob Gadling might know how to ride a bike nowadays, but no longer a horse ...

Uh I might have wandered off a bit here, but my point is, for all the enthusiasm Hob carry with him throughout his immortality, an abundance of oblivion for an abundance of novelty and experiences is a price of which payment he cannot escape.

And that is quite dampening ... but I had to inflict this upon you because I want to hear your thoughts on it Ꮚ•ꈊ•Ꮚ

I’m actually screaming and crying about this, you have no idea. I’m going to try to keep this short because I have about four projects due tomorrow so I can’t devote an hour to pouring my heart and soul into this ask like I want to but this is actually making me go feral!!

First and foremost, I should say that… we don’t really know how memory works in the first place, even in regular humans. I mean yeah, we understand that memories go to short term and then get transported to long term, and there’s a whole lot that goes into that, but it’s kind of a squiggly, imprecise method (and I’m sure there are others who could offer far more insight than me, and I’d love to hear it!) so comparing Hob’s memory to ours is a little difficult, to say the least. But let’s for the moment, assume that his memory works the same way: he can only hold so much information in his brain. You’re absolutely correct about the brain’s plasticity and the fact that Hob would’ve been given his immortality pretty much at the height of his brain’s functioning power (as long as you subscribe to the headcanon that he was ~30-35 at the time of his and Dream’s first meeting) so yeah, he’d have a pretty good memory! But like you said, not infinite. He’s only human, after all, and this is where I blacked out and my angst brain took off in leaps and bounds (sorry @levi1088 for spamming you out of the blue and also making you sad, I’m about to do it again) because thinking about Hob’s memory, about what he’s lived through and lost and forgotten will always make me feel like my ribs are being ripped from my chest, so I’m going to endeavor to make you feel the same way because I’m evil like that

I can’t even begin to fathom all of the things Hob has forgotten over the centuries. Names, places, skills, scents. He always told himself that he’d never forget the sound of a blade being unsheathed or the gasp of air that a man makes when his lungs have been punctured, but he eventually does. When he watches period war movies, he criticizes the sound effects, claiming inaccuracy, but he also can’t remember what it really sounded like, only that it didn’t sound like that. He told himself he’d never forget his sisters’ names, but he forgot them long before he learned his letters (working at a printing press doesn’t necessarily mean he knew the words he was printing, especially because the majority of what he would’ve printed would’ve been in Latin, not English) and with no records, their very existence has disappeared into smoke and grave dirt. Can you imagine the moment when he realized he couldn’t remember his mother’s face? Or Eleanor’s? Or Robyn’s? When he realized he could no longer remember the scent of his childhood home or the sound of his father’s laugh?

His memory isn’t any better than ours! And I’d like to comfort you (and myself) by saying that Dream could conjure up those things in the Dreaming, but he can only draw from memory; once Hob no longer remembers it, it’s gone forever. AND THEN!! The warping of memories!! Every time you remember something, it gets rewritten in your mind, so even if Hob remembered every detail about his life (which we’ve already established that he doesn’t), he probably only thinks he does, because those early memories have been warped beyond belief. And he can’t go back and check because his parents were nobodies, his siblings all died in the plague, his friends died in war. None of them got portraits painted of them, none of them could afford the paper to keep diaries or sketchbooks. There’s absolutely no record of his childhood or home town or family or friends; he’s well and truly the only one left and god, doesn’t that just kill you?

But then (because I’m an incurable optimist and as much as I love angst, I love happy endings too) there’s always a silver lining. Hob is immortal. He’s lost everything. Every single item, every possession, every name, every single person except for one has been lost. He’s had six hundred years to come to terms with the fact that he will inevitably lose everything he currently has and that has to be okay. It has to be, because what other option does he have? He can’t be sentimental with objects because the constant sense of temporariness of every aspect of his life would drive him insane. Delirium would probably take up permanent residence at his flat if he constantly worried about everything he had lost over the course of his long life.

And I have to believe that this applies for memories, too. Hob strikes me as the type to let those kind of things roll off his shoulders like water. There’s nothing he can do about it, so why bother worrying about it? He lives his entire life in a completely transitory state; his memories are the least of his concern (as someone with pretty severe memory problems, this is a mindset that I have been forced to adopt because I, too, would drive myself absolutely insane trying to remember everything I had forgotten. If it’s important, it’ll come back to me, and if it doesn’t, someone will remind me. If neither of those happen, it’s usually none of my concern and 99% of the time, it never comes up again). And like, yeah, it sucks that he can’t remember his mother or his friends or his house, and he mourned those losses when they happened, but he’s constantly replacing those memories with new ones. He’s so invested and intrigued with the world around him and he’s always gaining new experiences; his memories come and go like the tides and he no longer gets upset at the loss of them, or at least, he no longer holds onto that mourning for longer than the emotion warrants; he grieves their absence and then he moves on.

Additionally, his memory might be finite, but the life lessons he’s learned and carried from one lifetime to the next are not. He doesn’t have to remember where he learned how to pick pockets to remember that he knows how to do it, if that makes sense. Some things transcend memory.

This might be a convoluted analogy, but I like to think of memory as a window looking into anroom with a timeline on the opposite wall. Wach person has a window to look through and they can only see the section of the timeline that corresponds to their life. The window can never get bigger, not for anyone. You can only hold a lifetime’s worth of memories. And the same goes for Hob; his window doesn’t stretch or expand any larger than anyone else’s, but it moves when no one else’s does. His window has the ability to slide along the wall, constantly replacing the memories that disappear from view with new ones. We’re all stuck with the lifetime we have, with the memories that we can create in the 70-90 years that we have (if we’re lucky). We all have our window, it’s just that Hob has the ability to shift his window to a new perspective, a new era of time, a new life. And I think he would think that was pretty cool

#this gripped my heart with a death grip and I’ve been thinking about it nonstop for hours now #I wish I was more well-versed in psychology so I could do this ask justice with over-education like I can with historical accuracy #sadly you all get just a normal amount of knowledge and lots of angsty thoughts about Hob #thanks for the ask!#this was a great thought exercise and I’d love to see anyone expand on it!#oops I spent an hour on this anyway #the sandman #sandman netflix #hob gadling #dream of the endless #morpheus #dreamling #neil gaiman

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