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bechloesupercorp · 11 months

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“Oof-” Ava slammed straight into the grass, sending plumes of dust up in her wake. Her muscles ached in protest as she dragged herself off the ground. Nope, not as young as she used to be. Reya’s realm had felt like centuries. To her, it literally had been, slowly aging her as she fought God herself to go back. What didn’t make sense though was Michael. Maybe he’d just taken the term “growth spurt” a bit too literally and just ran headfirst into adulthood. Nevermind that. Ava shook herself off, a jumble of emotions climbing up her throat at the sight of Cat’s Cradle. She was almost home.

The sisters were nice, but wholly unfamiliar. No Cam, no Lilith, not even Mother. And definitely no Bea. A trill of joy ran up her spine – maybe Bea had listened, and actually went to live her life. A spike of fear wedged even deeper at the same time – what if Bea didn’t want her in her life anymore? What if she had gone and done all these amazing things while Ava was stuck in another realm. What if Bea had outgrown her, like plenty of roommates had before, being adopted out or leaving for school and bigger things than Ava and witty banter.

She still had to try. Beatrice had left almost nothing. No phone number, no email, just a P.O. box in familiar writing, paper aged with the tendrils of time. Even then, Ava could see that the strokes were sure, certain, like the Bea she’s always known. But they were lighter too, the ends of her letters lifting up just a bit, like even she didn’t know exactly what was coming next.

So Ava thanked the sisters and rushed on out.

She didn’t move as fast as she used to anymore, even with the halo thrumming in her back. But she trudged along, feet drawing her closer and closer to her final destination. The sunrise broke over the horizon as she plowed up the mountains. Of course, Bea would go back to the one place they’d shared. Not Ava-the-Halo-Bearer and Sister Beatrice, but simply Ava and Bea.

The sun glowed against her cheeks and she felt like she was nineteen-just-turned-twenty again. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes when she realised that this could all be gone. Bea’s, but not hers. Who wouldn’t love Beatrice? She probably had a whole new life, new family, new love, just conveniently in the same place they’d learned to love each other. She planted herself on a park bench, just across from the pool she’d spent almost every free second she’d had at, and the doubt wormed into her chest, shredding at her heart til she could barely breathe.

“Ma’am, are you okay?” A young voice drifted in in German, accompanied by someone settling on the bench next to her.

It took her a second to respond, “I’m fine, thanks!” The language felt odd on her tongue. Thirty years had passed, but her mouth still moved, falling into a routine that was natural, but a bit misshapen, like clearing the cobwebs of an old hangout.

The young man had looked straight through her, with a funky little mustache and mischievous eyes. Ava wasn’t quite sure why, but in seconds she was pouring out her life’s story to this random stranger. She could almost hear the music in the background, like she had done hundreds of times to Hans before.

“It’s been years, and I don’t even know if she’d wait for this long. It feels selfish to want it but–” The boy stopped, glancing as another figure settled near the pool, “Sorry, my father sends me each morning to watch–” Ava followed his line of sight and everything faded. Bea. Streaks of grey laid where the blond used to be. Hair still up in a bun, a few strands hanging loose and framing her face perfectly. Ava’s hand itched to tuck it back behind her ear. To trace the soft smile lines at the edge of her eyes. Good. All Ava had wanted was for Bea to be happy.

She couldn’t help but launch herself at Bea, Halo giving her a little boost. Bea’s head shot up at the movement, cycling from alarm to immediate recognition as Ava’s feet pounded against the grass. Bea shot to her feet, arms reaching forward, crashing together in a tangle of limbs.

“Ava?” Bea’s voice cracked, a slight tinge of disbelief, as she clutched at Ava’s spine, drawing them together as close as she could.

“Bea,” she whispered, gripping at anything she could. She buried her nose in the crook of Bea’s neck – she smelled exactly the same. A flood of relief washed down her muscles as Bea pressed her lips against the side of her head, tears dripping against Ava’s face and mixing with her own. It took a few seconds of stunned relief, multitudes being said without any sound. “You came home,” Bea sniffled, voice thick with emotion.

Ava drew back, hand gently tilting Bea’s chin, eyes searching for the truth she already knew. “I’m home.”

#i was just thinking of ava looking at bea with grey hair and going “fuck im so lucky”#neither of them ever even thought they'd live long enough to ever get old #nonetheless together #and sure #it might take them a (long) while to find each other again #they will #over and over again #anyways #someone pls drag me to bed bc i need to wake up in 3 hours #warrior nun #avatrice #sister beatrice #ava silva #boink scribbles #also the marks of age are beautiful!!#and no one ever wants to acknowledge or points them out #it makes me sad #bc they tell so many amazing stories in the loudest most understated ways #those smile lines arent there bc you smiled once!#you did it over and over again #and those joys were so important that they literally etched their way onto your face #an ever-present reminder of the happiness that you've held #and will carry for the rest of your days #welp #thats enough for tonight #:p

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tangledinink · 2 months

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sometimes i just like drawing silly babies on silly playdates... gemini!donnie's babies ft. @abbeyofcyn and @cupcakeslushie's babies

#world cold and hard.... fankid soft and warm #marsh and lake #lake and marsh #rottmnt fankid #rottmnt donnie #coz these are almost all donnie fankids lmao #rottmnt oc #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #ive been holding onto the lita one for like eVER #and then the abbey one also for a little bit coz i was waiting for vitto to be introed to the world #now they can hang out together :) yay #i just like drawing the lil chaos twins sometimes it is an odd comfort but a comfort nonetheless #fidgetwing #crossovers

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canisalbus · 6 months

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I was holding my dog's head like a burger when I suddenly thought of Machete so I now present to you

Machete getting his head held like a burger

#oh dear #my boy my poor little rat lad #he doesn't seem too thrilled about it #but submitting to his fate nonetheless #or maybe he's secretly into it #maybe it makes him feel like his head is staying together a bit better than it does on average #is this a customary thing? to hold a dog's head like a burger?#you're not the first person to tell me my dogs need to be given burger handling #I don't know what I'm talking about anymore I think I better call it a day #thank you! I hope he's feeling held #gift art #snakeobsessedloser #own characters #Machete

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kaladinkholins · 3 months

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"why would you ship mizu and taigen together they're sooooo toxic ugh taigen is AWFUL and mizu should be with ME instead!!!"

of course they're toxic they're both deranged and terrible and that's why they're perfect for each other.

cuz like omg you think mizu would treat you well? mizu would abandon you. look at how she left ringo multiple times. ringo who treats her so well and is nothing but patient and caring and loyal. if you are insecure she will laugh at you because she has no social tact. look at how mikio said "it's a stupid dream" talking about his ambitions of regaining his honour and mizu straight up chuckles and tells him he's right because it IS a stupid dream. and at this point their relationship was cordial and she was even warming up to him!

like. arguably, taigen would be a better romantic partner (per the ideals of his time and culture of course), or at least he would be on paper. cuz i mean as a husband, as he is now, i think he'd be awful. but i'm talking about if you and him were dating or courting or just seeing each other romantically, he would be good to you. like we saw how he behaved with akemi and he was nothing but sweet and gentle. the very reason akemi wanted to marry him so bad was because she KNOWS without a doubt that he respects women and would treat her well. "oh but he cheated on her with the prostitutes while celebrating his engagement!" yeah but per the norms of the time and place, it was not considered cheating and akemi (as well as any wife or romantic partner of that period) would not have minded or even cared.

and yes taigen IS an asshole and he IS obnoxious but come on. so is mizu, if she is allowed to act like herself around you. mizu will tease you and mock you and challenge you and even poke at your insecurities (see:her goading mikio on even though he clearly did not view her teasing as light-hearted banter and took it all very personally). she would tell you to your face if she thinks you're being annoying (see:mizu rolling her eyes and telling akemi to straight up just "shut up" when she'd believed mizu had killed taigen).

mizu is not merely a hot and talented badass with a sword and the insane hyperfocus on her desire for revenge which literally drives her to withstand like, extreme amounts of damage and survive it. mizu is also flawed and the show does a good job at showcasing this, and showing us that she's not merely a victim but also a multilayered person. we see throughout that mizu is blunt and sarcastic and prideful.

oh what's that? oh right, very similar to taigen, who is also hot and talented with a sword and with insane hyperfocus on his desire to duel mizu and regain his honour. taigen who is also flawed (though, arguably, more so) as he is blunt and sarcastic and prideful.

the only thing that sets mizu and taigen apart is the fact that taigen is a man and is not mixed race, which thus affects their positions in society and how people perceive them. these are external factors. taigen being a boy who is not blue-eyed allowed him to easily mingle with the other kids in the village, all of whom were similarly fed the same prejudiced values which led them to gang up against mizu and bully her.

but take all that away. strip them down to the bare essentials. suddenly it's like they are the same person copy and pasted.

and that's what makes them even more interesting. yes absolutely they would be toxic. whatever souls are made of, mizu's and taigen's are the same (derogatory). and we literally see them fight all the time!!!! but the thing is they are both deranged when it comes to this.

do you get me. they both literally get turned on by sparring. mizu's whole spar with mikio was her way of flirting. just look at how she smirked at him and said "unsheathe it" like it's clear that this is an innuendo of not just unsheathing his weapon but also what's in his pants. then during the chopsticks fight with taigen in the snow, despite mizu literally being injured and taigen trying to attack her, mizu gets attracted to him. meanwhile taigen got a boner after wrestling with her in the forge.

taigen goes around saying he wants to kill mizu to regain his honour but he still literally risks life and limb for her constantly. mizu gives ringo stomach ulcers by going around flinging herself into near-death situations 24/7. she ups and leaves her beloved swordfather with barely a goodbye twice to pursue her batshit far-fetched quest for revenge (against people she doesn't even KNOW btw because she literally starts off with practically No Leads and not even knowing the NAMES of the white men who are her maybe-fathers).

these bitches are crazy and you know what good for them. that shit needs to be contained and quarantined though and that's why in that sense they would be good together.

i want to put them both in a jar and shake it very hard and see what happens. personally i think they will argue and insult each other while working perfectly in sync with each other to break out of the jar and then proceed to kill me and make out sloppy style over my dead body while they're both covered in blood.

like that's it that's the dynamic. send post.

#this is written half in jest btw dont take it too seriously. ppl can dislike what they want and ship x reader if they like #what annoys me is just when ppl are being rude about other ppl's ships like. unprovoked. like girl....#taimizu #taigen x mizu #mizu x taigen #blue eye samurai #im active on twitter again and the algorithm keeps putting bad takes on my tl against my will !!!#also yes i am aware im saying all this while writinf a tender yearning-filled slowburn fic of them #bcs i DO want them to be gentle. definitely i do. but that comes muuuuuuch later after they both wear each other's edges down ykwim #bcs if they get together any time soon they will literally be a flaming hot mess #sexy hot mess tho #but a mess nonetheless #they have the range! love them for that #fandom.rtf #shut up haydar #wank.mp3 #kinda #might delete later

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andi-o-geyser · 1 year

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Percy de Rolo and Keyleth of the Air Ashari my beloveds, my dearest companions, my comfort pair, nobody does it like them. They are the basis of what all friendships should be, they are the fucking blueprint, they show how meaningful profound affection in different forms other than romantic is, they are best friends, they are siblings, they are the platonic ideal of platonic ideals, they are soulmates, they have matching earrings, they are both massive nerds, they gift handmade jewellery to each other, they are the exact opposites, they are so similar, they are sunshine and shadow, they are nature and science, they are all the elements of the universe working together, they are creators, they are leaders afraid of their destinies, they care incredibly deeply about everybody around them, they are fuckups, they try to learn and grow, they argue, they fight, they hug and make up and never hold it against one another, they joke and drink and are always there for each other, they have died and been revived and brought each other back from the brink, they have met the gods themselves and still know that the connection between each other is worth more than divinity itself will ever be, they have fought monsters and titans and their greatest fears together and have come out the other side broken and battered but stronger for it, they are brother and sister, they are siblings-in-law, they are the epitome of chosen family on all possible levels, they will live through their lifetimes and legacies, they are love itself.

#can you tell that they're my favourites #i am. in my feels for them #chosen family who didn't grow up together like pike and grog or vex and vax but siblings nonetheless with contrasting aesthetics?#sign me the fuck up #vox machina is just a group of siblings and they all have such amazing relationships but they're all so different and special i just aaaaaaa #dont you get it they're not even friends theyre WORSE THEYRE A FAMILY #SAYS PERCY TO KEYLETH #AAAAAAAJJSJDKFHJSLDJHKSSKJHLSH #back on my bullshit with percy and kiki brainrot but i do not care because i love them #they mean so so SO much to me #very sad we haven't seen them being besties in tlovm #but here's hoping they'll maybe build that up in s3? who knows #critical role #cr1 #vox machina #percy and kiki #percy de rolo #keyleth #percival fredrickstein von musel klossowski de rolo iii #keyleth of the air ashari #andis thought geyser

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pencilofawesomeness · 5 months

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Yui lies awake for an indeterminable amount of time, watching shadows make patterns on the ceiling above them. The heartbeat against her fingertips beats a constant tattoo against her skin, a reminder that she’s not alone, that the body next to her continues to live and breathe and exist in this world.

—Famous Last Words Chapter 3, from May Death Never Stop You by @slexenskee

Okay so I binged this series in about the span of a week and it did things to my brain. The scene where Yui gets Satoru to come home and sleep lives rent-free so I had to draw it. She's the most little sister ever and this scene made me cry from the bittersweet wholesomeness. My utmost respect to slex for this masterpiece of a fic.

#fic may death never stop you #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #my hero academia #mha #slexenskee #kodai yui #gojo satoru #art based off of fanfic #I have no idea if yui sets the contact name on the app or not #but I named him dumpster fire nonetheless #gojo would approve I am sure #though I through the phone interface together the details aren't important #favorite detail is probably sparkly nails lol #gojo be looking fabulous as he annihilates traffickers worldwide #and for his mental break ahahaaaaaaa #it's okay little sister figures are there to call you out #god that phone call and text sequence *had* me #and then him coming immediately and the bit with the spilled ramen #and her sleeping in his empty house to get out of her own #good stuff good stuff #also the sass these two have towards each other in that affectionate way #honestly every relationship ever in this fic has me *gripped*#but kudos to slex for making me love an obscure mha character with every inch of my being #yui deserves the world #anyway tag rant done #i would have made yui's shirt a no scrubs one but I got lazy

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imminent-danger-came · 11 months

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honestly the best parts of eldritch abomination mk is sun wukong desperately trying to make mk feel loved and accepted without coming off as smothering or coddling him in training/finding ways to keep bugs outta his fur without mk suspecting anything. and also pigsy just finding this random random child and accidentally adopting the end of all things and making him work food service. honestly pigsys method is either going to bring him closer to ending the world or give him the patience not too

WHAT I'M SAYING.

"accidentally adopting the end of all things and making him work food service" I'm crying this is so funny. Pigsy built our boy up strong

I'm also crying from "sun wukong desperately trying to make mk feel loved and accepted without coming off as smothering or coddling him" Like. Literally. That is peak EAMK (Eldritch Abomination MK), it's how I interpret the characters, and it also makes me think of this scene:

MK: "Bu- but you can't just leave! What if someone attacks the city!? *terrified gasp* WHAT IF THE SPIDER QUEEN COMES BACK???" Sun Wukong: "Awww you'll figure it out! It's adorable how nervous you are—but don't be! You've come a long way."

(2x01 Sleep Bug)

Wukong has unshakeable faith in MK, which a lot of the time can come off as dismissal or being aloof, but he really does just believe in MK that much.

#IN ARMS BROTHER (gender neutral)#idk if this is a sinking ship because it really honestly could happen. BUT I'LL GO DOWN WITH IT NONETHELESS #WE SEE THE NARRATIVE POTENTIAL #I'm going to have a tag for this theory me thinks #eamk theory #lmk #lego monkie kid #asks #anyways feeling things about SWK leaving MK in s2 rn. Feeling. emotions.#Also feeling emotions about ''you'll figure it out!'' ''we will figure this out together!''#god damn lego show. with it's god damn motifs and god damn characters.

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monpetithl · 1 year

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happy 2023 🌟

#hlcreators #harry styles #louis tomlinson #my art #thank you all for an amazing 2022 <3 im so so grateful for all the friends i've made this year and the support you've given to my art :D #its been a wonderful year for hl too with everything they worked on + touring & i hope they are having their well deserved rest together <3 #wishing everyone a very wonderful 2023 full of love!!! 💖💌🌟#hoping i can be more active regarding art this year :') nonetheless i thank u all for showing me nothing but love with what i do <3

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hajihiko · 2 years

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every time I come across Content that isnt my own I get the thoughts and thinks. Too tired to do anything about it except this ig

#Coming to terms with the fact that I can share shitty dumb doodles and tag them even and it's not a crime #I'm not quite Ants In My Brain levels but the brains are scattered rn.#Anyway I love a relationship that is unlabeled and unknowable but gosh damn it is sincere and devoted #I was thinking of that 19 days bit. 'you're the strongest most badass little mo' or sth #ANYWAY! Not confident enough to tag this w my art tag so #Fuyuhiko kuzuryu #Hajime hinata #Kuzuhina #Attempting to go full ramble in the tags after the actual posting bc I just got shit to say I guess #Not valuable shit but shit nonetheless #They're good for each other they build each other up. Fuyuhiko was putting so much faith in Hajime from the get-go #Hajime is like dont give me too much credit no I dont wanna think about my talents. And Hiko is like nah man you're great (in his own way)#And Hajime encourages so much growth in Hiko which is WHY I think Hiko is so passionate in his loyalty #Hajime makes Fuyuhiko smile and laugh and reflect on his behaviour and talk about his experiences #They laugh TOGETHER in the middle of the killing game which is v sweet #Fuyuhiko is DESPERATE to prove that he's changed and that he wants to do good now and Hajime is just like 'okay you got it'#Like thassit. And then when they find out Hajime wasnt a talent student Fuyuhiko is like 'oh ok'#They accept each other very readily and they trust each other so much and idk maybe my brain is broken but #I FEEL like I feel a sincerity in their friendship #Like it's for life man they're already making plans for the future when they're friends (hiko especially)#Yeah I guess I'll save these tags. Idk I'm a little Ill of the Brain rn

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demigod-of-the-agni · 2 months

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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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