#what a fucking long title

[fey-changeling]

@marnz Omg “I don't care if she's the devil I don't want to be saved!”?????

Ohoho, right, this is the only venture maidens fanfic i'm currently working on (title from this song*), and I'm so sorry I think I have to lore-dump for this to make sense.

Essentially it's about two women who love each other very much who have been forced to make horrible choices/sacrifice their happiness and each other in service of their greater good. It's about them both knowing that they'll be instrumental in each other's destruction but neither wanting to hurt the other. (Feel free to skip straight to the snippet)

Rem: demi-goddess of death, loathes her father the evil god of death

Isolde: minor royal, very powerful cleric of fate

75-ish years ago they fell in love and established a mercenary organisation serving the fates. A few months ago Rem left the organisation, shortly after she stole an ancient artefact and used it to kill her father (no mortal has ever killed a god before and the gods all freaked out). Rem went into hiding, she had Plans™. Months later the fates decide Isolde can't be trusted due to her relationship with Rem, they take away her power permanently and banish her from the organisation. Rem's real goal is to destroy fate itself, severing all the gods' control over mortals.

This fic is set between Rem killing her father and Isolde losing her power, because what if they had met and the fates had a genuine reason to think that Isolde might betray them, and it's angsty and bittersweet.

And here's the snippet

The bedchamber was lit by soft candlelight, and Rem stood by the bed. Unarmoured, hair a mess, clothes crumpled. Although she had clearly been waiting, she was tensed ready to fly, like a prey animal cornered by a predator.

Isolde hadn’t expected the rush of relief or the pain that followed it. Anger and resentment yes, but not relief, not a fresh wave of heartbreak. She was going to cry, gods, she wanted to cry so badly, and she wasn’t sure if she was going to collapse, or how she would rid the building tension from her limbs in any way but spontaneously combusting. Then Rem had crossed the room in a blur, crashed into her and held her tightly against her chest.

It felt like a homecoming. It should have felt like a sin.

When they let go enough to look at each other, Rem’s fingertips moved very lightly over her face, tears rolling unchecked down her cheeks. She was exhausted, it was in every line of her body, the way she held herself. There were dark circles under her eyes and her face was gaunt. Isolde wouldn't think about why. Gently, she wiped the tears away with her thumb.

“Isolde,” Rem brushed her lips against her fingertips. “Isolde,” buried her fingers in her loose hair. “Isolde—” Isolde kissed her for she felt she would go mad if Rem said her name one more time. It was a brief, soft kiss, more than a little uncertain, hiding all that choking desperation.

“Oh, is this…? Is this alright—?” Rem kissed her more deeply, and when they parted Isolde swayed, her head spinning in that oh-so-familiar way.

“It’s worse.” She remarked, clutching at Rem’s shirt hard enough to turn her knuckles white. Rem opened her mouth, likely to apologise, and Isolde kissed her until she felt she would pass out, until she could barely think for the pain it brought. She broke the kiss, gasping into Rem’s shoulder as the world tilted violently around her.

“You absolute fucking masochist.” Her back pressed against the door, Rem leant over her, smiling. She wanted her, she missed her. She wanted to consume Rem and be consumed in turn. Rem would let her, she would indulge her, she always had.

* @rusalkaandtheshepherdgirl i'm tagging you in this because it's your fault this song is stuck in my head all the time 🥰

#this fic concept has been in my head for years #i could talk A LOT about it #i really tried to compress it down to be readable #i'm so sorry #marnz #wip ask meme #i don't care if she's the devil i don't want to be saved #what a fucking long title #no i'm not obsessed with rem's canonical kiss of death. why do you ask #i love writing them even if idk if it's anywhere near the canon characterisation anymore

[paulmccartneygrindr]

paul mccartney you're gay and that's final

for legal/ethical/moral/psychological/spiritual reasons this is a joke

#which could mean nothing. of course. #is this too long? yes. but i had like 10 other songs i mulled over adding so be grateful. #i might say fuck it and edit it and add them back in so dont bitch about it #anyway. yeah the title is a joke but i feel like an interesting story is told through some of these songs. i tried to only do songs im #convinced are at least partially about john. hence the waffling on other songs. there's a lot of songs that follow a similar theme but im #like. eh. dudes been married thrice and widowed who knows whats about who ykwim? #i could be convinced however. im easy like that.

[weedle-testaburger]

joke's on you trey and matt as a fandom we are collectively diving into the panderverse

#personal crap #south park spoilers #south park joining the panderverse #guessing from the title it'll be a play on multiverse stories though? that'll be fun #so long as the only joke isn't 'multiverses making characters more diverse is stupid' #bc if you watched spiderverse or maws and that's what you took from them you're a fucking idiot #she said as if trey and matt aren't fucking idiots constantly :p

[posallys]

The old fears, but I’m here (through the long night with you)

posally | T | 1.5k | could be canon for @pjoseries because we're side by side in the trenches

Thunder claps, deafening.  Her ears ring.  Through half-opened eyes and hot tears, she sees the water recede too far back too quickly.  Thunder. Rain. The water creeps further back. And then it falls.

or, sally doesn't call, but poseidon comes anyway.

read on ao3

#I AM SO SORRY #IT IS NOT THAT LONG BUT DEAR GOD DID I HAVE A BREAKDOWN WRITING IT #this is a direct result of episode 8 i cannot lie to you #toby stephens poseidon altered my brain chemistry fr fr #also lys and i share one (1) braincell because well...you'll see #posally fic in the year of our lord 2024 #taylor tries to write #posally #posally fic #pjo #percy jackson #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo tv #sally jackson #poseidon #begging you to come yell at me about them though #this was affectionately titled 'what the fuck was that episode HELLO' in google docs

[luck-of-the-drawings]

!!! FLASHING LIGHTS WARNING!!! [IM NOT FUCKIN AROUND!!]

REACHED THE CUSP OF 'THIS MAY NEVER BE ABSOLUTELY FINISHED N IF I DONT SHOW IT NOW, IT WILL NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY.' SO HERE, A PROJECT IVE BEEN ORBITING AROUND UHH SINCE 2021 OR SO.

#jrwi fanart #jrwi show #jrwi riptide #gillion tidestrider #cw flashing lights #LOOORRD OF LIGHTNING SAAAAVE ME!!!! #RAAAHHHH I LOVETHIS SONG SO FUCKIN MUCH AND I LOVE GILLION SO FUCKIN MUCH RAAHHHH!! RAAHHHH!!! #BUT YES YES I HAD LIKE A WHOLE OTHER HALF TO THIS SKETCHED OUT BUT IT WONT FINISH COOKIN FOR A MILLION YEAARS!!!! #MAYBE SOMEDAY..... #ANYWAY. this is my first time actually syncing audio to my animations. normally i domnt know howww. #i animated it all in fire alpaca AND THEN i mixed everything in a pirated movie maker. it kinda uh. sucks. but its WHAT I GOT BAYBE!! #i relaly like how i animate swishy hair... i was inspird by eris from sinbad. i can only HOPE i got on that level w the watery flowyness #LIUGHTNING IS HARD TO ANIMATE TOO. I WATCHED ALOTTA VIDEOS ABSORBED MINIMAL TUTORIALS AND UHH I THINK I DID OKAY!! #better than bad!!! but i can still do better. eventually. ugh. FLASHING LIGHTS TOO HUH? U LIKE ANIMATINGB FLASHING LIGHT? #U LIKE MAKING THE BLACK N WHITE FLICKER RLY FAST UNTIL UR EYES BLEED OUT UR SKULL?? YEAAAHH YOU DO!!! #im also vry proud o the title cards i made at the beginning teheheheh. dependign on where riptide goes i MIGHT change it #BUT HEY THEORY TIME? I HOPE ONE OF THE GODDESSES COMES DOWN TO PILOT GILLIONS BODY SO THEY CAN BEAT THE FUCK OUT O THE OTHER GODDESS #WHO IS ALSO IN SOMEONE ELSES MORTAL BODY. GODS COMING DOWN TO WREAK HAVOC OVER PETTY DISAGREEMENTS OOOGH HOW FUN!! #GOOD ON YOU CHAMPION!! YOUR VESSEL HAS BEEN TRAINED TO BE STRONG AND HARDY. PERFECT FOR CHANNELING DIVINE ENERGY. #OHHHH WHAT A PERFECT WEAPON YOU ARE. NOW GO AND IMMANENTIZE A WATERY ESCHATON #PARAGON OF OCEANS WRATH I WANT TO SEE YOU DROWN THE LAND. DESTROY!!! EAT!!! BURN!!! RAAAGHH I NEED GILLION TO GET MORE POWER!!!! #ALSO in other news i uh. actually posted this onto twitter forever ago but forgot to post it here bc i can only post it from pc and BABY!! #IM NOT ON THE COMPUTER OFTEN! NOT ANYMORE!! NOT ANYMOREE!!! IM FREE BAYBE!! i used to be so miserable. sometimes i think abt that. #ANYWAY. pls enjoy. just this much took so long. i love makin the lil guys move.... ouh.... hava good day if u get the chance to.

[introspectivememories]

i think what really sells me on brocedes is the fact that they still, to this day, live in the same building. isn't that crazy??? your ex best friend with whom you had a very public falling out with still lives in the same building as you. no one told them to stay there, they chose to do that!!! like nico, i understand. he's got a wife and kids. it'd probably be too much work to uproot them and move somewhere new. but lewis? every time i blink that man is at a new fashion show or fuckin hanging out with shakira. he does not have to live there!!! he does not have to live two floors away from his ex childhood best friend!! and like i know for a fact that there are other luxury condos or apartment or whatever in monaco!! he does not have to do this!!!

#like what is it about that apartment that makes you want to stay lewis??? what is it??? #is it the fact that he is still 2 floors away and if you close your eyes you can pretend like you are young again and nothing will hurt you #two ever? is it the fact that you cannot say his name but you can at least run into him on the lift? he is going to the pool trampoline wit #his two daughter and you are going to the racetrack. his kids chirp a 'hi mister hamilton!' at you. the title sits wrongly on your shoulder #it should've been 'uncle'. it is not and you two only have yourselves to blame. the lift opens and whatever bubble you four were in pops an #all of a sudden you are lewis hamilton 7x wdc chasing after his elusive eighth and he is nico rosberg wdc and girldad extraordinaire #whatever your paths were they diverged long ago. he is going to the pool trampoline with his 2 daughters and you are going to the racetrack #*wakes up dazedly* what the fuck was that??? cannot belive the spirit of brocedes possessed me like that #but like really lewis what is it??? is it enought to catch fleeting glimpses of him around the complex? is it enough to chat about the #weather on the lift? is it enough to send his kids a box of presents on christmas? what is it about this condo/apt that make you stay? #im sorry but it cannot be the amenities. i refuse to belive that. #brocedes #f1 #nico rosberg #lewis hamilton

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

have i mentioned how great cats are. there's a lil guy in my house and when i lay my head on her side she starts purring so hard <3 and ten seconds later she will try to open my wrist with her teeth <3 truly the best <3

#shes just a silly goofy little guy..... #miss war crimes.... mister menace... bastard... her royal highness <3 #she holds all of these titles And More #no ones doing it like her!!! #she eats spiders & makes funny noises that instantly Boosts my criminally low happy chemicals #sorry i looked at her for too long and was once more overcome by a strange emotion i believe some call love #affection? delight?? all three.... #and i Had to publicly post about her #i am very proud of my tiny fluffy friend & her general Existence. i must flaunt her #oh how horrible! a couple of tendons in my neck just rubbed together in a very terrible way #what the Fuck. i wish i could reach in there and pluck on em a lil. make sure theyre in the right places #felt that in my Ear.... #absolutely unprompted #oh speaking of weird things cause yall know i love to ramble and overshare #i think! i Hypothesize! that there's a slight.... Disconnect between my eyes #my depth perception is fine and i can See #but theres somethin fucky w my vision and focus #nothing is blurry! but it looks like it should be! i dont know how to explain it! #its like my quality of vision has dwindled but not in a way i can describe or really point out #but it Is slightly harder to read and like... See things? #its almost as if i have a few tiny blind spots. #i first noticed this happening after my terrible no good double-decker-migraine weekend #it very slowly got slightly better but then i had Another migraine the other day (ugh and a left brain one at that) #and im back to square one! my visions all fucky again! my peripherals suck! #in other news my house is. so warm. its 2 am. my shirt is toasty enough to keep tortillas warm #i hope everyone is having a good week #and if youre not! theres always the next one! and little delights sprinkled throughout! get yourself a tasty treat you deserve it!

[demigod-of-the-agni]

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

[crossbackpoke-check]

it’s all the rest of what i want with you

connor dewar/brandon duhaime :: 8k

Summary:

“Brandon,” Connor says with a sigh. “There’s no baby in there.”

“Not yet,” Brandon says. Connor feels his stomach twist, almost like what he would imagine a baby kicking to feel like.

in these trying times of dewvorce, may i offer you 8k of pwp inspired by @stillfertile’s wonderful art which i had. several breakdowns about 🫶 anyway please enjoy!!!

#OFFICIAL FIC ANNOUNCEMENT 🗣️🗣️🗣️‼️‼️‼️ i wish i had pretty fic graphics but alas i have No Skill and also. so much work i should be doing bu #HI SHE’S HERE i would love to say this is a complete surprise drop except i have Anxiety & i needed to ask you guys about it beforehand #in my defense i started writing this in like. january far before any tragedy occurred #because square asked about my tags on their dewey2 art and she spawned like. a million more thoughts about it #including the part where i got absolutely kicked in the face with the lightning vision of those two lines. #like those two lines are the first actual lines of the fic i wrote ajdhkwdiowdjiw ANYWAY please be nice to me i know i am always like #‘this is not the first real fic i ever thought i’d post’ and if i had a nickel i’d have three but this is the first pwp i’ve ever posted #and it’s 8k and it’s not a fic for an exchange (although technically i did very much write this for the dewey^2 hivemind so.) #i have SO many things to say i have so many comments on this doc also i couldn’t pick a title for the LONGEST time and i finally decided on #this one but the full quote was too long: #all the rest of what i want with you that scares me shitless #so. i was angling SO hard to make a yung gravy lyric as a title bc i saw the video of him at a wild game but i couldn’t find a good one #and instead y’all got a very sentimental title l m a o. #liv in the replies #shout out to the extended universe this lives in and also my unhinged comments in the docs. #if you liked fun fuck a baby in him friday i’ll be here all week i promise i am the exact same in the comments as i am in the tags 🫡 #the NUMBER of times i wrote something in this by pulling it out of my ass and then actually went back and did the research & was RIGHT is. #far too high. also the amount of coincidental things that dropped while i was writing this (yung gravy song about pregnancy AFTER i wheeze #laughed myself into a yung gravy title the athletic player poll confirming my restaurant & bar choices from googling ‘st. paul good bars’…) #also if anybody got advice on formatting for these little announcements. help. this is different from my miro/luka one &i’m still not happy

[laundrybiscuits]

(wait for the season to come back to me tag)

“We still on for dinner this Thursday, or are you gonna reschedule again? Because I swear to god, Steve, I will break into your apartment and set up camp if I have to. It’s been years. Centuries.”

“It’s been a month, Henderson.”

“I barely remember who you are anymore. What’s your name again? How do I know you? We’re actually very happy with our current cable provider, thanks.”

God, that kid is such an asshole. Steve loves the shit out of him.

“Listen, I’ll see you on Thursday and explain everything, okay? Actually, uh—I’m kinda calling to give you a heads-up. Got some big news, so you should, like…brace yourself.”

Dustin’s quiet for a long, worrying moment.

“Steve. You have got to know that that’s the least helpful thing you could possibly say. You’re not even gonna give me a hint, man?”

“Wish I could. It’s not a bad thing, okay? Just big. Like…Upside Down big.”

“Okay, for my own peace of mind, I’m going to pretend you’re completely overreacting about the fact that you, like, got a dog or something.”

“I’m not—”

“Peace of mind, Steve! See you Thursday at my place! Don’t cancel or I’ll kill you!”

Steve’s left laughing into the dial tone. Honestly, he’d mostly called so Dustin couldn’t complain afterwards about not getting an advance warning. There’s just no way to hint at the whole Eddie thing without Eddie being present and accounted for; it would be the worst kind of cruel.

Steve can’t imagine what he’d have done to anyone who tried to tell him Eddie was alive without any kind of proof. It wouldn’t have been good.

“So we’re telling Henderson on Thursday?” Eddie jostles Steve’s shoulder. Steve thinks he’s been doing that a lot more lately.

“Seems like,” says Steve.

———

They take the train to Dustin’s place in Wilmette as soon as it gets dark out. Eddie’s bundled up in a nondescript hoodie and one of Steve’s denim jackets, looking like every other Chicagoan braced against the cool evening air.

They haven’t been going out all that much. Robin keeps asking if Eddie wants to do any tourist stuff, maybe the museums or something, but he always shrugs off the offers. Steve would’ve maybe expected him to want to get out and explore, now that he’s not cooped up anymore, but Eddie mostly seems to want to sleep, read, and watch TV.

Robin’s been on a campaign to educate Eddie about the ten years of pop culture he missed. “It’s essential for rehabilitation,” she says. Steve is pretty sure it’s just an excuse to make them rewatch all of Robin’s favorite movies, because some of the stuff she brings home was definitely already out in 1986.

Eddie draws the line at letting Robin show him music, though: “Nope, nuh-uh, no freaking way. I wouldn’t have listened to that shimmery synth shit if I’d been alive and free every single day of the last decade, and I’m not gonna listen to it now.”

Steve does have a few metal cassettes, but he feels weird about bringing them out. It feels like he’s crossing a line, somehow—admitting to something. So instead, they’d all traipsed over to the Tower Records a few blocks over, and let Eddie roam around sampling things.

To Steve’s surprise, Eddie hadn’t actually picked up that many metal albums. He'd grabbed the new Accept and some Alice in Chains, sure, but he also picked up Nirvana and Soundgarden. He had gotten into a conversation with a very helpful clerk that ended with the clerk scribbling a number on a business card and handing it over with a grin and a promise to make Eddie try some local act called Wilco next time.

Obviously Steve’s happy that Eddie’s making friends and charming people. He’s legitimately fucking thrilled that other people are finally seeing how great Eddie is, because Eddie deserves that. Eddie deserves the world, and if he wants to date some random clerk, he should get to.

It’s just that if Eddie Munson comes back from the dead to start dating some random clerk, Steve is going to have to go live at the bottom of Lake Michigan. That’s all.

#fic: wait for the season to come back to me #steddie #so! I have put CONSIDERABLE THOUGHT into what kind of 90s music this Eddie would be into & what might catch his eye #nothing too obscure at this stage; he's still learning what's out there #he'll always be attached to his faves but his fuck-the-world thrash energy has changed considerably due to all the yknow trauma #thrash/death/black metal isn't cathartic for him rn because there's too much baggage wrt who he used to be #so I feel like early grunge would appeal to him as long as it's not too polished; it borrows a lot from metal esp with the guitars #(he's not gonna like wilco tho.) #honestly I'm rly regretting going with a 2008 artpop/altrock song for the title now

[the-kipsabian]

look at him. look at oc

he was fucking vicious through the entire match. he was also out there alone, like during all of his title defenses before. this was his moment to regain his championship

the look he gives to that title when he wins it. standing alone in the confetti. oc doesnt even notice best friends before trent physically touches him to get his attention. no hugs, no huge celebration, oc still basically leaves alone

eyes only on that belt

that boy is charmed and obsessed to hell and back and i cant wait for my actual real corruption arc to begin

#gimme back blood orange #make him vicious as fuck #he already lost the title once. we saw the lengths he went to get it back. imagine what hes willing to do to keep it #guys i am Living do you know how long ive been waiting for this oh my goddddd #wrestling musing #orange cassidy #you know what tagging it see my corruption arc vision i deserve it after that match #my beloved #sweet little clementine

[knifearo]

who up thinking about moses sumney doomed. "am i vital if my heart is idle? am i doomed?" "if lovelessness is godlessness, will you cast me to the wayside?" moses sumney 2017 album aromanticism save me... moses sumney 2017 album aromanticism... save me moses sumney 2017 album aromanticism...

#talking #moses sumney #i am forever and always shaking people by the shoulders telling them about this album. So important actually #like i could talk about the actual music for a long time it's super interesting and a gorgeous departure from usual musical conventions #and the singer. gorgeous voice. moses sumney sounds absolutely beautiful #but the very fact of an album made about aromantic experience... #many things to think about! many things! #the lyrics of doomed are the most immediately striking and easy to identify and connect with #but i think about like. plastic. 'all my old lovers have found others i was caught in the rapture' #'i don't bother nobody/nobody bothers my body after' #and. fuck. god. whatever the song title is with the lyrics about just wanting to have sex in a car. #make out in my car. is what it's called. great job on that one bracken 😭 #anyway that one is wonderful. aroallos i love you so fucking much #aromantic #aromanticism #arospec #aroace #aspec

[tennessoui]

no.stop. not allowed to have anymore titles with water themes in them!!!!! Dammit kit way to difficult to remember which is which now. U stop that. For fucks sake. Use another element. At minimum there's 3 more. LAVA! THUNDER! EARTHQUAKE! anything but tides or waves or

literally this could be a “kit to kit” message because I have thought the same thing I really have

and I spent a lot of time thinking about like. ash and fire and being burned for the hunger games au fic and I liked some of them ok but I just feel like that’s too harsh — anakin does love obi-wan, he’s not just a fire. And having a title centered on ash sort of implies one has been destroyed unwillingly in the passion of the other.

having a title like what the Google doc is currently named (NOT final but 8/10s of the way final) “running through your riptide” implies like “I know you’re dangerous and I know you can kill me. But I’m there. I’m willingly putting myself in your path and I may die for it” which feels more like obikin in hunger games au

#asks #hunger games au #BUT if I can think of a title that isn’t water related I would weigh it unbiased #I’m an Aquarius what can I say I’m the water bearer #drowning you in fics where the titles are indistinguishable #but also I lol’ed for so long at this ask #I literally thought the same thing #another water title come the fuck on kit #thankfully I only have roughly 2k and the first chapter is like 8k probably #and I’ll hold it back until I’m all in one way or another #titles submitted on anon though are automatic no’s because I’m weird about crediting ideas #aka I would want to credit you as the person who came #up with that title if I used it

[slimslamflimflam]

“think of the children!” no. you aren’t. the people in power couldn’t give two shits about the children. the people in power look away when it comes to genuine concerns about children the second it impedes upon their lifestyle, their beliefs.

and you know what it is that bothers them so? children wanting safety. children not wanting to live in fear of being murdered. children who want to be loved and accepted for who they are. children who are raised to be those kids you hear others complain about on social media because nobody was there to teach them better. they don’t know better because they quite literally can’t.

oh but it’s for the kids, right? protect the kids, right? turn a blind eye to death and discrimination and neglect, right? that’s how we’ll protect them, right?

#i’ve been stewing on this for so fucking long it is exhausting the state of this stupid fucking piece of shit government and how much worse #it gets day by day. i am so sick of people with superficial titles shoving religion into places it shouldn’t be INSISTING they are #protecting what matters and yet in the face of such examples they couldn’t care less. i am tired of people like them using these moral #arguments as a GUISE to enact whatever they want just because they’re upset over some tiny thing. #no one could give two fucks you saw two men kissing on the internet and got personally offended. no one could give a singular #flying FUCK you’re upset people want to ban things that harm so much more than they do good. if you’re going to be such a genuine #piece of shit awful person do it without a safety net. fucking cowards and snakes. #jesus christ man. sorry for the tangent but this kind of shit never fails to irritate me.

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

I'm piggybacking a bit off of the last ask of asking for writing tips but I have an odd question... Am I the only person that struggles actually PICKING a book? It's the absolute bane of my existence because I feel like I can be so picky... Don't get me wrong, I love being a bookworm, and I'm trying to get back into reading physical books but it's so difficult to find a real taste of what the book is like without being completely spoiled or something... I miss when backs of books had an actual summary and not just NO.1 NEW YORK BESTSELLER!!!! It's so frustrating... I've been trying to get back into it by re-reading fond chapter childhood books read to me (The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane & A Wrinkle In Time). But at the same time I'm also trying to get into more "adult" books that isn't... Well, you try googling "adult books" and see how that goes, I didn't think too hard about what a poor decision THAT was. But I'm working up the courage to read Cat's Cradle right now to start with "Classic Authors" I guess!

Anyway I'm rambling here, I guess my question is... How do you pick out the books you read? I don't really have friends that read many books to recommend to me :')

Thank you in advance, Bog! I hope you get a callback from that interview soon!

no ok actually you've mentioned something that's been bothering me for a while - What The Hell Do Y'all Mea, Books Don't Have Summaries Anymore???? i have not once in my life found a book that didn't have a summary. i was in barnes & noble recently and everything i looked at had a summary. i have literally never seen a book without one in my life of reading & looking at new books on a regular basis

softcovers have theirs on the back. hardcovers are on the inside of the sleeve - lift the cover and it should be printed right there on the inside flap! summaries aren't legally required but both the author and Especially the publisher(s) know that no one's gonna buy a book without a summary. trust me, all books worth reading have a summary. if a book doesn't have one, it's probably not worth your time anyway. you just gotta know where to look!

so my answer to how i choose books... i read the summary lmao. if it seems interesting, ill either write it down to get later or ill get it there and then.

Before the summary though, i look for any titles that jump out at me from the shelf. then i look at the thickness. i like a bit of meat in my literature, so i tend to shy away from thinner books. thicker ones grab my attention more easily. then i look at the cover - if it interests me, then ill read the summary. i don't have specific tastes in title or cover. as long as it makes my brain "hm" thoughtfully, ill take a gander!

and really, if you have access to a bookstore (chain or not, ive found plenty of bangers in tiny used bookshops) or library, the best way to find a book is to physically browse. even if you dont buy anything, you can take pictures of books / write them down to buy online. but going to the store lets you search them out, examine the length, cover, title, summary - and easily put it back on the shelf or keep it. i hate shopping online bc there's ads, you can't examine the product, nothing really stands out since it's all portrayed similarly, there's limited pictures instead of the physical thing, and photos can lie.

plus, everything is (typically) meticulously sorted by genre & age range. when you go into a section with literature aimed at adults, you'll find exactly that instead of smut novels lmao. real life bookstores can be more accurate than online searches. & there's just something so good about walking through shelves, searching for that one book before you know it exists, smelling the paper... yeah...

#like for example i recently bought priory of the orange tree #ive been wanting it for a while and havent read it yet since im finishing something else #BUT! i remember when i first saw it #nothing had gotten my attention for a while #but then i saw the thickest fucking book ive seen in ages - which was automatically very sexy of it #and then the title was unique - priory of the orange tree??? whoah! what the fuck does that mean!!! #so automatically there was the interest of neat title + a new word that i get to learn + the implications of the word now that i understand #and then i picked the book up and it was deliciously heavy - & there was a Dragon on the cover. which. YES PLEASE #then the summary was fascinating!! the book was immediately seared into my brain! im very excited to read it #so thats a highly successful example of my book choosing Process #it checked all of my boxes so it was a win #most books dont check all of my boxes but as long as it hits most of them im down to clown yk yk #but yeah im picky too so! nothing wrong with being picky or having high standards! #rambles from the bog #my shelves are fuckin Full of books ranging from 'it was ok' to 'I WILL RECOMMEND THIS TO ALL WHO WILL LISTEN' #and then i have a drawer filled with books that i just could not care less about / dont like #but dont have the heart to throw away bc. well putting a book in the trash kills a part of my soul #i need to donate them... #but yes! i hope that helps! #and Thank You! i hope i get a callback as well...

[portugalisinsa]

A quick skim through the BBC!Ghosts tag tells me that no one has spent too much time trying to decode the Captain’s service ribbons. Lucky you, I did!

The badge on his jacket lapels say that he was in the royal artillery

1939 to 1945 Star: This is awarded to anyone who completed operational service overseas between 3 September 1939 and 8 May 1945 for at least 180 days.

France and Germany Star: Awarded for at least 1 day of operational service in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands or Germany between 6 June 1944 and 8 May 1945.

Defence Medal: Awarded for non-operational service (like training bases, for example) in the UK or overseas. A minimum of 3 years service in either the UK (3 Sep 1939 and 8 May 1945) or in the Home Guard (14 May 1940 and 31 Dec 1944) are required; if stationed overseas, 1 year between 3 Sep 1939 and 2 Sep 1945.

War Medal 1939 to 1945: Awarded to all full time personnel of the armed forces who served at least 28 days between 3 September 1939 and 2 September 1945, no matter where. In Europe, WWII ended in May 1945; this medal was instituted in August 1945.

He doesn’t wear any other clasp, so he didn’t fight in the Battle for Britain or the Battle of the Atlantic (makes sense, those were RAF and Navy stuff mostly). The Africa Star was awarded for a minimum of one day of operational service in North Africa, the Arctic Star was awarded for any amount of time spent fighting in that campaign, and the Pacific, Burma, and Italy Stars were awarded upon entry into an operational area. He was awarded none of these medals, which means he only fought the France and Germany campaign.

He only wears WWII medals, which means he didn’t fight in WWI (it was unlikely he would have anyway, tbh, 41 was the the maximum age to fight in WWII, which would have made him 18 in 1916). The order I’ve written them out in (from top to bottom) is the order they should go left to right. For some reason, the Captain is wearing the ribbon band upside down. That’s a very huge big no good no-no. At first I assumed if was a mistake by the costume people, but it’s been three seasons and that hasn’t been fixed yet so I have to conclude it’s intentional. It could be some kind of BBC directive (idk, “non-army personnel has to wear the uniform in a certain way or it’s an insult to the queen” or some other silly nonsense) or it could be a genuine mistake the Captain made before dying, in which case I assume he’s spent sixty years being massively bothered by this. [ @lagoonnebula6523 said that the director of series 1 and 2 hinted that the reason for this mistake would be revealed in a future series, which I think points to an in universe explanation. Thank you for the info, this is super cool to know!] [Small aside, but I remember googling why the ribbons would be worn upside down and what i found was neat but probably unrelated. Check the tags if you’re interested]

I believe he’s in a service dress, which basically means he was at some kind of event when he died. He’s not in the army equivalent of the white tie, so we’re not talking about something too fancy. Maybe some sort of minor party?

So yeah, dude died after the war ended, and considering he seems used to saying “king” instead of “queen” I feel like he died either before Elizabeth was crowned or just after, so somewhere between August 1945 and around 1953-55

#bbc ghosts #ghosts bbc #bbc!ghosts #long story short; dude fought at least half a year in belgium and france #Could have been involved with d-day or he could have arrived later #he also doesn't have a Korea medal (the requirement for it is at least one day in korea if you're army) #that war started in 1950 and was established in 1951 #that could mean he died before that war begun... but i also have no fucking clue how the army works #like idk maybe they only sent six pople who drew the short stick for that one and he wasn't one of them #and i mean his knees are clearly in a bad way so maybe he was alive and just couldn't go #he could also have been too old (read: over 41) for that one #Okay now re: what i found out when i googled why a ribbon band would be worn upside down #I found were a couple of articles about some army guy wearing the ribbon band upside down by mistake and apologizing for it #(i seem to remember he was american but still i think the contriteness would be the same) #and the historical novel “The Reverse of the Medal” by Patrick O’Brian #remember the Master and Commander movie? It comes from a series of books the reverse of the medal is from #if you don't remember it: historical novels set in 1800 following a Navy officer and his friend #in the Reverse of the Medial a character goes through cashiering #(basically a ritual of shame in which you're dishonourably discharged) #the title is a reference to that and also probably to the flying the union jack upside down #flying the union jack upside down is a big no no but it's sometimes done (generally by people in the forces) #to signal distress #the title is obviously also a reference to the turn of phrase 'opposite side of the medal' #is this in any way relevant to the Captain? Probably not!