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jester-lover · 1 year

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Hiya! Saw that you had three request slots open so I thought I'd give it a go (if they aren't open anymore or you already got other requests ignore this)

I was wondering if I could request a twisted wonderland fic where the characters see the reader in traditional desi clothes for the first time, I'm not sure if you have a specific character limit so I'll just ask for Idia, Azul and Malleus. Ignore this if this goes against anything, thank you! ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ♡

I couldn't find the shirt for my favorite Lehenga, so I accepted this request to cheer me up, also, my character limit is 5-10 depending on the size and detail of the request. I'll do all the characters here bc I like this request.

contains- fem! reader, fluff, mentions of insecurity

Dorm Leaders Seeing Their S/O in Traditional Desi Clothes for the First Time

Riddle

Riddle is such a blushy boy whenever he sees you in your traditional clothing

His first instinct is to put his red face in his hands and tell you how pretty you look, even though his vision is horrifically obscured

His favorite on you is definitely something red and gold, a lehenga would destroy this man

After he’s done freaking out, he’s literally so honored to be standing next to you, he’s so proud to have a pretty girl on his side

Carries around several safety pins, to keep you looking (and feeling) your best

“You’ve blown away all my expectations, just- just give me a second to um, recuperate.”

Leona

YES

You just look so powerful in traditional clothing, and he loves powerful women

If you ever get up to dance, he’s definitely in the back, holding your purse bc he's respectful like that

Leona is happy no matter what you're wearing, but golden or saffron toned clothes just make him smile

Will you see that smile? Probably not.

“Do you need me to hold anything? I've got pockets.”

Azul

He has the most shy deposition around you whenever you're dressed up!

Cannot look you in the eyes

If you're wearing SILVER?? Just put him in a coffin already because he’s GONE

Will be holding your hand for the entire party, refuses to admit he’s jealous

Honestly who wouldn't be, you look perfect!!

Definitely the type to wear a kurta alongside you (if you feel like dressing him up)

Azul cannot dance for the life of him, he will be at all the family functions eating all the pakoras

“Look, we match! Now nobody will think I’m single!”

Kalim

He has the sweetest smile on his face

(Aladdin is a mishmash of so many cultures, and desi cultures are one of them, so I assume he’s seen traditional clothing before)

Something about you in your sweet, flowing traditional clothing opens a domestic hole in his heart

He already wants you as a wife, but seeing you in clothing he’s used to seeing on the women back home is probably the final curtain

You own his heart, everything that is his is yours

(politely ask him to wait a couple years before popping the question)

“Would you prefer an evening wedding or a morning one?”

Vil

For once in his life, he genuinely can't find anything to complain about

Vil is so giddy at the thought of doing your makeup, or draping your dupatta, but you will never see that on his face

You will look so good with this man istg

Makeup? Matching the clothes. The clothes? Impeccable.

You will catch him reaching for more traditional clothing if you ever ask him for fashion suggestions

“The lipstick needs to be berry toned to match the rest of your clothing, and perhaps, to match mine.”

Idia

Man is resetting

He’s doing the people equivalent of blue screening

THIS MAN CANNOT LOOK YOU IN THE EYES (because of how pretty you look!!)

He’s highkey questioning how tf you wanted him in the first place, you have to remind him he’s a cutie too!

He’s definitely not going to whatever event you've gotten all dolled up for, but he’s hyped in your behalf

He's like super rich, so he’s definitely getting you more clothes, tailor made and all

“You, you look, uh, really nice..”

Malleus

Oh he’s def thinking about locking you up in a tower somewhere as we speak

JK!!!! (probably)

My boy is so obsessed with you, he’s tailing behind you at whatever event you're at (assuming for once he's invited) just staring at how pretty you look

This is the dramatic boy who would carry you if you got tired dragging along all that heavy clothing

Also holding on to you, making sure you don’t trip by accident

“Please wear this again, you look radiant.”

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thestral-queen-rules · 1 year

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That 90's desi lesbian love story

//let's not talk, because words aren't enough, and sometimes aren't real.let's just look at each other's eyes, look into each other's soul,and let them do the talking.//

-juanlucio

Some people who might like this one:@suvarnarekha @seekerbrave @psycho-mocha @kajukatliontop @wowyoufeelorphic @jugn00-fangirl @smr-the-tired-crackhead @metalvenomludens7 @cipher-dorito @bookishmuggleborn @tonicaballos @curious-fruitcake @shirodumbclownwolf @justalonelywriter @chaoticaindica @sr1nika @mrdyketator @adoginthemanger @shilabalika @ya-boiiiii @paadhee @silky-moon @augustrinian @one-happy-silent-geek-girl @hanisishus @inexhaustible-sources-of-magic @king-of-knives @aayatunnisa @navaratna @mutton-biriyani @vaanvaruvaan @flickering-moments @allegoriesinmediasres @selenophiliaa @nerdreader @plutomyluv @i-wanna-b-yours @jaanusbooktalk

#someone write this pleaseee #aesthetic #aesthetic moodboard #moodboard #dark academia #dark academia aesthetic #desi #desi aesthetic #desi moodboard #desi aesthetic moodboard #desiblr

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superpineappleenthusiast · 10 months

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an incomplete timeline of the marauders fandom

1999 - Prisoner of Azkaban is released - Wolfstar is born

2003 - Order of the Phoenix is released - WOLFSTAR

The case for R/S - an essay analysing all of Remus and Sirius' canon interactions and making the argument that they're canonically together

2004 - The Shoebox Project - wolfstar centric marauders era fanfic - Jily is popularised

(note: until this point wolfstar fics had mostly been set during the Harry Potter books timeline, with Sirius and Remus as adults)

2005 - Half Blood Prince is released - canon Remadora and the birth of bi Remus

2009 - The Life and Times - popular marauders era Jily fic

2010 - 2012 - the OG fancasts are popularised (Ben Barnes, Andrew Garfield, Aaron Taylor Johnson, etc)

2015 - An article about the Potter family reveals Euphemia and Fleamont Potter as James' parents (not Charlus and Dorea as was previously assumed)

2017 - All the Young Dudes - long marauders era fic in Remus' pov - Lesbian Marlene is popularised (which also marks the downfall of Blackinnon and the rise of Dorlene) and sarcastic Remus (influenced by his atyd characterization as an orphan. he's not always as hard/mean as he is in atyd, but it is a huge difference from the nerdy/shy Remus that was widely accepted before)

2019 - Welsh Remus becomes a thing (honestly I have no idea where that came from)

2020 - 2021 - All the Young Dudes is blows up on tiktok - Desi James is popularised - Peter also starts playing a bigger role in stories with an actual personality

2022 - Zeppazariel's fics and Choices - Jegulus focused fics, which led to Marylily, the Slitherskittles (and Rosekiller), and bi/pan James

other later marauder's fanon that popped up in the last five years

70s pop culture (music, smoking, fashion, etc.)

generally more diverse and socially aware characters (poc Mary and Dorcas, plus sized Lily, feminism, everyones queer and accepting) that tend to move away from their canon characterisations (James and Sirius were not bullies, but slightly immature pranksters. James is the Mom Friend and Sirius just has trauma. The technically death eater Slytherins aren't actually evil and blood supremacist , only affectionately mean and morally gray.)

note: personally I like what the fandom and characters have evolved into, however it has been criticised (especially by older fans) for being completely canon divergent, the characters being essentially OCs, and the 'glorification' and 'babygirlification' of bad people (I should also add that often times people who take this stance are often avid Snape fans/defenders)

feel free to add on to anything that I missed

#marauders fandom #fandom meta #wolfstar #jegulus #marauders fanon #marauders headcanon #marauders era #atyd #all the young dudes #zeppazariel

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ghostflowerhotpotch · 11 months

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Is Love in the air? Or it is just Gwen fuming?

Continuing with Mumbattan, the falling bit will go in another post (that will also be more about the movie than shipping since I don't have a lot to say in that regard,) let's go where we left of with: Gwen is MAD.

There is multiple reasons for her to not be in the mood, and sadly, Miles coming to help isn't exactly making that list smaller, for Miles disappointment.

Sorry Miles, part of being spiderman is helping people that actually don't want you help, you'll get use to it.

In here comes Pav, an amazing ray of sunshine who is great and deserves all the love he gets. Wish I knew enough about Desi culture and the Kerala region to make him justice, I hope someone who does makes an analysis.

Moving on, Pav is great, he saves them with ease as well as giving an extra punch to the bad guy, all while no time to pick up what's going on.

I adore how Gwen barely explains the situation to him and he already knows what's up. To be fair he isn't wrong, Miles may feel guilty about this spot mess and definitely wants to help out because is the right thing, but let's face it he also didn't want to never see Gwen again and probably aside of wanting to help he wanted to help her.

Everyone has seen this scene because it was part of the trailers so you would think there is not much I can say that someone hasn't said, but while looking at this scene I picked up onto something I never realized in my previous viewings and had be cackling.

But before we get to that, what's Gwen and Miles' reaction?

Miles? Immediately denies it, which is to be expected. If you had ever been in Miles position 99% of the chances is that you would do the same. He likes Gwen, a lot, but he and Gwen aren't officially anything and having the guy you just met talking about your private feelings isn't ideal.

Gwen? Well, her dialogue doesn't give me to much to work on, she sounds like she is trying to downplay the situation a bit, not outright denied it(probably because she knows Miles definitely has feelings for her,) but c'mon, he is not that down bad for her right?

Her hand gestures were interesting, honestly this part goes on so fast I didn't truly get what she was doing until I was watching it half speed.

This accompanied with the dialogue really has me thinking she is trying to act that no, nothing is happening, but is a very weak and I think what I love most about this part is that no one is buying it (Not Pavitr, not the audience, and probably not themselves,) yet they still try.

Now this part? Oh this is precious.

Here is the thing, the second line comes from Gwen, which she says very quickly after he says this.

But Gwen isn't the one who's feelings are being put on the grill now, so why exactly Gwen is trying to convince Miles than Pavitr isn't good at reading people?

The next part comes with speculation, but hear me out.

Pavitr is part of the organization, right? I doubt he knows about the canon events part, but he knows that there are anomalies crashing in another dimensions and the other spiders are suppose to come to catch them so they don't do a mess. He probably knows how strict is Miguel about this too.

So if Pavitr said that Miles must be in love with Gwen for following her uninvited, what do you think he would say if he knew that Gwen literally slacked on a mission because she was spending all her time with Miles?

Yeah and later why people wonder why Gwen is leading the poll on who is crushing the hardest.

Let's move on.

Small addendum but when Miles is asking how Pavitr already has a watch at six months, Gwen is unsure what to say when she gets caught up.

The tower scene deserves multiple post (for multiple reasons too) but let's just remember that Gwen was trying to let down Miles easy about the association since she knew Miguel wouldn't allow Miles in.

While I do think part of her reaction is by being caught on a lie in which she still doesn't know how to tell the truth, it doesn't escape me that a big reason why she said that lie in the first place was that she didn't want Miles to be hurt about being an anomaly.

She never had a chance to say what she really thinks about this (which is kind of her fault, she could at least attempted to explain some parts before getting to Miguel; I am still angry how everyone let Miles think this was a good thing until the very end.) I wonder if part of the reason is that she may had a speech similar to Peter B's and maybe the creators wanted to reserve it for the next movie.

Yep, she is still mad.

I don't have much to say here, I like this joke; they are spidey people and Miles is already getting up so Gwen know is not serious anyways.

Oh Pav, you don't know half of it.

I love how even when they aren't being corny he still smells the tension, because let's face it, I wouldn't had this much material to analyze if there wasn't a constant influx of little gestures back and forth from these two showing always how important they are to each other.

I remember when I first saw this scene I thought Pav doesn't have enough information to know this, and now I just think the guy is smarter than me.

Me the next few months because I swear I need to have some resolution with these two or I would lose it.

Miles quickly gets to Gwen to talk about the plan, which shipping aside, makes sense. He doesn't know Pavitr and their initial exchange wasn't ideal, not to mention that he may feel he would ask him about Gwen if he gets to her.

I don't think they realized what Pavitr was saying, which honestly that just highlights how focused they are on each other. They are in Pavitr's dimension, trying to catch this guy, and instead of asking him if he knows anything that could help them, or just include him in this conversation considering the three of them are on this now; they just zeroed on each other almost without thinking.

Which is funny considering they don't have that much experience working together for this to just be second nature, maybe the second nature is just stop listening to other things around each other.

I guess this is why Pavitr wasn't bothered about not being included, he has the best seat for this.

Sorry to just ad another joke, but this is literally me, while these two are talking about how to catch The Spot, he is just looking INTENSIVELY at them to see if he can spot another thing.

Okay, is finishing each other's phrases kind of a romantic trope? Yes.

Do Gwen has plausible deniability, since they are just seeing the Spot got towards Alchemax, and she knew before hand that the Spot was going for universes that has one? Yes.

Do I think the filmakers, who had put so much effort in this movie, from the way things are said to the colors, didn't do this on purpose? Oh absolutely not.

The thing that I found funny about all of this is that this is Gwen's entire dilemma with Miles, she convinced it can't work and is better to try to pretend those feelings aren't there, except neither him or her can't help it, those moments and the connection they have just keep happening.

Short answer Pav: They don't.

Okay! With this we finish their tour around Mumbattan, the immediate next part has been technically covered, so will probably talk about what happens after Hobie's presentation.

This part was a lot more fun that I expected, I was a bit nervous to go about this since I didn't think there was much I could talk about, but just like always, I just keep loving this movie more and more.

#ghostflower #gwiles #miles morales #gwen stacy #pavitr prabhakar #atsv spoilers #across the spiderverse spoilers #atsv #acros the spiderverse #ghostflower files

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ranimotia · 5 months

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Hey! I'm not south asian, but I have been on a hyperfixation streak on desi culture and hinduism (it started off for an OC but escalated). One thing I've fallen in love with from afar is the cuisine. Particularly the immense variety of curries in Northen India.

It'd be funny to see a Jamil x desi!Reader scenario where the reader is just enjoying all the food he makes for them. Then when they get to the curry, they just shrug their shoulders and say "eh, you pass". Jamil, being the prideful man he is, immediatly challenges them to make something better. Cue reader absolutely smoking him with the most delicious pea curry he's ever tasted.

Hiya! It's honestly so heartwarming to see people who aren't south asian appreciating our culture and cuisine! <3333

I imagine Scarabia being having more West Asian/Arab characteristics in terms of culture even though Aladdin simply had a stereotypically orientalist vibe, I feel like a South Asian Yuu would probably get along best with the Scarabia gang for various reasons, but I imagine Jamil would be impressed with a South Asian Yuu's cooking skills, arab cuisine and South asian cuisine are both packed with flavors and seasoning so I'd imagine there'd be a bond over a love for food and culture.

Tbh I'd imagine South asian yuu would introduce a whole new pallete of taste to twisted wonderland, showing off all the different currys, samosas, uttapams, momos, etc from their world. I cam imagine them putting every one to shame (probably not Jamil tho lol) in the Master Chef event lol, they could probably try (and fail) to teach lilia a thing or two.

Might have to make another post talking abt the culture of Scarabia/Scalding Sands bc I could go on for days lol

#twisted wonderland #scarabia #Jamil viper #jamil viper x reader #desi!yuu #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #・❥ Rambles over tea #might make some more south asian Yuu content as existing content is sparse </3

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chaos-and-sparkles · 6 months

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All the outrage about "chai" as Pav's ship abbreviation was fucking stupid

Ok so. I may be late to this discourse but by gods am I going to put this out there anyway bc this shit has been FRUSTRATING me for a while okay.

USING 'CHAI' AS AN ABBREVIATION FOR PAVITR IN SHIP NAMES IS NOT FUCKING PROBLEMATIC OR STEROTYPING OR WHATEVER DUMB SHIT I'VE SEEN (mostly non-Indian)PEOPLE SCREAMING ABOUT OUT HERE ON MY DASH. GO TOUCH SOME GRASS, Y'ALL, FIND BETTER PROBLEMS IF YOU'RE SO PRESSED TO BE MAD ABT SOMETHING!!

I'm Indian and I am so so sick and tired of, from what I can tell, mostly white people getting mad about Pav's ship abbreviation being chai??

No no. Go on. Find me my fellow Indians spearheading the conversation about 'chai' being a problematic name. Show me where the droves of offended desis are. And I don't mean just a few Indians agreeing with the "chai is stereotypical" thing while non-Indians lead the conversation, I mean the Indians being the majority of the conversation. Since, you know, that's how it would and should be if it's actually such an offensive deal to Indians, right? We all have social media. It's not like we're waiting to be spoken for. Surely there should be at least as many, if not more, offended Indians about the chai thing as I've seen white people on here. I'll wait.

Obviously I don't speak for all Indian people, I'm just one person, but from what I've seen and what I can tell, there don't seem to be any actual Indian people getting offended or claiming his name being 'chai' is Bad and Evil and Offensive and Stereotyping?? All I see are non-Indian people getting so damn offended on our behalf???

I loved his ship name being chai. I loved the representation. I loved the desi tadka, I remember when I exited the theater after ATSV and scoured through my social media and saw "chaipunk" and "chaiflower" and everything with chai going around. I was so fucking elated to see an ethnic word being used in the tagosphere!! It made my Indian heart so happy to see an Indian character who is so so close to my heart be represented with an Indian cultural word.

But nooooooo apparently we can't have nice things, because people just had to white knight about it. Apparently it is harmful and stereotypical to be using chai as his ship name.

Clearly, we gotta change it to golden. Or something similarly English and white-sounding and you know, inoffensive.

So, because I want to nitpick all the arguments I've heard as to why using "chai" is bad, let's go point-by-point:

It's reductive, you're describing a character by just one thing - yes well noted, that's literally what ship names are for. They are shorthand for characters to remember them by, they're supposed to be memorable one-liners to go by for them. It doesn't "reduce their whole personality to one bit" or "define them" or whatever - by that logic, is Miles' entire personality "flower", or Hobie's entire personality "punk"?? Gwen's just a "ghost" then, huh?? The whole POINT of a ship abbreviation is to be short and memorable. And chai is a whole fucking lot more memorable than "golden" or "shine" or whatever - those alternatives aren't even based in canon?? They are just purely fanon interpretations. Meanwhile chai is actually based in canon and a really memorable line from it too. I've had friends who were so confused as to who the golden abbreviation is for and then asking me how it's related to Pav when they browsed through the tags, but whenever they heard "chaipunk" and stuff they got it without me having to explain shit. Also, y'all are reading the Indian reaction to the chai-tea thing very wrong if you think we are offended by chai being a memorable bit about him - we are literally the ones most hyped about the chai-tea thing? You have no idea how loud the Indian theaters cheered at that line and how many Indian-made edits have been circulating. Again, with the caveat that I speak for my experienced social circle and not every Indian to ever exist, WE LOVE THE CHAI THING. It is a really lovable and memorable bit to us - one that has endeared his character to so many of us so quickly! So I have no idea where the idea that we're offended by the chai-tea line being memorable came from, but y'all really need to go out and talk to some desis before speaking and getting mad for us.

It's stereotypical - Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't realize an Indian character named with an Indian ethnic word about an Indian cultural drink is stereotyping, now. Just say you felt called out by the chai tea bit or got tired of how much people were talking about it or didn't like having to learn and use an ethnic word and be done with it. Now, to be completely fair, this is the point in the argument that holds the most water. I have seen a lot of fanart and fanfic in the very early days of ATSV fan content, quite far down the tag at this point, that reduced Pav's entire personality to chai, just made him the tea guy, made him so chai obsessed it was quite OOC and annoying and yes it did feel pretty stereotypical. That kind of thing is extra obvious in some NSFW arts I've seen around, that really give me the ick because that is not necessary, that is actually just weird and smells a little like fetishizing. But long story short, yes, Pav's character did tend to be reduced to chai in the early fan content. But guess what. That kind of thing happens to every side character in beloved media until more creators get their hands on them, adopt them as their blorbos, and make more developed characters and content out of them!!! Every side character that has a memorable bit gets overused in that bit until more creators get on board to flesh them out! Or have we forgotten "AND PEGGY!", "Honor", "ONIONS!!" and other miscreants? Surely those are ALSO stereotyping then, right? Also. Even if Pav's early fan content with chai was veering towards overuse and maybe stereotyping. Let's assume that's right. HOW EXACTLY WOULD THE SHIP NAME CHANGE THAT, THEN? The ship name changing wouldn't have done diddly squat about that - he was already getting more developed character in fics and in art before people pushed for his ship name to be changed to something less ethnic sounding. I should know, I was one of the people writing him even then. The tag changing wasn't going to magically change the content. The fan creators did that.

It's unrelated to him, it's stereotypical specifically in that flavour - bitch what. Did we watch the same movie. This point in particular frustrates me so much, because I remember someone on here - I don't remember who - talking about how it makes sense to use "flower" for Miles because his favourite song is Sunflower but in that same sentence saying it's ridiculous to use "chai" for Pav. What logical hoops are you jumping to get to this conclusion, my sibling of the sea? If we can use "flower" for Miles - which was literally a song he sang once, maybe twice, in the first movie, never even saying it was his favourite but just showing us he liked it - then it makes just as much sense to use "chai" for Pavitr? Pav literally says he drinks chai every day with Maya Aunty, it's linked to his life and family, and he clearly liked and thought of it as important enough to put it in his intro speech. Also, as an Indian, in my experience at least chai is a very important and yet casual cultural thing for us, that a lot of us have a connection to in our everyday lives and it makes sense for him to have it too. It's not like people are just seeing the Indian character and automatically labelling him with chai - he talks about it, he likes chai, it's not out of nowhere. Also, if we're talking about how related the abbreviation is, HOW is "golden" related??? That is even more out of nowhere??? Everyone I've asked seems to have a different justification of why golden is used. From bc he's a golden boy to golden bc of his bangles or vibes - they're all speculative and based almost entirely in fanon. Like. Chai is so much more related.

Also. Using chai? IT'S NOT A BIG FUCKING DEAL. It's just a word. It is normal to me, to us Indians, as normal as using any other word in English, or Hindi, or our regional languages. I don't see why it's such a big deal that it needs to be changed to something English. It's literally just like if you made his abbreviation "tea" - except now you've taken the desiness out of it. Congratulations.

This isn't a cause I'm going to die mad about or anything. It's just been slowly annoying and eating away at me to see so many, again from what I can tell mostly non-Indian people, being mad about chai being his ship abbreviation. It feels like a bit of a gut punch to the part of me that was so happy to see this tiny part of myself and my language and culture represented in a character I love. As my friend once said, "chaipunk sounds like a cool punk movement I'd join. goldenpunk just sounds white."

The straw that finally broke the camel's back and got me posting about it is this realization that I had:

All the hue and cry to change Pavitr's ship name from "chai" to the more 'acceptable' "golden"? It reeks an awful lot of whitewashing.

People literally got so offended about an Indian character having an Indian ship abbrev that they clamoured till it got changed to something English. It leaves a very off taste in my mouth when I think about it like this.

So yeah.

#pavitr prabhakar #spiderman atsv #chaipunk #goldenpunk #chaiflower #goldenflower #spider man: across the spider verse #atsv pavitr #across the spiderverse #pavitr my beloved #indian stuff #desi starr being mad about desi stuff #starr rambles #long post #i think?#for the record use whatever ship name you like i wont yell at you for using golden or whatever #but im so tired of the people yelling at me and others for using chai

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aimmyarrowshigh · 1 year

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My dearest, darling Aim, do you happen any thoughts and/or comments about that new Velma show that just came out, because it just sounds horrific and I made the fatal error of watching about a minute of some cisgender white dude's critic of it on youtube and I'm more than a LITTLE FROTHY about how he was basically 'Welp, that's what happens when you try to shoehorn the remake of a classic show into being more ethnically diverse and it's like that because Mindy Kaling is dumpy and unattractive.'

::THE HEAVIEST OF SIGHS::

As a disclaimer before my comments: I have not watched it and I don't plan to watch it. Basically as soon as I saw the first trailer, I said, "This was not made for me, a person who loves Velma and Scooby-Doo."

Because that's the thing -- it was not made for people who love Velma and Scooby-Doo. It was made for people who don't think loving anything is cool, and specifically, who think "nostalgia poisoning" is a thing and want to "ruin your childhoods" because "it's time to grow up" or whatever. It exists in the same vein of humor as the last ten years of South Park, or Seth Macfarlane's whole career, where the only comedy thesis is, "If you care about anything, you're a rube."

Because it's not just Velma and Scooby-Doo that the new show takes potshots at. It's also true crime fans (who are pretty much only women), it's Other Girls (shown to be vapid "bitches" AKA Daphne), it's people with mental illness, it's adult cartoon watchers as a whole, it's people who genuinely want diversified television, it's the idea of friendship. And it's ALSO people who hate true crime fans, and people who hate Other Girls, and people who hate diversified television. Because there is no "right way" to watch the show. There's no underlying person you can be as an audience member and NOT be shit on by the show.

If you hate that they made Velma Desi, then the show is going to shit on you for it, but not because you're a bigoted loser -- but because you care about something.

If you hate that they made Velma an odious quasi-fascist with a serious streak of internalized misogyny, the show is going to shit on you -- because you care about something.

The only way to be "cool," in the vein of comedy that HBO Velma exists within, is to aggressively not care about anything. But don't Not Care too aggressively! Because that circles back around to caring about seeming cool, and that's not cool!

And I'm gonna be honest:

Mindy Kaling has always had a problem with desperately, desperately wanting to be seen as cool. (See title of autobiography, 'Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?')

In the 2000s, when she was in Hasty Pudding (iirc) and the youngest writer on The Office -- a show which DOES NOT HOLD UP in 2023; if you still think The Office is hilarious in 2023 I find you a DEEPLY suspicious person -- it seemed revolutionary and rebellious to openly be a non-thin, nerdy girl and say, "I really wish I were cool." And it was, for the time! That WAS revolutionary and rebellious! It's what built Mindy Kaling's career (and also Tina Fey's, another writer whose work Does Not Hold Up in 2023).

And in the 2010s, with The Mindy Project, being an adult woman who wrote frankly about desperately wanting to be cool was kind of fresh-ish, and the ways that Mindy's character undermined herself to try to get what she wanted felt if not relevant, then unfortunately relatable for a lot of people. But she also ends up with a dude character who, in the FIRST EPISODE, calls her fat. To her face. Many times. It's never addressed again, and it's not played as a dealbreaker... obviously. Because she ends up with someone who fundamentally doesn't respect or like her. But she ends up with somebody! And that's what matters! Because it's cool to have a boyfriend!

In the 2020s, Mindy's shtick is extremely outdated, at best, and is an active choice by Mindy to be harmful, at worst (and frankly, with Velma, most likely). Mindy's shtick is not, "Some girls aren't cool, and that's okay." It's literally, "If you're a girl who isn't cool, that's not okay."

And that's THE FUCKING OPPOSITE OF THE POINT OF VELMA DINKLEY.

I've seen a lot of posts that are either comparisons or contrasts with Netflix's Wednesday, and I don't really have a dog in that fight because like, I enjoyed the unintentional sapphic vibes of Wednesday a lot and I thought Jenna Ortega was great, but the show as a whole fundamentally misunderstands The Addams Family, so I'm overall like, "eh." BUT. What both the comparisons and the contrasts of Wednesday and Velma hinge on is this:

Neither show understands, or cares, why the characters they're based on are beloved in the first place. They don't actually want to interact with the source material, and they don't actually want to court fans of the source material. If anything, they want fans of the source material to avoid the show so that the streaming service they're on can have a young, hip demo tuning in.

And what they don't understand about Wednesday and Velma... is that the reason they're beloved... is that they like who they are.

Wednesday is macabre, but she's a happy kid. She likes what she likes. She gleefully electrocutes Pugsley not because she likes causing pain, but because it's fascinating to see what electrocution does. She beheads her dolls and then sleeps with both pieces in her arms. She studies the Bermuda Triangle because it's fucking interesting that whole-ass ships and planes disappear! She likes the things she likes. She likes who she is. She LIKES THINGS. She's not miserable or misanthropic or nihilist. The line that Wednesday most got right of Wednesday's dialogue was "no one gets to torture [Pugsley] except me," because she's a fierce protector and an Addams, first and foremost.

(Insert 96-paragraph rant here about how The Addams Family (2019) and The Addams Family: The Musical also fundamentally misunderstand this about Wednesday, the musical perhaps worst of all. Wednesday does not want to be normal. She just doesn't want to be perky.)

Velma is a nerd and a dork and a geek, and she could not be happier about it! She's gonna kick your ass at the science fair! She will correct the grammar of your 'kick me' sign on her back and return it with red pen! She's a skeptic not because she hates caring about things or hates belief, but because she loves learning and she loves evidence. The only girl that Velma has ever had any negative relationship with that I can recall is that she and Marcie Fleach had some tension because they were equally smart and smart people sometimes compete to be The Smartest, but then in the end THEY WERE IN LOVE AND GIANT LESBIANS. And then Marcie got murdered by a paranormally enhanced parrot, but whatever.

There's a REASON why there's never been -- until this HBO show -- a whiff of jealousy that Daphne is traditionally beautiful or that Fred adores her. (I mean, part of that is that Velma is a lesbian, but also VELMA DOESN'T WANT TO BE DAPHNE, SHE WANTS TO BE VELMA.) The only "love triangle" that the Scooby gang has ever had was literally INCLUDING THE DOG, because Velma does not hate anything about Daphne or who Daphne is. She celebrates who Daphne is. She loves who Daphne is. She would never, ever, ever call Daphne a bitch.

But here's the thing: I genuinely don't think that Mindy Kaling can conceive of a weird girl being happy with who they are.

I don't know if it's a generational, grew-up-in-the-80s thing, or an effect of racism she experienced as a Desi girl, or because she's frequently been the only woman in a comedy writers' room, or if she just as a defective personality.

But I think she looked at Velma and said, "This girl makes no sense unless she's miserable, angry, and maladjusted."

And I think Tim Burton looked at Wednesday and said the same thing. But I also think Tim Burton looks at literally all women always and says that, so whatever.

I think Mindy Kaling deeply, deeply hates herself. And she can't write female characters who don't also deeply hate themselves.

But that's not Velma.

#hbo velma #velma hbo max #velma dinkley #velma #velma scooby doo #scooby doo #wednesday netflix #netflix wednesday #the addams family #**scoobydoo #**addamsfamily #**velma #**wednesday #asks

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spicybylerpolls · 1 month

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All of the teenage relationships are sexualised from the get-go. Stancy's introduction was all about the trope where bad boy Steve just wants to try getting good girl Nancy into bed. Jancy is also immediately sexualised when Jonathan takes the spicy photos of Nancy. And Steve and Robin make booby jokes before Vickie is even introduced. Meanwhile for Stobin, we only really got Steve thinking that he and Robin would be a cute couple but no sexual innuendos whatsoever, hinting that the relationship will not happen because there is no sexual attraction there.

It is initially a bit different for Mileven/Lumax/Byler because they are actually kids at the start of the show. But Season 3 makes such a big fuss about them not being kids anymore and it is coincidentally also the time some of the characters start to make innuendos themselves. Which also means that who they liked as kids is not necessarily who they are eventually attracted to as teenagers.

In comparison to the other teenage relationships, Mileven seems to be a relationship free of any sexual implications. In Season 3 Hopper wants the door certainly not open because he is afraid of them kissing - however, Mike and El never overtly express a desire for sex, neither with each other nor for other people. Milevens like to say "Oh, this means that Mike and El only have eyes for each other" although the sexual implications are completely absent from their relationship.

Of course you could argue that the characters may be demi/ace, but I think especially in Mike's case it is made clear that he is not acespec but a repressed queer (with the Season 4 Episode 1 montage as biggest proof). Some people also insisted (and still insist) that Will is ace too because they are subconsciously so afraid to see any sort of queer attraction on screen. (As a person on the acespec myself, I really long for the day where asexuality is finally done justice on screen. But Stranger Things is clearly a show where they actively contrast lack of sexual attraction and actual sexual attraction with each other. Unfortunately, 99% of media does not include intentionally-accurate representation of asexuality, so right now Stranger Things is not under the obligation to be the show that is suddenly an exception)

This is all so true! People try to argue that Mike and El "making out all the time" is evidence that they have interest in sexual exploration, but A) the show very clearly draws our attention to the fact that he takes his hands off her when they're making out, B) Mike doesn't express sexual interest in the Phoebe Cates, the hot girl of the day, like his friends, C) the show draws our attention to how unnatural it is by having Hopper comment on it, and D) this doesn't progress or increase in any way. In fact, it decreases. In S4, they have one fairly awkward kiss and never show any signs of desire for each other. Instead, the emphasis is on Mike not being able to say ILY to her.

For a ship that's allegedly the main ship, this is all pretty unusual. When was the last time you saw a ship with teenage characters who "only have eyes for each other" yet never show even the slightest sign that they want to explore the physical side of things, even if only 2nd base? It's like Mike got to 1st base and immediately wanted to abort mission and backtrack and never do anything straight again.

Some Milkvans will say it's because Mike is a gentleman, but... come on. Lucas is a gentleman with Max, and the show goes out of its way to emphasize his sexual desire multiple times. Dustin and his girlfriend aren't even in the same state, and she's a devout Mormon, and still there's no doubt that Dustin would round all the bases multiple times in a heartbeat if he got the chance.

Meanwhile, everything between Mike and El looks like a weird, unnatural performance. And they don't even kiss in the desert!

Especially considering the fact that Mike and Will, who are allegedly just platonic friends, do show signs of physical desire. This is what they're like JUST touching arms ever so slightly. Get a room.

#spicy byler #byler #mike wheeler #will byers #anti mileven #no poll

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burst-of-iridescent · 9 months

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i’ve gone back and forth a lot on whether to respond to this because the last thing i want is more discourse, but since you seem absolutely determined to put me on some sort of trial, anon, i might as well get my two cents in.

so let's talk.

one, i have said over and over again that i am more than willing to talk to anyone i may have unwittingly hurt or offended, if they came to me directly and off-anon. despite the fact that you surely knew that, since you evidently stalk my blog, you did not do so. instead, you continued to yell at me and accuse me of racism anonymously, rather than actually engaging with me. what this tells me right off the bat is you're not interested in a productive conversation. you're interested in harassing me.

two, i've talked to indigenous zutara shippers. i'm friends with indigenous zutara shippers. i've read what many native and indigenous shippers in this fandom have to say. i know shippers who like the fire lady katara trope, shippers who are indifferent, shippers who dislike it. what makes your opinion any more important than any of theirs? and conversely, what makes their opinion any more important than yours? no singular person can ever claim to speak for their entire community, because people of colour aren't one monolithic entity.

as a desi girl, katara's relationship with aang makes me uncomfortable because it is characterized by patterns of imbalanced emotional labour and misogyny that i frequently see within my own community. and it is my prerogative to dislike the ship because of that, just as it is for any other woc. but it is not my prerogative to say that no one else is allowed to ship kat.aang, or is racist or misogynistic just for shipping kat.aang (and indeed i know women of colour who do ship kat.aang! because our cultural background doesn't mean that we're automatically going to have the same experiences and perspectives, and that's valid).

so am i really supposed to listen to indigenous voices, anon, or am i simply supposed to listen to those that agree with you?

three, i won't deny that the fire lady katara trope can be racist. i've seen it executed in ways that make me profoundly uncomfortable, and which i will never support. but more often than not in zutara fandom and content, "fire lady" is simply the name chosen for the fire lord's female consort, one that denotes katara as zuko's equal and a powerful world leader in her own right with her own title. if the trope is executed problematically, that fault lies with the person who wrote it and their own ignorance/malice/racism - not with the trope itself.

personally, as someone whose people were colonized by the british, and whose home was subjected to japanese imperialism, i completely understand why it can feel extremely empowering and wish fulfilling to have woc in positions of power within the systems that oppressed them. if i saw a desi girl on the throne of england, you can bet i'd be the first to celebrate.

but of course that's just my opinion, so if any indigenous or native shippers have thoughts on the trope, i would love to hear what you have to say, and discuss further.

four, despite your alleged care for katara and indigenous women, anon, you have never once engaged with my criticisms of the show for its depiction of kat.aang: a relationship where katara's partner is visibly disgusted at her cultural food, acts disrespectfully towards her cultural artifacts, attempts to dissuade her from finding justice for her mother (a victim of imperialist aggression), and tries to impose his own cultural/religious beliefs upon her without considering that she a) has no obligation to follow those beliefs and b) her own culture's beliefs are vastly different. all of which, by the way, he is never shown to apologize for or learn from. add to that the fact that 2/3 of katara's children show absolutely no connection to her culture and, in fact, seem to heavily prioritize their father's instead - to the extent that all of her grandchildren seem solely air nomad instead of paying respect to both sides of their heritage - and a very troubling picture is painted.

keep in mind that this isn't some fanon trope or problematic fic created by a small subset of shippers within the fandom on an internet space meant primarily for adults; it's a canonical depiction of a romantic relationship with a woc on a show written by two white men and broadcasted to an audience of millions, targeted primarily at young, impressionable children. what are the messages being sent here, and to whom, about interracial relationships featuring indigenous women, and the role said women are expected to fulfil within those relationships?

but instead of criticizing the white creators who did that, you chose to take out your anger on me, a fellow poc descended from colonized peoples, because... i'm an easier target? because i'm accessible, and they're not? because maybe, just maybe, this isn't actually about indigenous people at all?

five, being a shipper (or an anti) isn't the same as being an activist. it just isn't. people can read and write and enjoy things in fiction that they would never support in real life (though ofc sometimes people just suck and that bleeds through into what they consume and create - but my point is that you absolutely cannot decide by their taste in fiction alone whether they are bigoted or not) because if our fictional takes translated to real life, most of us would probably be mass murderers by now. the only thing you can really judge anyone on is what they say and do and how they treat others in real life.

and you made that abundantly clear with this ask you sent me after i reblogged posts spreading awareness of the fires in hawai'i and sharing links to donate:

so just to clarify here, you would prefer that i don't use my platform to try and help actual indigenous people, people who have lost their homes and families, who are actually suffering, who actually require assistance and money and resources... because you don't like my headcanon for a fictional indigenous-coded person?

(yeah, i'm sure you'll understand why i'm skeptical about this entire crusade being in any way about the welfare of indigenous people.)

ultimately, i know none of this is going to change your mind. if you ever intended to genuinely speak out for indigenous issues, or make me see what i was doing wrong, you would have messaged me personally and stood by what you had to say. but that was never your real aim, and you know that as well as i do, so i'm certain i'll see you in my inbox again tomorrow talking about my racism or lack of accountability or whatever else you can find to disparage me.

i wish you the best. have a good day.

#the discourse #again #anti kataang

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eluxcastar · 8 months

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thinks are being thunked 🧐 GREATLY influenced by the sexiest white suit in all of mankind worn by the prettiest genshin man EVER

which specifically got me thinking about Lord Regrator himself in a pair of evil and sophisticated suit 😩 completing the look with a CANE. Do you know how sexy it is for men with glasses to have Canes? i just KNOW that bastard has commissioned separate and uniquely-designed walking canes to match each of his outfits. Speaking of which, im going to throw my little male reader into this too, because why not. I'd like to think Pantalone is the kind of dude who believes 'subtly one-upping' his business partners and negotiators, to be the second-most satisfying thing in the world. First being a successful profitable endeavor. A petty bitch who does a background search on his wealthy clients before meetings, "oh it's an inazuman entrepreneur?" Suddenly he's wearing the grandest flowing robes befitting a (Japanese) king. "a group from sumeru?" bro is about to dress like a Desi maharaja. Pantalone CAN, infact, outdo the doers. 😏😋 In this case; (pre-relationship) where the harbinger dons an imposingly HOT suit- complete with priceless accessories to flaunt right under the noses of his newest clients from Fontaine. Our reader (and a couple other lawyers and bankers) also attend this meeting and has to try so hard not to shamelessly eye Pantalone in front of everybody. (he succeeds. Because distractions = disappointments. And you DON'T want to disappoint the harbinger. Sometimes working under him means Fear > Horny)

skkskskskks I feel like I want to pin down the dynamic like: Reader (praying) : I am a pious fatui. No temptation can stray me from my path of duty. Pantalone (yes i hc him to occasionally use a casual petname. Not affectionate, but more smug) : What was that, my dear? Reader : 😩😭💦😳🔥😲🤤😔😩🥴😵

I've been hoarding this ask for months because I love it, and I was gonna write something short for it, but I finally decided I wanna fuss over it instead cause OMG UWEGDUYF Pantalone trying to one-up his associates is so real you can't convince me he isn't lowkey envious and depending on how you spin it kind of an attention whore but subtly like, if people aren't taking notice of him he takes that as a sign to work HARDER

especially his darling cause, like, who else should get their attention?? HE deserves that, and he damn well knows he's gonna get it anyway, but he's gotta please them too, even before their relationship where it's like a teasing thing cause there's no way he doesn't notice and take advantage of the attention to bask in it a little. he's hot and he knows it. someone called him the dom's dom one day and that's so REAL he IS AND HE KNOWS IT

also I'm working on your Kaveh request my child it's coming I swear

#✦ — riri rambles.#♡ — ruu.#✎ — good old-fashioned lover boy.#pantalone #pantalone x reader #genshin impact #genshin #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader

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punkeropercyjackson · 5 months

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"Lmao aspec people are so overly sensitive"Aren't y'all the same niggas who were having whole ass meltdowns over the term 'platonic shipping'

@desi-pluto @moonage-gaydream @cottoncandyspikes @thisismisogynoir @insomniac-jay @honeypotsworld @julieemarine @floof-ghostie

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catpriciousmarjara · 11 months

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Pavitr Prabhakar: The Design

Pavitr Prabhakar my beloved!

I love him. I absolutely love Pavitr and everything about him. And the best thing about him, other than his everything, is his design. So let's get to it!

PART 1: THE MASK

He was so cool and such a total sunshine but the most striking aspect was the immaculate design. Huge upgrade on his old model which was pretty much just a normal spider-suit with a white dhoti, which, not gonna lie, was just disappointing and underwhelming. But they went off on Pavitr's design in the movie and everyone's talking about it so let's also talk about it.

First of all,

LOOK AT MY BOY!!!

Just look at that design! So cool! So awesome! And so so Desi!!!

Its these desi aspects that I want to shed light on cos I know there are non-Indian fans who didn't catch a lot of the nuances cos they're not familiar enough with Indian culture and even Indian fans who didn't know about some details cos they aren't from the areas the inspiration for these elements were drawn from.

Mainly I hope to help artists and writers with this, so they have more information to create with, as well as the casual fans so they have more info and can immerse themselves better as well as appreciate just how much effort went into making this spectacular movie.

This might be a long post with me just rambling away so braze yourself people.

So lets get into it.

{WARNING: Infodump incoming}

First, lets start with the Mask

So here we have two different angles of his mask. The most prominent features of his mask are his eyes. There is a multi-layer outline for them in black, blue, red, and white, which of course are the classic spiderman colours but never quite used like this. Usually there is only a single outline in shades of, or adjacent colours of black, red, or white.

(Disclaimer: I'm not a 100% sure of this being actually the inspo behind the eyes. I'm pretty sure though, like 80%. So this has not been confirmed.)

The design for his eyes reminded me of one specific thing:

Koodiyattam, which is a 2000 year old ancient temple artform from the southern Indian state of Kerala. Koodiyattam is not just the only surviving Sanskrit theatre in the world, but it also includes elements of koothu, from the Sangam era, the golden age of Tamizh culture, and thus was declared by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Below is a picture of a Koodiyattam performer.

Instantly you'll realize that this is a costume drama, with extensive makeup, and complicated dress, especially with regards to the headgear, and is overall similar to the Beijing opera, not in terms of make or design or performance, but rather in elaborateness of ensemble. Japanese art forms like Noh or Kabuki could also come to mind along with certain Balinese dances.

Here is another photo which will give you a better look.

Notice the layered eye makeup in black, red, and white.

Here we have a closeup of a different performer where you can see it even more clearly.

The first time I saw Pavitr's eyes on screen, this is what immediately came to my mind as someone interested in traditional theaters of all kinds. Notice that Koodiyattam extensively uses reds and blacks, along with whites, which is also the colour palette that most spiderpeople choose, which is a cool coincidence. Blue is not that heavily used unlike the others however, but you can see it more in some costumes but generally not in makeup.

If we're talking less of what it reminded me of and more in terms of what the actual inspiration for the eye design probably was, it was most likely Kathakali, Koodiyattam's much younger, more well known, and very popular relative.

As you can see, Kathakali took its cues for costuming from Koodiyattam. (Actually it took its costuming cues from earlier art forms called Krishnattam, and Ramanattam, but they took it from Koodiyattam so it works.)

Again you can see the layered eye makeup, most prominently in black. (Cool fact, the costume and makeup changes according to the characters being portrayed on stage.)

Below is a picture of a Kathakali character with more elaborate eye makeup.

(I know a lot of you might think its the same makeup as Koodiyattam but I promise you its not. Inspired yes, same no.)

Because of the elaborate makeup and costume, expression can be a challenge so the art forms make maximum use of exaggerated body movements, hand signs, dance, lyrics etc. But the crowning element of acting in Koodiyattam and Kathakali are the eye techniques and how much simple eye movements can convey to the audience, which if you think about it, is also the case for spider-people. They're the most expressive superheroes in any medium, but they're fully covered so a lot of their expressiveness, both in comics and animation is conveyed through the shape of the eyes, body language, and speech. Another cool coincidence.

Below is a link to a short video which gives an brief overview of Kathakali and the importance of eyes in its performance.

youtube

This second link is a closeup of the eye movements of a female Kathakali character (women characters are called 'Minukku'). It shows how these highly trained artists can even move their eyes according to music. I have been told this can be uncomfortable to watch for some people so here's a warning for those who find eyeballs discomfiting.

youtube

And finally this one right here is a link to a short video on Koodiyattam.

youtube

{All three of these links are mainly aimed at people who find this sort of stuff interesting and want to check them out so if you're not, you can scroll past it, no big deal!}

(Oh man this is getting way too long and more like me gushing about traditional theatre than spiderman. Sorry about that.)

Now lets get back to our boy Pavitr. The second most noticeable feature of his mask is the curved, white line underneath his eyes, which gives off the impression of tusks. The first two pictures on this post already show the lines quite clearly but I'll attach one more angle.

Something that immediately came to mind when I saw them was Theyyam but I wasn't sure until I saw this post.

This was the same account that talked about how Pavitr's movements are inspired from Kalaripayattu so I was inclined to trust this. And after this one of the animators did confirm this so I was right on the money.

What exactly is Theyyam?

It is an ancient Hindu folk ritual practiced in northern Kerala, predominantly in the North Malabar region. Its origins can be traced back to the neolithic and chalcolithic eras. And unlike Koodiyattam and Kathakali which are associated with temples and the Koothambalam(temple theatre where temple artforms are performed), Theyyam is performed in the open air in Kaavu, the sacred groves of Kerala. The Theyyam performers become channels and vessels for the gods. Connect this to the 'Great Weaver'/ 'Master Weaver' who gave Pavitr his powers.

(Btw, these sacred groves are also ecological treasure troves and one of the ancient ways of nature preservation and they're really cool so check them out if you can.)

Below are two images of different Theyyams.

[Puliyoor Kali Theyyam]

[Porrkali Theyyam]

See that on the cheeks? It resembles Pavitr's design closely right? While Pavitr's are drawn on his mask, these are singular metallic pieces, bound or clutched in the mouth to evoke the imagery and impression of tusks.

Theyyam is not alone in this particular imagery. A variety of folk arts use this, especially animism and folk rituals to show animal physical characteristics, as well as supernatural powers and elements.

For example, below is an image of Thirayttam, a ritual folk practice from the South Malabar region of Kerala. You can see the tusks here too. (Its not that clear, sorry about that.)

{Reminder: A lot of people think of Theyyam and Thirayattam as the same thing. While there are many similarities, with both being from the Malabar region, they are different practices. Theyyam is also called Tiṟa, and this is the main cause of the confusion but its not Thirayattam.}

Another example is Kalamezhuthu pattu, another religious folk art from Kerala. Mainly associated with the worship of the goddess Badhrakali, it is a sacred floor art done with powder and the result is called a Kalam. Below is a picture of a Kalam.

See those tusks? Yeah.

So they represent divinity, animal characteristics, inhuman powers etc.

[Interesting Info: Drawing Kalams are an integral part of Mudiyettu, a traditional ritual theatre and folk dance drama from Central Kerala. It is inscribed in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. So do check it out if you're interested.]

{Oh my god I'm going off topic again. Come back bitch.}

To conclude, those lines are inspired by Theyyam markings, and stand for tusks and fangs, and as a spiderperson, who has the powers of a spider, gifted by some spiritual channel, its really apt that he was given such a design.

Next, lets talk about the lower half of Pavitr's mask.

See those delicate red webs underneath the eyes?

This also reminded me of Theyyam. Its overshadowed by the more vibrant aspects of the costume, but a Theyyam's face has these intricate red patterns as well.

(Look at those eyes, reminds you of Pavitr's eye design right?)

And as you can see in this next image, after the headgear is put on, the designs mainly concentrate on the lower half of the face, much like Pavitr's mask.

I admit I might be stretching this as web designs on the mask is a spiderman thing in general but I think I'm the pretty much on the dot on this one, and most likely its a combination of both.

[A 100% sure about that tusk thing though :)]

Also sometimes Theyyams would have these metallic eye coverings.

[Muchilot Baghavati Theyyam]

A closer look.

This is just my opinion but those silver eye masks kind of reminded me of the classic Spiderman eyes. Single colour, pupil-less, black outline, no idea how they see out of it etc. This one in particular reminded me of the classic spiderman especially with the eyes outlined in black like that.

Overall, the tusks, plus the thin web design on the mask, and the eyes, the spiderman red colour palette, they all evoked the image of Theyyam for me when I first saw Pavitr on screen.

{There is a very similar art form to Theyyam called Bhootakola in the coastal region of Karnataka, another southern Indian state. Those curious about Theyyam can check out the Kannada movie Kantara which deals with Bhootakola and you'll get an idea about Theyyam as well. The movie is awesome by the way. Watch it if you can.)

(This is getting way too long and image heavy. And I'm also going off tangent too much. Gotta wrap this up!)

Finally lets talk the last aspect of Pavitr's mask. This might actually be the feature that most of the non-Indian audience identified as Indian without anyone pointing it out.

I'm talking about the white, diamond shaped marking on Pavitr's forehead.

This decorative marking, bindi/pottu/tilaku, might actually be the most recognizable aspect of Indian culture across the world.

If you scroll back to all the previous images I provided, you can see some variation of this in all of them, either drawn on, or as an ornament. While there are some cultural differences in how they're worn, like women in southern India wearing them in all stage of life while their northern counterparts wear them only after marriage(I could be wrong about this, as I've seen children wearing them often, and things could've changed in modern times so please do correct me if I'm wrong), its one of the most common motifs you'll see across the country.

It can be a simple, round mark.

It can be ornamented.

It can be a different shape altogether.

(From the musical sequence 'Pinga' in the Hindi film Bajirao Mastani)

A different colour.

You get the idea.

Men can wear it as well. though styles and decoration maybe different.

(From the Tamizh film Ponniyin Selvan 1)

A more modern version.

Geography wise, the bindi/pottu/tilak is predominantly seen in India, but its also found in other countries of the Indian subcontinent and neighbouring nations, as well as South-East Asia(as they were both part of the ancient Indosphere and had a past of Hindu Kingdoms. See: Srivijaya(Sriwijaya) empire, Indonesia).

Similar forehead markings were even common in China in the past. Those who have seen wuxia and xianxia dramas and movies definitely have seen them before and know what I'm talking about. (Huadian 花鈿)

Religion wise, its predominantly a Hindu motif, but its also part of Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, as well as several other indigenous religions.

{I've actually seen several Indian Christians and Muslims wear it as well, because its their culture, even if its not their religion.}

EDIT: Gaaaaah! I forgot to include this even though I'd intended to from the beginning.

This is not about the mask but some of the prototype designs for Pavitr so I thought I'll just talk about them a bit here.

Again I can't believe all the effort that went into making this movie. Just look at those designs. Absolutely stellar and inspired. The colour palette itself is amazing.

Honestly everyone else just has no excuse anymore.

[I'll focus on the theatre aspect like I've been doing and talk about the architecture bit sometime else.]

This one is obviously the Theyyam inspired one.

(Look at the eyes of 4 and 3, you can see they're inspired by the silver eye-mask I mentioned before. Also the headband is silver and looks similar to the bands securing a theyyam's headgear in place.)

A lot more Theyyam elements than what made it to the final cut. Especially the jewellery and the sharp-eyed among you must've already noticed the similarity between the necklaces of the design and the necklaces of the theyyams whose images I provided. The bangles and the anklets are also very distinctively Theyyam and they're called Katakam and Chutakam respectively but the final design seems to have made the bangles gold and more bracelet-like, and the anklets more like ankle-cuffs.

(I so badly wish the necklace stayed in but yeah that could've hindered movement.)

Now lets come to the Yakshagana inspired one.

(Notice how the shape of the eyes have changed? And the colour palette took a turn? A lot more gold coming in.)

Yakshagana is a form of traditional theatre originating in modern day Karnataka state of India, and currently practiced in both Karnataka and Kerala. It is primarily an art form from the coastal Karnataka region and the neighbouring Kasargod district of Kerala.

Below is a link to more information on Yakshagana so you can take a look at the costuming and see the influences in the above prototype more clearly.

(I'm not gonna go into detail about all the design choices in the Yakshagana prototype, maybe in another post.)

Now lets come to the final prototype.

(Again the colour palette has shifted, a lot more greens and blues. I do believe that 8 is koothu and not Yakshagana even though it was included in the image above. I say that because of all the white in the design which is very distinctive of a kind of koothu as far as I'm aware.)

I actually already mentioned koothu once before in this post when I was talking about Koodiyattam in the very beginning. So lets go back to it.

Koothu is a folk theatre art that originated in early Tamizh country(Tamizhakam), and broadly speaking, its of two types, Terrukuttu, and Kattaikkuttu. It reached its peak in the golden age of Tamizh culture, the Sangam era and it mainly depicts scene from the epics. Currently types of Koothu are practiced in modern day Tamil Nadu and Kerala(Kerala was once part of ancient Tamizhakam).

Below is a link that will give you more info and an image of the costume with makeup similar to 6.

And this one is a link to a particular kind of koothu in Kerala known as Chakyar Koothu cos all the white on the make of prototype version 8 reminded me of it. (Also Chakyar Koothu is a form of social satire and criticism, it was basically ancient Stand-up comedy and the Chakyar is supposed to be really witty, which fits Spiderman to a T I gotta say.)

Again I'm not gonna go into further details and nuances of the design as this is a prototype design, maybe some other time. But I have to say that this colour palette does make Pavitr a lot more spideresque or evoke a more primal spider energy cos how it connects the viewer to jungle like and more animalistic environments more than the other designs.

And that's it for the mask and the prototypes everybody! Yay!

Holy shit that was long!

I'm gonna stop here for now cos this is already way too much. Can't believe I thought I'd be able to look through the entirety of Pavitr's design in one post. What was I on?

Seriously what kind of drug?

Anyway I'll be making a part 2 for this, looking through Pavitr's clothes and and movements and all. I say Part 2 but considering what happened with the mask I'm pretty sure it might go up to Part 3 or 4. Here's to hoping I learn some moderation by then lol.

(All the images are from google images and I have taken and have credit for exactly none of them. The verbiage is mine completely though.)

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