#Asian Therapies

[cutejennydawson]

Escape to Serenity: Indulge in the Luxurious Treatments of A Top Asian Spa in Miami

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Top Asian Spa also offers a variety of packages, which include multiple treatments and can be customized to meet the specific needs of the client. Whether you're looking for a relaxing massage, a luxurious body treatment, or a beautiful manicure, Top Asian Spa has something for everyone.

[fullcravings]

Pandan Waffles Recipe

[heretherebedork]

I love that Min desperately wants Q to feel better in all ways and promises to keep coming with him and to support him and to love him no matter what.

And it's that steadfast love and promise that lets Q have a reason to get better, that gives Q the strength he needs to try for himself and for Min and to happy to open himself up again, to find himself in this new life.

[maibearcore]

Me and my non-canon & angsty ships against the world ˗ˏˋ 𓅰 ˎˊ˗

They started dating ok?!

They are together and happy idgaf about canon.‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡🪐༘⋆

࣪ ִֶָ☾. They deserve better and they also deserve therapy. 🧸ྀི

Weak Hero Class 1 (2022), Squid Game (2020), Ballerina (2023), Beyond Evil (2021), Tomorrow (2022), 25-21 (2021), Raazi (2018), Sita Ramam (2022), Sanam Teri Kasam (2016), Laila Majnu (2018), Kill (2023).

[nickmassage]

Asian guy receiving professional massage

[spocks-kaathyra]

I despise any narrative that positions social progressivism as a western concept. why is every immigrant narrative about escaping from the terrible inherent conservatism of the backwards culture your family comes from and being saved by america's unique progressivism. just this disgusting pinkwashing that is exactly the same as any other narrative claiming that the west invented civilization and all those third world barbarians are only just now beginning to learn it from them. america's enemies do not have a monopoly on social conservatism. white people did not invent queer acceptance or anything else of value. death to america idk

[mrinafria]

She wanted to be the beacon of light to him the way he once was to her. She wanted to save him, even at the cost of their memories, because his mere existence was enough to light her up.

I started this edit on week 2ish and couldn't bring myself to finish it on time lol. Lovely Runner I think is the first show ever that made me cry within the first 8-10 minutes into episode 1. Looking at Im Sol was cathartic somehow if that makes sense. I love how Im Sol's urge to save Seon Jae doesn't stem from her obsession as a fangirl (unlike what non-fandom folks may think). Rather, it stems from her sheer gratefulness to this person because of ONE simple act of kindness he showed many years back. The rest is history.

[dkettchen]

Why you, yes you, should watch Unicorns (2023) on netflix right now:

single dad mechanic lad x drag queen rep

manchester rep lessgooooo

the lad has big tiddy & ass, and you WILL be seeing both

singlehandedly carrying the UK's south asian rep quota for the year and actually doing an amazing job at it due to being written & directed by relevant ingroup 👌

it is listed as a drama and some bad stuff does happen but it's got a good ending and noone dies!

I made a doesthedogdie account just so I could add to its empty trigger warning page on there bc I tried to look it up beforehand cause I'm tired of being disappointed by bummer lgbt+ dramas (which this one isn't!) and it had literally no votes on anything yet (it now does, you're welcome)

[usertoxicyaoi]

“When things first happened, I had insomnia. I had to take medication.” BETWEEN US (2022-2023) - Episode 12.

[fullcravings]

Matcha Snow Skin Mooncakes

[heretherebedork]

This poor, poor baby. Sad that we've completely lost out on the sign language and Deafness (Sigh) but at least he gets to be comforted after tragedy.

At least he got a hug, a real hug.

[cerealbishh]

"Henry cares for Faran. The Liars normally have to be the ones caring for others. It just makes me melt!" - Zaria on Twitter about Henry(x)

[meljwrites]

Favourite part about HayRay? What's your favourite scene between them?

Probably their first kiss. I have seen that soooo many times and it is such a cathartic moment after everything 🥰 - it's not just that they kiss, it's also all the things they say to each other and their hesitance and lucas looking so broken and in love at the same time.

It was what got me hooked on them!!

[whumperer-86]

South Wind knows ep11

[ineffable-opinions]

Gaami (2024)

Part 3 of the series: Indian Queer Media

Little Hearts (2024)

Kaathal the Core (2023)

Available for streaming on Zee5

Until now all the movies that I have discussed have been centered in Kerala. In this movie, we are moving further north, from Telugu-speaking region to traveling through Himalayas for this bioluminescent mushroom Azisstra arendiphytis (nasyati maalipatra) that blooms once in 36 years on the Dronagiri mountain in the Garhwal ranges, that can wipe out all memories. This mushroom isn’t significant in itself. It could very well be something else. Basically, a typical MacGuffin. However, going in search of it, the journey, the characteristic epic adventure that gets the movie the name ‘Gaami’, the one who seeks, is super exciting.

Our main character, Shankar, is not alone in his journey. He is accompanied by a mycologist, Jahnavi, who has to find the mushroom for personal, altruistic and scientific reasons. Among the characters in the movie, she is probably the one who can be considered the definitive female lead, but is not romantically paired with the main character.

SPOILERS AHEAD, PLEASE WATCH THE MOVIE BEFORE PROCEEDING

The movie deals with queerness in a unique manner. Usually, queerness is discussed in context of romance or family life, either connected to marriages and having kids or in the context of outing/coming out. This one is about an intersex person trying to find himself and coming to terms with what has happened to him in the past, the kind of tortures he has gone through. This is an epic journey to self-discovery that he embarks on with his companion, a mycologist out to find a panacea for the different pains they have suffered. After venturing through very many dark places and coming out of those makes the ending actually looks like it is probably imagined than real, comparable to Life of Pi.

Ardhanarishvara Lore and Intersex Identity

Chola period Ardhanarishvara statue

As @starryalpacasstuff mentioned in this discussion on Indian queer media, Ardhanarishvara is interpreted in very many ways. This movie has one of the most interesting and cinematic interpretation of the revered deity Ardhanarishvara. Uma (one of the names by which Parvati devi is known) and Shankar (another name of Lord Shiva) being the same person, a single entity, separated by much pain, reunites nearing the climax of the movie. Throughout the movie, the name is like one big clue, but it is not an easy clue by any means. While watching the movie, at one point, I had wondered if Shankar is Uma’s father who had opted for an ascetic life after Durga’s theogamy. Shankar as a character is heavily inspired by Lord Shiva. In the beginning of the movie, we are introduced to him as an Aghori, a Shaivite ascetic.

The director, Vidyadhar Kagita, plays around with colors and brightness throughout the movie to represent different moods of Uma-Shankar as they navigate different stages of life, loosing touch of one another. During Uma’s parts we see brighter, warmer tones while almost all of Shankar’s life is covered in dull, melancholic blues. At times, we can barely see him and he can barely see everyone else. It’s never too bright in spite of all the fire and the snow. This has an impact on the structure of the story being told with how Uma’s world was a lot brighter, her life becomes darker as it goes on, especially when she has to hide for her life and later when she’s brought into the research center as CT-333 (here, CT stands for conversion therapy, the treatment Uma is forced to undergo). In the research center, she is met with unbearable levels of torture and ends up losing her memories, her ability to touch people as well as her past and future selves.

Devadasi System and Queerness

One of the least talked about element of devadasi system is its intersection with queerness. Uma’s mother, Durga and later, Uma herself, are devadasis.

Devadasis, Jogatis and Jogappa are female and male women[1], ritually married to Goddess, presumably Goddess Yellamma. There is the whole thing with devadasi system as well as queer people especially those belonging to the third gender, getting abolished during British colonial rule and how both were and continue to be associated with sex work and sex work only.

There is an undeniable element of exploitation. In the movie, the powerful in Uma’s village hunts her down and forces her to be their devadasi against her and her mother’s wishes and subjects the minor to sexual exploitation in the guise of tradition.

However, that’s not the only thing. There is an element of seeking solace in the Goddess and dedicating life to being a devadasi as a pious deed motivated by faith and gratitude as in the case of Durga. Anxieties over neonatal health, Durga’s motivation, on the other hand is part of systemic oppression common citizens like her are subject to since healthcare have never been prioritized enough by Indian governments. Combined expenditure on healthcare and education by state and central governments in most states and union territories remain below 5% thanks to limiting fiscal deficit targets set to please international capital.

The Goddess offer solace to young queer people who are either brought to these temples and abandoned at or run away from their native families that reject them. Thus, theogamy, marrying their deity, becomes an escape route for queer folk, earning them respect and worship, albeit conditional.  

Durga decides to become a devadasi for personal reasons. She believes that she should be repaying the Goddess who has blessed her with a healthy daughter by undergoing this procedure.

However, her perception of how healthy her daughter is, comes into question during Uma’s failed sexual debut where she is exposed to be suffering from Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia, a condition considered a “genetic disorder” in modern medicine. For this, Uma is subject to inhumane treatment including but not limited to electrocution as a part of conversion therapy, aiming to achieve a “ground-breaking discovery” and for all the money and prestige that will bring in for doctor Ravi and the village head.

The devadasi institution which is now frowned upon, has contributed immensely to mainstream Indian culture we know today through music, dance forms and whatnot. The institution gets very little credit for any of it as the arts has been appropriated by the so-called upper caste folk.

One of the radical musicians of the Carnatic stream, T M Krishna, can be seen holding concerts with Jogappas and he is considered a rule-breaker among contemporary classical musicians. I hope to dive deeper into the world of third gender south Asians in my upcoming appreciation post on the movie Ardhanaari (2012).

Conversion Therapy, Amnesia, Hapnophobia

We get to see a lot of outdated procedures inspired by actual 20th centuary medical science such as lobotomy, aversion therapy and conversion therapy involving electric shock. These are seldom explored even in movies which focus on queer people’s lives, despite the prevalence of conversion therapy practices, in not just modern medicine (allopathy) but also in ayurveda and other systems of health care popular in South Asia.  

Given the hegemony of Brahminical-heteropatriarchy, even now people try to find solutions to queerness, not only queer people themselves who struggle to be accepted but also their parents driven by helplessness and/or hostility.

Conversion therapy in its most brutal form, ultimately breaks Shankar. He has undergone unspeakable tortures and is so traumatized that there is very little hope of him overcoming his hapnophobia or recovering his memories.

When CT-333 (Uma-Shankar’s identification when institutionalized) finally escapes and gets taken away by guru Kedhar Baba, it is pretty obvious that Shankar has lost a part of himself, which CT-333 has been losing slowly over the six years spend as a test subject, held captive in the dungeon-like research center. This includes the ability to recall what it feels like to be caressed by Durga, a phantom touch Uma had treasured for so long yet had become completely alien to CT-333.

Shankar’s inability to have physical contact with others is the reason for his ultimate downfall. He is perishing with as he is not able to have any sort of kind connection with people around him. Indians are extremely tactile people in general. And his failure to save someone due to his extreme hapnophobia is taking a toll on him. His fellow Aghoris does not hesitate to ostracize him claiming he is cursed by none other than Lord Shiva and that his curse is bring down the whole ashram. Throughout the movie too he struggles to save his companion in the journey. He is overwhelmed by despair.

The lines he spoke to Sudhamma at Maha Khumb Mela, “Is this a curse I'd have to carry to my grave?” reverberates throughout the movie.

It is in a way answered by the Buddhist monk who saves Shankar, who tells him, “Get to know the root of that pain. You'll find your purpose to live… You are karmically indebted to them [Uma and CT-333]. Their wounds are the real cause of your suffering and pain. As their wounds heal and the pain subsides, your problems will be solved too. Fulfilling your karmic debt and freeing yourself from your problems is now in your control.”

Kedhar Baba who found CT-333 leaves behind a map that leads Shankar to the Buddhist monastery, presumably where the great guru himself breathed his last. What he sought for Shankar, what Shankar and Jahnavi sought for themselves (and others) holds deep philosophical meaning, of love and compassion.

Crowd-funded Project to a Box Office Hit

There are many side stories including the one regarding the reason why Shankar was thrown out of the Aghori ashram which the director explains in the interview linked below. The director had way too many ideas and a lot of them had to be cut due to time constraint. They didn’t want the movie to drag on for forever.

I wish they had kept those side stories. I wish they had done it in a two-part movie duology. Or, they could have done a five-hour movie. But with experimental themes and storytelling, it could have forced more people away from the movie. Given the theatrical success the movie enjoyed in Tollywood, it was the right call to make. Yet, I mourn the side stories we miss out on.

Conclusion

This movie is layered. I could only discuss so much. For sure, it requires a deeper, analytical viewing and anyone who is interested in watching a movie with queer themes this season should give this one a try. It is so good! It’s very unfortunate that very little people talk about this movie outside of Telugu-speaking audience. I don’t understand how it did not get popular elsewhere - probably because of the limited release outside Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

There is a lot of exploration about domestic violence (especially what Jahnavi has gone through), ethics in medical science, religion, community, selfhood, greed and about powers that trying to alter who you are and those who declare you outcast and above all else about hope and the folk who you meet on your way, who become your gurus, companions and confidants.

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Recommended readings (since like half a dozen of you guys seemed interested):

Consent and Bodily Integrity: Mapping the Regulation of Bodily Rights of Intersex Children and its Representation in Vijayarajamallika's Poems by Gargi Thilak

Backward Futures and Pasts Forward: Queer Time, Sexual Politics, and Dalit Religiosity by Lucinda Ramberg

(more + how to access them)

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[1] They adopt traditionally womanly embodiment and mannerisms, dress up in saree and acting as priests in certain rituals and blessings.

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Sorry for tagging @the-gayest-tree-you-ever-did-see uninvited. Hope you enjoy reading this because your post got me interested in the movie initially but I had to wait much longer to actually watch it.

[mrinafria]

See, I told you, it's a sad ending.

Well, it's a sad ending for me as a viewer for sure, to have to say bye to this show which will go down in history as perhaps my ultimate favorite kdrama ever. Is there a watch we could use to go back and rewatch the show from the start all over again? T_T

I've been trying to clean up my drafts and dash as a way to cope, only to find myself rewatching the clips and then the episodes instead of getting anything done. Going back to these edits that I'd started sometime around weeks 4-7 and just let them gather dust, it feels surreal that we've already come this far. It's so strange, as if I said farewell to people I know irl, as if they are not fictional characters.

Sigh. I am dreading the remainder of this year. Nothing will ever compare to this experience.

[HD is good for your eyes XD]

I started this around week 4ish but then all the time travel theories got to me lmao. Idek what I was going for here.

Link to other finished edits:

Was it my memory that I lost? Or was it you?

She held a yellow umbrella over me with a smile.