#Facts about Hindu Gods

[factspin360]

"एक भूखा शेर… और फिर बना देवी का वाहन?"

कल्पना कीजिए — एक घना जंगल, एक तपस्विनी देवी, और एक शेर जो शिकार की नीयत से आता है...

लेकिन वहां जो हुआ, वो न सिर्फ उस शेर की किस्मत बदल देता है, बल्कि उसे एक दिव्य स्थान दिलाता है — ऐसा स्थान जो आज भी हर देवी प्रतिमा में दिखता है।

क्या ऐसा सच में संभव है? कैसे एक हिंसक जानवर आध्यात्मिकता का प्रतीक बन गया?

ये सिर्फ एक कहानी नहीं... ये है एक ऐसा रहस्य जो बहुत कम लोग जानते हैं — लेकिन जो भारतीय संस्कृति की गहराई को दर्शाता है।

👉 जानिए पूरी कथा — "शेर कैसे बना माँ पार्वती का वाहन?" — सिर्फ Factspin360 यूट्यूब चैनल पर!

📲 ऐसे ही अद्भुत और अल्पज्ञात तथ्यों के लिए Factspin360 को सब्सक्राइब करना न भूलें — क्योंकि हर तथ्य के पीछे छुपा है एक चमत्कार!

[mplanetleaf]

గరుడ పురాణం ప్రకారం మనిషి జన్మ! జీవిత సత్యాలు | Garuda Puranam in Telugu...

[draxofoy]

i haven't posted anything here omg kinda nervous... but here's zutara in traditional javanese wedding attire 🙇🏻‍♀️ commissioned this from my friend she's amazing 😖❗️

some facts about the attire! ☺️😙

The headwear these babies are wearing are called Blangkon and Cunduk Mentul, Blangkon is a traditional headwear worn by men usually in Central Javanese and Yogyakarta (especially the one Zuko is wearing!) The word Blangkon itself is said to came from the word 'blanco' referring to the blank cloth used to make the headwear, tho there are soo many theories about the origin of both the headwear and the name itself cause sadly there aren't many records about it :(

The headwear is also used to represent wisdom and class because back then, these were used to differentiate the nobilities from the commoners (wr don't really do that anymore dw). The Javanese people believe that your hair, head, and face are the most important and treasured parts of your body, so these Blangkon are used to protect those parts. We also believe that Blangkon represent self-control, since Javanese men tend to keep their hair long back then and keep them loose when they're in a state of 'conflict' such as battles or war, representing uncontrollable flow of emotions so keeping their hair up and covered is seen as an act of self control.

As for the Cunduk Mentul, these pretty headpieces are typically worn by brides on their wedding day! They represent 'the sun that shines over the universe' and also... well, it depends on the number of the pieces they use, usually it's 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9, each representing a different value. 1 is used as a symbol of God's singularity, usually worn by muslim brides, 3 is for the Trimurti or the Trinity of Hindu Gods that deeply rooted in Javanese values, 5 is for the five pillars of Islam, 7 symbolizes 'help' or 'aid'- the Javanese believe that 7 is a lucky number since 7 is 'pitu' in Javanese, so, yeah, 'pitu' for 'pitulungan' or help and aid in Javanese language. 9 represent the Nine Saints/Wali Sanga, 9 saints that have a major impact on the growth of Islam in the island of Java.

Their clothing respectively are called Beskap and Kebaya 🤩 Beskap is more of a modern version of Javenese traditional clothing, for it was adopted from the modern suits worn by the Deutsch during the colonization era. The word Beskap came from the word 'beschaafd', meaning civilized (oh!)

Kebaya, on the other hand, has no specific area origin cause each region has their own styles and versions! The one Katara is wearing is a Central Java Kebaya tho, famous for the velvety fabric and dark colors along with the gold motifs. The history of 'modern' Kebaya itself started in the 15th century when Dutch first settled in Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia!) The clothing had taken inspirations from different cultures (like Chinese and Indian) along the way since Indonesia was (kinda still is!) One of the centers of trade routes for both Hindia and Pacific Oceans.

Damn I'm getting tired of writing this, but next 😭 is Kain Jarik! A piece of fabric with Batik motives wrapped around the legs :))) these babies have RANGE, like they could be used daily, for traditional dance attire, sacred rituals, weddings, even used in funerals 😀 they're usually 2 to 3 meters in length and more variations in width, easy to customize! They also usually have dark colors like dark brown and light brown motives, but i asked my friend to draw them with red and blue and gold motives cause why not 😝

Anyways I think i went a little overboard cause my fingers are hurting from typing this lol.

[nipsyyy]

I hate how patriarchy has even ruined Hindu mythology so specifically to benefit the men.The casual jokes on family WhatsApp groups about how Mahabharat and Ramayan, the worst wars of all time, were fought because of a woman and how women bring ruin everywhere they go,as if they are the root cause of all suffering. Where in fact the women were LITERALLY the victims, one was publicly humiliated, the other kidnapped.The men have misinterpreted the stories so badly that it physically pains me, god went to war not because of women, they went to war FOR them.Because what happened to the women was WRONG,they weren’t to blame, the ones who wronged them were.

I also see a major polarisation in how a huge section of Hindus treat Sita and Draupadi, and it reminds me of the quote “a woman has to do everything right for her to be a victim and a man has to do everything wrong for him to be a culprit.”It breaks my heart at the number of times I’ve heard men say “well Draupadi shouldn’t have disrespected him,aise toh hona hi tha na fir”,first and foremost,that’s an inaccurate narrative promoted by wrong retellings who need to constantly find a reason to blame the victim,she did no such thing and you can find pretty much evidence for it everywhere.But even if she had, it does NOT make it okay for them to publicly disrobe her.This is one more example of the victim blaming culture that I see deep ingrained in the minds of so many of these dumbfuck Hindus who have absolutely no respect for their culture.So next time don’t go to ram mandirs and krishna mandirs if you can’t even truly understand and respect the relevance behind their existence.

[dazaicoree]

White liberturds, as always feeling the need to be politically correct, have started their disgusting propaganda against India, govt and Hindus.

All they see is India attacked Pakistan.

What they don't see-

Pakistan since 1956 has been carrying out terrorist attacks killing innocent civillians. India has faced over 40 major attacks since then.

The most recent one being in Pahalgam.

Instead of asking why Pakistan regularly sends terrorist here, you have the audacity to compare this situation to I/P issue and drag India for simply retaliating. DESPITE the fact that India ONLY targeted terrorist hideouts and the VERY next day pakistan targeted schools and civillians.

You have problem with the so called "Indian Fascist Hindootva" Government bc you live in a fcking cunts ecochamber who have absolutely no media literacy and refuse to read actual history. You're so deep in ts that you refuse to acknowledge that people from India were only killed for not being Moslems and that Islamic colonialism is fcking real.

Our temples were destroyed in Kashmir, our people were told either to convert, leave or die. An entire genocide was carried out and the world was fcking silent.

But god forbid after decades of attack we finally retaliate and "torchbearers of humanity" are hear to teach us about war and bloodshed.

Terrorist sympathisers can save their tears, this is just the beginning.

[burningcheese-merchant]

Merchant! Please, rant to us about the mythological inspirations of the BurningCheese!

The fact that I came home and sat down and wrote out a detailed post for this ask... The fact that I did research into Hindu mythology for BurningCheese inspo in the first place... (sidenote: Hinduism is legitimately interesting, I had genuine fun learning about it even outside of cringe shipping bs)

THE FACT THAT THERE'S ACTUAL SHIT TO WORK WITH...

Buckle up, buckaroos lol (I'll put it under a cut in case it turns out really long)

Do note that I am not a religious scholar nor a follower of Hinduism, and I didn't do a suuuuuuuper deep dive. I spent a few hours reading different articles/sources and looking at some paintings and the like. Whatever I say is what I derived from my own personal understanding (and my old notes), which may well be flawed!

Let's start with the obvious.

Burning Spice is directly inspired by Shiva, Hindu god of destruction. Important note: in the actual religion, Shiva is not malevolent; the destruction he brings is considered a necessary part of life and the foundation of cosmic balance. He can be temperamental and violent, yes, but he is by and large a pretty decent guy and performs his duty in the cycle of life and death without complaint (obviously, this is where Spice deviates lol)

His hair is a fucking pitch black jungle. Matted af. Just like Burning Spice's. I just felt like saying that lmao (they both look like shit, Shiva wears animal skins and dead people's ashes and doesn't brush his damn hair. HE WENT TO HIS OWN WEDDING LOOKING LIKE THAT! (Until Parvati told him to please freshen up and he went "yes dear, anything for you <3" and manifested fancy groom attire))

Now let's poke our heads into the rabbit hole.

Parvati is Shiva's wife, whom he adores and is wholly devoted to (and vice versa).

She is revered as a life-giver. A goddess of creation, love, devotion, and... ABUNDANCE.

Parvati has many forms. Her original form is that of a beautiful woman wearing a red sari, with a GOLDEN HEADDRESS/HEADBAND and LOTS OF GOLD JEWELRY AND PRECIOUS STONES, WHICH SHE LOVES.

She's very beloved by pretty much everyone. She's elegant, vivacious, and revered as a doting wife and mother

I'm not finished.

One of Parvati's forms is that of a fierce warrior woman called Durga. She is powerful, confident, and no less beautiful than her original self

She has many arms, and a sacred weapon in each one. One of which is a GOLDEN SPEAR.

Durga is regarded as a goddess of protection, war and destruction - but not the malevolent sort. She fights and destroys the forces of evil, for the sake of others'; the destruction she brings is in the name of protecting and liberating innocents, and empowering creation

One of her epithets is Mahamoha, which means "great delusion" - and in this context, the delusion/ignorance derives from intense desire and attachment

Now, with all of that said, I'm gonna tell you guys a story.

Shiva's first wife was Sati, daughter of Daksha. Though they were madly in love, Daksha despised him and never approved of their relationship

The blood between them was so bad that Daksha declined to invite either of them to the yajna (VERY important ritual sacrifice) he was hosting. Against both social norms and Shiva's advice, Sati showed up anyway, which led to her father cruelly insulting her, her marriage and basically her whole fucking life in front of everybody

In protest of everyone's derision of her and the life she chose to live, she throws herself on the sacrificial fire and thus kills herself (extreme and unnecessary, I know lol). Shiva finds out and LOSES. HIS. SHIT. Shows up, goes on a rampage, hurts a bunch of people, beheads Daksha (whom he revives and pardons eventually)

In his grief, Shiva basically decides to retire from everything and seclude himself in the mountains, denouncing the world and everything in it and refusing to interact with anyone or anything

Sati ends up reincarnating as Parvati. She remembers exactly who she is/was, and made it her mission to return to Shiva's side and rekindle their relationship

Shiva doesn't buy that that's his beloved and rebuffs her. She doesn't give up. She tries over and over again to convince him and win his affection. She endures harsh weather without appropriate clothes, starvation, the faces of her own fears and doubts, endlessly; all while continuously performing acts of religious penance/piety. So unwavering is she in her strength and devotion that Shiva eventually, finally realizes that that really is the woman he loved and lost

They reunite and remarry quickly (and it was a big blowout event, too! Very important, there are even several sculptures depicting it!) and they live happily ever after

And a short summary of their union:

Shiva and Parvati are considered complementary forces; one without the other does not make sense and simply cannot be. Parvati is the warm, life-affirming, creative force that balances Shiva's cold, world-denying, destructive one. She's portrayed as having lured Shiva away from his lonely, ascetic lifestyle and showed him the value of life, love and marriage. They're almost always depicted together in artworks, as they're admired/adored not only for their loving partnership, but for the way they uphold cosmic order together. They are life and death. Attachment and detachment. ABUNDANCE AND DESTRUCTION.

It's commonly stated that Parvati is the outright source of Shiva's power. His shakti (not super sure how to explain what this is, it's not very simple. It's... ultimate cosmic energy, basically). She encourages and energizes him. Without her, he is incomplete

They have two kids :P two sons, Ganesha and Kartikeya. (I DID NOT KNOW THIS when I first made up the fankids, I just happened to guess the correct number of kids to give them lol. I thus decided to partially base Pepper Jack on Ganesha and Matar Paneer on Kartikeya, enjoy those links where I explain properly haha (and you can look through their tags to see more abt them if you want))

They also jointly represent harmony between sexes. Shiva is the male aspect, Parvati is the female

They also jointly symbolize love, devotion and sexuality and are said to have a lot of sex (and are also often depicted having sex)

Let me walk you guys through it all one more time. A god who, in his endless rage and grief, chose to forsake the world and all within it, for he believed he had nothing left to value from it...

Who is temperamental, violent, and is not above lashing out at others when he feels wronged... who can and will destroy everything in his path... (You don't need screenshot evidence of this but whatever lol)

Who will lash out at others if they dare to lay their hands on his counterpart, or otherwise keep him away from her...

... And his counterpart, a beautiful, vibrant, benevolent goddess who can take many different forms, including that of an elegant queen adorned with gold and gems, and a great, fearless warrior... (You notice how there's some red in her Soul Jam now? There's that bit of Destruction, used to defend others...)

Who's known and loved for the boundless love and warmth and charity she bestows upon one and all...

Who's known as a creator, a life-giver; who so cherishes the world and what she makes that she allows herself to descend into madness in pursuit of preserving it all... Whose desire and attachment led to ignorance and delusion...

Who, in stubborn defiance of the cruelties she faced, chose to remove herself from them and from the world itself for a time, only to eventually return with her identity and life's purpose still intact, and livelier than ever...

Who takes the form of a hero, a protector of the innocent, a warrior who battles against evil and seeks to vanquish oppression and tyranny...

And together, she and he make up the foundation of the world. The threads with which the great tapestry of the universe is woven. Life and death. Attachment and love for the world, and detachment from and contempt for it. A woman dressed in the finest garments and jewelry, and a man who embodies the unforgiving wilderness in which he sequesters himself.

Abundance and Destruction.

In conclusion: Burning Spice and Golden Cheese are literally Shiva and Parvati, they are husband and wife, they NEED each other and are meant to be together, together they create and maintain the balance of life and the universe, we must all band together and demand that Devsisters release the cutscene that shows their wedding, they are the bride and the ugly ass groom fr fr

[gigislandofrandom]

I am fully aware that I may lose respect from some Catholics here on Tumblr for saying this, but I honestly do not care. I’m enraged that I even have to say this, but I’m going to anyway.

Lately, I’ve been seeing SO many Catholics on social media talking about how bad the Jews are, how they’re sinners for not turning to Jesus, and all those other sickening diatribes. So if you’re one of these people, I have a message for you.

You are also a sinner. I am also a sinner. Your neighbor is also a sinner. Your parish priest is also a sinner. Your husbands, wives, and parents are also sinners. Your bishop is a sinner. Even the Holy Father, Pope Francis himself, is a sinner.

So why, then, are the sins of the Jews suddenly so much more severe than yours or mine? And don’t come at me with all that, “the Jews killed Jesus” tripe. The Sanhedrin didn’t even have the authority to carry out the death sentence. What do you think Pilate was there for?

So, again, why are the sins of the Jews so much worse than ours, in the minds of my fellow so-called “Catholics?” I’ll tell you why. It’s because, to them, of the simple fact that the Jews are Jews, and they have the audacity to exist with us in the world. That is called discrimination, bigotry, and racism, and none of those things have any place in Holy Mother Church.

This entire discourse is rooted in hate. And hate does not come from God. It comes from SATAN. And I will have NOTHING to do with Satanic hatred of Jews, or of any group.

Because Jesus didn’t only die for Christians. He died for Muslims. He died for Hindus. He died for Buddhists. He died for Republicans. He died for Democrats. He died for black people. He died for Hispanic people. He died for Asian people. He died for African people. He died for straight people. He died for gay people. He died for trans people.

He died for us all. And yes, He died even for the Jews.

Repent, take up your cross, and believe the good news.

+JMJ+

[timetravellingkitty]

honestly what really gets me is that it's a reaction to people focusing on rafah it's not even genuine they're just islamophobic idiots they have literally nothing else going for them

https://www.instagram.com/p/C7hHA4GJ2c3/

This is wild. I genuinely do not know what to say. Dismissing the genocide, not saying a word about how indian muslims are treated, what the hell.

I saw this and it is so bloody annoying. I will never stop bitching about how sanghis prop up minority hindus for their own benefit and to make it about themselves (and not the minorities :/) anyways sanghis are so stupid always with the whataboutism

[factspin360]

"क्या हम एक नकली ब्रह्मांड में जी रहे हैं?"

एक ऐसा सिद्धां�� है जो आपकी सोच को पूरी तरह हिला कर रख देगा।

कहा जाता है कि अगर इंसान कभी जान जाए कि ब्रह्मांड असल में क्यों अस्तित्व में है — तो वह पल भर में नष्ट हो जाएगा... और उसकी जगह ............... जानिए इस थ्योरी के पीछे की गहराई और रहस्य, सिर्फ हमारे यूट्यूब चैनल Factspin360 पर!

👉 चैनल Factspin360 को अभी सब्सक्राइब करें और ऐसे ही अनसुलझे रहस्यों की गहराई में उतरें।

[knowledge-from-the-abyss]

Godspousal and Spirit Family

Introduction and the History of Godspousal

First off, I would like to highly recommend the book Spirit Marriage by Megan Rose; this book is a fantastic resource on godspousal that shows both historical and interviewed accounts of godspousal. Another term for godspousal is spirit marriage; this term is a broader term that covers more than just ‘gods’ in spousal. Another word that is commonly used to describe this is spiritspousal (generally used to describe a spousal relationship with non-deity entities). For this post, I am going to use the term spirit marriage or spousal, since these terms describe this more broadly. (I do generally use the term godspousal as a catch all term, however for this post, I want to use spirit marriage or just generally ‘spousal’ to avoid confusion). 

As this book describes, spirit marriage is not a new-age phenomenon, it can actually be found pretty much as far back as written history exists; there may be other instances where oral records had evidence of spirit marriage as well, but seeing as oral tradition may or may not be recorded, there isn’t much evidence of this. 

Different Types of Spirit Marriage

There are a few different types of spirit marriage, which I will describe here. 

Devotional- this type of spirit marriage usually involves the person devoting themselves almost fully to one or more deities. A lot of their craft may revolve around these deities, and there may be special things they do for and with these deities they are devotionally married to. 

Platonic- this generally involves a closer relationship with the deity, it can also go alongside devotional spousal. This is a relationship where the deity and the person may do things such as cuddle, hug, or even kiss. This relationship often involves the person relying on the deity/deities for emotional support or comfort when they are needing it. 

Romantic- this type of spousal is the most common type of spirit marriage, and the one that most generally is referred to when someone is talking about godspousal. Being romantically spoused to a deity/deities often involves a long process that can take years. Generally, romantic spousal includes a courting phase that can last months or even years. During this time period, the practitioner and deity/deities are getting to know each other. Some of the ways that spouses may get to know their deity/deities is by going on dates with them, getting to know them via meditation, and communicating with them through divination, clairsenses, and channeling. 

Familial/parental- this type of spousal is similar (and again can also involve) platonic and devotional spousal. The deity/deities will often take on a more parental or familial role within the person's life. The practitioner may lean on the deity for emotional support and comfort. The deity takes on a very parental, sibling or possibly uncle/aunt type role, depending on what the practitioner is needing. The practitioner may go to the deity for advice or otherwise treat them as a family member. The deity, in turn, will view the practitioner as one of their own family. 

How old do I have to be to be a godspouse? 

Some of the information I’m including in this section is going to be a bit controversial, however there are historical facts that I am going to go through here that I feel are important (and interesting). 

It is my belief that for romantic spirit marriage, a person should wait until they are at least 18 before even considering it. However, historically, there are records of romantic spirit spousal happening to people (specifically girls) as young as 12. This is mostly seen in Hindu culture (and is covered in the Spirit Marriage book mentioned above). Instead of forcing these young girls to be in an arranged marriage, these girls would be spiritually spoused to Shiva, or sometimes Shiva’s son, until they were older. 

The main reason, in my belief, that someone should not consider spirit marriage until they are older is not due to their age; deities do not hold the same human standards and morality as we do, they do not follow our laws and rules. Instead, this has more to do with maturity. Spirit marriage is a lifelong commitment and a very deep bond that you share. It is not something that someone does on a whim. Just like a human marriage, it takes years to get to know the entities involved, to bond with them, and to decide if ultimately you want them to be around you the rest of your life. Spirit marriage involves making vows, just like a human marriage, that you must uphold and keep. Sometimes, depending on the culture, the deity may even require the practitioner to be an open channel for them; allowing the deity to channel through them whenever the deity wishes, and even possibly allowing the deity to live permanently in the person's body so that they may do this. All of this requires someone to have the maturity to understand the depth and meaningfulness of this type of relationship; something that most teenagers (and even some people who are in their early 20s) will not truly understand. While divorce is sometimes possible, it would be similar to a human divorce, with many years of fighting and debating to decide if that is truly the best course of action for both parties. Divorce when it comes to spirit marriage is incredibly rare (the Spirit Marriage book actually does mention this as well). 

Can I be spoused to multiple deities? 

This question has already been alluded to, but yes, you can have multiple deities as spouses. In the book Spirit Marriage, there is a person who has about 7+ spouses that are listed. I personally am also spoused to multiple deities; some of the deities I am spoused to have been spousing me for many many lifetimes as well, and our spousals have continued into this lifetime. 

How do spouses interact with their deities/entities? 

As with some of the other posts I made, there are multiple ways to communicate with deities/entities. Divination is a very common way to do this, as well as using the clairsenses. Channeling is another very common way that a lot of spouses end up communicating. Interactions such as going on dates can often happen in the astral realm, the realm where non-corporeal entities reside. Some people will also go out on dates in the physical world, going to a restaurant or other places they enjoy and allowing their deity/entity spouses to accompany them. 

How do I know if a deity/entity wants spousal? 

Generally there will be very clear signs when a deity/entity is wanting spousal. You may even be able to feel it in the energy they give off; they may give off a flirtatious vibe (although there are some deities/entities that have a very flirtatious energy in general, so please make sure you are using discernment and doing divination to confirm that they genuinely do want spousal). Other ways they may show you are by being around you constantly; they may outright tell you they want spousal (if you’re able to hear them). Some deities will send practitioners dreams about marriage or otherwise romantically-inclined dreams to signal they are wanting spousal. Some deities may mention it while the practitioner is doing divination with them. 

Is sex involved with romantic spirit marriage? 

Yes, sex can be (but is not always) a part of romantic spirit marriage. Again, similar to the above question about interacting with spouses, this often happens in the astral realm. This can also happen through self-pleasure. Spiritual pregnancies and spiritual children can also be a result of this; energy from the deities/entities as well as the practitioner's energies can go into making a spiritual child (or children). Multiple deities can also be involved in the creation of these children. With me and my wife, since we are spoused to some of the same deities, sometimes both our energies go into our spiritual children as well. In these situations, either the deity or the practitioner can become spiritually pregnant, and there may even be physical symptoms of pregnancy involved as well if it is the practitioner who gets pregnant. Even masculine deities can get pregnant (deities are very genderfluid in nature). 

How do you balance spirit marriage with physical relationships? 

This is going to be individual to each practitioner and their spouse(s). Some deities/entities will allow someone to have a human partner or human relationships, while others will forbid a human relationship. This is also something that needs to be discussed with your spirit spouses, as some people will be ok with never having a physical relationship, while with others it is something they will require in their human lifetime. 

For me personally, I got incredibly lucky in that my wife is also spoused to many of the same deities I am, so our relationship and spousals often coincide with each other very well. 

What is a spirit family? 

Spirit family can describe several things which I will go through here. Spirit family can refer to the human people who your soul tends to reincarnate with and who your soul was made alongside. This can include people such as soulmates, twin flames, etc. 

Spirit family can also refer to the actual deities/entities that helped create your soul (this can also be referred to as soul family); many people have several deities/entities that would consider themselves to be parental figures (for me, I have several soul moms and dads). The person may also have deities/entities that are brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, and grandparents. Many times these deities/entities will have influence over the person’s personality and behavior (from what I’ve seen, a lot of times the soul parents will have the most influence. For me, Loki is one of my soul dads and he has influenced my personality greatly this lifetime. I'm incredibly chaotic, but also incredibly empathetic just like him). 

Spirit family can also refer to deities/entities that have adopted you as one of their own in past lives (or even in this current one). One of my spirit mothers, Yemoja, adopted me from a past life and still considers me to be her family (she takes on a motherly role for me). 

Can I be spoused to someone who is also part of my spirit family? 

Again this is another controversial question, but again I would like to point out that deities and other entities do NOT follow human laws and standards. They do not see things the same way we do. So the answer to this question, from my perspective, is a resounding YES. Loki is one of my soul fathers, and he is also the main deity I am spoused to. While in this lifetime he did start out as a father figure to me, and I grew up feeling that he was more of a dad than any other father-figures in my life, our relationship evolved and grew. As I started to get older (around when I was 18-19) I no longer needed him to act as a father figure to me. Our relationship evolved, and we eventually became platonically spoused when I was around 20. After that, our relationship continued to evolve, and at around 22 I accepted that he wanted to change our spousal once again to a romantic spousal. 

As for human relationships, I do want to go into more detail about soulmates, twin flames and other such terms. There are a lot of huge misconceptions about these concepts due to the media we have (social media, tv shows, movies etc). I want to go through the terms soulmates and twin flames, and cover the misconceptions many people have about these relationships. 

Soulmates

Soulmates are often a term that, in media, describe your ‘one true love’ that you are destined to be with. In reality, soulmates are people who were created alongside you and who often go through similar life experiences; you may be able to relate to them very deeply about similar experiences you have shared during your life. Most people have multiple soulmates, and not everyone will always be in a romantic relationship with their soulmates. I have encountered instances where someones pet, their mom, their dad, their siblings or even their best friends are their soulmates. I see many sibling relationships where this is the case in fact, where two siblings will be incredibly close, best friends, and will always be loyal to each other no matter what. These ‘ride or die’ sibling relationships can sometimes indicate that these two people are in fact soul mates. While some soulmate relationships are definitely meant to be romantic, that’s definitely not always the case. 

Twin Flames

Twin flame is another term that is often misunderstood or misused; some people use soulmates and twinflames interchangeably, however from my experience, they are two different categories of soul bonds. From my experience, a twin flame is someone who shares a part of another persons soul; twin flames often mirror each other in many ways, although unlike how soulmates may mirror each other in experiences, this tends to be more mirrored interests as well. As with soulmate relationships, I believe someone can have multiple twin flames, and that not all twin flame relationships are purely romantic. 

Karmic

The last soul bond relationship I want to cover is karmic relationships. These relationships can form over time from any type of soul connection someone may have with another person. These relationships are toxic and unhealthy; a lot of times the two people in the relationship will feed off each others negativity or bounce the negativity back and forth. Again, as with other soul connections, these relationships are not just romantic. These karmic relationships also often require cord cuttings in order to sever the bond between the two people so that they can grow and learn apart from each other. 

As usual, I would like to thank @astralscraft for helping me with this post! I'm sure that this is not all the information I can give about godspousal; feel free to inbox or message me if you have questions!

[thebisexualwreckoning]

Armand's backstory and how I, your local bengali vampire fucker and armand's 24/7 defence lawyer, am going to make him bengali and muslim while still keeping it showcannon accurate

(Note: this is not meant to be taken seriously and is very much just written because I was bored and had time on my hands and if i have gotten anything wrong please correct me)

One thing that always annoyed me about IWTV showcannon is the fact that armand pre-marius days were either left majorly unexplored or made absolutely no sense to the time period. Which, I find pretty surprising considering the care and sensitivity Louis' new backstory was handled with by the same creators and show writers.

We know 3 things about Armand and who he is as a character in regards to his ethnicity:

His birth is Arun

He is Muslim

And that he was taken from Delhi somewhere around the early 15th century

For the purposes of this essay, we are going to assume all of this is true and not something Armand made up to get sympathy from both Louis and the audience.

Armand's birth name being Arun, while incredibly lazy, does make his identity as a bengali man much easier to confirm. My own full blooded formerly bangladeshi grandfather has the name Arun and Arun continues to be an incredibly popular bengali name for boys to this day. The problem arises when it comes to his religion.

The thing about the name Arun is that it's an incredibly *Hindu* first name, given that it is quite literally one of the names for the Hindu god of the sun (Source: I'm Hindu and confirmed with my mom who is sitting beside me scrolling on facebook). While muslim people can have the name Arun, given that Bengal was still an independent kingdom around the time which Armand would have been born in, his parents being hindu would have been likely.

However, around a similar time, the Mughals were setting up shop in, you guessed it, delhi and the surrounding region. Now, my proposal is as such: During the same time period, many parents sold their children to zamindars (land owners) for money or food or land. Young Arun's parents did the same thing. Now, this zamindar either sells armand to someone else immediately after who takes him delhi or takes young arun to delhi himself where he either sets up shop with him or once again sells arun to someone else.

Seperated from his parents and newly immigrated indenture (because yes, mughal era punjab and bengal were different kingdoms and as such this would count as immigration) to a kingdom which had just gone through a major political upheaval and had a new ruler forcibly converting people to islam, arun, who has no ties to hinduism given that a. he is a child and b. his hindu parents very much just sold him into slavery, converts to islam as well as a safety tactic.

Thus child arun grows into teen arun and he has never known anything of his life before delhi but those first few years that he spent in bengal and has definitely had no contact with hinduism and has been a devout muslim for the vast majority of his life. Here is where things get a bit iffy. There are two ways how the rest of this can now go.

Route no. 1, armand's indenture is sold to the portuguese, the portuguese take him to europe, marius buys him, everything proceeds as it must.

Route no. 2, the overly complicated, book and show canon accurate version which requires some significant suspension of disbelief and handwaving to accomplish but i like it so i'm still writing down this crack theory. Also we're doing this in dot points now because i'm getting tired:

We know armand speaks crimean because daniel mentions it after he catches fake rashid praying

crimea was part of the ottoman empire during this time period.

the ottoman empire had relatively friendly relations with the mughals because they were afraid of babur.

crimean ottoman merchants buy armand's indenture

armand ends up in crimea

crimea and kievan rus, book armand's original homeland's complex relation means armand ends up in kievan rus.

Things proceed as they did in the books for how armand goes from kievan rus to under marius's hold

and that's all i have, this has been your local crack theorist on tonight's armand show. see you next time.

[burst-of-iridescent]

South Asian and Hindu Influences in ATLA (Part 3)

disclaimer: i was raised culturally and religiously hindu, and though i've tried to do my research for this post and pair it with my own cultural knowledge, i'm not an expert on hinduism by any means. should i mess up, please let me know.

please also be aware that many of the concepts discussed in this post overlap heavily with religions such as buddhism and jainism, which might have different interpretations and representations. as i'm not from those religions or cultures, i don't want to speak on them, but if anyone with that knowledge wishes to add on, please feel free.

Part 1 | Part 2

Avatar Day

katara, sokka and aang run across a village that despises the avatar and hold a yearly celebration burning giant effigies of past avatars. this seems to be inspired by the hindu festival of Vijayadashami, a celebration that marks the victory of the hero Rama over the demon Ravana in the epic Ramayana. effigies of Ravana, and other demons mentioned in the Ramayana, are built and set alight to celebrate their defeat and the triumph of good over evil.

this idea of destroying and condemning evil figures through consigning them to the flames is mirrored in the episode, though of course there is a dramatic irony in said evil figure being the avatar - a being of great power and divinity in the hindu tradition.

Ember Island jewelry

though the clothes that zuko, azula, ty lee and mai wear on ember island are predominantly taken from southeast asian countries like thailand and cambodia, there is some desi influence in the jewelry they wear - particularly azula's.

though perhaps not as ornate as desi jewelry usually is, the shape and style of azula's necklace is very similar to that of necklaces worn in south asia, especially at weddings. although it appears simple, it's likely that the necklace is made of pure gold, reflecting azula's status and wealth as princess of the fire nation.

the armband azula wears is also reminiscent of the bajuband, an armcuff worn around the biceps for religious festivities, or special occasions like weddings and parties.

again, you'll note that the version azula wears in the show is a lot more stripped down than typical indian jewelry would be, lacking the bejewelled, ornate designs that characterize desi ornaments.

i like to think this is azula's attempt at being an "average" teenager - dressing more simply (or so she thinks) to blend in with the others at the party. of course, the typical fire nation teenage girl probably wouldn't be wearing gold at all, let alone so much of it, and in fact most of the kids at the party seem to be wearing plain jewelry that look more like leather cords. it's a nice visual touch to confirm what the episode shows us: that azula isn't and doesn't know how to be a normal teenage girl, even when she tries.

Combustion Bending

the concept of combustion bending comes from the third eye of Shiva, one of the three gods in the Trimurti. where his counterparts Brahma and Vishnu are called the Creator and the Preserver respectively, Shiva is known as the Destroyer.

he is usually depicted with a crescent moon on his head, a serpent coiled about his neck, and most famously, his third eye in the centre of his forehead. the third eye is meant to represent shiva's innate power, knowledge and spiritual enlightenment, and is said to be able to see through any illusion or lie to reveal the truth. once opened, it releases a powerful blast of fire or energy (sources differ) that will annihilate any evil it detects.

the most famous myth associated with the opening of the third eye is that of Shiva and Kamadeva, the god of love and passion. according to the legend, Kamadeva tried to make Shiva fall for the goddess Parvati by shooting him with an arrow meant to arouse desire (yeah the hindus had cupid too) but Shiva saw through the trick and, in a fit of fury, reduced Kamadeva to ashes with his third eye.

the inextricable interlinking of destruction with falsehood and pretence reveals the true meaning of the third eye: it is not a tool for meaningless destruction, but a powerful spiritual force for truth, clarity and wisdom.

so naturally it makes perfect sense for the show to stick it on a no-name assassin with no other signifying characteristics or personality traits besides mindless killing. that definitely treats this important cultural and religious symbol with the respect it deserves!

speaking genuinely, the way atla depicts combustion bending goes against everything the third eye is actually meant to symbolise. Shiva didn't indiscriminately open his eye any time he was pissed off or wanted to kill someone; in fact, there are only three, maybe four instances of its use noted in legend, the most famous of which i have discussed above. the fact that the third eye was used so sparingly is testament to its incredible power - power that was meant to be wielded carefully and only when necessary.

for the creators to take this incredibly significant, symbolic aspect of hindu iconography and reduce it to nothing more than a "cool" bending tactic, stripping away all its actual spiritual meaning to turn it into a weapon of brute, random violence is... honestly more disrespectful than i can put into words.

Aang's Moral Dilemma

the scene where Aang goes to his past lives for advice on ozai has been confirmed by the creators to be inspired by the scripture of the Bhagavad Gita. this moment draws from a scene between Arjuna and the deity Krishna in the epic of the Mahabharata, which depicts the war for succession between two warring familial factions - the Kauravas and Pandavas.

in the referenced scene, Arjuna, one of the five Pandava brothers, experiences a moment of moral crisis before the Kurukshetra War. torn between his duty as a soldier and his lingering love for his family on the opposing side, he refuses to fight in the battle as he cannot bear the thought of inflicting violence upon those he once loved. Krishna, the Avatar of Lord Vishnu, and Arjuna's charioteer, rebukes Arjuna and tells him that his priority must always, first and foremost, be his dharma (duty). Krishna also explains that death is merely a release: it is not the physical body that matters, but the soul, and so Arjuna is not truly harming those he loved. heartened by this, Arjuna commences the battle with renewed commitment.

the influence here on aang's conversation with the past avatars is clear. like Arjuna, aang is caught between his personal desires and his duty; like Krishna, kyoshi, roku and kuruk advise him to put his desires second to his responsibility as the avatar. where the show differs is that aang is able to fulfil both his desires and his duty, while Arjuna must sublimate his personal wants to the greater good and what is expected of him as a warrior.

this, incidentally, is where i take issue with how the show handles aang's dilemma. from a dharmic perspective, the resolution of this moral conflict fails twofold: not only did aang fail to put his duty (killing ozai) before his own personal desire for non-violence and maintaining the sanctity of his beliefs, but the solution he did choose - energybending - likely caused ozai great spiritual damage, even if it spared him physical harm.

in hindu and dharmic traditions in general, the body is seen as merely a vessel to be discarded. it is the soul that persists through lifetimes, and the quality of one's spiritual actions that determine their next life. throughout the show, bending has always been inextricably linked with spirituality, and so the argument could well be made that - in accordance with dharmic beliefs - stripping ozai of his bending is much more cruel and harmful than merely killing him. for the writers to present energybending as a “humane” or “nonviolent” option that maintains aang’s moral purity is a fundamental misunderstanding of the basic tenets of hinduism and buddhism, both of which view the the non-material or spiritual self as more important than the physical body it inhabits.

ironically then, it is Arjuna who both fulfills his duty and protects his opponents from real harm, while aang accomplishes neither task. had the show stayed true to the moral conflict it was co-opting from the Gita, the real resolution would have been for aang to accept his dharma as a kshatriya (warrior) and do his duty, no matter the personal cost or sacrifice.

like with combustion bending, regrettably this is yet another instance of the writers being happy to cherry-pick "cool" concepts and ideas from hindu beliefs and myths, but failing to understand the true meaning of the lessons they were trying to impart.

though atla is an incredible show and was a hallmark for asian representation at the time it came out, i wish more people would recognize that it did fall incredibly short in many ways. it’s not too much to ask for desi characters to be more than lazy stereotypes, for important iconography be respected, and for the thought-provoking moral questions raised by scripture as ancient and rich as the Gita to be engaged with meaningfully rather than handwaved away in favour of a flashy, easy ending.

for a show that based so many of its fundamental concepts and ideas on hinduism, i think it’s fair to say that atla could and should have done better by the culture and religion to which it owed so much.

[dcdreamblog]

I saw a program on the history channel saying the Justice League is haunted by the ghost of some circus acrobat.

Now, I know the sort of thing the History Channel says only has a grain of truth at best these days (they still talk about ancient aliens building the pyramids when everybody who's cracked open an Egyptology textbook in the last several decades knows Egypt only had contact with Thanagarians in the vaguest sense of the word, and it happened in the early New Kingdom, over a millennium after Egypt's pyramid craze), but is there any truth to the Haunted By A Circus Guy thing?

I assume the whole "he's part of a curse placed on the League by The Joker" thing they theorized isn't true, but I'm curious what the real story is.

Ok, so, this is going to be a really weird conversation. It's going to require people be cool about a very often misunderstood religious sect from a very isolated part of the world. And people are going to have to be ok with that. Ok? Ok. Nanda Parbat, Nepal (I said we are leaving our conspiracy theories at the door, thank you) is host to a temple that is home to a very misunderstood Hindu-Buddhist Sect based around the philosophies and teachings of the ancient figure Rama Kushna. Most theological scholars believe her to be an VERY old syncretism between the Hindu god Rama and the female bodhisattva Tara. No one knows specifically when the temple was founded because records of it stretch back to at LEAST the 6th century AD. In that time it has become more and more mythologized to the point that you can now find woo-woo peddlers in California preaching the "Rama Kushna Philosophy" or some faff, the same kind of orientalist nonsense that they turn all of Hindu and Buddhist philosophy into without putting in any of the work. Now, that said, at least one American has been entered fully into their ranks. And it was a weird one.

(An image of famous circus acrobat Boston Brand moments before his violent death) Boston Brand was a well known circus acrobat, famous under his moniker of "The Deadman" due to his death defying stunts performed at lethal height without a net. He was considered well in the league of the Flying Graysons, even performing alongside them for the Haley Circus company. A short time after the Grayson's violent death Boston Brand too was killed during his act, this time even more violently by a bullet to the chest at the apex of his most dangerous trick. He almost instantly became the subject of endless sensationalized true crime but the interesting part is that images of The Deadman, in costume with his name attached began to be produced by the monks of Nanda Parbat, claiming Brand as one of their own. Save for the fact that Brand had never in his life been to Nepal, nor was he either a practicing Hindu nor a Buddhist, certainly not of such an esoteric sect. The explanation given by the monks is that Brand was chosen by Rama Kushna in the afterlife to become "He Who Intervenes", a spirit avatar empowered to act upon the mortal world to defend the innocent and serve as a silent guardian against all manner of dark spirits and occult nastiness. Now of course this was ludicrous...for a while, until the general occult community (the real parts of it) began to not deny it. Including the League's own magicians and magically aligned members. While nothing can be confirmed one way or the other given the nature of the information, the broadest benefit of the doubt seems to be that the monks are correct and Boston Brand acts as a wandering spirit among the mortal plane, using the identity of "The Deadman" to silently influence the course of events toward justice in some sort of cosmic sense. I certainly don't know how I feel about that information and I would not presume to tell you what to do with it either.

[mirror-and-mind]

quick and dirty theory about the Hebigami

I was wondering about how the Hebigami might dispatch its victims and contemplating the spiritual significance of snakes, and I remembered that the Hindu god Shiva wears a snake around his neck to symbolize his immunity to the snake's poison. I thought there might be a connection, given that Kon Kusu has a red tattoo encircling his neck, so I did some quick research.

I was curious when we first learned the name of this last mononoke, because in my (admittedly sketchy) research into snake youkai, I didn't remember finding anything like a "snake god." However, as it turns out, nāgas are prominent snake deities in Hinduism and Buddhism, "also known as dragons and water spirits." [2] I suspect that the water-dwelling snake god in this final movie is in fact a nāga, specifically one representing kundalini, a divine feminine energy conceptualized as a giant snake coiled around the Root Chakra. During spiritual awakening, this "snake" rises upward from the Root Chakra via the body's central energy channel, called sushumna.

Most interestingly, "When kundalini is awakened spontaneously or without guidance, it can lead to kundalini syndrome, which sometimes presents as psychosis." [1]

Without getting into other analogies for spiritual seeking in Karakasa, I'll just point out something else I noticed in this visual for Hebigami:

The water of the well is filled with lotuses, which, in both Hinduism and Buddhism, symbolize spiritual awakening.

Possible connections between kundalini and the Hebigami:

It's likely that the Hebigami, like kundalini, represents a divine feminine energy. Firstly, given its association with the well, this mononoke is almost certainly the goddess O-Mizu-sama. Secondly, obviously, this entire film trilogy centers around women, their passions, and their regrets, which create the mononoke. Thirdly, I've talked about the symbols of feminine power in the well and of course...

... the Giant Demon Sky Vagina, which appears again in Hinezumi and appears to act as a kind of dimensional portal for the mononoke.

In the Hebigami image, what looks like the scaly body of a snake appears along the walls of the well, encircling it. Given this imagery, the bottom of the well, deep underground, could symbolize the Root Chakra where kundalini waits. The rest of the well would then be the sushumna, the passage through which the Hebigami rises to begin wreaking mononoke mayhem.

While the kundalini serpent represents a spiritual power awakened during enlightenment, the denizens of the Ooku have no doubt been engaging in bad practice, and their kundalini has woken up cranky and vengeful. As for how it might take out its victims, well, the effects of kundalini syndrome sound pretty bad, and with a little creative license, they could no doubt prove fatal.

[autismaccord]

Peter Nureyev's perfume

Official art by Sharon Oh

Throughout the podcast, one of the biggest facets we hear about Peter Nureyev is his cologne (though probably just because Juno is so biased). It fills any room he so much as hovers near, and it lingers on everything. Juno mentions his smell so very often, it's hard not to associate Nureyev with The Smell when thinking about him. But what exactly is the smell? It took us until the final season to even know it was orchid, and was only otherwise described as "alien spices", and with Juno being a Mars native, this could mean anything. So as you can probably guess, I've been chewing on this one for a while. But I think I've finally got it.

The things we know: orchid, alien spices, the way it fills a room, and not much else. Right? But there is one thing we do know that's going to help us really narrow this down: Nureyev.

Despite his many faces and many roles, Peter Nureyev has a very distinct personality. We know that he takes Great care of himself, with his obsession with his youthfulness and appeal. He makes great use of his ability to dazzle his targets. If he's flashy, and exciting, and enticing, they won't notice what he's taken until it's too late. We also know that, while he likes to be enticing, he wants to blend in. What this says to me is designer perfume. Something classy, expensive, and alluring, but not quite unique enough to identify him with if you're in the kind of high class circles he's running cons in. Addicting, but untraceable.

The other thing is, Peter Nureyev is a very sentimental man. Home is something he holds so close to his heart, his history and his people are everything to him, and since one of the few things we know of the perfume is the flower from Saraswati is one of the most present elements, let's dig deeper into that. Take a look at Brahma and Saraswati. Likely, in addition to the orchids, Saraswati is going to smell just about as close as they can get to earth. So the scents we work with can be pretty grounded in earth scents, like fruit, like trees, like our spices, and centers in on the orchids. But I also want to pull something else in, the naming of these planets. Saraswati and Brahma are named after Hindu gods, and Brahma is often associated with the lotus flower. So having that as a note in there would be a nice touch

So, if I put all of this together, in my opinion, Peter Nureyev's perfume is Black Orchid by Tom Ford

I did in fact get a sample of this perfume recently (specifically for the purpose of deciding if this would be for him or not) and I think it's a fantastic match. I'll post a full review of it at some point, but this perfume really does scream Nureyev to me. It's a very pleasant orchid centered perfume, with a beautiful balance of spices in the background. Rich, bright, and addicting. Not to mention the way it easily fills a room. If you want to know how Peter Nureyev would smell, this one is without a doubt my recommendation

[letsgobarbs]

WHERE MY LORE STARTED

Thank you for the tag @almostfoxglove, this is a fun little thing @cuppajoel kickstarted.

How To Play: You make a lil moodboard of stuff that has inspired you, stayed with you (songs, shows, movies) and then you include them in the ppcu fandom by creating something (a moodboard, a drabble, a fic). Check out @cuppajoel's Marcus Acacius fic inspired by Monica and Richard from Friends.

You don't have to commit to anything big, it could just be a post about the stuff you love!!

Here's a few movies that stayed with me growing up:

All these movies are Hindi movies. The first English movie I ever watched was the last Harry Potter movie and safe to say i was UNIMPRESSED. Like what do you mean they just waved their sticks at each other and that was the climax??? get outta here.

These movies are the last golden era of Bollywood imo. Because we were on a real high here— love was the currency, it was something to aspire to. Movies explored love in all its forms, love was equated to devotion and worship. It was presented as a form of godliness in humans.

Then I grew up and got smacked in the fucking face just like the heroines in the movies by rising Hindu nationalism, sexism and misogyny. Where men being in love meant they could hit women because it was just a show of passion and possessiveness. And now movies are nothing more that revisionist action history flicks that seek to erase all presence of an entire minority group and overall being a Hindu nationalist mouthpiece and propaganda. Women in movies today don't have the AGENCY they used to unless it's specifically a female led film— but even then the plot is always somehow driven by a man 🥱🥱🥱.

Anywho. My love and appreciation for these 12 movies screamed under the cut:

Jodha Akbar

We're starting off SO strong. This movie informed my views on masculinity. Akbar was soft, warm, kind and it made him a better ruler AND lover. It was not a trait he was shamed for. As somebody who grew up in an abusive household, this movie was monumental when I realised that men apologised, they groveled when they were wrong. Most importantly, they cared about the women in their lives and valued them. I write the dialogues from this movie and it's songs into my fics.

3 Idiots

I carry a part of this movie with me, always. It's a comedy. But my god does it punch me in the feels. It's impacted how I see my education, success and career. It's also informed my opinion of how men should be— funny, kind, ingenious, uplifting.

Om Shanti Om

By all means, a comedy. A real insider comedy poking fun at everything Bollywood. And also chock full of love— familial love, platonic love, romantic love, self love. Men being soft, yearning, humble and devout lovers.

Chakde India

I cannot BEGIN to explain the impact this movie had on me. It was my introduction to female rage. Something in my brain clicked into place watching this. Like Oh. I loved this movie for having a woman be completely inappropriate, bitchy, ambitious, manipulative and still be one of the good guys— an integral part of a TEAM. This is also a movie I will show my children for a lesson in Islamophobia and patriotism. Both my parents lived through violent communal riots (in Mumbai and in Gujarat) and they always insisted I never discuss being Muslim in public. No religious talk. Ever. Avoid anybody who even talks about religion, in fact. And I never understood until this movie. It never occured to me that people would consider you a traitor to your own country based solely on your faith. Also Sharukh Khan looked INSANELY hot in this movie— this is where my daddy issues and taste for hot, older men started.

Veer Zaara

THERE IS A PATERN. THERE IS A PATTERN. And it's men being lovers. Like WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE HELD A VOW OF SILENCE FOR OVER TWO DECADES DESPITE BEING INNOCENT ONLY TO PROTECT A WOMAN'S DIGNITY? A woman he hadn't even kissed let alone touched. Nobody is doing it like this anymore for real. If there's one thing about me, I will always write the men in my fics to love on this level.

Munna Bhai (all the movies)

This was a comedy. And as all comedies are it was thought provoking. It took a character you could easily poke fun at— some low level goons— and wielded them as weapons against larger issues like corruption and societal expectations. Again, themes of men being silly in love. Men undertaking massive efforts to be with their beloved and to prove themselves worthy and capable of being a better person.

Jab We Met

Love as a major theme. I know Geet was a manic pixie dream girl type of character but it was my first time seeing a woman NOT be shamed for being chatty, gossipy, flighty, intrusive. Well, except for Aditya at first but only because they were enemies to lovers. They were THE bickering, bantering couple. And Aditya?? add this man to the list of lover boys. To escort the woman you love all the way to the man she loves all because you wanna see her happy. And then your heart breaking when she's NOT happy??? And that scene where Aditya admits that Geet saved his life just by being who she is and talking to him. His love for her saved him?!?!?!?! SIGN ME TF UP.

Chillar Party

Now you might ask why there's a bunch of kids in their underwear. But that's the plot. The kids protest on the streets wearing only underwear to protect their neighborhood street dog. It's such an innocent and funny story. And yet if you watch it as an adult, you realise these kids fought a corrupt politician, social apathy and widespread targetted misinformation. A movie I loved for it's community.

Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham

I put off watching this movie FOREVER. Because I didn't want to be a basic bitch. But I am, I am a basic bitch. A celebration of love and family. Also another bickering, bantering couple. Poo was iconic, I aspire to be her. And Anjali was iconic too, I wanna be her as well.

Tumhari Sullu

VIDYA BALAN the woman of my dreams, the queen of my heart. Any movie about a middle-aged/older woman breaking away from her cookie-cutter life and societal expectations to snatch her own opportunity?? Inject that shit straight into my veins. Sullu was so cute, adorable and endearing. Her husband loved her and supported her. There was a moment where his frustrations and job got in the way of that but he was always batting on her side.

Lagaan

This was an epic alright. And about community first and foremost. I quote this movie as a meme all the time. But I loved every character in this movie. And the love in this one was good too. They almost tricked us there by pairing the hero with the white girl. But it was the "it's always been you" trope.

English Vinglish

As I've said before, any movie about a middle-aged/older woman breaking away from her cookie-cutter life and societal expectations to snatch her own opportunity?? Inject that shit straight into my veins. I wanna be in my 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and I wanna be Shashi and Sullu.

I won't even go into the honourable mentions but A Wednesday? Rang de Basanti? Taare Zameen Par? 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 so many more

A full pressure tag to a few other desi babes ik on here bc i don't wanna be brown alone: @papurgaatika @damneddamsy @bluemusickid @clubsoft

Also my lovelies: @probablyreadinsmut @evolnoomym @salingers @iknowisoundcrazy @joeloverture @romanarose @myownwholewildworld @ohhoneypascal @mushgloomz @kedsandtubesocks @baronessvonglitter @guiltyasdave @ozarkthedog @maiamore