#i might as well tag it! without the surrounding context i'd just be posting a carousel horse!

[non-plutonian-druid]

hear me out; delores as one of those carousel horses.

hmm. i'm not mad at it

[ID: a drawing of Delores as a carousel horse (or rather, carousel centaur) instead of a mannequin. Her hair is broken off, as well as her arm and one of her legs. Her horse part is red and she has a curly yellow tail. Her saddle and top (which resembles the bodice of a fancy dress, without the dress) are both molded on, and are made up of matching pink, blue, green, gold, and cloudy white. The shading and highlight colors are very bright and chaotic, and the line art has been drawn over by the colors in places. End ID]

It was interesting to draw not just a simplified horse, but someone else's simplification of a horse. Those are different shapes than I do! Also, a note on Delores' hair: she's bald in the show because of course she is, it's pretty common for mannequins to be bald, but why would a carousel statue lady be bald? They're not gonna put a wig on those, the hair would be molded on. So I drew her as having had hair at some point, but broken off by now

[starryalpacasstuff]

Queer Indian Media: A Compilation

A couple of days ago, @impala124 sent @lurkingshan an ask about the lack of discussion about Queer Indian Media in fandom spaces. I wrote about it here, @neuroticbookworm here, and @waitmyturtles here (both of them have excellent points, I highly recommend you read their posts!). It's become quite apparent that people are willing to watch and engage in discourse about queer Indian media, it's just that the lack of popularity and accessibility makes it harder for people to start. So, I've decided to make a list tracking all of the queer Indian media I know of, and hopefully also any meta/discourse about it, which is an idea I've had floating in my head for months now.

This list is by no means comprehensive, so if you have recs, send them my way! Text me on DM, send an ask, tag me in your posts, whatever. And though it's not possible for me to watch everything on the list, I will be slowly going through as many of these as I can and writing about them, as well as hopefully finding more stuff and easier to access versions for the ones that are harder to access right now. This post is going to be a slow work in progress, but I'm hoping to update it regularly. So, if you'd like me to keep you updated, let me know through the tags/replies and I will tag you in future posts!

I've tagged the people who've recommended certain shows alongside each show. Everything on here is available online. The hyperlinked titles lead you to the media itself, meaning that it's available for free online with subtitles. Other details will be mentioned separately.

Disclaimer: The media I have watched/read have recommendation ratings (which will not always reflect my enjoyment of something, rather are based on how much I'd recommend it). While I did lightly screen everything on here, the criteria was 'has a trailer or otherwise showing queerness to be a central theme in the story' and 'is available online', so take that into account if you decide to pick something up, and definitely watch trailers and/or skim the wikipedia pages beforehand.

Movies

Fire | English | @neuroticbookworm 

Recommendation: 9/10 A 1996 movie surrounding a lesbian couple packed with commentary on religion, class, purity culture and more. Quick Pitch + Historical Context

Kapoor & Sons | Hindi | @neuroticbookworm

Available on Netflix, Prime, and paid on Youtube and Apple TV

Kaathal-The Core | Malayalam | @neuroticbookworm 

Officially on Prime, also available grey without subtitles

Meta by @ineffable-opinions

Super Deluxe | Tamil | @neuroticbookworm 

Officially on a paid streaming service called aha, grey on youtube

Dear Dad | Hindi | @neuroticbookworm 

This is grey on youtube without subtitles, available officially on Disney Hotstar and Amazon Prime

Recommendation: 7.75 Follows a father and a son on a road trip, during which the son accidentally learns that his father is gay. The son struggles with reconciling with the new information, leading to conflict.

Geeli Puchi (Ajeeb Dastaans) | Hindi | @blorbingqls @neuroticbookworm 

Available on Netflix

Cobalt Blue | Hindi | @blorbingqls

Officially on Netflix, also available grey without subtitles

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga | Hindi | @fallsouthwinter @usertoxicyaoi @neuroticbookworm

Available officially on Netflix, but can also be found grey in two parts without subtitles

Recommendation: 8.5/10 What seems like a typical bollywood movie about a man falling in love with a girl who's family opposes their marriage takes a turn halfway through when it is revealed that the girl has a secret girlfriend. The protagonist then resolves to help the pair by convincing the family to accept them.

Chitrangada: The Crowning Wish | Bengali | @silverquillsideas @neuroticbookworm 

I believe it's available on prime, but you might need to do some digging. Also available grey on youtube without subtitles (the movie is in part Bengali, part English)

Shubh Mangal Zyada Savdhan | Hindi | @silverquillsideas @twig-tea @neuroticbookworm

Officially on Amazon, grey on youtube without subtitles

Maja Ma | Hindi | @flyingrosebeetle @silverquillsideas 

Available on Amazon Prime

Badhaai Do | Hindi

Officially on Netflix, available grey on youtube without subtitles

Loev | Hindi

Available on youtube with Spanish (I think?) subtitles

Margarita With A Straw | Hindi

I believe this is a cut version, it is officially on Netflix which is likely the uncut version

Recommendation: 9/10 A self-discovery story about an Indian woman named Laila with cerebral palsy with great rep and beautiful execution. Meta by @wen-kexing-apologist

Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui | Hindi | anon

Available grey without subtitles, officially on Netflix

Amar Prem Ki Prem Kahani | Hindi | @flowerbeasblog @aneechan

Officially on Jio Cinema, also available grey without subtitles

Time Out | Hindi

Available on Netflix

My Brother…Nikhil | Hindi

Available on youtube without subtitles, also on Amazon Prime

My Son Is Gay | Tamil

Hindi dub available on youtube without subtitles

Little Hearts | Malayalam | @ineffable-opinions

Available officially on Amazon Prime

There's multiple storylines, one of which is queer Meta by @ineffable-opinions

Moothon | Malayalam | @non-beingnary

This is grey on youtube without subtitles, it's officially on Amazon Prime and Zee5, both need subscriptions

Aligarh | Hindi | @ayoungroyal

This is grey with subtitles, it says the subtitles are in hindi for some reason but they're actually in English. Officially on several subscription platforms: JioCinema, Zee5, Amazon Prime, Apple TV

Sisak | Hindi | @blorbingqls

Recommendation: 8.5/10 A fifteen minute silent film about two men who experience mutual attraction to one another while on the same train during their daily commute. It's impactful, and it says a lot without saying anything.

Shows

Romil and Jugal | Hindi | @anixknowsnothin

You do need a vpn if you're outside India to watch it with the above link, it's also grey on youtube without subtitles

Recommendation: 8.5/10 India's modern gay remake of Romeo and Juliet, five years before Bad Buddy Random thoughts

The Married Woman | Hindi | @a-not-knowing-bisexual-wizard

Dev DD Season 2 | Hindi

Legitimately no clue whether this and the prev are grey or official

Made in Heaven | Hindi | @flyingrosebeetle @non-beingnary @neuroticbookworm

Available on Prime

All About Section 377, Still About Section 377 | Hindi

The Story Tales S2 | Gujrati

Insomnia | Hindi

It's a streaming service I've never heard of before, not unlike Gaga, this is one of the darker shows on the list so please do check out the trailer beforehand

Amra 2GayTher | Bengali

Available on two streaming services here and here, both paid

Happy Family, Conditions Apply | Hindi | @non-beingnary

Officially on Amazon Prime, first episode available for free on the official youtube

As far as I know, it's a sitcom with a queer subplot, but I'm not sure how relevant it is to the story

His Storyy | Hindi

Officially on Zee5 for free but you do need to register, unsure of whether or not subtitles are available but guessing no

Murder In Mahim | Hindi | @soberbutsleepless

This is grey without subtitles, its available officially on JioCinema but you need a subscription

Mini gls from @twig-tea (og post here)

Firsts S3 | @tinyreadinglifelight

Neverland

Maaya 2

Last two eps do not have subtitles but the story is followable

The ‘Other’ Love Story @/silverquillsideas 

Just Another Love Story

Books

Memory of Light

Recommendation: 5/10 A historical book set during the colonial era, the lesbian romance is mostly a subplot that loses its way towards the end. It's kind of a drag, but the history component is somewhat interesting.

Don't Let Him Know

Recommendation Rating: 7.5/10 with serious trigger warnings including rape. It's a brutally honest book designed to make the reader uncomfortable, so proceed with caution. I personally liked it quite a lot, but that's majorly because of how authentic the book felt.

Falling Into Place

Recommendation Rating: 8/10 A modern lesbian romance that follows similar beats to the typical thai bl/gl. A little underdeveloped in some places, but overall quite good.

My Magical Palace

Cobalt Blue

The Paths Of Marriage

Marriage Of A Thousand Lies

[acacia-may]

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I got tagged by @library-child in 20 questions for fic writers (thanks for the tag, friend), and I had way too much to say about this topic so I've made it its own post (I'll post answers to the other questions as soon as I can).

Fun fact about me, I majored in Languages at university and have written a few stories with dialogue in multiple languages, so I might be a little biased here, but I think it can be good depending on how it's used and in what context. Writing a multilingual character can be a great way of creating a dynamic, well-rounded character and really pay homage to who they are and their cultural identity.

At the same time, I think that it can be difficult to write a multilingual character in a way that is realistic but also doesn't confuse a reader that doesn't speak all of the languages that appear in the story. It can be difficult to balance how much of another language you can put into your dialogue without losing your reader or without the story suddenly feeling like a language lesson. (Unless of course, that's a major plot point of the story like in my very silly and tongue-and-cheek fic "Everything I Need To Know About Love I Learned From Latin" which actually centered around a Latin grammar lesson).

I think my big feelings on this topic really hinge on how much language swapping there is and the context.

More thoughts under the cut.

In my Horrible Histories: The Movie fanfictions which I mentioned, for instance, Atti speaks both in English and Latin, but it is relevant to the story because the main plot points of these stories often surround breakdowns in communication due to Atti being multilingual and Orla not being able to speak Latin well (or depending on the point in the timeline, much at all). One of the fics is actually called "Lost In Translation" for this reason, and I'd like to talk about it a little bit as an example here.

For those who are unfamiliar with the very funny but very niche Horrible Histories film, it is the story of the unlikely friendship between a brainy but a bit awkward Roman soldier named Atti and a badass Celtic princess named Orla during the Boudican Revolt during the Roman invasion of Britain. There is a really interesting moment in the movie in which Atti sings a song about Orla (and his feelings for her) in the front of the Roman army and they all start crying before cutting him off for being "too soppy." The refrain he sings in English is "I miss you," but in Latin (which is of course, the language he would have actually been singing in given the historical context), this phrase is "Te Desidero" which can also be translated as "I desire you" or "I love you" so the Roman Army is basically hearing him express his undying love for her when Atti is really just intending to sing about them being friends (He loves her too, of course, but that's a different story). In "Lost In Translation," Atti discovers that his army buddies completely misinterpreted his song when, in the future, his daughter learns the song and translates the refrain to "I love you" rather than "I miss you." Here is a short excerpt:

“But Marcus said some of the words are “Te Desidero’”—Camilla’s brow furrowed—"that means ‘I love you’, right?” “Well yes…technically…it can mean…” He stopped. “But a better translation is probably…”  Atti’s voice trailed in an awkward chuckle. Deciding it was best not to explain to his young daughter the nuanced differences between love and desire, he cleared his throat and changed tactics. “Well…it can actually…really mean a lot of things…like…um…‘I miss you’, for instance. And, you know, I think that’s what he meant—just from the context…of the story…They’re friends, of course, but he barely knows the girl��he isn’t ready to profess his love or anything yet….”  “But Marcus said that he really, really, really loved the princess and everybody in the army knew and that’s why they all cried…” “Or…” Atti gestured with his hands. “Here’s a thought that I am sure the soldier never considered at the time but would probably make all of that crying make a lot more sense to him now—um…maybe his entire legion completely misunderstood what he was saying…and he  meant ‘I miss you’ the whole time but everybody else thought that he was singing about…romantic love…”

Clarifying all of this made for (what I hope) is a fun story, and since Atti being multilingual is one of the big plot points of the story, there is a lot of dialogue in Latin in that work.

On the other hand, in other projects I've worked on in which introducing additional languages just serves to flesh out a character or provide background or context to them or their family, I will be much more sparing in my use of code-switching (or switching languages in dialogue). It's also my personal preference to avoid having characters hold entire conversations in languages that are not the main language of the fic (i.e. I wouldn't interrupt a fic that is written in German to have the characters suddenly start conversing in English).

In general (except in the rare occasions in which the story is centered around the use of multiple languages), I personally prefer to save language swapping in stories for the things that are important, meaningful, or special since switching to another language will draw emphasis to that piece of dialogue. I also like including language swaps in small but deeply personal things like terms of endearment (i.e. a character who speaks both Latin and English might use the Latin "Principissa" instead of the English "Princess" as a term of endearment) or family titles (i.e. a character who speaks both Spanish and English might use the Spanish "Abuelito" or "Papá [Character's Name]" rather than the English "Grandpa"). I think that really adds to the story and the characters that are being written about.

A few other thoughts...

I think it is very difficult to write dialogue in a language you are not personally fluent or proficient in. I tend to do all my own translations freehand, and most of the multilingual characters I've written about speak English and Latin (which are my strongest languages). I have written dialogue for other languages (I've actually written an entire fanfiction in German, but I've never posted it anywhere and probably never will 😅), but I have not felt nearly as confident about that as I do not feel as proficient in them personally. I think something important I always try to keep in mind is that different vocabulary words can have different connotations so even if on paper what you're writing supposedly means one thing, it might have different, unintended implications to someone who is fluent in that language and grew up speaking it and/or uses it in everyday life versus learning it in a classroom. For this reason, if I am not entirely confident with my own translations, I will double check with someone who is fluent in that language, if possible. For instance, one of my current projects includes a bilingual character who speaks English and Spanish, and my cousin who is fluent in Spanish has been incredibly helpful: double checking what I write and confirming that I am in fact saying what I want to say, with the implications I want it to have.

Additionally, I think it's important to keep in mind that if you are going to include multiple languages in a story there will be a lot of readers who won't be able to translate what you write on their own and will feed it into an online translator like Google Translate so I always double check how Google Translate would translate my dialogue and make sure it's at least close enough to what it's supposed to be (since Google Translate is rather notoriously inaccurate). I also sometimes will put a glossary in the notes for really important things or will try to have the characters explain enough about what they're saying in the context of the story so the reader isn't left confused or out of the loop.

Overall writing fanfiction is just for fun, and if you feel comfortable including multiple languages in a work, go for it! It can definitely add something to both your story and your characters, but I would just caution prudence and moderation and suggest trying to be mindful of your target audience and making sure that they will be able to get the most out of what you are writing.

Thanks for reading my ramblings! Cheers!! 💖