mesperyiandevotee

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this appeared while i'm drawing bandit getting pumped....

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the very rare phenomenon of a volcano producing vapor rings/volcanic vortex rings. Mount Etna today (April 5, 2024) by Boris Behncke

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Hellooo, I come bearing a question. Say, hypothetically: You have to write a South Asian character. Except, You Are Not South Asian. But Everyone Thinks South Asia Is Just India. But India itself has several different cultures across the region. How do I avoid accidentally mixing things up with other south asian countries, be it food, clothes, language (written with english letters) is there anything that's universal and safe yet also good enough to pass as representation? that a south asian person reading would relate to?

I'm a little unclear with what you're asking here. But what I glean from this is that you want some kind of general South Asian stereotype that is also true and applies across the board.

Have you heard of the "Ambiguously Brown" trope because I think you are dangerously close to falling into that.

South Asia comprises about eight extremely distinct countries with vivid histories spanning several thousands of years. There are literally thousands of cultures and communities, and sub-cultures and sub-communities, religions, races, castes, classes, languages, cuisines, fashions, etc. Over 2 billion people live in the region referred to as South Asia. Over 2 billion. You realise that 2 billion people can never be effectively generalised, right?

I am concerned with your use of the word "safe" because it feels like you are looking at this purely from the perspective of what could or couldn't get you cancelled or something. That's not true representation. In fact you say "good enough to pass as representation". I am concerned you are only thinking of the optics.

Would you speak this way about a European?

Would you say "Is there anything universal and safe and also good enough to pass as representation for a European"? Everybody acknowledges that different European countries have different cultures, but you talk about South Asia as if it is a monolith that can be easily generalised. I hope you can see how racist that is. If we acknowledge that to be French is different from being German and being German is different from being Greek then why is it different for South Asia?

If you honestly care about South Asian representation, then pick a country, pick a region, and do a lot of research. (That is how you avoid "mixing things up" - you are specific and deliberate in your writing choices, which is something you can only accomplish if you do enough research.) There's no shortage of research about this stuff these days. A single reddit thread will provide you with dozens of answers from people with lived experience. Instagram is a great place to find South Asian creators. There are books and films and music. There's so many recipes out there to explore. Documentaries are useful too. Try to speak to people who have lived experience. Ideally you could ask them to do a sensitivity read as well (though you may have to pay for this).

You will never create a "universal" South Asian experience. My experience as an Indian also radically differs from my best friend's experiences as an Indian because we are from two different regions. One of my other best friends, also Indian, is from an ethnic minority that is very distinct and she grew up with a totally different culture.

"Passing as representation" should not be your goal. Choose to focus on authenticity. Do your research. Not everyone will relate, but that's okay. Those who can, will, and those who can't, don't need to. They may find something else in your story that appeals to them. Or maybe the story just isn't for them.

You will probably not get it down perfectly, and that's okay, because even 2 people in the same community will have different lived experiences. As long as you honestly put in the care and work required to create a fully developed, interesting, multi-dimensional South Asian character, you'll be okay.

#good info #and writers please be okay with doing things wrong sometimes #research and study earnestly and be willing to listen when writing something wrong #focusing on being “safe” makes it harder to open up and listen

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he’s counting the Olympic golds and something’s not adding up

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Eddie goes with Buck to a gay bar to be supportive.

Buck turns his head to talk to a cute guy for five minutes. When he tries to find Eddie again he's in the middle of the dance floor, shirt off, body covered in glitter and sandwiched between two men having the time of his life.

#i thought this was about eddie brock and bucky barnes at first

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Are you lost, kid? You look lost.

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Loosely inspired by a scene in chapter 3 of  the earth watches the moon, but she’s looking at the stars; by reaperangelique where Prussia presents Austria with a bouquet ripped straight from her garden. This entire drawing was legitimately a 9 month on and off fight with myself that you can watch unfold here.

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Obviously you shouldn't write in library books or books that you otherwise don't own, but I never understood the "oh my god, don't write in, highlight, fold, or dog-ear any pages in your books, ever, or you're defacing them" mindset.

One of my favorite things in the world is borrowing paperbacks from my wife's collection and seeing all her little annotations. Notes in the margins of used university textbooks have helped me understand complex passages, and given me a connection to students struggling to understand the same things I did. Highlights in novels from the used bookstore have made me stop and really appreciate a passage I might have otherwise glossed right over. Marginalia and annotations in historical texts are a goldmine of information and humanity.

What people prefer for their personal collection is totally valid, but I hate how writing in books gets treated like inherent vandalism. It's just another one of those ways the physical paper of the book gets held as more sacred than the information and the connections made with the book's contents.

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名もなき渓流

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this is assuming its on art you normally wouldn't jump to reblog. i myself only rb stuff i really really like so .

The 'rude/demanding' tone would be stuff along the lines of "if you like but don't reblog I'll [threat]" which i see surprisingly often, both serious and more silly

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🐤🍁🐤🍁🐤🍁🐤

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Ahem... nyo!prucan

god i so agree.

WIP!!!!

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