#The Indian palace series

[weclassybouquetfun]

I see dead people and they are in the form of teenagers Edwin Payne and Charles Rowland killed in 1916 and 1989, respectively.

Yes, all eight episodes (too few episodes, I say. A good 13 eps would have been fitting) of DEAD BOY DETECTIVES is available on Netflix.

Series stars George Rexstrew (Edwin), Kassius Nelson (Crystal Palace), Yuyu Kitamura (Niko Sasaki) and Jayden Revri (Charles Rowland)

A bit about the series:

NO SPOILERS

Born out of DC Comics' Vertigo imprint and created by Neil Gaiman with its characters being spun out of the Sandman universe, how divergent is the series from the comics?Not very. They have retained the trio's backstories, but there were story arcs they could not delve into because Netflix's SANDMAN needs to get there first. Other than that, things are twists on canon or new creations.

Of the characters themselves, Neil Gaiman has said Charles was "more or less him" as a boy and in crafting the series characters, the costumes lent a hand. With his buttoned-up attitude, the bespoked suits for Edwin Paine belies his closed off demeanor. Jayden Revri's Charles Rowland had a ska/rude boy looked that was of fashion when he was alive. This was a nod that Revri appreciated as he has explained in the past he's, "half Indian, a quarter Jamaican and a quarter English." Charles also always has red on him as a nod to comics!Charles' red sweater.

While the characters were first introduced in HBO Max's DOOM PATROL, once the plans for a series was announced, it was quickly let known that this incarnation is not in the same universe as DOOM PATROL's characters, despite DOOM PATROL's Ruth Connell reprising her role as Night Nurse in the Netflix series. This series is firmly in the Sandman universe with Kirby (formerly Kirby Howell-Baptiste, briefly reprising her role as Death in the first episode.

Should DEAD BOY DETECTIVES get a second series, Rexstrew and Lukas Gage (who plays Cat King)

have already spoken of their love of Mason Alexander Park's character Desire from the series, with Rexstrew saying he would love to see Edwin's reaction to Desire.

There's no malewife like him.

Other cast members include Briana Cucuo, sister of BIG BANG THEORY's Kaley Cucuo. Briana voices Barbara Gordon and a sundry of other characters on Max's HARLEY QUINN.

Much too hot to be doing voice-work.

Jenn Lyon (Claws), Joshua Colley (Love, Victor) and Max Jenkins and Caitlin Reilly cutting it up in a (literal) small role.

Jayden says he can't wait for fan fiction and edits of Charles and Edwin and says their ship name will likely be Chedwin. Mans don't know what he's asking for!

[thebeesareback]

Hello again

It's weird shit Sherlock time

- there is a man who is simply called "Bannister"

- to hide their identity, two people write a note and trade off words so their letters are harder to identify

- one character anonymously sends pearls to another so she doesn't feel alone

- Sherlock likes to greet inanimate objects: "hello, what's this? A peice of paper?"

- over the series Watson uses the word "ejaculated" instead of "said" about 10000 times. If anyone has a searchable pdf, feel free to let me know the exact number

- 221b Baker Street is in Central London, near to Parliament, a couple of palaces, cathedrals, Marylebone Station and just off Oxford Street, which might be the busiest shopping street in the UK. The whole area is rammed with people. Sherlock still regularly looks out of the window and identifies clients

- several plot points in different stories involve people holding important documents and then wandering off, sometimes because they fancy a coffee

- one man has a bad day at work and takes six weeks off because he has "brain fever". Wish we could still get away with this

- Sherlock and Watson visit a house in Kent and find it packed with Indian and Hindu decoration, so it looks like a palace

- Sherlock disguises himself as an elderly priest and fools Watson

[microcomets]

hi hi, I saw you said a while ago that you have some sapphic SF&F book recs. can I ask what they are?

sorry for my delayed response — always happy to share!!! <3 here’s my list (always hoping to expand + add more recs):

THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE and its prequel, A DAY OF FALLEN NIGHT by samantha shannon (roots of chaos series) — a classic high fantasy saga with dragons & rich worldbuilding. all of the major relationships in both books (and most of the main characters) are queer!

THE LOCKED TOMB series by tamsyn muir — man idk how to even describe this series. yes it’s about lesbian necromancers in space because technically the books contain those things. it is definitely about necromancy in space. and there are lesbians

SHE WHO BECAME THE SUN by shelley parker-chan (the radiant emperor duology) — this probably technically leans more historical fiction than SF/F, but it’s about a girl who takes her brother’s identity and rises to power to become the emperor of china

THE TRAITOR BARU CORMORANT by seth dickinson — a lesbian machiavelli takes down an evil empire from within to save her colonized country

THE JASMINE THRONE by tasha suri (burning kingdoms series) —  a captive princess and a mage maidservant battle an empire in a fantasy world based on indian myths and history

THE FINAL STRIFE by saara el-arifi (the ending fire trilogy) — two girls switched at birth, a princess and a rebel fighter, band together to overthrow the hierarchy of a blood magic caste in this fantasy world inspired by african and arabian culture

OUR WIVES UNDER THE SEA by julia armfield — a marine biologist wife goes off to sea, gets stuck in a submarine for weeks, and Comes Back Wrong

THE LONG WAY TO A SMALL, ANGRY PLANET by becky chambers — queer found family in space!

THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR by amal el-mohtar & max gladstone — rival agents fall in love and write letters to each other across, you guessed it, a time war

GIRL, SERPENT, THORN by melissa bashardoust — a story about a girl whose touch is poison based on persian fairytales

IN THE VANISHERS’ PALACE by aliette de bodard — a dreamlike vietnamese retelling of beauty and the beast where a girl falls in love with her dragon captor

THE DEEP by rivers solomon — a novella about an underwater world where merpeople are descendants of enslaved african women thrown into the atlantic that features a sapphic love story

OTHER WORDS FOR SMOKE by sarah maria griffin — a set of twins is sent to live in a spooky house of witches

[aimeedaisies]

How may tiaras does Anne own

These are the tiaras that she has worn in the past

(Descriptions from The Court Jeweller)

What I think are in her personal collection;

✨ Festoon tiara

This delicate diamond festoon tiara was given to Princess Anne in 1973 when she christened a ship. (Not a bad thank-you present!) It’s intricate and pretty, which made it a perfect wedding tiara for Anne’s daughter-in-law in 2008. Anne still wears it regularly, including an appearance at a Guildhall banquet during the Spanish state visit in July 2017.

✨ Princess Andrew’s Meander Tiara

Princess Anne has been wearing this diamond bandeau, featuring laurel wreaths, anthemions, and a Greek Key (or meander) pattern, since she was a young woman. The tiara originally belonged to her grandmother, Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark, who had given it to Queen Elizabeth II as a wedding present. The Queen loaned it to Princess Anne for some of her early tiara appearances (including a state visit to Austria in May 1969) before giving her the tiara in 1972. Anne still wears it regularly today, and she also loaned it to her daughter, Zara, as a bridal tiara in 2011.

✨ Aquamarine Pineflower tiara

This Cartier diamond and aquamarine tiara, which has a unique pinecone design theme, was a wedding anniversary gift from King George VI to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in the 1940s. In November 1973, the Queen Mother offered it to Princess Anne as a wedding present. She’s been wearing it ever since (including at a state banquet in June 2019), and has even made a few design tweaks along the way.

In the family vault;

✨ Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara

In November 1973, Princess Anne borrowed Queen Mary’s diamond fringe tiara from her grandmother, the Queen Mother, for her wedding to Mark Phillips. Anne was the second royal bride to wear the tiara after her mother, Queen Elizabeth II (who now owns it). Most recently, it was worn by another family bride: Princess Beatrice of York.

✨ Double Row Meander Tiara

This diamond kokoshnik tiara, made of two rows of Greek Key (or meander) patterns, is a little bit of a mystery. Made in the nineteenth-century, it originally also accommodated an aigrette plume. It belonged to the Queen Mother, but we’ve only seen it worn once by a royal woman: Princess Anne’s outing in the tiara for a state banquet at Buckingham Palace during the Chinese state visit in November 2005.

✨ Cartier Halo Tiara

Like two other members of the royal family — Princess Margaret and the Duchess of Cambridge — Princess Anne’s very first tiara was the delicate scrolling halo tiara made by Cartier for the Queen Mother. The piece was loaned to Anne by her mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and she wore it often in her teen years for events like the State Opening of Parliament (October 1967)

✨ Birthday Portrait Tiara

For her twenty-first birthday, Princess Anne sat for a series of official commemorative portraits. She wore an ice green gown with a diamond scroll tiara and posed in front of a background specially painted by Gordon Davies for the portrait session. The tiara has never been seen on a royal woman before or since, so there’s a general consensus that it was probably a loan. (Why would the Brits borrow a tiara? Hard to know. Perhaps they wanted a specific look?) The images were published in British newspapers in August 1971.

✨ Pearl Bandeau

Princess Anne has also worn one more mystery tiara in recent memory: a gold-hued bandeau, which appears to be set with large pearls. She donned the tiara for a state banquet at Windsor Castle during the Indian state visit in October 2009. We still don’t know anything more about it, including its provenance, and we haven’t seen it in public since.

I would love to see her wear the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara (although she probably won’t now that Cam has 🥲), there is also an absolutely gorgeous tiara called the Teck Tiara that has crescent moons, roses and leaves (I don’t even know if it’s still in the main family anymore) 😍

Please drop your favourite tiaras that you’d love to see Anne wear in the comments 😍

[ingek73]

India archive reveals extent of ‘colonial loot’ in royal jewellery collection

File from India Office archive details how priceless items were extracted from colony as trophies of conquest

by David Pegg and Manisha Ganguly

Published: 14:00 Thursday, 06 April 2023

Five years ago, Buckingham Palace marked its summer opening with an exhibition celebrating the then Prince Charles’s 70th birthday with a display of his favourite pieces from the royal collection, Britain’s official trove of items connected to the monarchy. “The prince had a very, very strong hand in the selection,” the senior curator said.

Among the sculptures, paintings and other exhibits was a long gold girdle inlaid with 19 large emeralds once used by an Indian maharajah to decorate his horses. It was a curious choice to put into the exhibition in light of the violent means by which it had come into the hands of the royal family.

Emerald girdle of Maharaja Sher Singh, c 1840. Photograph: Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2023

As part of its Cost of the crown series, the Guardian has uncovered a remarkable 46-page file in the archives of the India Office, the government department that was responsible for Britain’s rule over the Indian subcontinent. It details an investigation, apparently commissioned by Queen Mary, the grandmother of Elizabeth II, into the imperial origins of her jewels.

The report, from 1912, explains how priceless pieces, including Charles’s emerald belt, were extracted from India as trophies of conquest and later given to Queen Victoria. The items described are now owned by the monarch as property of the British crown.

Plundered stones

To fully understand the context behind the jewels, and their place in India’s history, it was necessary to visit the archives.

A journal records a tour in 1837 of the Punjab area in north India by the society diarist Fanny Eden and her brother George, the governor general of the British Raj at the time. They visited Ranjit Singh, the maharajah in Lahore, who had signed a “treaty of friendship” with the British six years earlier.

The half-blind Singh wore few if any precious stones, Eden wrote in her journal, but his entourage was positively drowning in them. So plentiful were the maharajah’s gems that “he puts his very finest jewels on his horses, and the splendour of their harness and housings surpasses anything you can imagine,” she wrote. Eden later confided in her journal: “If ever we are allowed to plunder this kingdom, I shall go straight to their stables.”

Twelve years later, Singh’s youngest son and heir, Duleep, was forced to sign over the Punjab to the conquering forces of the British East India Company. As part of the conquest, the company did indeed plunder the horses’ emeralds, as well as Singh’s most precious stone, the legendary Koh-i-noor diamond.

The queen mother’s crown sits on top of the coffin during her funeral in 2002. Photograph: Dan Chung/The Guardian

Today, the Koh-i-noor sits in the crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, on display at the Tower of London, and it has become an emblem of Britain’s tortured relationship with its imperial history.

Anita Anand, a journalist and historian who co-wrote a book titled Koh-i-noor on the diamond, said it was “a beautiful and cold reminder of British supremacy during the Raj”, the period between 1858 and 1947 when India was ruled by the crown.

“Its facets reflect the fate of a boy king who was separated from his mother,” Anand said. The stone too was “taken far away from his home, recut and diminished”. Anand said: “That is not how India sees itself today.”

Buckingham Palace is plainly aware of the sensitivities surrounding looted artefacts. After the Indian government let it be known that for Camilla, the Queen Consort, to wear the Koh-i-noor at Charles’s coronation would elicit “painful memories of the colonial past”, the palace announced she would swap it for a less contentious diamond.

But, as was discovered by Queen Mary, the Koh-i-noor was not the only gem taken from Singh’s treasury to have found its way to the British monarchy.

Royal with a pearl necklace

Among the jewels identified in the document found by the Guardian is a “short necklace of four very large spinel rubies”, the largest of which is a 325.5-carat spinel that later came to be identified as the Timur ruby.

Its famous name is erroneous: research by the academic Susan Stronge in 1996 concluded it was probably never owned by Timur, a Mongol conquerer. And it is a spinel, a red stone similar to, but chemically distinct from, a ruby.

Elizabeth II was shown handling it in the 1969 BBC documentary Royal Family, and was clearly acquainted with the myths surrounding it. “The history, of course, is very fascinating. It belonged to so many kings of Persia and Mughal emperors, until Queen Victoria was sent it from India,” she observed.

The Timur ruby necklace, 1853. Photograph: Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2023

The queen was never pictured wearing the item. However, she may have worn another of the Lahore treasures, identified in the India Office report as “a pearl necklace consisting of 224 large pearls”.

In her 1987 study of royal jewellery, Leslie Field described “one of the Queen Mother’s most impressive two-row pearl necklaces … made from 222 pearls with a clasp of two magnificent rubies surrounded by diamonds that had originally belonged to the ruler of the Punjab” – almost certainly a reference to the same necklace.

The queen wearing pearls at the Royal Opera House in 2012. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

In 2012, Elizabeth II attended a gala festival at the Royal Opera House in London to celebrate her diamond jubilee. Photographs showed her wearing a multi-string pearl necklace with a ruby clasp.

Were these Ranjit Singh’s pearls? There was speculation they may have been, though Buckingham Palace was unable to confirm either way.

Queen Mary’s interest appears to have been prompted by curiosity about the origin of some of her pearls rather than any moral concern about the manner in which they were obtained. But a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said slavery and colonialism were matters that “his Majesty takes profoundly seriously”.

Shashi Tharoor, formerly an undersecretary at the United Nations, and currently an MP in India, said: “We have finally entered an era where colonial loot and pillage is being recognised for what it really was, rather than being dressed up as the incidental spoils of some noble ‘civilising mission’.

“As we are seeing increasingly, the return of stolen property is always a good thing. Generations to come will wonder why it took civilised nations so long to do the right thing.”

[0iam0]

Team Chandora, redesigned a lil cuz it's kinda insulting how boring their designs are lol. I maintained their colour scheme in clothes but changed it to be different from one another. Ig it was intentional for them to wear similar clothes so I let that be. Idk if ppl even remember them so, there're the characters that battle wild fang once. They also fell victim to Masked Bull's "speech" that embarrassed everyone in Japan, maybe something that people would remeber. They are minor one off characters only to be seen once again as a single frame. This post is basically Indian bladers across generations, cuz, I Indian.

I love this guy and his adorable snake friend.

what are they

Below is just me overanalyzing and comparing the generations.

So, mfb. Team Chandora. It's the best in terms of giving them a personality and also screentime. The character names are most probably just slightly altered versions of some really popular Indian actors/celebs. Salhan - Salman (Khan); Vridick - Hrithik (Roshan); Aniel - Anil (Kapoor). Neither of their names are familiar to me, nowhere near a common name in India and, mean nothing actually. So this is how I think they named them. Salhan is the hot headed guy I'm assuming. His design is just as basic as you can get. Even tho he's the leader, I can't say much about him. But he's probably a good starting point in building a character. Which will never happen he's a one-off character. They all pretty much have the same height too, so I gave that a variation in my drawing. Vridick is the tallest. Ok, the first time I saw Vridick I thought "wtf is wrong with him". Like, his eyes. I realised it's just a "animators drawing characters weird in low budget episodes" problem, his design is probably the best of the three. Simple yet cute cuz idk if anyone else has noticed it but he has a little catness about him. The eyes and :3 mouth. It's subtle, but it's there. Just because of that he's my favourite of the trio. (I didn't realise this before but I'm a fan of his corresponding celeb lol) Aniel, is the one I was "wtf" about till the very end. His design is just horrible 😭 like, it SHOWS they really tried making a design look even somewhat distinguishable, but failed. Like with them "eyes that are different from the first two" and "hairstyle that isn't short like the first two" naw. So I just redesigned him to have, pretty much the same hairstyle but doesn't reveal the weird hairline. They are all the snake beyblades, cuz India snake charmers yadayada. Tho their designs don't really reflect the snakey thing; so I just added a dupatta/scarf to reflect that. (I originally just added it cuz it looked cool actually).

I can't help but notice how badly they were disregarded in their episode. Like not even in a way that would teach them to not be so full of themselves, but in a way like they are not even considered to be a proper opponent but an obstacle on the way to defeat the protagonist of the series (I'm talking about kyoya). They get overshadowed by kyoya and ginkas battle. It's actually kinda sad (

I ALSO can't help but notice the Blader DJ of India is based on Gandhi. Lmao. It's actually funny asf. Where did the battle between wild and fang and chandora take place, the Taj Mahal? Idk how many people don't know this but Taj Mahal on contrary to it's name is not actually a palace, it's a mausoleum. You would wonder where the tombs went. Even worse they might be battling ON the tombs. lul (edit: I don't really know lmao. The thing they built seemed like it was based on taj mahal. It's actually pretty neat if they designed it themselves. It's beauty :>)

Now on the bsb, first season bsb Indians we meet are the Charming Princes. They have the weirdest designs of all like wha. The unnamed blader is probably the most normal of them all. But the rest, idk what to say. I kinda like Ronnie's glasses ig, even tho they are impractical. Tho they are the weirdest in terms of design, they are the best in terms of beyblades, as in, a team quirk. That their beyblades are as big and heavy as one can be allowed to have. Makes sense cuz they are all princes of some place. They don't get much screentime either, just some guys the bladebreakers defeat. Robin gets overshadowed (annihilated) by Driger coming back to Ray and his rivalry with Lee.

Next in beyburst, it's Dhaula Giri. So, he's the best in like, overall. He's the best in design, he's not bland or weird, just a normal guy from India. He has a normal generic beyblade (same Suoh's original bey). Nothing crazy and I think that's a good thing. Oh oh, and a cute lil Snaker, I just love him for having a snaker just hang out with him, it's goofy but I actually like this idea, it's way better than giving them snake beys. I think he and Hae Jin would be homies. He's not much personality wise, prolly just a nice guy. Not much plot or screentime either but Hae Jin getting over his fear of his snake friend was neat enough. His name is good too, not entirely random names like Robin or Ronnie, or just jumbled celeb names. Out of all, I like him the best. Tho I'll have to say, if I build upon Team Chandora, I'll probably like them more.

[yjyt85r98r]

Aikatsu song reviews: Kira・pata・shining

Possibly the most "wait, this is from Aikatsu?" song of them all. And also the most questionable.

Song

It's a very, very unusual song for Aikatsu. It still loosely follows the most basic anime song conventions, but it ignores a lot of them, instead using a rhythm, scale, and instruments inspired by Indian music. I love when a song breaks the boundaries and does something different. But...

It's been becoming more and more clear to me that I can't stand songs that have one loud instrument making the same sounds over and over throughout the entire song. In the case of Kira・pata・shining, this instrument is the sitar. I think its sound is just too powerful to be at the forefront for the entire song, especially in a song with vocals. It loudly plays the same notes over and over again for the whole song and it sort of drives me crazy. It's fine to have a recurring motif that carries the rest of the song, but ideally, other instrumentals should sometimes overshadow that motif so that it's not dominant for the entire song. When the same thing stays at the forefront for an entire song, without changing at all, then it becomes really boring and annoying. But I don't know, other people seem to like this song, so whatever.

As much as I don't like the main instrumentals, I like the rhythm, and the way it adds in hand drums and occasionally clapping as the song goes on. I think more Aikatsu songs should have used this rhythm and percussion style.

One thing I can say for sure is that this song is incredibly catchy. After hearing it just one time, the chorus kept getting stuck in my head.

Vocals

Sora's voice is the best part of the song to me. There are some parts of the song where I don't know whether her vocals make them more annoying, or if they're just annoying to begin with.

I think they could've done some double tracking to go along with the multiplied visual effects. That would've increased the 'trippy' feeling.

Lyrics

So these lyrics, huh...

I don't really know where to put this, but eventually I was gonna have to talk about early(ish) Aikatsu's whole thing with sexy-type performances and different cultures. Kira・pata・shining is definitely the most glaring example.

Most of the other Aikatsu songs inspired by music from other cultures (e.g. Trap of Love, Chica×Chica) have highly personal lyrics that help the songs feel grounded and genuine. But Kira・pata・shining's lyrics are about magic spells, impermanence, and being mysterious. They're full of deliberately opaque metaphors. They feel somehow distant, as if the whole appeal lies in keeping it foreign. It also doesn't help that they're some of the most suggestive lyrics to appear in Aikatsu. The whole "foreign = sexy" thing is a problem.

It was a whole decade ago at this point, and they don't do this kind of thing anymore so it's no longer a problem. But it's also kind of sad that newer Aikatsu series didn't explore different music styles from different parts of the world. Maybe one day they will have a perfect balance, especially now that anime is becoming a more worldwide, multicultural thing.

Choreography

It has a nice swirling quality. I sort of like the choreography, but combined with everything else about this song, you could say it goes too far into "sexy" territory. Still, it's not the worst that Aikatsu's ever put out.

Visuals

I forget how much I like the stage until I see it in motion. The flaming torches, the sky that turns darker, the fireworks, the way the palace disappears for a split second... very mysterious. It's also unique how Sora begins the song with her wings folded like a fan, and they only unfold after the first verse. The whole thing is full of spiritual imagery and vague visual metaphors.

It sort of reminds me of a 70s/80s music video, what with the orientalist setup and surreal visual effects. If you've seen any early MTV videos, you probably know what I'm talking about.

I still feel like this whole performance is sort of just a cultural mishmash. The stage design is obviously influenced by the Taj Mahal, so it fits the music's theme, but the brand Bohemian Sky is allegedly based on Sora's time in Morocco, and the designs don't look like they're based on anything in particular. As Long As It Sounds Foreign!

Good points: Unique song, nice rhythm Bad points: Main instrumental is too repetitive and overbearing

Rating: 5/10 Personal rating: 1/10

[mxnkeydo]

✧works in progress✧

title so scarlet (it was maroon)

ship sokeefe

status writing

type series

premise a sort of enemies to friends to lovers trope, keefe is sophie's art tutor (and the one who falls first), human au

✧✧✧

title enchanted

ship aruden

status writing

type series

premise aiden is an apsara and aru is royalty, indian palace setting, friends to lovers trope, kind of like an aladdin au but also not?? so they meet each other during a ball for aru where she has to find a prince and they click

✧✧✧

title checkmate (i couldn’t lose)

ship sokeefe

status planned out

type series

premise so keefe and sophie meet in the hallway and he instantly falls in love except fitz is also after her…

✧✧✧

title big city, wrong choices

ship aruden

status planned out

type series

premise aru gets drunk at a bar and says some drunken stuff to a random man, turns out the random man is her boss’s son, as she finds out the next morning (kind of based of the romantic plot line of the telugu movie julayi)

✧✧✧

title uh oh i’m falling in love

ship percabeth

status planning

type oneshot

premise basically the main pjo series from annabeth’s pov but it’s just a few snippets from each book where she slowly falls in love with percy, but she’s skeptical because of her experience with luke…

✧✧✧

[teatitty]

Known places in Magi and what they’re based on because I have no life and I’m bored as fuck

Aktia: No official basis is given for this country but Sinbad does state it’s known for it’s pearls so possibly it could be Bahrain, an island country in the Persian Gulf, which is famous for its pearling industry

Artemyra: Ancient Greece. The clothing and jewellery is the biggest giveaway but this is also a kingdom known for its warrior women, like the amazonians, and the word “Artemyra” itself probably comes from “Artemis”

Balbadd: India and the one I’ve talked about the most. Everything in Balbadd from the architecture to the attire to the trade and fishing is based on India’s culture and Balbadd in canon is noted for being a very imported trade area and for being unique in how multicultural it is

Heliohapt: Probably the most obvious of the series outside of Reim, this is Ancient Egypt. There’s absolutely no way you could mistake this for anything else they literally have a big ass pyramid with an eye of horus on it lmao

Imuchakk: While it’s never been officially stated, comparisons have been made between the Imuchakk and Shaman King’s portrayal of the Ainu, from the naming schemes to the clothing and affiliation to the cold

Kina: Ancient Japan. It’s located to the east of Kou, their current king is called Yamato Takeruhiko, who has a tattoo of an oni on his back, uses a katana, wears japanese armour etc

Kou: Imperial China! The royal family of Kou is literally called the Imperial Family, the naming schemes are all Chinese, absolutely everything about this place screams China if I tried to list everything we’d be here forever

Magnostadt: Unknown. Magnostadt’s name is a combination of latin (magnus) and german (stadt) but previously the kingdom was called Musta’sim, which is arabic. The term “goi” is also used for people who are non-magicians which is, ya know, very obviously meant to be the jewish “goy” [and yes in the actual magnostadt arc this is INCREDIBLY problematic given the villain of the arc is designed to have a big nose and warts all over his face etc but we won’t get into that] so it’s. Ehhhh kinda hard to pinpoint this one. It’s a mishmash of things

Parthevia: Ancient Persia! The name of this country comes from the persian “parthava” which means “parthian” as in “Parthian Empire.” This is where Sinbad, Ja’far and Drakon are from

Reim: Rome. This place is literally introduced as having a huge coliseum and being known for its gladiators, and their founder was Remus. Can’t get more obvious than that

Sasan: This is another weird one because while most of the citizens have Greek names [Spartos, Darius etc] the place itself is based on the Sasanian Empire, which was the longest lived persian-imperial dynasty, and the empire itself was named after the House of Sasan. I genuinely had to look this one up because I thought for sure it was straight Greece based on the names but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Sindria: Indian Subcontinent and various others. This place is incredibly multicultural but in short: sindria derives from the sanskrit “sindhu” which is a name for the indus river, physically the country looks like the greek island of Nisyros, the palace of Sindria is loosely based on the Süleymaniye Mosque in Turkey and they have a festival called Mahrajan after King Mahrajan, a character in Sinbad the Sailor from 1001 Nights

[heaven-is-in-your-arms-series]

Character list for the Heaven is in Your Arms series

Original Characters

(That I've been forced to create for the plot.)

Man Suang Characters

Dancers:

Suriya - a Thai dancer. He formally played female roles exclusively for Khon but once he joined man suang he also played female roles for Lakhon Nok and Lakhon nai. The self appointed leader of the Thai dance performers.

Sakda - a Thai dancer who plays female roles in Khon, Lakhon Nok and Lakhon Nai and is Suriya's rival for the lead roles.

Phichit - a Thai dancer who plays the role of the heroes in Khon, Lakhon Nok and Lakhon Nai. He is resentful of Khem who he feels is taking his roles away from him.

Lalita - a Thai dancer, she formally played the masculine hero roles in Lakhon Nai but since joining man suang she has also played hero roles for Khon and Lakhon Nok performances. She came from the palace after dance dramas were banned from court.

Kanchana - a Thai dancer, she plays principal heroine roles in Lakhon Nai, Lakhon Nok and Khon. In a not so secret relationship with Lalita.

Suda - a female Thai dancer who plays minor heroine roles.

Cheng Dieyi - a Chinese opera performer who plays female lead roles and is having an affair with Suriya.

Musicians:

Aadi - Indian, plays klong khaek tua aka Indian drum

Aahan - Indian, plays klong khaek tua mia and ching

Thep - Thai, plays ranet ek (Thai xylophone)

Amon - Thai, plays ranet thum (larger xylophone) and clappers

Feng - part Chinese, plays pi nai (Thai oboe)

Bun - Thai, plays klong that aka a pair of large drums

Poeu - Cambodian, plays ching (cymbals) and khong wong yai (going circle)

Vinod - Indian, plays tabla and harmonium

Others:

Malai - Khem's dresser, she takes care of his dance costumes and sews him into them for performances.

Kulap - a maid.

Fon - a maid

Chachoensao Characters

Chao Somchai - the local lord

Laksanara - Somchai's principal wife

Jaran - Somchai's son, former playmate of Wan

Saeng - overseer who worked for Somchai and controlled Khem and Wan

Bua - cook who works for Somchai and saved Khem

Nin - Wan's sweetheart

Kannika - girl who had a crush on Khem but was forced to marry Somchai.

Father Mikael - an English missionary

Historical Characters

(Names of real historical figures fictionalised for the story.)

Chetsadabodin - King of Siam

Mongkut - Chetsadabodin's half brother, a monk

Chuthamani - Mongkut's brother, a prince

Anand - a prince, Chetsadabodin's son

Bunnag - a very influential nobleman

Tish - Bunnag's son, Hong's friend in my story

That - Tish's brother

Sunthorn Phu - a famous poet

Luang Aphaiwanit - a rich chinese man who owns Ho Seng Tai manor and loves Thai dance.

[afternoonblues]

people you'd like to get to know better game

heyy @smolhours thank you so much for the tag! hope you've been well? always nice to see you on my dashboard.

last song: tere bin by atif aslam (I MISS THIS MAN singing nowadays and his voice. the nostalgia though....is off the roof bc tell me why bollyword don't make music like this anymore)

favorite color: monochromatic, pastels & all shades of blue (forgive me but i cannot for the life of me choose a single colour as a favourite)

sweet/savory/spicy: i'm desi, specifically bengali indian so you CANNOT expect me not to say spicy. (although bengalis are quite known all around the world for the magic they do with their sweets, i'm not a really sweet person. although i do have some favs like rosomalai, chanar jilepi, motichur [not the laddu, this one is square-shaped], patishaptah & of course, the classics - warm chanar rosogolla & misti doi.)

currently watching: yesterday i finished utakoi & it was overall a pretty good show. i liked most of the female characters tbh more than their male counterparts. currently, i'm not really planning on binge watching anything although i'm watching the recent episodes of ghosts season 3 (the us version) once in a while. it's a fun show to watch to make my mood better. (i know many people prefer the og uk version but well, i tried to watch that & i absolutely hated the colour grading and idk couldn't vibe with the characters, sorry!!)

relationship status: single

current obsession: just like @smolhours (i wish i could catch your name, please tell me only if you want though, a nickname will be good too), i'm too very much obsessed with raven of the inner palace, what a wonderful show and what a masterpiece LN series. my honest wish is that i hope it gets the crown it deserves. i cannot believe i've read some people say that the writing is 'shallow'...how preposterous. i had to roll my eyes so bad at such comments but regardless, i want more and more people to discover this series (crossed fingered & praying for a second season!!!)

last google: "is eyedrops poison" because i saw on twt that a woman killed another woman while in prison with eyedrops. imagine how baffled i was when i learnt that apparently, eyedrops, if consumed (by mistake) can be toxic to us. the ingrediant that does the poisoning is tetrahydrozoline. it makes our blood level toxic (?) i guess. now, i use eye drops everyday because my eyes gets dry pretty often. it sort of an allergy thingy (plus hereditary issue) so yeah....need to REAL careful from now on.

(not gonna tag anyone specific, anyone can feel free to do this!)

[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984, Steven Spielberg)

15/03/2024

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a 1984 adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second installment of the Indiana Jones franchise, a prequel to the film Raiders of the Lost Ark, with Harrison Ford reprising the title role. After arriving in India, desperate villagers ask Indiana Jones to find a mystical stone and save their children from a Thuggee cult that practices child slavery, black magic, and human sacrifice rituals honoring the goddess Kali.

Not wanting to present the Nazis as villains again, George Lucas, executive producer and co-writer, decided to treat this film as a prequel.

The film was released on May 23, 1984, to financial success, but initial reviews were mixed, criticizing its darker elements, strong violence and gore, as well as Capshaw's performance as Willie Scott; however, critical opinion improved over time, citing the film's intensity and imagination. In response to the film's more violent sequences, and with similar complaints about Gremlins, Spielberg suggested that the MPAA change its rating system, which it did within two months of the film's release, creating a new PG-13 rating. It won the Academy Award for best special effects.

A sequel, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade followed in 1989.

In 1935 Indiana Jones survives an assassination attempt by poisoning by Lao Che, a Shanghai crime boss and businessman who hired him to recover the remains of Emperor Nurhaci. With his young orphaned Chinese sidekick, Short "Shorty" Round, and a nightclub singer, Willie Scott, Indy escapes Shanghai on a cargo plane, unaware that the plane is owned by Lao Che. While the three sleep, the pilots dump the fuel and escape with parachutes, leaving the plane to crash into the Himalayas.

They are welcomed by the inhabitants of a impoverished Indian village, who ask for their help to recover the sacred stone (shivalinga) stolen from their shrine, together with their missing children, by evil forces in the nearby Pankot Palace. The inhabitants had prayed to the god Shiva for help, and when they saw Jones they believed him to be their savior.

Deviating on the road to Delhi, Indy, Willy and Shorty receive a warm welcome at Pankot Palace and are allowed to stay overnight as guests, partaking in a sumptuous, but revolting, banquet hosted by the young maharajah. His officials reject Indy's theory that the Thuggee cult is responsible for the poor village's fate. Indy discovers a secret tunnel in Willie's bedroom and sets out to explore it, overcoming a series of pitfalls. Eventually Indy, Willie and Shorty find the Temple of Evil, where they witness a human sacrifice made in the name of the goddess Kali.

Thuggee high priest Mola Ram forces Indy to drink Kali's blood, which puts him into a trance state where he mindlessly serves the cult. After recovering the stones, saving Willie and freeing the children, Indy fights a huge overseer, who is dragged into a crusher, crushed to death.

Then they come to a precarious suspension bridge over a crocodile-infested river, where they are surrounded by Thugs. Thanks to the intervention of Captain Blumburt and the army sent by the maharajah, Jones, Willie and Shorty are saved and the surviving Thugs are cornered and arrested by other soldiers.

From the first discussions regarding Indiana Jones, George Lucas expressed his intention to produce a trilogy and requested Steven Spielberg's commitment to direct three films. The first episode of the saga, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), had only been released in cinemas for a couple of weeks when plans began for the sequel, which actually turned out to be a prequel, being set a year before the previous film.

[freecollectionglitter]

Character Info DisWorks Wizarding World AU

Characters that are not just witch/wizard or are another sentient magic user. As well as the witches/wizards that are animagi.

Adam Dufort (Beauty and the Beast) - is a Wizard that was bitten by a werewolf as a child. Since Adam, is the beast from beauty in the beast I thought making him a werewolf would pay good homage to that.

Ptichner Black (Rise of the Guardians) - is half-vampire. His father is a vampire and his mother was a witch. Making Pitch at least half-vampire was two fold, vampires are beings of the night and Pitch is the boogeyman, the other reason is the author of the HP series mentions the existence of vampires in the first two books, but to my recollection we never meet any in the series itself, so this was my way of actually putting one in existence.

Meilin Lee (Turning Red) - is a maledictus, her families blood curse is a red panda. Her father is a wizard, which is why she's able to go to a wizarding school.

Sanderson "Sandy" Mansnoozie (RotG)- Is a Goblin, I could've made him just a person, but I also wanted to add more diversity amongst the sentient magic users. Besides this isn't the first time a wizarding school has had a nonhuman as headmaster. If I remember correctly Beauxbatons headmistress was at the very least half-giant like Hagrid, but it has been a while since I've read book 4.

Tatiana "Tooth" Plume (RotG)- is a fairy. She's the leader of her type of fairies. (Though I do not describe how she looks completely. I picture her to be Indian instead of white. A thing that bothers me as an adult when rewatching ROTG is that they clearly lean into Russian inspiration for Santa and have an American actor due a Russian accent. the easter bunny is a Australian inspired and have an Aussie actor portray him. From what I recall from the special features they tooth fairy's palace was sort of Indian inspired, maybe it was Tibetan, I can't recall exactly, but the point is she is voiced by a white American actress doing an American accent, that just doesn't make sense to me. (that's all I'll say for now)).

"Baby Tooth" Anura (RotG)- Is one of Tatian's people. From what I could find when trying to find a name for her. Anura is an Indian name meaning wisdom, though I know it meant wise or knowledgeable I also connected it to Wisdom teeth.

The Animagi

Spirit Cimarron and Raine (Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron) - Horses

Kenai (Brother Bear) - Bear

Kuzco (The Emperor's New Grove) -Llama

E. Aster Bunnymund (RotG) - Rabbit/Bunny

Simba and Nala (The Lion King) - Lions

Terk (Tarzan) - Gorilla

The Part Sprites

Jackson "Jack" Overland (RotG), and Anna and Elsa Dellemier (Frozen) - are half-winter sprites.

and the list Manfred Rockford made in the last chapter is not a mislead so...

Merlin's Lost Apprentice (???) - ??

Mystery Siblings (??) - ?

Other Sentient magic users will be come in later, we'll have more fairies, trolls and centaurs to introduce, as well as full nature sprites (more on that later).

In a couple of weeks I'll give some more extra tidbits.

~Htims

[tatoomie]

“Rajkumari Gulabi” is a dream series I’ve been having fun exploring where it’s a bunch of Indian teenagers forming a vigilante group with the help of mythic historical magic. They are all linked to flowers and roles a few special figures had during medieval times, or so the lore goes. 

This is Zoya's magical girl form: Rajkumari Lobelia. Zoya’s a little grumpy and shy, but she means well. 

Lobelia was a royal soothsayer, who grew fond of mystic dark magic and left the royal palace to research ancient dark magic of different tribes all over India, much to the Queen’s dismay. Zoya, a young girl living in modern Mumbai has now been bestowed her powers. 

Wanted to draw an edgy purple/black themed character that all girls wanna be when they're teenagers. Her design isn’t finalized in any way, this is only just the beginning of exploring Indian aesthetics and trying to come up with designs. 

[adamwatchesmovies]

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

They don’t make movies like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom anymore - for multiple reasons. Certain aspects of this film will take modern movie-goers aback. You can focus on the dubious cultural depictions, violence and gross-out humor or you can divert your attention to what works: the never-ending tension, action scenes & set pieces, cinematography and the ever-charismatic lead.

In this prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) narrowly escapes from crime boss Lao Che (Roy Chiao) with his eleven-year-old sidekick Short Round (Ke Huy Quan) and nightclub singer Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw). Unfortunately, they soon find themselves stranded in northern India, where many children have gone missing and a sacred stone - one of the five fabled Shankara stones - has been stolen. Their quest to unravel the mystery brings our heroes to an ancient Thuggee cult who practice dark magic and ritualistic human sacrifices.

In a way, this picture is much lighter than Raiders. We’re not dealing with Nazis. Indy and his little buddy are going up against India’s equivalent of devil-worshippers but the villains are firmly planted in the realm of fantasy. There are many jokes as the boys playfully bicker and roll their eyes at Willie, who has no business being on this adventure but wound up alongside them. Over and over, she’s screaming at the bugs, skeletons, traps and dangers they encounter. The duo would be much better off without the dumb blonde… but abandoning her would be irresponsible. She’s nothing like Karen Allen's Marion and the film makes that clear. If Willie's going to complain about being away from the city, let's give her a real reason to - which means lots and lots of ewwww moments. This is where people might raise an eyebrow. There’s a famous banquet scene where the most stomach-churning foods are served. You may interpret it as a) an implication that all Indians are barbarians that eat eyeballs and snakes (although the good villagers we meet early-on definitely do not) b) an elaborate gag that may or may not resonate with you (humor is subjective, after all) or c) hints that something at this palace is amiss…

Despite the initial tone, this is an intense movie. There are torture and grisly human sacrifices, children are kidnapped/enslaved, people are explicitly killed - often in gruesome manners. The tone is far too intense to be rated PG but it was. The PG-13 rating was only introduced after the MPAA got similar complaints from Gremlins just one month later.

This film isn't as mature as its "successor" and it doesn't feel as polished either, though the filmmaking is still excellent. Once Indy and the gang realize the danger they've stumbled upon, the tension never lets up. Every escape is merely a brief reprieve. A new peril rolls around the next corner, ready to flatten them. It's fast-paced and exciting. Along the way, you also get excellent cinematography and camerawork. The shots which contrast Short Round to his big buddy are terrific. Through quick cuts and parallel actions, the camera says more than words ever could. It's a roller-coaster ride - sometimes literally. You'll be left breathless and maybe even overwhelmed. Is the movie for kids? maybe, maybe not. It's somewhere in between.

Often violent & gruesome and lacking some of the sophistication of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a disappointment... but only for this franchise. As a film on its own, or as a "first entry" in a series, it would make you go "wow!" Dated elements aside, it's exciting, memorable and fun. (On Blu-ray, May 22, 2020)

[rabbitcruiser]

Mesa Verde National Park (No. 1)

Mesa Verde National Park is an American national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado. The park protects some of the best-preserved Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites in the United States.

Established by Congress and President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, the park occupies 52,485 acres (21,240 ha) near the Four Corners region of the American Southwest. With more than 5,000 sites, including 600 cliff dwellings, it is the largest archaeological preserve in the United States. Mesa Verde (Spanish for "green table", or more specifically "green table mountain") is best known for structures such as Cliff Palace, thought to be the largest cliff dwelling in North America.

Starting c. 7500 BC Mesa Verde was seasonally inhabited by a group of nomadic Paleo-Indians known as the Foothills Mountain Complex. The variety of projectile points found in the region indicates they were influenced by surrounding areas, including the Great Basin, the San Juan Basin, and the Rio Grande Valley. Later, Archaic people established semi-permanent rock shelters in and around the mesa. By 1000 BC, the Basketmaker culture emerged from the local Archaic population, and by 750 AD the Ancestral Puebloans had developed from the Basketmaker culture.

The Pueblonians survived using a combination of hunting, gathering, and subsistence farming of crops such as corn, beans, and squash (the "Three Sisters"). They built the mesa's first pueblos sometime after 650, and by the end of the 12th century, they began to construct the massive cliff dwellings for which the park is best known. By 1285, following a period of social and environmental instability driven by a series of severe and prolonged droughts, they abandoned the area and moved south to locations in Arizona and New Mexico, including the Rio Chama, the Albuquerque Basin, the Pajarito Plateau, and the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Source: Wikipedia