#hindunatural.

[hauntedpearl]

doe. THOUGHTS. on desi amara, u must share <3

okay. so. here's the thing:

i usually shy away from incorporating desi things into the show in my HCs beyond them being some romantic parallels with shayari or whatever and. like. the canonical presence of hinduism in the show (with the exception of the recent hennanatural madness) because i think it would require an overhaul of the show where you have to essentially redo the foundation and go from there. dean and sam being on the fringes of suburban america does make adaptation a little more easier, but, at the end of the day, they are upholding the tenets of racism and are White Men doing White Men Things.

Similarly, when i think about desi-fying Amara, i can't really place her in a role that's not aligned with the mythos of the show. which is very much an interpretation of Christianity. like. you can't have her be Hindu, for instance, because our religions are very different. we don't behold Destruction™ with fear, for instance. it's just how it is. like. if you have shakti (power/life) you have shiva (destruction). and they're both revered in equal measure. and Amara is essentially Chuck's Shiva, right? like. she's the yin to his yang etc etc. not that either religion is right or doesn't have its flaws, but the ideas of what's good and evil vary. our relationships with those ideas also vary. so it's like. you can't change one thing in the show without basically knocking this house of cards down.

i have a lot of trouble envisioning her — and a lot of other characters, similarly — as desi because i most of the time think in terms of adaptation rather than indulgence. and like. that's a lot of work and i don't even know if i have the fortitude to redo 15 years worth of story that, despite all its flaws, does tend to have a compelling vein running through it.

that being said, a very vague tendril of an idea that I have (if we do manage to undo and redo this mess) is like:

She Could Be Kali.

I'm not talking Durga — I'm talking Kali. wild haired, dark skinned, wears the skulls of demons around her neck and dances the apocalypse in with a tandav Kali.

(i don't want to think too hard about how it would read because it can and does read as awful if you're not changing who Chuck is. But LET'S ASSUME WE DO CHANGE THAT ALSO. FOR THIS HEADCANON)

anyway. Kali. right.

So the version of her depicted in Supernatural is racist and awful, yes, but also. She's not the Kali that we all grew up learning about.

She's just Durga.

There are interpretations of the religious texts that place Durga and Kali as separate entities, and then there are interpretations that say that Kali is just Durga when she's overcome with rage and bloodlust. Both interpretations lend themselves to paint a picture of Kali that is visceral and horrific and terrifying and beautiful in the way that gods have always been supposed to be.

Kali comes to dance when the world is overrun with evil. She sheds her clothes and her inhibitions with them. She eats the hearts of demons she slays and drinks their blood. She wears their bones as adornment. To evoke her is to evoke the apocalypse because she doesn't stop once she starts. Her tandav is said to be just as — if not more — powerful than Shiva's and would break the world apart if it reaches its crescendo.

^ this is one popular rendition of Kali in tandav. Note how shiva lays in her path so she can step on his chest instead of the ground. This is the only way to protect the world, and to remind her of who she is outside of the hunger that she becomes in this form.

ALL THIS TO SAY: AMARA.

the only possible desi version of her that I see is a Kali left to rage and stew for centuries, locked away in a pocket dimension in an attempt to keep the universe from collapsing. Releasing her would bring destruction of unknowable measure. The only Darkness parallel that makes sense, imo.

Things that could be interesting in this AU if we rearranged all of canon around it also:

Durga can be back in the picture! Like I said, some interpretations place them as separate entities, some as the same. ALSO. they're gods. It could be similar to a Dark Charlie/Good Charlie situation where Durga is aware of this part of her raging and struggling to comprehend that rage and chasing after a destruction that she, as her more calm form, knows that she doesn't want. The ending of this arc could be a beautiful scene too where Kali and Durga embrace and emerge as one combined entity — call her what you will, Shakti, Devi, etc etc

Dean Can Be The Shiva Like For A Second: Here's a way to keep the White Boys involved in the story! The only way to stop Kali (see there was a reason i was telling you stories) is when Shiva steps into her path and de-Hulks her and lets her take it out on him basically. So there. She could have somehow imprinted on Dean. But Dean, as a human, would not survive the sheer power of her being. Still, he would offer. (it's the Soul Bomb Sacrifice Parallel Moment!) And like. Durga who has been denying to help all season will show up in a deus-ex-machina moment and save the day! YAAY!!

COOL AS FUCK WARDROBE HELLO! I'm talking fusion outfits instead of that boring — if beautiful — black gown. also. the accessories omg! SILVER SKULL NECKLACE. ALWAYS A LITTLE PAPIDI BILLA (what's the Hindi word for it i don't remember. the thing you put in your hair and it hands on your forehead). ANKLETS! KAJAL!! OH MAN!!!!!! SHE'D LOOK SO AMAZING!!!!

It's hard to do a Tandav Moment™ but it would look so badass if they did. I think they wouldn't, realistically, so it's a metaphor. or whatever boring shit. But it's like with each step she takes on this world with deliberate intent, something or the other starts to go wrong.

She would also introduce a Very Important And Interesting Aspect into the show because. Despite everything. Kali is not inherently evil. Neither is she considered as such. She is literally *killing demons*. That's what brings her to light. It's like Godstiel, but 100x cooler. So to have them deal with her in a way that's not entirely placing her in a rigid black and white role might be super fun to see.

ALSO. DID I MENTION THE CLOTHES? YES?

ANYWAY.

Of course this headcanon is still very flawed but, again, I'm a little fussy about this shit unfortunately. So this is the best i can do. I'm so sorry this turned out to be a longass post with many tangents but i hope it was fun enough! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE ASK MWAH! 💕

[mishastoesies]

okay im allowing myself two more hindunatural posts and this is one of them!! the night sam leaves for stanford, dean (who like me is effectively an atheist) takes his non-believing ass to temple and prays to saraswati (goddess of learning) to lend his brother a hand. and he continues to do this for sam every finals week. its the only time he goes to temple ever. 

[hauntedpearl]

an important part of the shiva lore is that his throat shines a special blue because he once drank poison to save the world and he couldn't swallow it or he'd die so he just. keeps it in his throat. and it's like. a visible thing that everyone can see. like this —

anyway.

godstiel cas!! every time he eats a soul!!!

[hauntedpearl]

it's hard for me to not think about hindunatural as a concept because a lot of the ~epic love stories~ i grew up with were those of religious figures so like do you expect me NOT TO think about destiel when I hear a ramayan-adjacent song that's like "how will you leave your shadow behind?" said in the context of sita following ram into terrible circumstances when ram is trying to get her to stay behind to protect her

[hauntedpearl]

I just read through your hindunatural post and I just love it all so much, and just all the thought that went into it!!!! 💝💕💕💕💕💕💕💕 I love seeing other people talk about pocnatural in general, it’s amazing

hiiiiiii thank youu!!! honestly hindunatural/desinatural always on my mind like a damn cockroach sitting on my back but it can be super fun when i indulge in it. i don't post much pocnatural content anymore bc reasons but i remember my old posts sometimes and it's like getting slapped in the face by a fish very invigorating

like having fun aside, i am also very acutely aware of how this is all skin deep and to actually write something (and have it not be the flavour of supernatural racism), I'll have to. like. work out many things. i don't think I'm ready for that. so for now ig we can just enjoy the jokes that are funny because they are ridiculous.

[mishastoesies]

okay where are my hindunatural posters. who steals dean’s shoes at his and cas’ wedding.

[mishastoesies]

and now IF i take a small break from my baby jack truthing for just a second: jack thinks that dean won't want him at the ganesha puja on the first day of the wedding because he's Not Family but dean INSISTS that he comes because guess what he IS family he's ALWAYS been family

[mishastoesies]

third one: gonna talk about their diwalis for a second

so my family never had a ton of disposable income for the really fancy colorful diyas (which are basically little oil lamps) that you see in stores, so what my mom would do is have us make our own! fhdjskhgd we’d literally mix flour and water together into a stiff dough, shape it into a diya, soak a wick with ghee, and let it burn all night. and i can totally totally totally see sam and dean doing something similar!!

also, later on, i think maybe when their family expands and they have the space for it, they spend hours making massive, colorful rangoli with everyone. 

[mishastoesies]

@stars-and-scripts​ I KNOW IM SO EXCITED also: bhang lassi. here’s how stonernatural can still win

okay more than two words: dean gets sam in the face with bright yellow powder in the morning and by night sam has made it his mission to have gotten him back with every other color of the rainbow. little sibling energy

[hauntedpearl]

a lot about the way hinduism exists and is practiced in the world rn is kinda fucked up but the mythology associated with the religion remains one of my most favourite things ever. to this day, i feel like i chase the high of having the entirety of the mahabharata unfold as a story for the first time. it's such a wonderfully constructed epic. and it's got so many interesting perspectives! it has all these morally grey characters and it's a freaking tragedy, of all things, and the message that it carries is surprisingly modern. of course there are pieces that are ridiculously offensive — at the end of the day, the religion has deep patriarchal roots, and the epics and myths that drive the religion are, therefore, adhering to patriarchal standards —, but there's also bits where there's so much acceptance and inclusivity when it comes to the different sects of people posited to be living in the country at the time. it's all just so. i just love it so much!! i love it as a story, and i love it for the reflection that it provides of the culture and humanity of the people of this country. and i never get tired of this stuff!!!

[mishastoesies]

at my cousins wedding for the baraat he got a car instead of a white horse which isn't weird but it's deancore

GHDFJGHDFK VERY DEANCORE. im so torn between them having the impala as part of the ceremony or dean just stealing a white car for his wedding

[mishastoesies]

nine year old me was claire-coded as fuck for bringing my toy shovel to my cousin’s wedding so that if i got my hand on her groom’s shoes i could bury them and Get That Bag from her husband

[mishastoesies]

Who runs over to the food as soon as it’s announced that food is ready for the guests? And who’s gossiping about the gulab jambun being a little tough to break and eat?

okay first part of this ask is kevincore, kevin is ONLY at the wedding for free food #fuckthewinchesters. rowena is the second one and she’s gossiping directly to sam because she Gives No Fucks she is that auntie

[mishastoesies]

@stars-and-scripts​ YES WE ARE BELOVED... also OOF i have been there. like in the same vein as this... don’t think about the first time sam had to spend diwali alone in a dorm room instead of with his family. he probably did what i did when i had to spend diwali alone and got tea lights + went to the single indian restaurant in town for something that tasted vaguely home-cooked but we all know it’s not the same

[mishastoesies]

Hi hello yes genuinely curious about the hindunatural post regarding shoes at the wedding? If I may ask and don't come across as sounding terribly ignorant. Is that a tradition? I have to ask because my mother (Half-Italian) had her shoes stolen by her mother (American with heavy German lineage) at her own wedding and it was most decidedly not because of a tradition. Her mom just stole her shoes and they (the wedding party) had to scramble at the last minute to find my mother any shoes. Mom only found out after when looking through the wedding pictures that her mom stole them. (My mom's wedding was not so much a comedy of errors so much as "how the hell did the wedding even happen". So anyway, there's a story no one asked for but I'm curious about the shoe thing—like I say, if I may ask. :))

FHDSJLHFKJDSG OKAY 1) I LOVE THAT. THATS SO CHAOTIC. 2) it’s a tradition!! this article explains it pretty well! 

[hauntedpearl]

today's addition to my cursed hindunatural (shivanatural?) au, shiva clocks the divorce vibes between dean and cas when he and kali meet up with them to defeat chuck and pulls him aside and goes "don't worry, give it some time. i beheaded our son once, but look at us now, it's like we got married yesterday" and dean's like "??????w h a t ??????"