#south indian characters

[babygirlhaljordan]

one of my biggest complaints for dc is the lack of indian ppl in gotham. like if ur setting a city in new jersey, a state thats literally dubbed as “little india” from how many indians are there yet not a single 1 in gotham?! how am i supposed to take you seriously

[asian-character-of-the-day]

Day 86

Today’s Asian character is Pavitr Prabhakar/Spider-Man India from Across the Spiderverse!

He is Indian.

[catpriciousmarjara]

Tell me: Is He Gay or In a Sherwani?

Imposition of western norms in fandom analysis of Asian characters

With the rising popularity of Indian cinema sparked by the recent success of RRR on international platforms as well as the easy availability of multiple streaming services, in addition to the appearance of South Asian characters in prominent roles in western, particularly US media, I've begun to see some concerning 'analysis' posts online. So I thought I'd address something I found common in most of these takes.

Guys, characterizing your blorbos as queer is great and all, love it, but you're making a fundamental mistake by making their clothing choices the foundation for your queer headcanons, especially when it comes to male characters. Do not apply existing western cultural ideas regarding male clothing onto South Asian characters and their dressing please.

The vast majority of the clothes being used by people in various online spaces as 'evidence' of a character being queer(gay or bi mostly) are just normal Indian clothing for men, like daily wear. A top being pink or a character's wardrobe being mostly pastel means absolutely nothing...cos Indian clothing tends to be colourful in general and the tendency to ascribe colours masculine and feminine qualities is considerably less in the subcontinent. I'm not saying it doesn't exist, but generally not a concern.

There's also this pervasive idea that colourful clothing = flamboyance = queer and that itself is something many people have already pointed as a deeply flawed way of thinking and a stereotype. Furthermore, even if you do lean into the archetype of queer men being flamboyant, subscribing to the 'stereotypes exist for a reason don't they?' school of thought perhaps, there's also the fact that ideas of what is considered flamboyant change dramatically across different cultures. What is 'flamboyant' for someone might just be normal for others. Like maybe pink or purple or yellow might be considered too much, unmanly, emasculating etc in the US or something but they're just perfectly normal colours for men to wear in many, many cultures.

It's the 'Is he Gay or European?' principle. Did you characterize this Indian character (or any South Asian character really) as queer because of their canonical behaviour and portrayal, or did you just see their clothing and decide they're queer because being well groomed and having a colourful wardrobe is a character trait you exclusively ascribe to being queer?

Like guys, I like Chaipunk like the rest of you, but if you consider Pavitr queer just because his costume is a lot fancier than the others' (An actual take I've seen multiple times) without taking into account his cultural background....¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Let me make this clear, I don't think people need a ten page analysis to imagine their fave as queer. Headcanoning a character as queer can have any reason ranging from 'I said so and so it is' to 'this is my light character analysis that makes a masters thesis look shabby' and they're all valid and an integral part of the fandom experience. What I am annoyed at are these so-called 'well-researched' theories that did not make the slightest effort to look into South Asian culture and simply transposed their western bias onto Indian media and confidently make flat out wrong judgements and mislead other people. Clothing based sexual identity determinism is the least of it. That I can at least understand through the lens of a habitual process built through years of analyzing crumbs of queer representation available only through queer coded characters and symbolism such as clothing choices being the only way to see an aspect of yourself portrayed in an aggressively heteronormative media ecosystem. I do that too, because media is tragically heteronormative everywhere. But the rest? Its just straight up misinformation and misrepresentation touted as truth.

Its the same with relationships between men. There are plenty of cultures where skinship between men is not unusual and dynamics and nuances tend to be vastly different from western representations of male friendships. In xianxia and wuxia fandoms you can see this same problem in a different font when outsiders, most often the western side of the fandom, try to apply their own standards and morals onto the original work and try to interpret it through a lens it was never supposed to be interpreted through in the first place, except maybe for comparative analysis. This practice itself isn't a major problem, its natural for people to apply what is familiar to them to try and understand something new. But when this is also accompanied by them foisting their personal interpretation and analysis as the 'correct' one and trying to impose it on the fandom as a whole, it escalates into a powder keg situation as you can imagine.

Again, not saying that western parts of fandoms are the root of all evil or anything like that, gods know how toxic netizens can be. But in this specific situation, where people try to impose western ideals on to non-western content and assumes the universalism of their own principles and value systems? Indeed an issue to be addressed.

[hussyknee]

Seeing characters in romance stories just jetting between countries at a moment's notice with no thought for visa; seeing airports as sites of triumphant climaxes and romantic denouements instead of places of fear and danger where a sword hangs above your head— it all breaks off little pieces of my heart. They're constant reminders that my people will never be human enough in the colonial world order to be allowed to move freely around it. No matter what your race, those non-refugees living in the Global North will never understand what it's like to be part of a global ghetto where your passport is nothing but a trembling supplication and humiliation.

[turntechgaykid]

MLP redesigns!! Human ver. below 👇

Lmk if you want to see any specific ponies 🙏

(Ships: Fluttershy + Rainbow Dash, Apple jack + Rara, Pinkie pie + Sunset Shimmer, Twilight + Tempest)

(Sunset Shimmer but I haven't finished her human ver. yet)

[introspectivememories]

i love!!! pavitr!!!! best part about him is that the astv creators just said he's indian. he could be any type of indian and you wouldn't be wrong. maybe he's malayali. maybe he's from mizo. maybe he's from punjab. maybe he's tamilian. maybe he's from sikkim. you decide!!!!

[livelaughlovechai]

Things to keep in mind while writing a south asian character-

(Since I'm a mixed south-north indian and a hindu-sikh I've mainly included details about indian-hindu characters(ill try to include more abt sikh characters aswell)tho ive tried to include as much info as I can abt other south asian countries aswell !also ,if you want,feel free to add more details in :)

And please forgive my grammar in some of these places XD

1.The most common one,of course being that south asia is not all india.countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri lanka,Bhutan etc exist to.

2.Religion tends to be a big part of many south asian people’s lives , and If not a big part of their life,than most south asians are atleast religious in one way or the other.Different religions are in majority in different regions of south asia.For example,Sri lanka is majority buddhist, mainly in the sinhalese majority while the tamil minority there is majority hindu. But it's more than valid if ur character is atheist to tho!

3.For indian characters specifically ,it's is important to know what state they are from and that state’s culture . For example,most (or almost all)tamil characters won't wear a salwar kameez.(if they do then mostly muslim tamils)(reminder;I'm talking about traditional wear. Yes a lot of Tamil's could wear a salwar kameez if they want but it is not the traditional dress of tamil nadu)

4.India itself is very diverse,so don't make every character hindu.in some regions one religion is more in the majority than the others.If you decide to make a christian-indian character ,than they usually are from south-west india and north-east india.

5.If you decide to make a hindu-indian character as maybe a marvel/dc oc or something , its best to do some research on hindu stories and history.trust me,it helps alot. If not a hindu character than do research on the folk tales of that characters region,as that can help to.

6.NOT EVERY INDIAN SPEAKS HINDI.INDIAN/HINDU ARE NOT LANGUAGES.istg please . All it takes is one search of your characters state and the states description almost always mentions the state’s official language.while some character from non Hindi speaking areas of the country, for example a malyalee person could know how to speak hindi (most probably by living somewhere like delhi),they would still talk in malayalam with family and stuff . Also a pakistani character and Hindi speaking indian can almost always communicate easily since since the most spoken language in Pakistan,Urdu is very similar to Hindi in sound(also a lot of indians,specifically muslim indian’s have urdu as their first language.)Also punjabi Pakistani's and Indian's don't have any problem in communication(the script they write punjabi in is different tho)Also since a lot of people from the north had their ancestors migrate from pakistan to india during partition regional languages of Pakistan such as sindhi,multani,balochi etc can be understood by some people of such descent living in India.And a bengali speaking indian and a Bangladeshi can communicate just as well.Nepali speaking indians and Nepali people can also communicate with each other.But when it comes to Sri Lankan tamil people their dialect is different than the one of indian tamilians,so their tamil is better understood by malyalees,but they can still communicate well enough with each other.afghan people speak pashto and dari.pashto is also understood by a small amount of ethnic pashtuns who live throughout the sub continent.People from the Maldives speak the language of dhivehi.

7.Indians overall have many festivals that all people of usually a certain community celebrate regardless of religion,caste,etc.For example ,the people in kerela celebrate onam.Infact in alot of the state’s people from a specific region have their on festivities.

8.Physical features vary from area to area of South Asia.So there is no definite“south asian“look.

9.Sikh’s don’t cut their hair , that’s why most Sikh women have long hair and most Sikh men wear turbans. Although some do, like my uncle from my mom’s side and my mom herself and etc. Though socially it's more acceptable for a sikh woman to cut her hair then a sikh man. But a load of times sikh immigrants do have to sadly cut their hair and take off their turbans in order to get jobs and all.

10.-And Hindu’s don’t eat beef.Most Sikh’s and overall all Indians tend to avoid beef to.a lot of Hindus are vegetarians due to religious beliefs. Tho mallus and some people from the north east for example usualy do eat beef(mainly the non hindus)

11.-For characters specially from south india(that to mainly kerala and tamil Nadu) the naming tradition that is used most commonly is that the child and wife use the father’s name as their last name. Though I've noticed that outside of their states atleast they tend to use their family names, but very rarely caste names.

12.- Believe it or not, in a show( I'm not sure about the name) a pakistani character had the name“shiv reddy“.pissed me of sm.yes pakistani hindus exist but if I havent already mentioned before,CERTAIN LAST NAMES BELONG TO CERTAIN AREAS. Reddy is an indian telugu hindu last name.please do your research.

13.-This applies to a good amount of north indians and just overall non south indians.south india is not one state.madras was the OLD name for Chennai, which is just one CITY in one state of south india.There are 5 states,6(and more) languages spoken. Please do not confuse those cultures.

14.-As for a good amount of non punjabis...please.punjabis are not all “balle-balle“ sikh people.please. And they're not all angry people looking for a fight either.

15.-Talking abt north india,I need to mention bollywood and how they stereotype.bombay aka the film city is in Maharashtra.yet they still stereotype Maharashtrians as poor people.gujjus are always the rich snobbish ppl.bengali ppl are sweet shy people and nepali people are Chinese. Goans are always english speaking drunkards or high attitude aunties.rajasthanis all have a heavy accent and are royalty and Uttar pradeshis-biharis are poor illiterate people. PLEASE STOP WITH THIS STEREOTYPICAL BULLSHIT ISTG. See,stereotypes exist because they are true, but only a part of the truth and over exaggerated asf.

16.-India does have a poverty issue but we are far from a third world country.most indians are middle class,that to is split in between lower middle class,middle middle class and upper middle class.and until or unless you live in a rural area casteism really isn't a problem.but remember,while casteism is illegal in indian law,it still affects people.it’s just a little less prevelant in big cities. While india is the farthest ahead in south asia atleast the rest of the countries are doing well for themselves as well.

17.-hindu culture specifically has so much lgbtqia+ stuff in it.but the fucking brit’s and Mughals ruined it. The only transgender festival of Asia is held in tamil nadu.seriously, I advise you do research of your own on it and you'll love it to!♥️

18.-Btw, hindi is a language,hindu religion. (had to add this again)Your character prolly from some place like madhya pradesh,bihar,Uttar pradesh,Delhi,uttarakhand or himachal pradesh if they are hindi speaking. Some people have the same confusion with malayalam. Malayalam is a language, malyalee’s are the people who speak it or at from kerala.

19.-talking about food.curry is a wide ass term.wdym by curry?fish curry,mutton curry or is it paneer curry?is it more creamy or not?do you eat it by itself,with rice,a paratha/parotta or all?like seriously stop with “curry“ ITS ANNOYINGGG.again food varries alot area by area.even in a specific area food varries. For example,Kerala-Tamil nadu sambar is damn spicy but sambar from karnataka and telugu states tends to be sweeter.also food from Karnataka is much milder in spice then food from Andhra,but still capable of burning the mouths of most non south asians 😍😘🥰.also,we tend to eat most of our food with hands(THE best way.)famous delicacies vary from country to country in south asia and area to area of india btw. And our food is not ’smelly’, it's FRAGRANT.

20.ok so ive in total had 2 specific segments dedicated to language and this is the third one.India,while having only 22 offical languages(again;i remind you,we do not have a national language)actually has like thousands of languages. Native people from even just one state can have different mother tongues(for example-three people who were born and raised in karnataka and have families that are native to the state could have the languages of kannada,tulu and kodava as their mother tongues).And again,dialects also differ.For example,Bombay hindi and the hindi of a person from Uttarakhand would be different, and so would Bangalore tamil and a Madurai native’s tamil.Also,let’s say a telugu person has been living in mumbai for a while,very rarely will they ever have an ’accent’ while speaking hindi or english.

21.so above i mentioned that alot of people from the north have had ancestors move in from pakistan during the partition(and vice versa for some Pakistani's).Similarly,a good amount of people from west bengal had their ancestors move in from bangladesh(and vice versa again,but unlike the north india-pakistan thing indian bong’s and bangladeshi people don’t exactly have that ’divide’).Adding this in specifically not only because of how important this is but it can give more depth to your characters if they are from any of these areas.

22.Every state has different art forms.be it dance,music or just art,every state has it different.India has 8 classical dances(bharatanatyam,kuchipudi, mohiniyattam,kathakali,oddisi,kathak, manipuri and sattriya) and has countless many more.Music also varies and so does art as i said above.

23.our culture is super feminist but fucked by the brits and mughals again. We had so many queens and princesses that fought wars and also many female warriors.In the ancient times women only wore single drape saris and didn’t cover their breasts because they were not seen as sexual,but infact as a sign of motherhood(and there forth strength).If they were covered,it was for support.

24.Most people know atleast 3+ languages and almost everyone knows 2 at the very least. Sometimes they can even understand(which can range from basic to great) some other languages. For eg.- my dad can speak english,hindi,telugu,konkani,tulu,punjabi,urdu and multani+ he can understand malayalam,kannada,sindhi and tamil well enough.

That's it(for now):) hope this can help.feel free to ask questions!+random songs from my playlist✨✨✨

(ps,check this post of mine out cause y not lol)

[lunar-serpentinite]

Hariharan Nalin Potter

Heir of House Potter

Faceclaim: Anirudh Pisharody

Hariharan Nalin Potter, commonly known as Harry and famously as the Boy-Who-Lived, is the eldest child and only son of the Potter family's Head couple Lily and James Potter and their husband Regulus Potter. He is the older brother by four years to a younger sister named Madhuri Potter, as well as the godson of Sirius Black and Sharanya Patil.

More information below the cut

What's in a Name?

Hariharan ஹரிஹரன்

— from the the fused Sattvika characterisation of Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva (Hara)

Hari – the one who takes away (sins)

Hara – Remover of sins

Nalin நளின்

— means close, abundance, pride; also a synonym for lotus

Follows the Evans tradition of naming their children after flowers

Also calls back to James’ middle name (Mooriyan, pride)

Picked by Regulus. In ancient Egypt, lotuses represent rebirth and the Sun and by god did he feel his life beginning anew the moment he laid eyes on baby Harry

The Snake With No Self-Preservation Instincts

When Harry entered Hogwarts at the age of 11, the Sorting Hat was torn between Gryffindor and Slytherin for him. Maybe even Ravenclaw if the Hat was feeling particularly experimental. In the end, the Hat put him in Slytherin, much to the delight of his baba Regulus.

Slytherin won the Hat over by just a small margin. In this universe, Harry was raised not with scorn nor contempt but with an overabundance of love and support. Many of the influential adults in his life inspired him to be as driven and goal-oriented as they are. Additionally, the inclusion of a third, Slytherin-to-the-core parent also influenced Harry's own personal choice in Houses.

Slytherins are also defined by their tendency to stick close to family traditions. Harry was raised completely immersed in his South Indian heritage of Tamil and Telugu and he's very proud of it. Thus he is completely dedicated to preserving and following the cultural and familial traditions he was raised with.

Finally, he has a brilliant and clever mind as well as a knack for leadership (regardless of how much he denies that himself). Growing in a house of love and positivity allowed Harry to fully lean into his gifts instead of focusing on survival. In this universe, Harry was allowed to shine and shine he did.

As per the hierarchy of Slytherin, Harry is naturally the most influential half-blood as the Boy-Who-lived and is considered by his half-blood and Muggleborn yearmates as their leader the same way the Purebloods consider Draco Malfoy theirs.

"You're a bloody Slytherin, why do you lack self-preservation?" "Maybe if you dig your pointy nose into my business some more, you'd find it."

One thing that does set Harry aside from his Slytherin cohorts is his apparent "lack of self-preservation". Sense of self-preservation is a signature Slytherin trait that is far outweighed by Harry's natural "saving people thing" that is apparently in every Potter's genes.

Harry simply doesn't hesitate to lend a hand whenever he sees that he could. He helps even when it is detrimental to himself, which gives him a sort of reputation as one of the more eccentric Slytherins of his year. This resulted in him gaining a close social circle that is composed of several non-Slytherins which is an unusual sight within the House that Keeps to Themselves.

Escaping from Death's Clutches

Harry's main claim to fame is his apparent survival from being hit by the Killing Curse at point blank when he was four years old. The incident was widely publicized by Voldemort himself who had kidnapped Harry as a child after years of failed attempts to pierce through the powerful wards of Nagaraja Hall. Voldemort had wanted to publicly execute Harry as punishment for his parents who had thrice defied him.

This backfired on the Dark Lord as not only did Harry survive his Killing Curse but the knockback from the protective Magics weakened Voldemort enough for a furious Lily Potter to land the killing blow on him, ending the First Wizarding War. Because of this, Harry and Lily share the title Lord Voldemort's Vanquisher, a title that both despise.

Harry sports a seemingly permanent lichtenberg scar above his left eye. According to all the Healers that have examined him, it may very well be the first and only known occurrence of a curse scar borne from being hit and surviving the Killing Curse. The scar runs deeper than it looks and has rendered Harry half-blind in his left eye.

He has little to no clear memories of the incident owing to how traumatic it was but the trauma has left its own imprints in him, namely his scar, partial blindness, and a certain discomfort whenever someone points a wand at him without any warning.

Collected Miscellany

Little bits of extra information/headcanons for him. This section will be updated from time to time.

As per the tradition of Nandhini's descendants, Harry is bonded to a boa constrictor and a Basilisk

Harry has Lily’s temper, James’ compassion, and Regulus’ pride

He has been said to be a promising talent in flying, combat magic, and transfiguration. He claims to have an “easier time” at performing wandless magic. He was also personally tutored by his grandmother Euphemia in the art of pearl-based magic.

Excels in the Seeker position but does pretty okay in other positions.

Produced a corporeal Patronus at age 13. His Patronus is an Indian sambar stag which is the same as his appa James

While he’s absolutely brilliant in the kitchen, he unfortunately didn’t inherit Lily’s talent at Potions.

This is because he was taught how to cook before he was taught how to brew. Potions requires precision and accuracy but he’s used to measuring ingredients “by heart, soul, vibes and the voice of his ancestor whispering in his ears”.

He’s surprisingly good at anything related to snakes, be it brewing antivenom potions or working with venom or any snake-sourced parts

Aside from English, Harry is fluent in Tamil and Telugu, and conversational in Sanskrit, Middle Tamil, and Classical Sanskrit. Regulus is teaching him and Madhuri Masri (Egyptian Arabic) and Demotic (a very, very late descendant of Ancient Egyptian).

Childhood friends with Ron Weasley since they were babies through the friendship of Lily and Molly

He is also friends with the rest of the Weasley siblings by extension

Also friends with the other children of the Magical Indian diaspora families, notably his godsiblings the Patil twins Padma and Parvati

Met Hermione Granger at King’s Cross Station where his mother befriended her mother, Monica Granger. Hermione then became Lily's protege and Hermione would spend a portion of her holidays at Nagaraja Hall

Met Draco Malfoy as a baby during the wedding of his parents to Regulus Black and made him cry

Particularly fond of Luna Lovegood who he met at a young age as she was the daughter of Pandora Lovegood, who was friends with Lily

Buddies with Neville Longbottom who is the son of Alice Longbottom, who is also friends with Lily

Paired with Blaise Zabini in Potions so they are within the acquaintances to casual friends range

Spent his childhood going back and forth between the Potter’s Nagaraja Hall and the House of Serpents

More information on the Descendants of Nandhini / the Potters Back to the family directory of this AU

Please feel 100% free to drop some comments in the reblogs, replies, my askbox etc. ! 🥰🫶

[emaswanned]

I know there's a bunch of fans who have fallen out of love with the TV adaptation of The Witcher because of it's deviation from the books/games, but I don't think I can explain how wonderful it is to see an Indian Hindu woman, a person of colour, playing a powerful, beautiful female main character that is literally loved by thousands across the globe.

I'm third-generation British Indian and grew up watching shows with main characters that never, ever looked like me. I cannot applaud the casting of Anya Chalotra as Yennefer any more than I already have.

[shipperboi]

I'm so so touched by the amount of love people have shown on my post of Kerala Miku - I'm going to make a little Onam doodle of Kerala Miku as a bit of thanks! Seeing everyone enjoying my South Indian art so much made me want to post the art I've had for AGES of my OCs for a Hinduism inspired South Indian fantasy setting. So if that sounds like your jam - have look below!

Here is my (currently unnamed OC) "Gaada Girl." She's a warrior in training who likes to hit things with her mace first and ask questions later. She may not be very booksmart, but she's as strong as an ox and just as stubborn. No matter what, she will always protect those who cannot protect themselves.

Taking name suggestions if anyone has any!

[asian-character-of-the-day]

Day 88

Today’s Asian character is Frye Omaga from Splatoon 3!

She is Indian-Japanese.

(I read she’s heavily inspired by Indian culture and has a lot of design elements from it (including her forehead, which is a sign of beauty from India which is so CUTE) so it would be weird if she wasn’t Indian.)

[cadybear420]

Happy AAPI Month to the AAPI Characters of HSS! The canon characters, plus my Prime MC Jordan and OG MC Evie!

[anushkashettyfanclub]

Part 3 ✨️ Lady Superstar Anushka Shetty Movie Characters and their Spirit Animals 💫

[face-claims-central]

Manya Mitra - Indian, Unknown

[flipflopitstimetomakeart]

drew a lil bive gijinka in order to attempt to refine my portraiture style!

[anumation]

Nimbooda, Nimbooda, Nimbooda… ✨🍋