#indian characters

[theheistattheball]

Suraj Sharma as Gauchier Pierlot

I don't know that many male Indian actors :(

I saw this guy in Life of Pi, but he's probably TOO OLD now...

[is-weird-me]

How to write an Indian Character by an Indian person.

Disclaimer: when i say Indian, I don’t mean native Indian. I mean INDIAN INDIAN. You know from that large asian country that’s shaped like a kite? Yeah, that Indian. 

 1. India is a large country not all Indians are Hindu.

2. Not all Indians are vegetarian.

3. Not all Indians are math wizards.

4. Not all Indian people are nerds who don’t know how to date.

5. Not all Indian people are straight and cis. (if you’re writing about Hijra or Kinner character then please do a lot of research into their culture before you write them, Hijras and Kinners are often misrepresented in Indian society to be evil and such other things)

6. We don’t eat curry, curry is not a real thing. You have to be more specific than just curry. Like please for the love of god.

7. The name of the language of India is Hindi, not Indian.

8. India has many other languages other than Hindi. Eg. Punjabi, Gujarati, Telugu, Marathi and many households prefer to talk in their native state/city languages rather than Hindi.

9. Indian cuisines vary from region to region. So not everyone in India likes to eat the same thing. North Indian and South Indian cuisines are very different from each other.

10. Not all Indians celebrate the same festivals but that doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy them all.

11. Many people’s Indian accents are a lot more subtle than you think.

12. Different regions in India have different cultural clothing.

13. Not all Indian people look like your typical brown skin black hair, northeast Indians more often than not have features very similar to Chinese people. (But remember when you write northeastern Indian characters, many of them are discriminated against in mainland India and some of them don’t really believe themselves to be Indian)

14. Most Indian don’t use toilet paper (look into this yourself, I’m not gonna go any further)

15. Indian English is more similar to British English than American. Indian English has its own slang too.  Some Indian English things to know:  - Duffer = slang for stupid  - We a lot of the times have problems differentiating between the pronunciation of V and W. - A lot of people pronounce the G in gesture how you pronounce the G in Grapes instead of pronouncing it like a J  - We say rubber not eraser.  - Schedule is pronounced Shehdule not Skedual.  - Mother promise is a way of saying pinky promise.  - Eating my brain means you’re irritating. Eg. “Stop eating my brain” which means stop irritating me.  - Senti is slang for sentimental  - Dickey refers to the boot of the car (please don’t ask)  - Cheatercock is a person who cheated in a test, or an exam or did something to gain advantage in life (not a cheater as in in the romantic/sexual sense)

16. We have a tendency of saying yaar or na after things. Even when we text.

17. ‘Are yaar’ is an expression that can have multiple meanings depending on the context you use it in. But it usually is a saying of exasperation. 

Indian characters can be very hard to write depending on which religion, region, gender, sexuality you choose for them to be. India is a large country, when writing Indian characters, remember that this is the second largest population in the entire world, not all Indian characters are the same, especially the ones you see these days in mainstream western media. 

[interact-if]

Hello! I hope it's not an odd question to ask, do you know any IFs written by Indian authors? And/Or Indian ROs in other IFs? Thankyou so much :)

Hi Anon,

We are currently building a list of diverse authors. Hopefully, you will be able to find there Indian authors.

In the meantime, here are a few games which have Indian ROs:

Completed:

Devanand from Heart of the House by Nissa Campbell

Shashi from Sixth Grade Detective by Logan Hughes

Anuja Basu from The Fog Knows Your Name by Yeonsoo Julian Kim

Demos:

Nyra Mistry from Body Count by @bodycountgame

Sailor Bones (Half-Indian) from Checkmate in 3 Moves by @checkmatein3moves

Deva from Deliverance by @deliverance-the-game

Amrita/Amrit “Ami” Singh from Disenchanted by @disenchantedif

Sameer Misra from Fellow Traveler by @robotvampire

Elliot Bhatra from OFNA: Birds of a Feather by @ofna

Elian Young (Half-Indian) from The Hunt: Demon Eyes by @thehunt-if

Charlie (Half-Indian) from The One Chosen by @parrotwatcher

Vinesh/Varsha Kusari from We All Bleed Red by @lost-kiwi-dev

Dev from Zorlok by @zorlok-if

No Demos:

Wislow Montgomery from Ear Candy by @earcandy-if

Dr. Advani from The Monte Rosa by @monterosa-if

Sharvari Patil from Hades’ Kitchen by @gamesbyalbie

[writingwithcolor]

South Asian Representation We’d Like to See

@murdergirlfriend said:

I'd like to ask the south asian/Indian people of WWC what kinds of south asian & Indian characters would you like to see more of?

Marika

As a South Asian:

Brahmin characters are overused to depict Hindus, particularly devout Hindus. I’d like to have more well-researched stories about individuals from other castes.

In general, Hindus and Indians overall are over-represented in Western fiction. I’d like to hear about people from other religions and countries within the subcontinent.

Fleshed out characters with properly researched family backgrounds appropriately placed within the region’s history.

South Asian characters involved in narratives that acknowledge oppression, poverty, colonization and ethnic/ religious/ identity politics, but aren’t fixated on these tensions. This might be more of an OwnStories thing simply because I imagine many non-South Asians would find this balance hard to strike.

As a diaspora South Asian:

Stories without ABCD angst. We get it. People like to hear about how hard it is to be an immigrant from a weird country with a funny last name, and funny smelling food. I want more stories about desis who get joy and fulfillment from their identity. I want to hear more hopeful, coming of age stories from people empowered through engagement with their heritage.

I want more stories about ABCD pan-South Asian solidarity. I was not raised in a Brahmin enclave like many Hindu Brahmins in the US. After 9/11, when being brown was not fun, my Pakistani, Sikh and Sri Lankan friends and I mutually supported each other. We benefited immensely from not fighting our parents’ wars, and to this day, they understand me better than Brahmins back home.

SK

I would like to see characters whose identities as South Asians have more depth. Like Marika, I want to see South Asian characters who don’t view their identity as a burden. I’d also like to see realistic fiction stories of South Asians that don’t revolve around romance and arranged marriage. 

For Sikh characters, I’d like to see Sikhs that aren’t Punjabi. Give me a story about an Afghan Sikh or a Nepali Sikh. I’d also like to see stories that don’t conflate Punjabi culture and Sikhi. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an initiated Sikh in the media. And I want to see women in turbans with swords!

Jaya

I want more fantasy stories where we aren’t there to react to broken systems. Most of the time, South Asians are side characters who exist as a token. Instead, I wish we were more flawed, that we are allowed to grow and change. Connie in Steven Universe felt refreshing because it was a relief to see an Indian kid with pushy parents but could wield a sword and train with holograms.

[ashryelmavers]

Writing Indian Characters: The Basics

So @cynwritess made a post a while back about writing  Asian characters (which I highly recommend you check out, btw), and since my comment under it, I've gotten a lot of questions about writing Indian characters, so here's a post.

Keep in mind, these are just the basics. I might make more posts on this, idk, but if you need any help, feel free to contact me! If I'm unable to help you out, I’ll try to guide you to someone who might be able to.  

Anyways, let me shut up and start already. 

Some stereotypes to avoid would be:

1. Intellect:

Again, like with Asian characters, a common stereotype seems to be the smart Indian kid. While this might be partially true due to many having strict parents with high standards, it doesn’t always mean that Indians are smarter. Indians can be idiots too. 

However, this does not mean India was backward. From Shampoo to Chess, there were many innovations that originated in India. The number 0 was invented by an ancient Indian, and Ancient Indians were pioneers in medicine. Its even speculated that Indians might have discovered flying long before the Wright Brothers.

Long story short, India was not backward. And just because it isn't a rich developed nation, doesn't mean it is backward now. (Looks pointedly at sjm)

2. Diversity:

India has more than just Hinduism. While Hindus are a majority of the population, Muslims are pretty dominant as well (but sadly marginalized).

Some other religions in India include Christianity, Jainism, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism.

On the point of Diversity, India is one of the most diverse countries in the world. It’s got 28 states and 8 Union Territories. Each with many cultures.

3. Accents:

Like I said, India is SUPER diverse. There are several languages spoken in the country, and if you count dialects and subcultures, there would be over 500 languages. Naturally, this means that accents differ, especially if you’re a native of some place. Pop culture tends to show Indians with heavy Hindi like accents, but most people in India can speak English, and our accents are not usually as heavy and exaggerated as shown.

4. Appearance/ Skin Tone:

Again, India has its racial biases as well. India likes to think it’s all fair skin and has actors and models as such, but brown skin tones is pretty common, especially further south. However, it’s not always very dark either.

There are a multitude of skin tones and appearances, for people from all backgrounds. Towards east India, people tend to look more like what you might associate with East Asians, with relatively lighter skin tones and monolids.

5. Discrimination:

India tends to discriminate a lot. It’s even turning into fascism right now, tbh. (Follow @cee_writes to get updates on that)

Not only do people discriminate on the basis of class, religion, gender, sexuality and so on, but there is a sort of discrimination unique to India.

Casteism sucks, and the practice called untouchability was a horrifying practice. All of this would require a lot of research and delicacy, but if possible try to amplify this issue and talk about it in your work without suppressing Dalit voices. It’s something that, to our horror, is still prevalent to this day and age.

Do your research.

If you wanna represent an Indian, I’d suggest you pick some details like religion, state, language, etc. and then go on and research accordingly so that you can narrow down your amount of research.

The internet is a large place, with people from different backgrounds. If you're writing Indian characters, reach out, and we can help you out

But please, do not half-ass this.

[latent-thoughts]

The Himalayan Refuge

Chapter 10: A New Beginning...

Summary: When Loki poofed with the Tesseract after the attack of New York, he desired to go to a safe place, somewhere he could recover and plan his next move. The Tesseract took him to Palampur, India–a sleepy town in the lap of the Himalayas. There, he indeed got the refuge he needed in a British era cottage, but his entanglement with its caretaker caused his plans to change…

Pairing: Loki/OFC(POC)

Genre: Romance, Fluff, Adventure, Drama, Angst, Action, Loki lands in India, Mistaken Identity, False Identity, Magic/Seidr.

[Authors’ Notes: I and @emeraldrosequartz ​​ are continuing this story for @allaboardthereadingrailroad ‘s​ Diversity Challenge. It features a POC Original Female Character (from India) and Loki. There will be many references to the Indian culture, food and Hinduism (since the OFC is a Hindu) throughout the story.]

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Maya was awestruck.

Vanaheim was so green and beautiful! And not just naturally pretty, but it appeared as though the people there had embraced nature completely. It felt like she had stepped into a big, neverending garden, with everything pruned and perfectly snipped. Even the buildings looked to be a part of the garden landscape, what with their curved walls and facades.

As Loki took her to his aunt's house through numerous groves and around pretty round ponds, her eyes were surely comically wide and dazzled.

"Wow, you weren't joking about it being beautiful," she said, clutching his arm tightly as he led her. "These people are nature lovers on steroids. I can feel the vegetation breathing . The magic here is so intense!"

Loki chuckled and put his hand on hers as he led her down the winding, flower-lined paths, towards the secluded estate where his aunt lived. He truly enjoyed watching Maya's reactions as she took in everything around her - how her eyes went wide and her breath caught, or how her heartbeat quickened. He adored every moment of it.

"It is a place made by magic users, for magic users. And my aunt, Lady Idunn, is one of the best. She taught me for centuries..."

Centuries...Maya doesn't have centuries...

...at least, not yet.

Loki grinned to himself as he approached the organic-looking abode, twisting out of the ground and forming into a verdant, draping tree--a homage to the Yggdrasil itself. He kissed Maya on the head and stepped forward to knock on the door.

When it opened, they were greeted by a beautiful woman in a flowing silver gown, golden hair flowing past her waist with streaks of grey shimmering like moonlight through her tresses. She smiled when her golden eyes landed on them, genuine joy in her expression.

[READ MORE]

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[sketchedbyjuilee]

Character Designs from Children's Online Visual Dictionary Full Project here- Kids Online Visual Dictionary CaseStudy

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[one-whole-rat]

does anyone have that one post about anime idol boy gatcha games really poorly representing and sexualizing indian people?

it had adonis otogari from enstars/ensemble stars in it, if that helps. also i think it mentioned something about one of the idols listed having a song that sounds like arabian nights? i think? i can’t find the rant/essay for the life of me.