#midnavii

[naviizeldablog]

Shadlink day 1: flirting or blushing

[navii-blaze]

Little details and notes 

[writingwithcolor]

I wish I had found this amazing blog sooner! Right now I'm creating a story in a fantasy world, the setting isn't specifically based on irl countries but it has influences from Mongolian , S. Indian, and Tibetan cultures. The majority of the characters in the story are poc, whose characteristics are based off of these cultures as well, the main characters included. But I was wondering about if it would be considered cultural appropriation, if I had some characters (who would be poc) have symbolic tattoos or markings. Heavily based off of cultural tattoos (Henna/Mehndi-indian, and Kiri Tuhi-Maori are some examples in mind). I would keep away from facial markings since those are often religious based.

Fantasy world with Mongolian, South Indian and Tibetan influences, many characters with symbolic tattoos based off other cultures (Henna/Mehndi-Indian, and Kiri Tuhi-Maori)

PSA: As always, I ask our askers to be more specific about what region and time period of India you are pulling your information from. To simply tell us you are using an Indian-coded setting is much too vague and also indicates that our askers have not reviewed our archives as stipulated in the FAQ. If you are new to using any part of South Asia as inspiration for your story, I recommend consulting our South Asian naming guide on the region for a brief introduction as to its diversity.

- Marika

Using Mehndi

I’ve really only seen mehndi used at celebrations and weddings for a) the bride and  b) anyone else who wants to get it at the Mehndi. If you’re doing something involving a celebration of the sort I think you’d be fine but mehndi on its own outside of that would be a little odd without an explanation for why they’re using it. Having your characters wear it all the time would be jarring, because unless they’re constantly going to events and getting it, mehndi usually won’t be for regular usage.

 ~ Abhaya

Mehendi is fine, it’s mostly used for celebration and not necessarily tied to any religion-- more like a cultural thing, which I believe would work well in terms of ‘cultural tattoos’. 

--Sophia

Facial markings, using mehndi and Indian Coding

I think your inclination to avoid facial markings is a good one, if only to avoid being mired in discourse. I agree with Abhaya that henna/ mehndi is more an “event” form of ornamentation in many Indian contexts as opposed to a casual “Out and about” form of ornamentation, so I personally think context-driven use would ring more true for any number of Indian-coded cultures. Again, a reminder to our followers that India is very diverse. You may find it helpful to think of “Indian culture” the same way one might conceive “European culture” as you try to refine your coding. 

Open to followers: Maori and Kiri Tuhi use

We do not have any Maori moderators at this time, and invite our Maori (and Maori only) followers to provide their thoughts on the use of Kiri Tuhi as described above, but my instinct is no, because the cultures you are drawing upon for coding have little relation to Maori culture. 

Researching advice

You do not indicate the time period equivalent of your fantasy story, but I encourage you to research Silk Road history as historical documentation exists for tattoo usage among a number of China’s neighbors, including ancient Mongolia. Take care to make sure that your research is accurate. I would further suggest drawing inspiration from more obsolete tattoo traditions/ designs rather than appropriating designs still in use today for your Mongolia and Tibet-coded cultures as these are two cultures that are regularly appropriated, but rarely depicted with accuracy by outsiders. 

- Marika

[wutheringmights]

LU:

"Their Melody" - Nova16 (Legend centric, if older Legend had a kid, lots of angst)

"What Hyrule Hadn't Seen" - sky_squido (Hyrule&Legend centric, severe mc injury and recovery)

"Protector of the Golden Power" - Sillus (Hyrule&Wind centric, Hyrule angst and character exploration)

"Wars of the Mind" - LettersByTheLake (Warriors centric, severe injury and recovery)

"Ignorance is a Curse" - Usagisama68 (Hyrule&Legend centric, Hyrule angst)

"Equivalent Exchange" - Blueskullcandy (Four&Shadow centric, hurt no comfort)

General loz:

"Colour Theory" - theScrap_Witch (Four Swords Adventures manga inspired, but also Triforce Heroes, murder mystery)

"Filling Graves With Ghosts" - Tallyace (Age of Calamity centric, worldbuilding and time travel shenanigans)

Hopefully these cater towards what you're looking for, I wish I had more g/loz ones but this is all from the top of my head. All the authors' usernames are from Ao3.

Oooo thanks for the recs!!

I'll give these a reading as soon as possible. Plus, I'll add these to the big complication of recs others gave me once I think everyone's dropped in their faves

[joybeantown]

7 and 11?

Thanks Mid!also sorry for not answering this for a while but really appreciate it!

7)Show a wip

You will be finished someday :´ but the lineart has been fun so far just need to change some colors and a background

11)Last thing you've drawn

These where some highlighters I got from my birthday and put the tape on the sides so it looked more like a scrapbook,overall just really liked the colors.

Thanks for the ask!

[bunjywunjy]

For feeding hummingbirds, what is your opinion on the store bought, classic red nectar? I've always used a 1:4 sugar-water solution, but is there anything beneficial with the nectar?

Also I love your blog 💜💜💜

thanks! I’ve actually heard that the red dye in commercial hummingbird nectar is bad for their health but I haven’t looked into it so definitely do your own research on that one

[jinmukangwrites]

fanfic trope prompt! what's your opinion on lovers to enemies?

I was gonna say C because I misread this as "enemies to lovers" and I didn't actually mind that too much...

But then I saw it was the other way around and I'm full throttle A because I don't think I've ever read a fic with that before and I'm very, very curious to find some now 👀👀👀

[fi-wardsword]

I did @midnavii ‘s 300dtiys!

I’m a bit nervous to post this because I’ve never done a dtiys before but I hope you like it and congrats on 300 followers!