#bro asks

EYYYY IT'S MY BROULMATE, THE NOYA TO MY TANAKA 😤 mwah i love you bro you the bestest 🩷🩵 (link to the OG ask)

jasmine tea: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

oh man, i've always wanted to go to italy bc i love their food so damn much askjdnsdkfjk. i enjoy architecture and views and all too but my primary focus whenever i travel is trying to experience the culture of the place AND WHAT BETTER WAY TO DO IT THAN FOOD?? i've been obsessed with pasta from when i was a smol bean so i'd love to go there and taste all sorts of pasta and have fun with the locals (i think we'd get along 'cause our cultures are pretty similar).

caramel machhiato: You’re travelling the entire world but you can only take one person with you. Who do you take?

this is so hard 😭 i'd normally say family but since this is only one person, i'll have to choose a friend (my fam won't enjoy shit unless we're all together lmao). honestly i'd probably take my irl friend Art 'cause she's also a foodie like me and she enjoys taking long scenic walks to properly appreciate the places we're visiting. she also enjoys the same kinds of adventures that i do, and since our vibes match so much whenever we go out, i feel like we'd have the time of our lives even if it was just the both of us travelling the world askjdnskfjnkj

earl grey: The inevitable Zombie Apocalypse is upon us! What’s your plan of action?

holy shit okay,,, so i actually have a whole procedure planned out for this + scoping out locations and route maps irl and learning how to hotwire a bus (ofc i only think about this a normal amount what are you talking about haha).

there's this huuuge supermarket that's located in the middle of nowhere so fewer zombies, so that would be the first place i hit to grab all the non-expiring canned food + high calorie stuff and a gas stove. and then since there's a bus parking space nearby i'd go there to steal one. buses are obviously the most safe option where i live because you can keep all your friends with you + luggage space + less damage when ramming into something. and then i'd go to this one statue place that's in the middle of a hugeass lake, and swim my way there since i'm assuming zombies won't be able to cover that big of a distance nor hear us from so afar. yada yada you get the gist of things lmao ksdjfnksjdf

anyways, i'd probably try to outlast the zombies without direct interaction, but if i run outta supplies or it seems like i'm going to get bitten or if it just gets too much, i'd probably try to take out as many zombies as possible with me lmao.

sparkling water: Describe what qualities you look for in a person

ooooh!!! i think i'm pretty flexible with the kind of people i like spending time with but some things i'd definitely prefer is someone who has a sense of humour (i laugh at everything and i love cracking jokes so this person should ideally enjoy the same haha), someone who is passionate and driven (it could be about anything in the world literally, i just love being able to support people's interests), someone who is kind (and i don't mean a goody two shoes, just someone with basic empathy and compassion), and someone who shares at least a couple of interests with me (could be animanga, reading, music, adventure, etc because i really love doing things together with people and just gushing for hours nonstop about some random thing).

Hi bro!

Sorry, this is the second time I am writing this answer, Tumblr malfunction deleted the first draft of it without posting it.

First off, thank you so much for taking such interest in Antraatman! Please don’t apologize, do ask more questions like these!

Coming to your question, it is a matter of perspective. The events in the epic are narrated in a very impersonal manner, in such a way that there is some detachment between the reader and the characters.

However, while writing Antraatman, I write as Arjun, I put myself in his place, I try to feel what he must have felt. For example, when Ekalavya came and everyone lauded him, how would Arjun have felt? Baffled, confused, hurt? I let myself feel those emotions and let the words flow. When Karna gatecrashed Rangabhoomi, what would Arjun, the boy coming into the flush of ‘manhood’ think? Wouldn’t he be angry? His pride hurt? How would he react? What would he think? These questions lie behind each line of Antraatman.

Coming to Varnavrat, before I started writing this book, it was an incident that felt like a moral horizon, that is all. Today, it still feels like a moral horizon to an extent, but I feel like I understood what the Pandavas felt. Because when writing, I did not look at the scene with the impartial eyes of an observer, I looked at that scene, as well as its prelude, with Arjun’s eyes. The eyes of a boy whose family was in danger of death. In those long days, what would that boy see? What would he feel? What would he think? Wouldn’t he feel like he is being boxed in, hunted? What would he do to cope? By the time Kunti commands Bheem to set fire to the palace, what would Arjun be thinking? Wouldn’t he be conflicted? Why did he do what he did? He had a reason, a rationalization for the reason. His survival, and his family’s survival.

I do not make excuses for what Arjun did, but I can understand why he did that. Before Antraatman, I could not understand the same. That is what I meant.

Similarly, as a reader of the epic, Bheem/Hidimbi was hardly more than a footnote for me. 

While writing Antraatman, however, a legion of questions arise. What kind of a dynamic was Bheem/Hidimbi, something that started with Hidimbi falling in love but Bheem threatening to kill her? What are the cultural differences between the Kurus and Hidimbi’s people, called the ‘Rakshasas? What prejudices did Arjun and his family carry intrinsically with them, who thought those people below human? How would these prejudices affect the dynamics? How would Arjun react, with horror, or acceptance, or will he travel a spectrum of reactions? How would Bheem react? How do I characterize Arjun and Bheem here? When Bheem is with Hidimbi, what do the others do, while ‘roaming the jungles’, as said in canon? What will they require in everyday life, how will they acquire these things? 

I’m still wrestling with these questions as I write the story. 

Writing Antraatman makes me read deeper into the epic, with the eyes of a writer extracting information, not a casual reader. That causes many perspective changes, brings in a new element of understanding, as does writing a first-person PoV novel, as it brings a element of closeness.

Hi bro!

Warning: Very firmly Arjun stan.

Before anyone makes snap judgements, we should try to understand the context of the situation.

This situation is after Krishna’s death. Arjun’s time on Earth is close to its end, his divine weapons taken back.

Krishna’s people are also disorganized, the warriors dead and gone, only the women and children left, many of them, maybe even thousands of them.

Arjun alone is leading them to safety, in something like a convoy,  when robbers mount a guerilla attack against him. One man cannot be everywhere, I believe. In spite of that, he does string his bow, he does string Gandiva, even though he has lost Akshaya Tunira, he fights nonetheless, and he rescues almost everyone singlehandedly even in this situation, as evidenced by Vajra, Krishna’s grandson, being crowned the King of Indraprastha (please do not mention Vrishaketu, that’s not a canon character), and many of Krishna’s wives being alive enough to take Sanyaas afterwards.

Hi bro!

Karna’s wife is not mentioned in the Mahabharata. It is mentioned, as far as I remember that he married women his father chose for him. Vrushali is a fanmade character, created by folklore and Kavita Kane.

The Karna’s wife loving Arjun is a storyline in the Indonesian Mahabharata, it isn’t found in KMG or BORI. It is not to justify Karna’s actions, because I don’t think Arjun does anything to her, it’s a one-sided attraction, but I don’t have much of an idea, either, as I have not read the Indonesian Mahabharata. 

However, I do know that, in the canon Mahabharata, Karna instigates Draupadi’s Vastraharan. No version of Arjun can ever do anything that disgusting. In the Indonesian Mahabharata, Arjun is apparently something of a Casanova, unlike canon, but I can’t comment, as I have not read it.

Bro, I'm literally starting the process this month to get top surgery! If you think it will make you feel more comfortable, then you go Glen Coco! We could compare notes.

“Then you go Glen coco” 😂😂

I'll have our mootymoot throw you my discord

Happy New Year!

Well you can’t just talk about it and not show me 🫠🫠

if you were being held hostage bro, nothing would stop me from coming to your rescue, not a million hands or legs or anything😤