The Insomniac Archives - Tumblr Posts - Page 3
I don't understand how I could devour at least three large books in one sitting when I was in fifth grade but now I struggle to read just one page of any of my favourite books
Your post opened my third eye, which is why you are now a pile of ash
My biggest dream in life is to write a book so profound, so inspirational that it will be regarded as a modern classic. I want to create characters so human that closing the book will feel like saying goodbye to an old friend. I want to create a masterpiece that will tug on the heartstrings of everyone who reads it, whether they exist now or in the years to come
I find it eerie that so many memories can be stored inside an ordinary object. I had a friend with whom I'd always read an encyclopaedia with every time I went to their house. Our most favourite page had a picture of the Norse goddess Freya riding her chariot pulled by cats and we literally obsessed over that image. Just before I left for India, my friend gave me a copy of that book because she knew how much I loved that picture. I still have it and whenever I look at it, I'm reminded of the life I had with that childhood friend
Being loveless and an oriented aroace at the same time is so weird. One side of me wants to find a queer-platonic version of The One™ to live and die with while the other scuttles away from the slightest mention of love, sex and romance like a terrified beast
I still remember the time when I was obsessed with this thing
Indian Chaotic Academia
Wanting to wear jumpers and hoodies but changing your mind after looking at the daily temperature
Scoring 97% in English in your board exams but your spoken English makes you sound like you've never studied it in your life
Messy yet (somewhat) intelligible handwriting
A weak spot for old Bollywood songs regardless of your personal taste in music
Chipped nail polish and lots of bracelets
Wanting to study in a park or a cafe but you can't as they're too loud and busy
Adrak chaha is the solution to everything
Muting the class WhatsApp group so you can read angsty fanfiction at 3 a.m. without alerting your parents
Vada pav and samosa>>>>
Buying several highlighters but still end up using blunt pencils to mark important study material
At some point, a B is the best grade you'll ever find in your report card
Reading the Mahabharata at the back of the class in the same way you would read a modern novel ("Nooo, why did he have to die 😭")
Coming up with ideas for study charts but never actually making them
Getting a lot of holidays and vacations thanks to the amount of festivals celebrated throughout the year
"Sir that's my emotional support gel pen brand that I've been using since fifth grade"
The poem you have to learn in your regional language class is actually your favourite childhood song
Rickshaw rides are better than any other mode of transport, change my mind (you can't)
Getting the 'Slytherin house' that always comes last in every school event
Only buying books from the second-hand book stalls because they have all the good ones
Maybe numbers are called numbers because they make your brain go numb
Yes I read books. Yes, I read fanfiction. No, I do not think that one is better than the other. No, not every book is a 'flawless masterpiece' and not every fanfic is 'poorly-written gay smut.' Yes, both have their pros and cons. No, not everyone has the same opinion or reading preference as you. Yes, it makes you a shitty person for forcing your opinion about which one is better on other people
Some Tropes I Like
Found family
Intimidating characters with a soft side
One person armies
Living weapons who don't see themselves as human
Healthy familial relationships
Masterminds
Came back wrong
Black cat x golden retriever
Characters having illegible handwriting that are understood only by a specific few
Insanely specific moral compasses
Supernatural hotspot towns
Background symbolism
Characters who are so compassionate that it borders on self-sacrifice. Characters who are so broken by the cruelty of the world that they make it their mission to save as many people as they can. Characters who don't know how to and don't want to be selfish. Characters who are collapsing on themselves but still devote themselves to others' wellbeing. Characters who hate themselves but have an uncanny ability to see past others' scars and mistakes.
Just... characters who are so hellbent on being kind to others that they don't notice their own self-destruction.
I can never forget the time when I was in 10th grade and I went to school after a five day-long absence to find the whole of 10th grade talking about some guy in my class named Suresh.
I was really confused because there was no one named Suresh in our class and it was nearly the end of the school year so there was no chance of any new students joining my class. I wanted to see who this mystery student was and why was he so popular and why was everyone not terrified about the fact that he had recently died of blood loss.
Turns out, Suresh was an injured pigeon who had been living on a ledge just outside my classroom's window
Characters who come off as cold and indifferent but are compassionate and soft inside>>>>
It's so poetic and haunting how a person's character can make them look more beautiful than their physical appearance ever could. It's like a golden glow that bathes their entire face like sunlight you can feel but can't see, transforming even the plainest of visages into a beauty so nameless and real that it can be felt with the heart rather than the mind
Thinking about how the moon has shone over civilisations that rose and fell thousands of years ago and that it still continues to shine over us with the same unwavering light
I'm agnostic but every time I hear someone say "God lives inside us all," I imagine a tiny little god nestled in my ribcage, whispering instructions to our hearts and brains that we commonly believe to be a "feeling deep down in our guts"
Types of People: Hindu Mythology
asura: determined and ambitious. coffee lover. has ten heads' worth of obscure information. asks questions others are too afraid to ask. messy handwriting. wanderlust. daydreams a lot. can hold a grudge. unfinished projects. logical thinkers.
rakshasa: hates being told what to do. probably good at sports. doesn't care what other people think of them. competitive. always hungry. has a bunch of friends but isn't popular. scary when angry. horror stories at 2 am. passionate when it comes to something they like. gets bored easily.
naga: loves being the centre of attention. collects stuff they find interesting. warmest smiles. optimistic. shares all their food with you. loves to draw even if they're bad at it. won't hesitate to snap at someone they feel like is a bully. charismatic. probably has a high self-esteem. the mom friend.
yaksha: swings between energetic and moody. has a strong affinity with nature. uses humour to cover up their true feelings. likes riddles. has a short temper that they often struggle to hide. fluent in sarcasm. either talks a lot or doesn't talk at all. gets decent grades. reads to escape reality. into mythology and folklore.
vetala: secretive and mysterious. looks intimidating but is actually quite nice. they are much smarter than they look. would die for their loved ones. probably has a journal. reads a lot. ambitious but struggles to get good grades. warm heart and cold hands. studying until midnight. seems unemotional but cries easily.
I will never get tired of the "If they're going to die, it's going to be by my hand" dynamic
One thing I want to see more of is the angst that comes along with being someone's clone. You don't see yourself as human. You don't have an identity to call your own- how can you, when all you are is a copy of another person? You're a thief, a loose thread, an abnormality born from the mutilation of another. You were never supposed to exist in the first place.
Me reading/watching translated works knowing damn well that I'll never understand the nuanced emotions and hidden meanings behind the original text