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avani008 · 6 years

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"Give me a character and I will tell you…" Draupadi, the Pandavas, Karna, and Duryodhana please? Also Krishna and Balarama. (please feel free to pick and choose from this wide selection; I apologise for my thinly disguised greed. :P)

(Don’t apologize! Greed is good–in this situation alone ;)

Behind the cut because this is LOOONG.

Draupadi

* How I feel about this character

One-half of my top two favorite characters in the entire epic and obviously a best beloved.

* All the people I ship romantically with this character…In a likely unpopular opinion, I only ship Draupadi/her husbands, and, honestly my preferred version is very much without angst at having to marry all five. My!Draupadi also doesn’t really have a favorite, other than a mild wistful partiality for Arjun; but both of them know for her to be married to him alone would work better in theory than practice, and that neither would really be happy were it so.

* My non-romantic OTP for this characterTEAM KRISHNA(A) FOR LIFE.

* My unpopular opinion about this characterRupa Ganguly was the One True Draupadi *tries to look fierce, fails*.

* One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.B.R. Chopra brings up the tantalizing possibility of Draupadi volunteering to ride on Arjuna’s chariot when the Pandavas and Krishna are coming up with the plan to defeat Bhishma, and though they end up going with Shikandi instead….True, my headcanon-Draupadi is no warrior, but the thought of allowing her some agency in avenging herself is wonderful.

* Something about them I consider true, even though it’s only my head canon/fanon

….Not true, necessarily, but one of the more-realistic-alternatives for Draupadi’s miraculous birth I really love is that of it representing a rebirth in the form of a oath witnessed by fire that two of Drupad’s pre-existing children took to wreak revenge on the Kurus.

Pandavas

* How I feel about this character

Five arrogant, dorky, but essentially good-hearted heroes whose best quality is perhaps their devotion to each other against all odds. (Their brotherly love survived being wagered away by their big brother without losing their temper–how, I can’t imagine.)

* All the people I ship romantically with this character

Mostly Draupadi, honestly–though also Hidimbi for Bhima, and Subhadra/Ulupi/Chitrangada for Arjuna* My non-romantic OTP for this character

I don’t know if I could choose just one, though: but their relationship with Pandu as kids and Kunti much later fascinates me, just in the way they are kept together by love for their parent. * My unpopular opinion about this character

I…actually think that, while they are flawed, my favorite versions are still likeable and sympathetic protagonists as opposed to jerks who are just as bad as their cousins. * One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

…I wish the twins had gotten seperate personalities, and even the other Pandavas more characterization to get rid of the “goody-two-shoes other than the gambling thing”/ “strong but stupid” / “insufferable Designated Hero” flanderizations you so often see. * Something about them I consider true, even though it’s only my head canon/fanon

The Year of Disguise was one of the defining episodes in their lives. Prior to this, they’re so often casteist/classist/less concerned with the sufferings of others, and the forced walk in servants’ shoes must have done so much to make them better people.

Duryodhana

* How I feel about this character

Entertaining villain, often scores one of the most entertaining and talented actors out of the casts in most adaptations. * All the people I ship romantically with this character

I’m come around to Duryodhana/Bhanumati, but Duryodhana/Karna is also a Valid ‘ship. * My non-romantic OTP for this character

Duryodhana/Karna, even otherwise. Give me a version where Duryodhana is just using an sweet-ignorant-and-innocent Karna and you have a very unhappy Avani *side-eyes Starbharat, and, even more so, Suryaputra Karn** My unpopular opinion about this character

I–truthfully, I think the most unpopular opinion is irritation at how much pop culture wants to blame Duryodhana and Shakuni for everything, where Karna and other characters are…actually mostly responsible in actual canon. The whitewashing of all other characters while Duryodhana is ridiculously evil to the extent where you wonder why no one drowned HIM at birth, is just….illogical. So that’s my grumpiest opinion. * One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I want to know so much about how he actually was as an administrator! The only indication we have Duryodhana’s dying speech about how he was an awesome King and is going to heaven, that’s….showered with flowers by the gods and not disputed by Krishna, and it just makes me wonder. * Something about them I consider true, even though it’s only my head canon/fanon

Duryodhana was a very loving and indulgent father and brother (to Dushala), albeit a hypocritical one–despite his treatment of Draupadi and others, he insisted that the women he cared for be held to a higher standard.

Karna

* How I feel about this character

Rather more irritation than most people in the fandom, I’m afraid. * All the people I ship romantically with this character

I never really–grew up with stories of Karna/His Wife, so I don’t really ship him with Vrushali/Urvi/Supriya/other variations of this character. Truthfully, it’s pretty much Karna/Duryodhana, or nothing. * My non-romantic OTP for this character

Karna & Arjuna as good, old-fashioned mutual loathing, rather than Starbharat’s near-constant ~SECRET BROTHERS~ song, is….always amusing. B. R. Chopra (I know, I know, despite its flaws, a whole bunch of its little character moments have stuck with me) has this part during Draupadi’s swayamvar where Arjuna watches Karna string the bow and just…smirks. He seems almost genuinely pleased, because well–of course his rival would be good enough to string the bow. He would expect no less of Karna.* My unpopular opinion about this character

Though Karna admittedly suffers quite a bit, and is unfortunately affected by bigotry, a) there are other characters who suffer just as much if not more and b) in no way does that justify the suffering he inflicts on other characters. It’s the Snape conundrum all over again. * One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Look, the only fanon I reliably want from any Mahabharat adaptation is the impossible scene where Duryodhana finds out Karna’s true origins after his death and mourns. I’ve said this before, but the “you [the Pandavas] have no right to perform his last rites! Only I do! He was MY friend!” made quite the impression on baby Avani. * Something about them I consider true, even though it’s only my head canon/fanon

Like many a solar hero before him (I’m thinking Gawain/Gwalchmai from Arthurian myth in particular, but I don’t think that’s the only one), Karna’s strength waxes and wanes with the rise and fall of the sun.

Krishna

* How I feel about this character

A warning: I am admittedly biased, because Krishna is the deity dearest to my heart: but a god dedicated to doing the right thing rather than blindly obeying law and tradition, whose response to a devotee saying “I don’t understand” is not to command them to stop asking questions, but rather to explain again and again, is one that I believe in. * All the people I ship romantically with this character

Krishna/Everyone is….pretty much canon, but I have a soft spot for Krishna/Rukmini* My non-romantic OTP for this character

Krishna & Arjuna (if you don’t ship them) is certainly an option, but *points upwards* I’m Team Krishna(a) forever.* My unpopular opinion about this character

I have to hope that Krishna’s offer to Karna that Draupadi would be his is more of a bluff–or rather, a way of guilting Karna rather than a sincere prediction of what would, or even should, happen. * One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.* Something about them I consider true, even though it’s only my head canon/fanon

Krishna’s “women are unreliable, so just go ahead and kidnap my sister instead of proposing” spiel to Arjuna re:Subhadra is honestly tongue-and-cheek and largely because Subhadra begged Krishna to make Arjuna actually get a move on instead of waiting until she got married off against her will. I don’t care that it’s blatantly ignoring canon; but it’s one of the few scenes of Krishna in the Vyasa Mahabharata that don’t fit in with my understanding.

Balarama

* How I feel about this character

I really like Balarama! I feel like he hardly ever gets any attention, and many of the interesting stories/episodes concerning him often get glossed over. * All the people I ship romantically with this character

I’ve started shipping Balarama/Revati something fierce after getting on Tumblr! But consider: she’s literally from another age entirely, and they still find each other! She’s taller and wiser and stronger than he is! They have no son, only a daughter, and he still never marries anyone else!* My non-romantic OTP for this character

Krishna & Balarama snarking at each other is always great, no matter what the adaptation. * My unpopular opinion about this character

Not unpopular, but I suppose not universally accepted: Balarama is the reincarnation of Lakshmana/Shesh Nag, because Balarama trying to enjoy getting to be the big brother in this birth while Krishna continues to be cheeky and do as he pleases is great. * One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I would have loved to hear more about Yadava politics than what we get, and definitely even more about Revati and Balarama–there’s hardly any mention of her in the Mahabharata. * Something about them I consider true, even though it’s only my head canon/fanon

Balarama and Krishna have perfected bad cop/good cop (or grumpy raging Yadava/ charming compromising Yadava) to an art. Both of them are perfectly capable of exploiting their reputations for political gain.

#mahabharata #character meme #every character ever apparently

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