Kaanha-ki-barkat - There Is No Charm Equal To Tenderness Of Heart.

Michael Sheen: No one except those from Wales can pronounce this 

David Tennant: Hold my whisky 

my favourite trope is when both people understand that they like each other but it’s still unsaid between them and they’re not quite 100% sure the other likes them back so they keep having awkward-flirty moments/interactions and don’t know what to do after it happens so they just ,,, look at each other for a moment before changing the subject…and then it happens again

Prompt: Sita & Rambha (victim of Ravana who cursed him, thereby protecting Sita)

A woman remains behind when the gods descend upon Lanka to bless the captive Sita with security and sustenance, and Sita need only look once at the stranger’s eyes, bright as the dance of sunlight against water, and her hair, shining like the waves of the river to know: an apsara.

“Their Queen, in fact,” says the woman–Rambha herself–confirming Sita’s guess, and inclines her head in response to Sita’s folded hands.

All the world has heard of what she suffered at the hands of the demon king, but Sita must know for sure. “Did he–Did Ravana try–” She breaks off, unsure of how to phrase her question delicately, but it is unnecessary. The apsaras are hardly undiscerning, and Rambha no exception.

“He did more than try,” she says bluntly, and Sita, now knowing all too well what it is to know such powerlessness, shudders with sympathy.

“I am sorry,” she says awkwardly, words insufficient to express what she feels, but Rambha shakes the words away.

“Perhaps, it was for the best. At least it is now such that he can never do so again, not on pain of instant death. If my suffering was necessary to bring that to be, then as Queen I would have accepted the cost regardless.”

Sita marvels with this, enough to dare ask the question that has haunted her. “And your husband–he forgave you?”

Rambha shakes her head. “No,” she says, “for he said there was nothing for which he needed to forgive me. His punishment fell solely on Ravana’s head, to ensure it should be split into pieces should he attempt such atrocity again. Ah yes,” she confirms, smiling at Sita’s clear relief, “such is the nature of my gift to you; to us all, I suppose. And even were it not so—allow me to reassure you again, dear one: you are blameless and innocent, come what may. Whatever sin has been committed is on Ravana’s hands; you need carry none of it.”

“As are you,” Sita dares reply, and Rambha’s smile in return—the smile any number of gods, sages, and demons would have died to earn—remains with her, even into the flames.

5 underrated moments/characters in the Ramayana

1. Kaikeyi, who actually has a fascinating backstory as skilled charioteer (basically medic, mechanic, driver, horse whisperer, cheerleader, and advisor, all in one: there’s a reason why the question of Arjuna and Karna’s charioteers is treated so seriously in the Mahabharata) and who supplementary material gives a really interesting family history. I wish she got portrayed more as such rather than Evil Vamp.

2. Ahalya, who actually predates the Ramayana, and actually appears in the Rig Veda, strangely as Indra’s lover—which to me suggests that there was more to the ancient version of her story than her violation.

3. Tara, so wise Vali’s dying words are to heed her advice, no matter what—I love her so, all the more because her status of Queen goes unquestioned despite her husband’s death.

4.Sarama, wife of Vibhishana, and specifically identified as one of Sita’s benefactors: women supporting other women is rare to find in ancient works, and I think every example should be celebrated.

5. Sita herself—yes, I know she’s the heroine of the entire work, but I feel she gets too often simplified into a bland version of herself: alternatively smiling, simpering, or sobbing. Moreover she is contrasted with Draupadi, who is also awesome—but people forget that one of these women has a speech listing the ways in which she serves her husband and manages her household while not smiling/laughing too loud etc, while the other taunts her husband saying “if my father knew what a coward you were, he never would have given you my hand in marriage” and later, specifically calls him out on the morality of his war against demons (the former is Draupadi, the latter Sita.) Plus, people forget that Sita is spitting mad instead of sad during the agnipariksha, to the point of snapping how dare Rama forget that she was born by miraculous means?

Although often taken for granted, Google Earth is an incredible feat accomplished by mankind that people 300 years ago would have considered completely mental.

Before kidnapping Sita, Ravana raped Rambha, Queen of the apsaras, and her husband Nalkuber cursed Ravana that if he ever raped another woman, his head would split in seven. This curse later protected Sita from the worst of Ravana’s torments. So I’d like a fic where Nalkuber goes off on Rama that if Ravana has raped Sita, his curse would have taken effect, and how dare Rama disregard a god’s curse, and what did Rambha suffer for then?

It lingers in Nalkuber’s memory, later; after all is said and done.

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