aesthtaekoo

I’m choosing all of them! One wife for one virtue, if you don’t mind?

1. Prudence (Uloopi)

Fools rush in | A stitch in time | hard times for dreamers | tact (or lack thereof) | silence is the most powerful scream | foresight/psychic/telepathy AU

Uloopi knows that it will take all the tact she possesses if she to wed Arjuna. She stands by her father’s side as her future husband smiles at his welcome by the shore of their underwater kingdom.

That’s when Uloopi acts. Arjuna is dazed by the potent brew he has just drunk and she overpowers his mortal strength with ease.

He is bemused when he wakes, and when she announces her intention, his eyes widen. “Princess,” he says, courteous as ever, “I have sworn an oath of celibacy.” Humans and their oaths. Uloopi represses her snort with difficulty at his earnestness. Tact, Uloopi, she reminds herself. Tact.

 “I am well aware of your oaths, Prince Arjuna,” she answers him, her voice going soft of its own volition. “They apply with regards to your own wife alone.” Then, to make it clear who she was speaking of, she clarified, “Princess Panchali.” 

Arjuna looks at her like she had just rewritten the world in its entirety and smiles. 

“Then”, he says, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, “Kshatriya Dharma says I cannot refuse a maiden’s request. I accede to yours, Nagrani.” 

Uloopi reaps the fruit of her tact with joy. 

2. Temperance (Chitrangada)

a secret indulgence | in vino veritas | hold the reins | the mark of a child | a virtue in those who can afford it | crossover

There was something about her husband that made every second of her time with him seem like an indulgence. 

Perhaps, Chitrangada thought, it was because he was attracted to her for who she was in truth, because he did not attach any expectation to her. Unlike father, who wanted a warrior Princess, a true putrika. 

No, Arjuna just wanted to her to be herself. Just Chitrangada. And to Chitra, conditioned to a lifetime of meeting expectations, that was a secret indulgence.  

3. Courage (Subhadra)

no sin greater than inaction | mastery of fear, not absence of fear | dulce et decorum est | faint heart never won fair lady | the last laugh laughs best | fairy tale/myth AU

Subhadra had admired Draupadi’s courage in taking up the mantle of exile with her husbands. 

Subhadra herself, however, thought first and foremost of the children. How they will have to live without mother and father. How their memories of their parents would slowly fade.

No, thought Subhadra, I will not let that happen. I will keep the legacy of our families alive in our children. I will take the place of a mother as best as I can. I will teach them of their fathers’ virtues, steer them clear of their fathers’ vices, and, above all, keep their mother alive in their memory.

To Subhadra, that was the biggest gift she could give didi. Her children’s love and appreciation, unchanged, undimmed. The flame to avenge her in their minds.

(My headcanon Subhadra was there for Draupadi’s kids when their mother could not be)

4. Justice (Draupadi)

what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander | laws are spider webs | judge jury and executioner | each man makes his own prison | two sides to every story | noir/detective AU

Fire born as she is, Draupadi could never understand why men could (were allowed to) do things women couldn’t. She asked her question to every single person she could, only to be brushed off with a brusque “Because that’s how it is.”

Krishna and Arjuna, however, looked contemplative when she asked them the same. “Why can’t women fight? Why is it that women are treated differently to men?” Arjuna repeated her question, then shook his head. “I don’t know.” He answered honestly. “The explanation that elders give is protection, but I’d say a woman would be better protected if she knows how to defend herself.” Says Krishna.

Krishna’s words echo in her head as the Kauravas drag her cruelly to the sabha. If I had been taught to defend myself, thought Draupadi bitterly, I would not be in this position today.

After Kurukshetra, her bitterness only increased with regards to her once innocent question. When she heard the whispers that said “She is the harbringer of doom. She is kritya. She caused the war,” Draupadi could not understand why. Why was it that the woman got the blame for what the men did? 

She never got her answer.

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"I didn't like the ending", he completes.

They're seated on the same couch, almost pressed. Jeongguk remembers how often he complained about it being too small. That they should consider buying a new one as soon as they could afford. Taehyung, his roommate turned boyfriend had retorted back then, saying it's cozy. That he loves the warmth of them being pressed together, it was comfortable.

Jeongguk smiles at the memory but it soon fades, as the irony strikes him.

They're seated on the same couch again this time, right by each other's side.

But this time, it feels too big. The space between them too large.

And a thousand thoughts fleet through his mind at that realisation. Thinks if Taehyung's having the same thoughts now.

They were always good at it. The silent understanding. It was their thing.

"Yeah", Jeongguk turns. Suddenly having this need to, so he does just to find the other staring right back. As flawless as ever, bathed by the lights from the T.V screen on his features.

And he has the audacity to smile. A faint curve of his lips, the kind of smile which is apologetic. And it's then that he knows, Taehyung feels it too.

So Jeongguk smiles too. At least tries to return the same one but he doubts if it passes the criteria. Doesn't think it does. And it's okay. Taehyung knows too.

"Me neither."

----

Dk what it was but it was a rather vague scene I had in my mind for sometime now, everytime I listened to Exile by Taylor Swift.

here you go <3