#mahendra

these are a few headcanons i have of bahubali, after the conclusion yes ik it has been 10 years but i still think abt these u will find most of these as avanthika centric (i loved her character, its had so much potential but they did not protray it)

mahendra sketches, when he has time, or whenever he's bored

its usually avanthika, rajamata, halls of the palace, or anything he sees

devasena keeps the first sketch of hers neatly inside a chest in her room

shiva repaints their tattoos once the colours start fading

he's a fair and just ruler

the first thing he did was abolish slavery,

he struggles with imposter syndrome

most of his subjects see him as amerendra baahubali and gets constantly compared with him

sure he picks up military skills with inhuman speed but its not as refined as his father

amarendra had a lifetime of practice while mahendra has quite less in comparison

he prefers the administrative work, as he is more used to it, having received a less complex training during the village

avanthika handles matters related to the military more often as she has been raised to be a warrior

there were a lot of people who opposed her both as a military commander and a potential queen

but she had devasena's support, who actually recommended her to receive tutelage from kattappa

he was hesitant at first not because she's a woman, but because he usually trained the men, women had their own separate division (sivagami had female guards, so im assuming women can take up arms in maheshmati but its mostly just for protection)

nevertheless, after their first encounter, he saw something in her, the potential , the spark in her eyes reminded him of sivagami

he has mahendra and avanthika spar each other for practice, only to realize that mahendra lets avanthika win each time and she doesn't fight with her usual vigour

so he makes them fight alongside each other, bad move, the training grounds are littered with soliders on the floor

he sees mahendra looking at avanthika with the same lovesick eyes that amerendra had for devasena

devasena watches, as his son and daughter in law (yes she considers avanthika her daughter in law), a smile creeping up her lips, while whispering "i see so much of us in them my dear, hopefully the world isnt as cruel to them"

id like to think that the soliders flinch around her and are hesitant to be her guards, as she has killed so many of their comrades

many nobles try pushing their daughters into a marriage alliance with mahendra, he gets so fed up, that he get up from the throne and blurts out that his marriage is already fixed

everyone is in shock, rajamata sighs, and avanthika stares in horror

the nobles cause an uproar, they demand to know who is his betrothed and he gestures towards avantihka, who stands in the position of commander

they question her identity and her lineage, devasena defends her, stating that being a kshatriya is defined by their actions not their birth

off topic but i want to believe she is some sort of royalty, maybe the daughter of a kuntalan noble, a friend of jayavarma (jayavarma adopted her, we all saw the leniency in his eyes)

the court is adjourned abruptly and mahendra is called by devasena, he enters the room to find avanthika and kattapa

devasena is upset, not because of his choice, in fact she approves of his choice, but of his short tempered nature

avanthika is distraught, she loves shiva ofc she does, but found herself hesitating of the idea of marriage because she doesnt not have the qualities to be a queen

she was a born and brought up warrior, who knew nothing but military strategies, and techniques

none the less the damage is done, and so she begins her royal training earlier than expected, and does well

avanthika and shiva often go back to their garden to escape from the palace

or they go back to amburi village from time to time to visit his parents

personally i think that since he placed the shivaling under the waterfall, his prayers have always been fulfilled

however there was one time where his prayer was not fulfilled, he prayed for a daughter (he's a girl dad ur honour), and nine months later maheshmati welcomes a prince, (avanthika prayed harder)

his prayers are fulfilled tho, when 2 princesses are born 2 years later

Eren had immediately checked on Mahendra when he had left August’s apartment. Finding his brother had been easy enough, but he was hopeful to begin with. He was certain that the witch would’ve told him if harm had befallen his sibling, but the druid went to find him for himself. “I’m glad you’re okay. Did you shift at the party? I’m guessing not – I haven’t heard anything about an additional chimera.”

“I spoke to the wise woman,” he said quietly, the wooden carving of the two ravens in his hand. Mahendra had given this back to him a while ago, the mix of thought and memory, staring at him now once more. He glanced at the man beside him now, whose magic was not judged this far north. Druid, chimera – pack, family, that’s what they’d called him once. What they still called them, even if Anders had left all those years ago. “Are you wearing enough jackets?” He broke his train of thought to give the other a smile, the harsh winter of the North always looking good on Mahendra. The thickest coats were always given to him, as if Anders’ sister knew that the druid would be not that far behind. 

Wanted to try out doing everything digitally, including the lineart. (Probably should have started with something less ambitious for a trial art experiment, but so it goes.)

Awhile back, I had a silly idea I did very little with, that was basically: “What if a  story in the college/teen comedy movie genre, but also a Merchant Ivory-esque period piece a la Maurice and Brideshead Revisited?”

(Putting brief character stuff under a cut so as not to take up more space.)