#anyways i love mytho shoutout to him and everything he's up to

[unproduciblesmackdown]

this isn’t the most straightforward interpretation of “why a giant swan made of light appears to rue before mytho kind of casually phases out of that swan” but i choose to hc that, actually, yes he Can choose to assume the form of a giant swan made of light at his convenience/discretion

like, not like we didn’t have the instance (twice, now) that one of tutu’s sort of like, alternate forms is A Giant Swan Made Of Light, so who knows maybe it’s meant more like “here you go, riding the wave of hope magic to transport you here for this moment” or just that he has to magically get from point A to B somehow and why not have some extra detail about it looking cool and throwing in another Swan visual to do so....etc etc. but also we do know that mytho and tutu Share Powers so why can’t he also be a giant swan made of light voluntarily like he can choose to use the plant/flower magic himself. and the whole implication that [at least some original tutu Essence] is legitimately contained in his physical magical gem heart which sorta goes hand in hand with them sharing powers. i choose to interpret all this as “mytho can also be a giant magic light swan” because that would be sick and i want that (and also b/c 4 min ago i was like “gee it’d be cool if he could bust out some like Special Power to drive off the raven when it kills lohengrin b/c what are you gonna do, Not?” and Hmm)

couple more [fond pairs of screenshots] b/c where else would i put them

thank you to a buffering pause like hell yes. epic (only now did i finally pick up on his cape being secured behind one shoulder and at the waist....big shoutout to practical rhombus swan battle dance outfit. panache)

love whoever designed his sword like Sniff it’s so beautiful w/the Wings Outstretched Swans guard and the heart formed by the necks/heads and the tiny crown detail and it’s Such a pain to draw lmfaooo.....cherish this v nicely dramatically executed moment, joke’s on anyone not actively appreciating pt’s music selection And how it uses that soundtrack......also always a bonus for me when the Milo Expression shows up in the wild, the one i am always drawing. you know like (8o as it were. raised eyebrows / wide eyes / mouth slightly open. :o and bless the ballet posture completely unironically (why would it be ironic i watched this series B/c of the ballet) like sob looks great....imagine if he was just standing there Not striking this pose, where’s the dramatic impact. thank u king

[pratigyakrishnaki]

The Yadava Curse

A/N: Before reading this I feel the need to warn you that this ends sadly. Also, it’s my first time making a header/moodboard, go easy on me! Crossposted on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25838302

Hindu Mytho Event: Day 2 Canon Divergence & Day 3 Female Characters

In hindsight, Rukmini convinced herself that it was better that her son be the one to cause the strife. Pradyumna grew up too quickly, always wanting to be at his father’s side, ready to fight or reason regardless of whether two states were at war or two brothers fighting over the last mango. Rukmini spent any free time she had worrying about her son who never played pranks, never caused her any worry. He, luckily, hadn’t inherited that from his father. He showed too much of an interest in her work even at a tender age, though, she reckoned, that was partially her fault. She had sat in the Dwarka Yadava council right up until she gave birth, and even after, nursing him while court was in session, much to the chagrin of all the elders. (What could they say? Chief wife of Narayan Shri Krishna, Lakshmi on Earth? She held the power. Pradyumna would stay.)

So when Samba, he, of course, would be the troublemaker of all the Yadava kids, took him to the lower city to “rakhad,” she was more than overjoyed, though she wouldn’t show it. She had a reputation to maintain.

She could remember it vividly, Samba running up to her, Pradyumna in tow, “Can we go into the lower city Badi maa?”

“Kyun?”

“Bas aise! Rakhad ne ke liye!”

She hadn’t thought anything of it, “Of course beta! Take the guards with you!”

But what Samba had proposed next had been a surprise, “Nahi Badimaa! Not with guards! In disguise!”

Rukmini had glanced up sharply, ready to turn that idea down but Samba cut her off, “Pitaji used to go! He still tries to go, but everyone recognizes his Gopala disguise...”

She hid a smile; the younger boy was right, and more observant than she was aware. Krishna tended to step out from time to time, disguised in a getup from his childhood days. Both Pradyumna and Samba, though, had taken after their mothers in looks, not her husband; they would be unnoticed.

“Accha fine, but be careful!” With a quick smile and a rushed hug, Samba had run off, tugging Pradyumna along, her next words falling on deaf ears, “And no disturbing the rushis near the temple grounds!”

Rukmini had warned them. She had. Regardless of what the other raanis had said, she had warned the sons. But the curse was set. She never heard the full story, all she knew was: Pradyumna dressed as a pregnant woman, Samba’s mace under his angavastram, and a prank that went very wrong. She had seen her son after, face ashen and eyes red from crying. She had hugged him and comforted him as he clutched her like a newborn baby. She had heard him choke out that it was his fault that he had play acted, his fault that the sages were angered at his prank, and his fault that their family was doomed to death. She had held him tightly, wiping his tears, shushing him until he stopped sniffling. Samba and Jambavati had joined them in her chambers, the three of them worrying and crying, while she comforted and quieted them until her husband came back.

When Krishna came home, Pradyumna, though almost 18, had rushed into his father’s embrace, sobbing openly, soaking the Pitambar in tears. Krishna had just laughed, sitting him down. “Beta, wipe your tears. What happened, has happened. Why worry about something you no longer have control over?”

And that had been that. He was Narayan, and she was Lakshmi, but even they had no sway on destiny, no one did.

On the orders of the council, the mace had been ground up into ashes and thrown into the ocean, the clothes burned, the incident forgotten. But Rukmini never forgot. It wasn’t in her nature. She remembered everything for years and years, and waited calmly until the day that Krishna left one last time, the day of the family picnic. He had held her tightly, too tightly. He had kissed her deeply, too deeply. He had whispered the words, “I’ll see you in Vaikunta.” And then he had left, never to be seen by her in those eyes again. With a sinking feeling, she had gotten ready for the picnic, ready for her death.

She remembered it all, the merriment among the Yadava clan, the plentiful food, the joyful music and especially the overflowing wine. She remembered how a provoking word had been said by someone unimportant, and she remembered how the wine turned family against family, their own civil war. She remembered watching as the rest of the Ashtabharya also took up arms, Satyabhama in her element, fiery sword slashing this way and that. She remembered walking away from the carnage to her own chariot. She would not die this way.

She had caught the reins herself, urging the horses forward as she ruminated in her thoughts. Yes. It was a good thing that Pradyumna at least lived and pranked once, even though it was disastrous. Yes. It was good that he had been free if only for a moment. She would miss him; her son, another form of Narayana.

She made her way to the cliff she had decided would be her final step on Earth. It was far enough away that she could not see the bloodshed, but close enough to hear it. She had delayed it as long as she could, taking in her surroundings. She had let her horses go, the creatures could not be bound to a chariot for long, and then she was truly alone.

The sea, her father in another lifetime, was dark, reflecting the sky above. How quickly the skies had turned cloudy and dark. Not hours ago they had painted a different picture entirely. She felt a deep sadness, loneliness, she truly would die alone in this life. And then she remembered something Krishna had told her. Mata Yashoda had said that her Shyam would never leave her as long as the skies still turned dark. Rukmini looked up once more, at the skies and thought of her Shyam, her Krishna, her Narayan. She walked up, right to the edge of the cliff, eyes not leaving the sky, finding Shyam in every last shadow and movement of the clouds. She saw his arms reach out to her, beckoning her forward into the clouds. And then, still looking up, still thinking of her Krishna, she took the last step off the cliff, plunging into the depths below.

As she fell, she thought not of Pradyumna, Samba and the rest of her family, dying and decaying on the beach nearby. She thought not of the circumstances that lead her here, the mace, the prank, destiny’s revenge. She thought only of her Shyam, her Krishna. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. In the same way, she would return, the Lakshmi to her Narayan, reunited once again.

A/N (again): This is for the @hindumythologyevent! I wanted to take part in day 1, but my modern au just isn’t up to par yet! I’ll try to keep up with as many events as possible, keeping in mind that it is Shyam’s birthday in one/two days so I will be writing for him and also that I write like a snail on here! Anyways, I ramble! Let me know what you think! 

Tagging some mutuals and fellow desiblrs I love: @lovingyou-is (Special shoutout to you, K, for helping me make my header/moodboard!) @incurablescribbler @soniaoutloud @chaanv @1nsaankahanhai-bkr @allegoriesinmediasres @mayavanavihariniharini​ @heyifinallyhaveablog​ @worddiva179 @supermeh-krishnafan @bigheadedgirlwithbigdreams @ariouseok @iamnotthat @shaonharryandpannisim @will-die-without-chai​ @sthitivinasha​ @jeyaam​ @dilkishehnaai​ (A, I know you aren't really into the mytho side of desiblr, but I love you, so enjoy!)

[unproduciblesmackdown]

some genius pt Musings i’ve been having this time around

1) the question of “is mytho’s hair white just from unknown decades of Time Passage within the paused story, like, his hair pigmentation Aged but nothing else lol” or “That, but his hair is white from the stress” (it’s that one lol. plus fr why would only his hair change due to Time) but i wanna introduce a Third Element: i think we can suppose in-the-story tutu’s appearance / disappearance happens just before or v shortly before the interrupted non-ending of prinz und rabe, and it sure seems like some or all or some Version of tutu’s Essence & part of the prince’s heart are like, truly Merged, and what if it’s that the prince got white hair from That b/c it was more swan-esque. a la the white feathery part of ahiru-tutu’s (& that one design of seemingly-prinz-und-rabe tutu)’s hair

2) again w/the matter of how at least part of Original Tutu seems to exist on in the prince’s physical heart: there’s the brief mention that fakir and mytho dance b/c Mytho Likes To Dance, which like, would be one of those Traits that transcends his emotions, like how he protects everything (so does tutu? emotionally? while the prince protects everyone physically (against a Metaphor for Despair so is that not also, in a way, emotionally too) like thank you power couple) but there’s also the brief mention that tutu is a Spirit Of Dance maybe so it’s like, again, did tutu becoming part of mytho pass something along in that way which imbues him with that proclivity to dance (although you’ve also got neko-sensei saying his dancing was not that Emotional earlier, which makes sense, but also seems like tutu protecting Feelings happens via dance. by “seems” i mean “this is a key aspect of literally every part of this series” s/o to me) or on another note: maybe drosselmeyer just wrote prinz und rabe For Adaptation lmfao. he was like “fuck yes they’re gonna make this into a ballet.” what with this series’ implication that like....the nutcracker is one of his stories where he just so happens to have a full self-insert who textually uses that power to make stories become reality. and that sure is a ballet. and from looking it up just now i’m learning that it was Based on a preexisting story, and, reading the wikipedia summary, i’m also remembering i’ve read an adapted-into-another-book version of this story, and it sure has another layer of “story interwoven with / becoming Reality” to it. anyways my point is i suppose, Watsonianly Speaking, prinz und rabe involving Ballet could’ve been Written Into It throughout all the characters, or maybe it’s just tutu who dances, which then becomes part of mytho’s character when her sacrifice like, bonds (part of? all? whomst can say) her to his heart. bless. doylean reason is this is a series about ballet and stuff

3) Another Briefly Mentioned thing when mytho talks about how he apparently could just naturally draw birds to him. and ahiru having that happen in the first episode/s is like, could be b/c she’s a bird or could be because she has part of the prince’s heart, as is emphasized like, immediately during the Bird Visit in ep 1. so i just had the thought like, a duck who cares about mytho gets to become tutu, but what if it was any other bird, surely it Could be. that fledgling canary he’s saving in episode 1 gets to become tutu mid-fall

4) i had some other Thought and i’ve forgotten it. well in the meantime thinking about how everyone dunks on Prinz Und Rabe Textual Lohengrin as the useless loser failure knight lmaooo but then like, that was just re: the One mentioned fatal raven encounter & also specifically about that lohengrin can’t protect the prince with his sword. but like, sure Behearted Mytho can probably exercise a little more discretion in risking his life to save whatever needs protecting, vs unsupervised heartless mytho diving out of windows, but can we really suppose he was That much more careful about staying safe vs impulsively throwing himself into a situation to save something at all costs. how much work did lohengrin do simply making sure the prince didn’t die in that sort of way. thank you lohengrin

5) oh right. i was thinking about Magic i think. s/o to the person who had the idea that when tutu sacrificed herself and turned into Light she might’ve merged with Good Magic in the story’s world, which the prince also had access to, and that’s how she kind of literally becomes part of him / they share powers / they share their Swan / Dance visual themes & stuff. & i was sure at one point wondering about the Forbidden But Granted Only To The Prince (own...?)-heart-shattering ability, like, maybe at some point an implicitly more specific verb was used like “taught,” or did the prince simply just Have the power by virtue of being the prince, or did it like, come from tutu who has the tie to the prince & Loved him & has those abilities to protect people’s Feelings, although maybe that’s just like, a choice and not inherently part of the magic lol. and then the Real World Magic we see is just like, inherited. but wait then there’s that bridge & ghosts & stuff, although there’s Stories about those too apparently. nvm this one’s really vague i’m just wondering if the Prince alone has that heartshattering Magic Technique through tutu or what. could be anything

6) but no really i think i had some other Thought, i’m sure it was great & ig i’ll reblog if it reoccurs to me, but i got distracted down another mental track so, you know, rip. in the meantime just thinking like, i have no imagination but was trying to muse on some sort of big Attack power the prince could have, b/c the classic thing to happen in the story (whether mentioned in its text or not) is for mytho to go ham with some such Power Surge [Magic Thing] to drive the raven away after lohengrin gets Got. even after he gets his full prince Abilities back he mostly only seems to Attack with his sword. damn wait a second and when he just like crashes Into the raven the big Swan Made Of Light appears first like hang on like is that Him? was it part of his Transport, can he like, Also turn into a swan of light or is it just how he Appears, was it tutu’s Hope Manifestation again since he’s being That to rue in that moment, oh my god. a lot to consider. anyways, but then the thing is, some sort of like Energy Blast move would go outside the realm of [fighting with the sword alone] and the prince’s Magic mostly seeming to be like, a mobility Boost, and how everything abt the prince is centered around Defense and Protection rather than going on the offensive. but then, who’s to say the Heart Shattering technique couldn’t be used as an Attack but was used by the prince only as a self-sacrificial protective thing, and who’s to say the prince Doesn’t have other powerful Attacks to draw from but refrains from using them if there’s others around to be hurt or whatever. i’m just trying to think of how the prince could just really go tf off and Immediately get the raven to fuck off after lohengrin is ko’d because that’s appropriately Tragically Dramatic & Emotion-Fueled Magic, not to mention the best case scenario vs still having to continue like 23 hours of battle when your boyfriend Just died. i mean like boom Light Blasts type situation i guess. or maybe he could just land a really good sword hit like Right Away. thinking about it. anyways

7) oh wait shit lmfao idk if this was The other thought but it was Another thought. that everyone in The Story (Within Reality) is like, locked in The Town (although they can leave if they’re not a Character / if they entered from outside? presumably) but in episode one this all kicks off b/c mytho was at The Lake which is Outside the town, right? i’m pretty sure. which like, is that something he Can and has been able to Do.....is this a. a liminal space. or did/does drosselmeyer like drop him over there sometimes For Some Reason, like having “stages” available around here, a la the s1 finale.....like, didn’t seem like he Knew if he put mytho in front of waterfowl that one would become devoted to restoring mytho’s heart. probably Does Not Matter, Actually, but it sure happened and much to Think about there. shoutout to mytho dancing en pointe whenever it’s magical and he can do so, e.g. when dancing naked on the surface of a liminal lake, or midair with tutu. iconic

8) the point is i’m sure just Thinking About Him (mytho)