Ooh, can I add to the fem! Lakshman post? I'll call him Lakshmi throughout this ask.
1) BIRTH AND EDUCATION--
Things start changing right from the beginning. Firstly, all her brothers are gonna be extremely overprotective of Lakshmi. Plus, she forms a bond with Ram immediately, because Ram is the brother who always stands up for her whenever she expresses her desire to engage in activities like warfare that are traditionally attributed as masculine. Education will change a lot tho. Somehow, even though Dashrath allows Lakshmi to be trained with weapons, I can't see him sending her off to Vashishtha's ashram to spend like 10 years surrounded by boys, out of which only 3 are her brothers. So in the beginning, Lakshmi stays in the palace. Idk if you've heard of the story of Rama's older sister Shanta, given away after birth, but her story ends with her nursing Dasharath on his deathbed. So in my hc, Dasharath will invite Shanta to the palace and Shanta and Kaikeyi teach Lakshmi in warfare. I love the idea of Kaikeyi teaching Lakshmi, bc Kaikeyi is canonically a warrior woman, and it just adds a new layer of angst after Kaikeyi's demands to exile Ram. Also, Shanta was trained in warfare too, and there's so little in the og epic abt her, so she's in here too, for personal fulfillment! After learning warfare, Dashrath sends Lakshmi to Mithila, where she learns about politics and stuff from Gargee, the same scholar who taught Sita and her sisters. So Lakshmi ends up meeting Sita and her sisters before Rama. Lakshmi and her Bros, especially Ram keep in touch throughout by letters. Lakshmi returns to Ayodhya, and meets Ram. She goes with Ram and Vishwamitra to kill Tataka and obtain divine weapons. The swayamvar happens as usual. As for the Romance aspect, we could have Lakshmi and Urmila fall in love during the time Lakshmi is a co-student with her, and Ram stands up for her, and changes the laws to allow same-sex marriages. Or we could keep her unmarried as well.
2) EXILE--
Lakshmi follows Ram and Sita into the exile. Surpanakha episode is where stuff takes a turn. After Surpanakha attacks Sita, Lakshmi cuts her nose off, because Ram refuses to raise weapons on a woman, but as a woman herself, Lakshmi is perfectly licensed to do so. (Have a lotta thoughts on the Surpanakha episode which I won't ramble on about here.) Surpanakha appeals to Ravana to kidnap Lakshmi instead, bc she's the one who insulted and disfigured her. Ravana kidnaps Lakshmi, but not after she puts up a fierce fight. Ram and Sita amass an army to rescue her. When Hanuman reaches Lanka, she flies back with him. Lakshmi convinces Ram to kill Ravana and raze Lanka to the ground as revenge for her kidnapping. Nothing changes about the war.
3) AFTER EXILE--
I genuinely have no idea what to do about this. From everything I've read, the Uttar Khand is a later addition to Valmiki's Ramayana, where even Ram and Sita ruled Ayodhya happily for ages. So here, the best I can come up with is Ram and Sita being King and Queen with Lakshmi as the first woman General of the Ayodhya army. If anyone has any ideas on how this version would go if Ram decided to exile Lakshmi again, please contribute.
Also utter crack idea based on the recent surge in Lakshman/Indrajit posts-- They fall in love while Lakshmi is held captive in Lanka. When the war begins, Lakshmi and Indrajit refuse to pick up arms against each other. Indrajit makes it out of the war alive. Ram crowns him King of Lanka instead of Vibhishan. Lakshmi and Indrajit get married and rule as King and Queen of Lanka for ages. 🤣🤣🤣
Thoughts?
THIS IS EVERYTHING JSJDKKSJDJUDIJEHEHJEJEJJEJE
Although I think fem!L could still be called Lakshmana, one of Krishna’s wives is also called Lakshmana. I love her and Sita being friends before the swayamvara and choosing to go with Hanuman instead! And wishful thinking on my part maybe but Lakshmana is not a queen, just a princess, hence no need for Agni Pariksha!
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