Week 7 Story: Beast Battling Brothers

13:00 on Monday, the 8th: A monstrous beast has been attacking Kishkindha. As both king and the city's greatest warrior, it is my duty to track down this fiend and put an end to its reign of terror in and around my city. My brother Sugriva will be hunting the beast with me. I have yet to hear of any two descriptions of the beast that match. Reports say the monster walks on two legs; others say it walks on four. It has been described in a number of different ways- scaly, furry, fiery, enormous, and even invisible. Despite these descriptions, I have little fear that beast will be too much to handle

09:00 on Tuesday, the 9th: Sugriva and I left Kishkindha this morning. Equipped with the finest weapons and a week's worth of provisions, I hope to find and slaughter this monster soon.

18:00 on Tuesday, the 9th: While we have not yet found the monster that has been terrorizing Kishkindha, we have followed its path of destruction through the forest. Trees have been completely ripped from the ground. Enormous scratch marks score the ground. Even a straight narrow creek I've seen numerous times before now bends as though it were injured by the beast! As the sun sets, I pray that monster does not devour Sugriva and myself in our sleep.

10:00 on Wednesday, the 10th: Sugriva and I have tracked the beast to a series of underground tunnels. Because my boon should afford me additional protection from the fiend, we have decided Sugriva will stand guard outside the tunnel while I venture inside. Thus, should I die during my feat of heroism, Sugriva may retrieve my body for a proper treatment before returning for reinforcements. I now plan to venture inside this musty tunnel in defense of my city.

This is the entrance of the tunnel Vali is venturing into

Source

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The evening of the 10th: Vali has not yet returned from the tunnels. He has been gone for some time. I have heard the roaring of the beast inside the tunnel. While I have not yet heard Vali's voice, I am beginning to worry.

Midnight of the 10th: With the moon high in the night sky, I can only see by the light of the moon. A sticky and warm fluid has begun to flow from the tunnel. I believe this fluid to be blood. I have no way of knowing whether this blood belongs to Vali or the beast, but I am beginning to worry my brother may not return. I did not know this network of tunnels was so vast.

Sunrise on the 11th: After a few short hours of sleep, I awoke to the rising sun. I can now confirm that blood has pooled at the entrance to the tunnels. I pray that my lapse in consciousness did not lead to my brother's death. I cannot imagine telling Tara, the woman I love, that her husband has died. Perhaps I could help her through her grief? Should Vali not return before noon, I will assume he has died.

Noon on the 11th: Without Vali in sight, I feel that I have no choice but to assume Vali has died. Surely battling the beast did not require more than a full day from the greatest warrior in the kingdom. If the beast could defeat Vali, I fear that no man will ever best the beast. Rather than waste hundreds if not thousands of good men, I realize that I have but one choice- I must leave my brother in the tunnels so I can trap the beast for good. I look at the blood in the tunnel's entrance. Surely, Vali has died.  Knowing the size and strength of the beast to be impressive, I grab an entire mountain from the neighboring region. I shove the mountain deep into the tunnel, ensuring nothing can ever escape. At that moment, I realize I must rule in my brother's stead because whether by the beast or my hand, Vali is now surely dead. It is certainly a good thing that Sugriva, King of Kishkindha, has a certain ring to it. It is a name I expect people to hear for years to come.

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Author's Note: This story was inspired by my project and the story of Vali and Sugriva. From information I could find, the story goes that the two brothers were together hunting a great monster. Vali followed the monster into underground tunnels while Sugriva stood guard at the mouth of the tunnel. When blood came dripping out of the tunnel and Vali failed to answer Sugriva's calls, Sugriva blocked the mouth of the tunnel with a mountain, ensuring that nothing could escape the tunnels- including Vali. The blood was that of the monster Vali had killed. Sugriva had trapped his beloved brother and returned to Kishkindha to claim Vali's crown and wife.

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata Section D

"Ghaotkacha" by Donald A Mackenzie: Source

It is quite evident at this point in the story that the reason the births of the many sons of the Pandanvas and the Kauravas were all mentioned throughout the Mahabharata was so they could all be killed off during this great battle. This way, the extreme battle can impact the main characters of the Mahabharata without actually killing the very vital characters.


"Death of Drona" by Sister Nivedita: Source

I found this story exceptionally entertaining- Drona's love for his son was what had kept him alive throughout the battle. Bhima killed an elephant with the same name as his son and claimed to have killed Drona's son. No one told Drona that Bhima had killed an elephant rather than his son. Distraught, he was unable to summon his celestial weapons to defend himself. Dhrishtadyumna killed Drona by chopping off his head.
This sort of ridiculous, but plausible story, makes me wonder if some sort of comparable situation could be used in one of my stories about Vali for my project.


"Arjuna and Karna" by Donald A Mackenzie: Source

Arjuna and Karna battle with their bows and arrows. Arjuna's string breaks. He yells that Karna needs to give him the chance to fix his bow string so they can fight with honor. Karna continues to shoot arrows at Arjuna. Krishna talks to Karna about how his recent actions have lacked any sort of honor, especially cornering and killing Arjuna's son. At the mention of his son's name, Arjuna shoots Karna's head with an arrow.


"The Pandavas and Bhishma" by John Mandeville Macfie: Source

After an eventful evening during which Ashwatthaman attacks the Pandava camp, the Pandavas visit the dying Bhishma. He gives advice on how to rule now that they control everything.
This feels like a redemption story to me, and I really like the Bhishma got that ending.


"The Forest and its Ghosts" by Donald A. Mackenzie: Source

Vyasa revives all of the warriors who died in battle, allowing them to have final words with their families. Vyasa allows widows to follow their husbands to the afterlife if they so choose. All of these warriors disappear as the sun rises.

This is what I imagine the returning warriors took a form comparable to this.

Source

On top of this, we see the main characters sort of give up living to pass on to the afterlife. I thought this was unique to Rama and Sita, but I now feel that this death is possible for any main character of an Indian story.

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata Section C

"Arjuna and Indra" by Donald A. Mackenzie: Source

Indra, Varuna, Yama, and Kubera each give Arjuna celestial weapons. He then wages war on Indra's enemies, the daityas and the danavas. Indra rewards Arjuna with gold and a diadem.
This section could be useful if I want to write about celestial weapons in any story- this section goes into a fair amount of detail about these weapons.


"Bhima and Hanuman" by John Mandeville Macfie: Source

We see Hanuman! Bhima and Hanuman are apparently brothers, as both are sons of Vayu. This section comes across as though Hanuman is the vessel for an author who is trying to educate people on the rules of morality in Indian culture with minimal effort. Hanuman talks about morality after Bhima can't pick him up? Yep. And then they part ways. This section is so odd.


"Karna and Indra" by Sister Nivedita: Source

Karna is the man who was born with natural armor and earrings that make him invincible. Indra disguises himself as a brahmin to trick Karna. He asks for Karna's armor and earrings. Karna sees through Indra's disguise. He ultimately gives up his armor and earrings for any invincible dart that can be used once upon a single deadly foe. Importantly, Karna took a vow in the previous section to kill Arjuna. Coincidence? I think not.


"Bhima and Kichaka" by C.A. Kincaid: Source

Prince Kichaka, tries to rape Draupadi. Her five husbands cannot defend her because they're all disguised to serve out their last year of their exile. Draupadi, disgraced, tells Bhima of Prince Kickaka trying to rape her and then hitting her when she refused. Bhima tricks Prince Kichaka and ends up killing him because of his treatment of the disguised Draupadi.

"Krishna's Mission" by Donald A. Mackenzie: Source

The Pandavas have put together an army and begun to rebuild their army and power. They want peace with Duryodhana. Krishna is sent to directly ask for peace but the Kauravas had plans to kidnap/attack Krishna. Krishna shows his godly form, scaring everyone but Duryodhana. He returns to the Pandavas in peace.

This reminded me of Superman pulling off his shirt and revealing who he truly is, inspiring awe in others.

Krishna's reveal is like Superman's- they're both so powerful

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Week 6 Story: Microfiction

Dribble (50 words):

The scent of coffee and bacon woke me. Sun shone through the blinds onto my face. I stretched before going to the bathroom. The cry of the baby shattered the peace of the morning. That's when I remembered. I live alone. Whose baby was crying and who was cooking breakfast!?

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Six Word Story (6 Words):

My rejection letter shattered my world.



Twitterature (140 characters):

I didn’t know how to study. Lectures didn’t help. I stopped attending class, read the textbook, taught myself, and everything became clear.

Author's Note:
I wrote three stories because I felt that the second and third required so little time to write that I could put forth additional effort. Yet, I needed to do a shorter assignment this week because I have a BIG test to study for.
My idea behind the first story was somewhat silly. I had a conversation about the movie "The Hangover" with a friend of mine this morning. The conversation was still on my mind, so that was my inspiration. Obviously, my story doesn't have all the same craziness.
My second story I wrote because the same friend showed me a tik-tok (ugh) of a girl who was recording while she got the email about her rejection from dental school, and you could see her face absolutely fall apart. She didn't say anything, but you could tell exactly how she felt by her expression. Given that she could convey that emotion without words, I thought I'd use as few words as possible to do the same thing.
The third story actually comes from my roommate. He actually gave a speech in one class about how he had stopped going to the lectures for another class because the professor was not good at lecturing. He learned everything he needed by simply reading the textbook. It worked. This was on my mind because I'm really considering doing the same for one of my classes this semester...
The exercise of conveying information in so few words was not easy. Each of the stories has the maximum number of words/characters it can have, and I still want to say more.

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata Section B

Bhima and Baka by C.A. Kincaid: Source

The Pandavas escaped the fiery trap that was meant to kill them. They managed to escape secretly- no one knows they are alive. Bhima must fight a rakshasa in the woods to keep his family safe. He does this by breaking the rakshasa's back over his knee. Bhima then kills the warlord Baka by the same process, freeing a local village from the tyrant.
Bhima's process of killing his enemies in this manner makes me think of the iconic battle between Batman and Bane, shown below. Even if it's silly, this was the first thing I thought of

This is exactly how I imagine Bhima defeats his enemies

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Draupadi's Swayamwara by Donald A. Mackenzie: Source

Draupadi is this gorgeous woman who is destined to have five husbands and be a Pandava queen. In her previous life, she was never satisifed by her husband. She prayed to the gods who promised she would be a high-born woman who would have FIVE husbands. Arjuna shoots the fish target with his arrow to win Draupadi's hand in marriage. Vyasa reveals that the Pandavas are each incaranations of Indra, so there is no problem with five men marrying the same woman.

This whole setup is wild.

Arjuna and Subhadra by Donald A. Mackenzie: Source

Part of the arrangement for Draupadi's marriage to the five Pandava men was that while Draupati spent time with one brother that the other brothers would leave them be or face exile for twelve years. When a fearsome rakshasa attacks the city, Arjuna needs his weapon to fight. His weapon is in the same room as Draupati and one of his brothers. After fending of the rakshasa, Arjuna leaves the city in exile for breaking his oath. While he is away, he visits the city Prabhasa and his friend Krishna. He falls in love with Krishna's sister Subhadra. The expectation is that Subhadra will marry Duryodhana despite the swayamvara having not been held yet. To get around this, Arjuna simply kidnaps Subhadra. Knowing that no man would want Subhadra after she had spent time in the house of another man, they welcome Arjuna back to hold an official marriage. Staying in Prabhasa until the end of his exile, Arjuna finally returns home. Draupati welcomes Arjuna's new wife.

Draupati then has a son for each of her five husbands while Subhadra has a son with Arjuna.

The idea of multiple wives blows my mind. I imagine that the children of Draupati and the Pandavas will ultimately be important. It also seems that men are rewarded for questionable actions- this is the second instance in the Mahabharata of men widnapping women to make them their wives!

Gambling Match by Donald A. Mackenzie: Source

This story seems a little ridiculous to me. Yudhishthira and the Pandavas visit Duryodhana to gamble. Yudhishthira seems to understand that the game will be rigged, but he plays along anyways. He gambles away everything- his gold, jewels, elephants, and slaves. He lost his whole kingdom, himself, all of the Pandavas, and even Draupadi. Why did he not stop gambling!? We see that eventually Duryodhana mocks Draupadi. He tries to strip all of the clothing off of his new slave in public. He mocks the Pandavas who are all now his slaves. Draupadi goes to Dhritarashtra who knew nothing of Duryodhana's actions. He offers Draupadi whatever she wants- she asks for herself, the Pandavas, and Yudhishthira to be freed. That's where this week's reading ends...

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata Section A

King Shantanu and Satyavati by Donald A. Mackenzie: Source

Satyavati is a girl born of Indra's sperm that was swallowed by a fish. When a fisherman caught the fish, he released the two children, the boy and the girl, living inside. The fisherman was able to keep the girl, Satyavati. She grows up giving people rides across the Ganges. She grows up a little before brahmin Parashara comes along. He is overwhelmed by her beauty and asks her to mother his child. In return, he will remove the fish smell from her, she will smell like perfume for the rest of her life, and he restores her virginity.
On a side note- I'm not entirely sure what that last part is supposed to mean. The idea of such a thing seems ridiculous in mind.


Bhishma at the Swayamvara by Sister Nivedita: Source

To this point in the story, Bhishma seems to be a decent person. He forfeited his claim to the throne so that his father could marry again! However, in this portion of the Mahabharata, Bhishma goes to kidnap the daughters- Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika- of the king of Benares. A contest is occurring to determine who is fit to marry these women. However, Bhishma steals the three daughters and fends off multiple armies with his archery skills! Eventually the king of Benares surrenders. Bhishma takes the daughters back to Hastinapura for his step-brother Vichitravirya, who is currently acting as the city's king.


Amba by Sister Nivedita: Source

Amba is the oldest of the princesses that Bhishma kidnapped. She had secretly sworn to marry the King of the Shalwas. She tells Bhishma about her previous arrangement. He sets her free to go marry the King of the Shalwas so that this younger step-brother does not have a marry a woman who will not love him. She goes to the King of the Shalwas, who Bhishma defeated in battle when he kidnapped Amba. He treats her terribly. Eventually, she leaves him to become exceptionally pious. As a result of her piety, Shiva offers Amba a boon. She wants Bhishma dead- she thinks he ruined her chance of a happy marriage when he disgraced the King of the Shalwas. Shiva promises that Amba will kill Bhishma. "How? She's only a woman!" Well... Shiva promises to reincarnate her as a man so that she can kill Bhishma in a future life.
Amba's response? She prepares and lights a funeral pyre and jumps on.


Duryodhana's Jealousy by C.A. Kincaid: Source

Pandu was named as king when he came of age. He two wives each had numerous sons- these two sets of sons came to be known as the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Duryodhana is effectively the head of the Kauravas. He goes to King Dhritarashtra and deceives him. He asks the king of send his queen and the Pandavas away to an entirely wooden palace he's had built. Everything in the palace is soaked in oil. This is Duryodhana's plan to get rid of the Pandavas, as they are better than the Kauravas in almost everything.

The Mahabharata is structured very differently than the Ramayana. It focuses on MANY more characters. It is much harder to keep them all straight, as no single character is specifically followed throughout the story like Rama was.

Week 5 Story: Vali's Defeat at the Hands of Rama

     I awoke in the night to news that my brother was traveling towards Kishkindha. I knew exactly why he was returning. He wanted to claim my throne and wife. Sugriva, my younger brother, the man who had left me for dead and attempted to rule in my absence, wanted the same things he had wanted from me his whole life. As the eldest of the two of us, the throne of Kishkindha was rightfully mine. Tara too was rightfully mine. It was I who first laid eyes on her while I helped Indra churn the ocean long ago. A beautiful aspara, a water spirit, Tara had appeared among the sea foam and the waves. I knew we were destined to be together. I presume Sugriva also experienced the overwhelming flood of emotion I had felt when I first saw Tara. I could see that he wanted her for himself, despite her devotion to me. It was evident in every interaction between the two of them. I could do little to prevent Sugriva's advances, as violence was never an option. As my brother, I would never harm Sugriva. 

     That changed when he trapped me in a cavern with the largest and most fearsome rakshasa after Ravana himself. Sugriva had left me to die! He filled the cavern entrance with a mountain to trap me with that monster. It took me months to escape that prison. When I finally dug myself free, Sugriva sat upon my throne! He had claimed my Tara as his future wife. My rage controlled me that day. I challenged Sugriva to battle, crushing his weapon, his body, and his will. My weak younger brother never truly stood a chance. Upon reclaiming my throne, I exiled the traitor.

     Yet, here he comes yet again. His desire for Tara and my throne somehow managed to stay intact when I had broken everything else he possessed. I lay awake, Tara beside me, unable to return to sleep. It was not fear that kept me awake. It was the excitement- Sugriva's pitiful attempts to claim what was mine would soon come to an end.

Vali pierced by an arrow, bleeding.

Source

     Lying in a pool of my own blood, I no longer possessed that same confidence I'd had the previous night. I should have known that Sugriva would only return with some sort of trick. We both knew that he could never best me in battle. He was conniving and cowardly enough to act on that knowledge. Not even my boon, my ability to steal strength from my opponents, could protect me from an opponent I did not know I was fighting.

     When Sugriva had met me at the gates of Kishkindha with his weapon in hand, I had hardly expected him to back towards the woods before taking off at a full sprint. My honor challenged, I had no choice but to chase the coward. Bit by bit I had gained ground on him. I lunged at Sugriva, knocking him to the ground. He leapt to his feet, spear in hand. One swing from my axe splintered his spear in half. I raised my axe to deliver Sugriva's final blow. He knocked my legs out from under me and kicked my axe away. Sugriva leapt on me in an attempt to overpower me. He stood no chance. I maneuvered myself free of his grasp and wrestled him to the ground. We writhed among the mud and leaves, struggling for dominance until I heard a brief whistling noise. I felt a sudden piercing pain in my chest. I released my grip on Sugriva and fell onto my back. This pain was like nothing I had felt before. Grasping for my chest, I saw an arrow had pierced through my body and was sticking through my breast. I could do nothing to prevent the stabbing pain or the flowing blood. 

     A muscular man radiating power and godliness entered my field of vision. He peered over me. With that short glimpse, I knew who had fired that arrow through my chest. Rama. Rama had shot me like a coward. Sugriva had deceived me like a coward. Yet, honor hardly mattered as Sugriva peered over me before everything faded to black. 

Author's Note:

This story is a first-person, and somewhat fabricated, account of the death of Vali. Rama shoots Vali with an arrow from behind as he battles Sugriva. Sugriva then leaves exile and becomes the king of Kishkindha! The story is based very much on the story of Vali's death from the Ramayana,

Bibliography:

"Vali's Death" by Romesh Dutt- Online Source

Reading Notes: Part B of Sister Nivedita's Ramayana

I noticed in this re-telling of the Ramayana that when Ravana was speaking to his council that the reader was told of a boon that I do not believe was made evident to the reader in the previous version of the story. It states that "one time when Ravana had ill-used a celestial dame [that Brahma] laid upon him a curse that if he ever did the like against his victim's will, then his head should break in 100 pieces." This clarifies that actions that Ravana takes- he wants to kill Rama so Sita is free to marry him and she will consent to actions she has otherwise been refusing. This makes so much sense. Previously, I had failed to understand why Ravana had kept Sita at all- why not just kill her? He needs her consent for sex otherwise he dies, and her beauty has convinced him to keep her alive for that reason. Very interesting.

Additionally, the many generals of Ravana's army are named and killed one by one. They all have such absurd names that make it quite clear that they are "bad guys." They have names like "Goblin", "Man-Killer", and ... "Tall". What creative names. This version seems to focus much more on the battle itself, rather than all of the events in Rama's life that precede the battle.

Ravana is battled by Rama and Hanuman

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In this version, Rama beats Ravana in battle but mercifully lets the demon king go so that he can beat Ravana in another battle? What? This does not make the slightest bit of sense- Rama wants to rescue Sita!

I wonder how "earning boons" works. Why are rakshasas able to make sacrifices that earn them boons? Could the gods simply refuse their sacrifices? They all want Rama to defeat Ravana because Ravana has a boon that prevents any of the gods from touching him. Can they not take these boons away? I want to do more research on this topic. Specifically, I thought of this when Indrajit made Lakshmana believe he had killed Sita in order to buy himself time to make a sacrifice and earn a boon that would make him invincible.

Sita raises the same point that I had thought of on my first time reading the Ramayana- Why did Rama go through all of this effort to save her if he's simply going to reject her anyways?

This version of the story has Rama see his dead father among the gods as well!

Reading Notes: Part A of Sister Nivedita's Ramayana

The source of every subsection of this reading is found here: Source

The very first thing that I notice about this version of the story is how quickly it moves. Sister Nivedita does not spend much time at all describing things. This reminds of a technical report, in that only actions and events are described. For example, Rama meets and marries Sita within the first four sections of the book.

In this version of the story, Rama is described as being quite wise. I don't believe that he was described as being so learned in the PDE Ramayana. Additionally, Sita is not described in the slightest. It was said that she was born from a trough as her father plowed a field. Beyond that, she is essentially not mentioned.

The process of naming Rama as the king is much more in-depth in this version of the story. In the previous reading, I don't believe that Rama was so far into the process of becoming king when Kaikeyi asked Dasharatha to exile Rama. This makes her scheming even worse than it seemed in the other version, as she effectively pulled the throne right out from under him! Kaikeyi needed a fair amount of convincing in this version of the story as well.

I also noticed that Vali was effectively left out of this rendition of the Ramayana. His death was not mentioned. Rather, it was stated that if Rama helped Sugriva overcome Vali then Sugriva would help Rama recover Sita. I hadn't understood this point- the fact that Rama killing Vali was effectively a trade- until now. Yet, my confusion still stands. Vali's death is stated in three words- "Rama overcame Vali." I had thought that a major point of contention within the Ramayana was the fact that Rama "dishonorably" killed Vali. I suppose that this controversy was completely avoided by leaving out Vali's death?

Ravana is kidnapping Sita!

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The most notable difference between the two versions of the Ramayana is the fact that Sampati, the vulture, states "Do ye repair thither and avenge the rape of Sita and the murder of my brother." Did Ravana force himself on Sita? I had previously assumed that he merely held her captive until she would submit to their marriage. This would explain why Rama did not want her back due to her lack of purity. It all makes sense now.

Finally, the same few metaphors are used repeatedly. "Like a plantain tree in the wind" appears quite commonly. I assume this is cultural/regional, as I know I have never seen a plantain in my life. Additionally, elephants are mentioned frequently.

Storybook Plan

I plan to do my storybook project on the topic of Vali, King of Monkeys.

Currently, my three sources are Wikipedia, Freebookapalooza, the PDE Ramayana we just read, and potentially the book that was recommended to me by Laura. If needed, I could also go to Bizzell and check out the comics that were mentioned early in the course.

There stories that I hope to include are about:
1. Vali fighting and defeating Ravana the demon king
2. Vali meeting and marrying Tara, creating a sense of jealousy in Sugriva
3. Vali's death by Rama's attack
4. Potentially the story of Vali becoming king of Kishkindha
5. Potentially the story of Vali and Sugriva's birth (this might be a stretch)

For my story telling styles, I think it would be really exciting to have at least one of those stories made in Twine where the reader can choose their own course of action from Vali's point of view. Otherwise, I plan to tell these stories from Vali's point of view. However, I am considering making the second story from the point of view of both brothers. Why? My understanding is that Vali was married to Tara and the Sugriva became jealous of his brother, but in the Ramayana, Sugriva stated that Vali stole his wife. Therefore, each brother has a different view point on the matter that could make for an interesting story. Given my plan of stories, I think that my project will be a series of stand alone stories that are only tied together by the fact that they all have the same main character.

It is my understanding that Vali is not a bad person. However, because of how he was portrayed in the Ramayana and the fact that Rama killed Vali, I feel that readers of the Ramayana would simply assume that Vali is a bad person. I mean, the good guy who has the powers of gods kills him, and someone so powerful and righteous wouldn't kill a good person, right? Wrong. I think Vali was a good person trying to live his life and that Sugriva deceived Rama into killing his brother for him. This is the point I want to get across in my project.

Comment Wall for Storybook Project

Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions- I want to improve my writing!

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This is the place to put any feed back for my storybook project about Vali, King of Monkeys!

You can find my story book here: My Story!

Week 4 Story: Story Laboratory

This week I wanted to use Twine so that I can get comfortable with this technology before using it on an actual project assignment. I expect that I will want to use Twine because I can easily see the potential this technology possesses. I made my first Twine interaction focused on the NFL, as I thought that this was a straight forward and understandable way to utilize the abilities of Twine. Thus, I set Twine up recommend an NFL team to a fan hoping to find a team to root for. Simple questions then narrow the field before one of nine teams are recommended to the reader based on factors such as the team's current state, the team's historic success, and any notable players each team might have. I used the first question to sort all of the teams into three sets- two of these sets were entirely separate, but the third set could be reached by either answer to the first question. I liked how I could potentially set up the questions so that the same question could be reached by a number of different routes. I could also make questions loop back on one another.
I'm sure that if I use this to create a story in the future, I would make many fewer branching choices. Rather, I would probably treat the Twine link that takes the reader to a different page like the turn of a page in a real book. This would make the structure of the story much simpler and easier to follow. This could be especially useful to hide important details from the reader or build suspense by placing a single word on a page on the way to the climax of the story.

I am hoping that Twine allows simple links to work and that you like my first attempt using Twine!
file:///C:/Users/cbavl/Downloads/Testing%20this%20Goosebumps%20format.html

What team do you want to root for as part of America's greatest pastime?

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Reading Notes: PDE Ramayana Section D

"Ravana and Lakshmana" by Donald D Mackenzie: Source

Lakshmana kills Indrajit, the son of Ravana. Ravana swears he will have his revenge. He enters the battle himself. Seeing Vibhishana fighting for Rama, Ravana throws a "great weapon" at the rakshasa. Lakshmana throws his own spear to destroy Ravana's weapon. Ravana turns his full rage at Lakshmana and throws a "great dart" that impales Lakshmana's heart, killing him. Yet, Hanuman does what he had done before- he gathers herbs from the mountain and revives Lakshmana!
Evidently revival from the dead is capable in the world of Indian Epics. So many of these individuals have such extreme and extravagant abilities. I need to ensure I capture that when I write my own stories.

"Battle of Rama and Ravana" by Sister Nivedita: Source

Ravana shoots arrows that become serpents in midair. Rama defends himself by shooting arrows that become birds that eat Ravana's snakes! The wounds Ravana who escacpes the battle. Rama is told to pray to the Sun. He does this and proceeds to shoot arrow after arrow into Ravana's many heads. As he shoots heads off of Ravana's body, Ravana grows heads back like a hydra and the battle continues.
Simply, this is awesome. This is the sort of drawn out battle that I wanted earlier in the epic. I suppose that they only save descriptions for the truly epic battles between individuals who are nearly invincible.

"Sita Tested" by Sister Nivedita: Source

Modern love simply does not compare to love in the Ramayana. Rama went on an epic quest during which he killed a demon king to take his wife back. Yet, when he wins Sita back, he is ashamed of her? Rama casts her aside because she is "stained!" He tells her she is worthy of any of his brothers but not him! In a modern setting, this concept would be absurd. Sita's response shocked me even more. She tries to pull a Romeo and Juliet sort of thing and kill herself so she doesn't have to live without Rama. There are layers of social commentary that could be pulled back in this portion of the Ramayana. This situation is not at all what I expected.


"Sita Departs" by Sister Nivedita: Source

Even after Sita tries to kill herself, and she is returned from the fire because of her purity, While this appeases Rama, it does not appease the people he rules. She goes into exile after SHE was taken prisoner by a demon? This just seems so wrong.
Eventually she returns, proves she has been virtuous and poor her entire life, and then sits on a throne that has emerged from the Earth. Sita then disappears into the Earth, and Rama is left heartbroken and lonely until he too leaves the Earth. He returns to Heaven where he and his brothers return to the form of Vishnu. What an odd ending.

Sita is swallowed by the Earth. That is the end of her story?

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Reading Notes: PDE Ramayana Section C

"Vali's Death" by Romesh Dutt: Source

This is the story of how Rama kills Vali. In the research I had done in preparation for the project, I read that Tara is Vali's wife and that it was Sugriva's jealousy and his desire to have Tara as his own wife that drove Vali an Sugriva apart. In this rendition of the story, I feel that Vali is made out to be a terrible person who exiled his brother and stole his wife. However, from my understanding, it was Vali who first met Tara, fell in love with her, and married her. Thus, it is my understanding that this story is presented in this manner because Sugriva is modifying the truth, or he may actually believe that Vali stole his wife, in order to deceive Rama into helping him.

Rama setting a trap for Vali and killing him while he fights Sugriva seems cowardly. We have an all-powerful individual hiding in the shadows to attack another individual with astounding powers. Not only did I want a mindblowing showdown, but what actually occurred was extremely underwhelming. I will certainly need to return to this reading when working on the project.


"Hanuman's Leap" by Sister Nivedita: Source

I love that in Indian legend people are capable of absurd feats of strength like moving a mountain. In this case, we see Hanuman is capable of leaping across the ocean while killing a rakshasi that leaps from the water to devour him. I will surely need to portray such traits in the same manner in my own stories.


"Hanuman and Sita" by Donald A. Mackenzie: Source

Hanuman finds a way to speak secretly to Sita while she is kept as Ravana's prisoner. Hanuman offers to carry Sita away to freedom, but she refuses to touch any man other than Rama. Instead, Sita gives Hanuman a jewel as a token and says she has only two months to live.
Is it improper to touch another man's wife at all in Indian culture? This is effectively the only reason I can think of for Sita refusing to leave. She would rather live in the clutches of a demon than have another man touch her? This seems absurd.


"The Burning of Lanka" by Sister Nivedita: Source

Hanuman was caught by Ravana's army. Rather than kill him outright, they attempt to humiliate him; they set his tail on fire. Sita prays, and her prayers are answered in the form on Hanuman's icy tail. He is not harmed by the fire! This causes Hanuman to break his bonds and burn the city of Lanka with his flaming tail. He then puts out the fire by dipping his tail in the ocean. He then leaps back across the ocean to tell Rama and the other monkeys that Sita is alive and well.
I want to have some sort of comparable story. This situation seems hilarious. The attempted mockery by the bad guys backfired and led to their own destruction. Classic.

The imagery of Hanuman burning a city by leaping from building to building is astounding,

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Topic Research: Vali, King of Monkeys

From Wikipedia (Source) :
Vali is also known as Bali or Baali. He is the king of Kishkindha in the Ramayana. He is the son of Indra, husband of Taara, and son of Vriksharaja. His has a younger brother named Sugriva. Vali also has a son named Angada.

Vali was blessed by Brahma with a ability to obtain half the strength of his opponent (this power is vampiric and can steal that strength from his opponent). This ability has allowed Vali to defeat great warriors like Ravana because he already had the strength of 70,000 elephants; this ability made him even more powerful. Evidently, this ability is only so helpful, as the all-powerful Rama and Hanuman have been able to battle Vali.

In Hare Krishna (I may need to figure out exactly what this is?), it is believed that Vali was reincarnated as Jara, the hunter who killed Krishna. Krishna is the the god of compassion, love, and tenderness. (Maybe Vali isn't such a great guy...)

The details surrounding Vali's birth are unclear from this source. Evidently Riksharaja was taking a bath and his body took on a female form. Indra and Surya were walking by. Then, Riksharaja  gave birth to Vali (Indra's son) and Sugriva (Surya's son).

Vali is married to Tara, a female spirit of the clouds and waters. They met while Vali was helping his father Indra churn the ocean. Tara was born from the churning waters.

Vali also defeated Ravana. Ravana first defeated Vali's brother, Sugriva. He then taunted Vali. Vali took on the challenge and defeated Ravana in battle. He carried Ravana under his armpit for years. Ravana was finally set free when he agreed to be friends with Vali.

Vali eventually is killed (I attempted to avoid spoilers for the Ramayana). Yet, it seems that Sugriva convinces Rama to kill the innocent Vali so that Sugriva can take his throne?

Vali, King of Monkeys is a monkey himself!

Source

From Amazon (Source):

Vali and Sugriva grew up as poor slaves before they eventually came to each be the king of Kishkindha, a city without discrimination. They are vanaras (monkey men). Vali and Sugriva worked together to construct their own country in the midst of a war. Jealous, Sugriva turned on Vali when Vali married Tara. (This is only the description of the book. I'll need to read the book for a bunch of presumably useful information).

From Freebookapalooza (Source):

This is another potential source for stories of Vali, as this whole book is about monkeys! I'm hoping it contains more information than just that presented in the Ramayana.

Thoughts:

Story 1: Vali defeats Ravana

Story 2: Vali meets and marries Tara

Story 3: Rama kills Vali

I think Vali will be an exciting topic for my project. My only fear is that I won't have enough material to write about. The information given here is almost everything I could find on Vali. I suppose I could also look for information about Jara, as it is believed that Vali was reincarnated as Jara. I could also go to the Bizz to find the comic I wrote about when first considering the project; that comic includes Vali. I'm now very interested in reading the rest of the Ramayana!