Reading Notes: Valiant Archer, Supreme Teacher - Part B

It's kind weird that Drona was born in a pot, and not only born in a pot, his name also means Pot. This struck me as kind of weird, but hey it's Indian Epics. At least Drona has cool secret military skills to offset his weird birth and name. I like the fact that Drona is seeking pupils that will lead to his revenge on Drupada. This calls for a very exciting story and I may have to use this for one of mine in the future. Overall, this was a fun story to read.

Bibliography: Valiant Archer, Supreme Teacher (Link)

Drona: (Wikipedia) 

Reading Notes: Tales of Arjuna Part A

This week I read Tales of Arjuna and really enjoyed it. This was my first comic book to read this semester and I really enjoyed it, I need to find more! I like how the monkey was interactive with the humans, that definitely made for it to be a more lighthearted and funny story. Overall, I really enjoyed this story.

Bibliography: Tales of Arjuna (Link)

Monkey: (Pexels)

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

I have enjoyed giving and receiving feedback throughout this semester. I think it is very important in order to get the best work possible. It is good to get several different eyes on your work and hearing from those people. I have tried to adjust to the feedback I have gotten, and hopefully it has made my work better. I have gotten good feedback from the other students so thank you for that! Looking forward, I am going to be more specific with my feedback to help other students.

Feedback: (Pixabay)

Week 8 Reading and Writing

I've enjoyed the reading and writing of this class so far. I like the free structure of the course and how we get to take it in whatever direction we want. My stories have mostly been about battles and kingdoms, and looking forward I am going to change that. I've been focusing on that in my readings and story planning this past week. I am going to focus on a bigger variety of things and see where it takes me. Feels good to be halfway through, it has really flown by.

Kingdom of Monett: (Wikipedia) 

This has been my favorite picture of the semester because it looks similar to what I had pictured in my head when writing the stories. It is fun to write about battles and kingdoms, as I have never done that before the start of this semester. 

Week 7 Story Planning: Gambling in the Himalayas

This week I have focused on many different elements of the reading that I am going to focus on for my story next week. In reading A, the thing that stuck with me the most is the scene where Bhima kills the Rakshasa. I am not going to revolve around this same plot, but in reading B, I got really into the dice game that was played. And my thought for my story this week is to deviate from battle and war scenes, and write about something different. So, after thought and reading, I decided that Bihma and some made up characters will be hiking through the Himalayas to buy land on the other side of the mountain range. They will be carrying lots of gold in order to purchase this desired land. While traveling through the mountain range, they will stumble across a casino, and curiously enter in and gamble some of the gold they have on them. The Rakshasa's will be the dealers at every table and own the casino. I am planning on having Bhima lose all of his gold, and gamble away everything, including a sacred horse he is riding on. The sacred horse idea came from reading D, when Bhima cut the head off a horse and it ascended into heaven. Maybe throughout the week I become nicer and make Bhima win a lot, but I think I will stick to my plan of devastation!


Research: I looked into more depth about the Rakshasa, because they are going to be in control of the casino in my story. I did not know that they were also called "Maneaters" but this makes writing about them even more exciting. Rakshasa's were created from the breath of Brahma when he was asleep, which is a really obscure point of creation. They are ugly and enourmous creatures who have two fangs on the top of their mouth. These will be very intimidating casino dealers in my story! (Link to Rakshasa)


Bibliography: Mahabharata by R.K. Narayan (Link)

Dice Game: (Pixabay) 

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part D

I thought the sacrifice of the horse was a very intense part of the reading. When Bhima cut the head, it immediately ascended to heaven, and disappeared in front of everybody. I am going to go a different direction from this. I still haven't thought of my characters to use, but I think I am going to have a sacred horse be a source of a debt payment when the characters come across the casino in the Himalayas. This will provide a new theme and feeling to the reading, and will deviate from my past stories which have revolved around battles.

Bibliography: Mahabharata by R.K. Narayan (Link)

Sacred Horse: (Pexels)

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part C

I really enjoyed when Draupadi and the four Pandava brother's begain their journey in the Himalayas. I think it would be really interesting to set a story in the mountains, which I have yet to do. Most of mine have revolved around battles of different kingdoms. But after reading the dice game last week, and the Himalayas this week, maybe I will select some characters to come across a hidden casino in the middle of the mountain range. This may be a little far fetched, but with more brainstorming throughout the week, I am sure I will get a basis for my plot.

Bibliography: Mahabharata by R.K. Narayan (Link)

The Himalayas above the clouds: (Wikipedia)