Week 5 Story Planning

This week, I ended up with a lot more story options than usual. I haven't settled on one yet, but I have narrowed it down to three different routes, so here's what I'm working with so far.

Option #1: From "King Shantanu and Ganga"

In this story, the goddess Ganga makes a pact with the eight celestial Vasus: When they get condemned to being born on earth as mortals, they approach Ganga, who agrees to act as their human mother. But she also promises "that she would cast them one by one into the [river] soon after birth so that they might return speedily to their celestial state." I like the idea of one character grimly swearing to murder another character on that character's behalf, either so they can gain a certain power or gain access to a certain place, or because it'll give them some temporary advantage or revery them to their true form. Whichever way, I think it could be entertaining to write, with some interesting character dynamics and mood to play around with.


Option #2: From "King Shantanu and Satyavati"

Another element that caught my eye was the introduction to Vyasa's mother. When asked who she is, she replies that she ferries passengers across the river. Granted, she's the adopted daughter of a fishermen, so she means that pretty literally—but it could be loads of fun to make the jump from that to a different kind of river entirely, something with the weight of the Greek River Styx and the feel of a modern-day fantasy setting. So that's an option too.


Option #3: "Gandhari and Dhritarashtra"

In this one, when the titular king and queen have a son, there are all sorts of terrible, ominous omens. The royal couple's advisors explain that their son will bring something terrible upon their kingdom, and that it'll be better for everyone just to get rid of him while they can—sacrifice the part to save the whole, and all that jazz. But the prince's parents are fond of him—he's their favorite son—and they decide to ignore the omens and the advisors and the best interests of their kingdom, just to spare him. I love the idea of that: of the main character being close to someone and knowing they're going to do something terrible someday, but not being able to bring herself to prevent it. Of choosing to let that happen before she'll choose to let this one person die—even though she knows that means she'll be just as responsible for all that tragedy when the other shoe finally does drop. Again, plenty of room for interesting character dynamics and a (theoretically) compelling protagonist; if I used this one, I think I'd like to give a tiny taste of that huge disaster, just to test the protag's resolve and see what emotional response comes of it.


Interestingly, even just that small amount of thinking through each of these gave me a little more clarity, and I think I'll wind up picking the third story to develop. I've got a better idea of who the characters in that are, what the plot and stakes might look like, so that's probably what I'll go with.



Bibliography: Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition. Source: Laura Gibbs's Indian Epics blog.
Image Credit: Dark Splash by Pexels. Source: Pixabay.