Week 3 Story: The Painted Lady
The Painted Lady
This story is about two friends named Aang and Sokka. The two are traveling around the world with the purpose of trying to prepare for saving the world. Aang is what is known as the last avatar; he has all four elemental bending abilities and is the most powerful person. It is his destiny to save humanity from evils that arise. However, many people seem to be after them because they are envious of Aang's powers.
One day, Aang and Sokka make it to a small village. They had been traveling the whole day and decided to take a break. Because it was getting dark, they decided to set up camp and rest for the night. While Sokka was sound asleep, Aang was wide awake and in fear that he might have to defend himself through the night from the people after him. Hours had passed, and Aang was completely exhausted from fighting his tiredness.
Sokka had a sister, and her name was Katara. She had been secretly following Aang and Sokka on their journey as a way to look after her brother in secret. When the boys made it to the village, she had noticed that Aang was too zombie like to even function. So, as a way to continue hiding from them and looking after them, she dressed up as a spirit and called herself "The Painted Lady". She quietly appeared to Aang, "You must sleep." she said to Aang. "I can't. I must protect myself and Sokka." "Then I will watch over and protect you. Now rest." she persuaded. At this point, Aang knew that he needed to rest otherwise he would not be able to protect anyone much less himself, so he let himself. Aang then slowly drifted into sleep as "The Painted Lady" watched over. The next morning Aang woke up feeling so refreshed and rested. However, he believed that "The Painted Lady" was merely a fictional dream that spoke to him. Little did he know, Sokka's sister, Katara was their guardian angel.
Author's Notes: This story was inspired by the short passage within Tiny Tales from the Ramayana called Lakshmana guards Rama and Sita as well as The Last Airbender. This version of the original story has a little twist. The characters that are sleeping in this story are friends rather than husband in wife in comparison to the Ramayna. In addition, instead of the goddess of sleep, I incorporated a character from a show I was inspired by: (Katara) a normal person dressing up as a spirit. Furthermore, instead of having someone sleep in place of the main character, my story included the main character actually taking the advice and resting. Besides those changes, the overall story had many elements from the original regarding persuasion of a character to sleep.
Bibliography. Tiny Tales from the Ramayana Part B by Laura Gibbs
Hi Kaelan! I was just convinced to start watching "Avatar: The Last Airbender" by my roommates. I'm liking it so far! In lieu of that, I was intrigued by your retelling of this story! I think incorporating old tales into newer stories is a cool concept! It seems like a good way to get people interested in old stories by providing a bridge of accessibility.
ReplyDeleteHi Kaelan! I was just convinced to start watching "Avatar: The Last Airbender" by my roommates. I'm liking it so far! In lieu of that, I was intrigued by your retelling of this story! I think incorporating old tales into newer stories is a cool concept! It seems like a good way to get people interested in old stories by providing a bridge of accessibility.
ReplyDeleteHi Kaelan! This is my ABSOLUTE favorite! Avatar the last Airbender was my favorite show growing up and I love how you used both stories in your post. I really enjoyed the twist of Katara following Aang and Sokka in order to protect them. Your twist of having the main character sleep by help of Katara as the painted lady was a fantastic way to incorporate the Goddess of sleep into this story. I am so excited I got to read this!
ReplyDeleteHi Kaelan! This definitely makes my list of favorites for stories I've read while taking this class. I love Avatar: The Last Airbender and I think you did a great job incorporating a tale from the Ramayana with the setting of ATLA. The combination of stories seems very well done since Avatar also places significant emphasis on spiritual matters and myths.
ReplyDeleteHey Kaelan!
ReplyDeleteI think that the way you used "Avatar: The Last Airbender" to tell your story is really interesting. I have never seen "Avatar" before but it looks like you did an amazing jobs using its character to make a better story. I think that was helpful that you used "the painted lady" to connect the story together and make it a whole piece. I saw that Aang had to stay up all night to watch over Sokka while she was asleep. For days Aang could not fallen asleep, so the "Painted Lady" came to aid Aang. I wonder what would happen if "The Painted Lady" never came, would Aang and Sokka be in grave danger or something dangerous might come their way? I didn't see you mention why they were traveling for such long distance, I wonder what if you could tell us some more about the reason why they were traveling in the first place. I think that would perhaps set the background to the stories even more interesting.
Hi Kaelan! I’m a huge fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and I loved how you used the characters when re-telling a story in the Ramayana. I liked the twist of Katara convincing Aang to go to sleep, rather than the original story detail with someone else sleeping in place of the main character. Your re-telling makes the story a lot more approachable, and this detail is in line with the characters from the show!
ReplyDelete