Couple of AVatar ideas

zerohour

Well-Known Member
#1
Idea One: We know that bad things happen if the world is thrown out of balance. What if those bad things began to happen sometime before Aang awoke? Ther must have been more angry spirits besides the forest spirit whose home got burned down,a nd the lack of both Airbenders and the Avatar must have had some effect on the world besides the continuing war.

Essentially, after Aang goes into his one hundred year sleep, things progress as canon, until 20 or so years own the line, wheen the imbalance begins to affect the world beyond the war. Spirits start crossing over, Koh starts to expand his face collection, and other mystical cataclysms occur.

Rather than Earth and Water vs. Fire, it would be Earth and Water vs. Fire vs. Angry spirits. Most likely both human sides would be in bad condition given what we've seen spirits are capable of. It's possible that things have gotten so bad that the Fire Nation war has essentially ended, since both sides are busy fighting the spirits.





Idea Two: Toph finds Aang instead of Katara and Sokka.

Considering Earth Rumble Six is essentially the Earth Kingdom version of Wrestling, I could see various gimmicks appearing from time to time, eventually, they have an Ice-Themed Earth Rumble, maybe to make it more exciting by having some Water Benders fight as well. One heavy rock to the iceberg centerpiece later and we have a giant bison and his airbender.

An obvious change would be learning the elements out of order, since Aang would have no particular reason to go to the North Pole quickly. This could result in the North Pole falling or worldwide devastation when Zhao kills the moon spirit, unless Yue still sacrifices herself to save it.


I'm still developing these beyond the rough idea above, but I'd liek to get some feedback on them.

Thoughts?
 
#2
I'd probably like to see the first idea since it seems it wouldn't require as much knowledge of the series to be able to follow along. I never saw the series because I don't own a television, but I'm thinking about buying the season boxsets. If I could find them for relatively cheap prices, I probably would.
 

Estrecca

Well-Known Member
#3
I do not see the second idea as being realistic.

First, because it originally took one hell of a lot to put Aang in the mindset required to learn Earthbending (remember, this is his opposite element and the hardest to learn for an Airbender Avatar).

Second, because I cannot see Toph blowing her cover to escape from under the watch of her parents to compete in this Special Polar Edition Earth Rumble Tournament thing. Nor do I see the Bei Fongs going to the South Pole for any reason.

Third, because there are no waterbenders in the South Pole anymore. If for some reason they want to spice up the competition with waterbenders, they better be ready to visit the Northern Water Tribe.

Aang being found by Toph might be feasible under other conditions, but I really don't see a fic working under the premise you detail in your post above.
 

zerohour

Well-Known Member
#4
I wasn't suggesting that the ER6 be held at the South Pole, only that they collected some wandering chunks of ice, one of which contained Aang, and brought it to the Arena.

As the Water Tribes are allied with the Earth Kingdom, and that most of the battles takes place in the Earth Kingdom, it wouldn't be unreasonable that there would be a few Waterbenders getting some R&R before returning to the front lines. After this happens a couple of times, the Arena Master decides to try something new to catch their interest. By bringing in some ice and water, they can be put on somewhat equal footing. As this gin popularity, it gets bigger and bigger, until they import an entire glacier for the end of the season final rumble.

One brutal fight with the rising star later, and Aang is awoken, none worse for the wear, aside from the dizziness from being used as a weapon.
 

zerohour

Well-Known Member
#5
Another random idea:

What is Gyatso had caught up to Aang before he went into suspended animation?
 

zerohour

Well-Known Member
#6
Toying around some with Idea one, I'm going to use this thread to keep track of historical changes and their effects.

Currently in pretty rough shape, since I did this as an incomplete rush job before work. I'll continue to fiddle with it when I get back/after I sleep. Years are rough estimates and will most likely be tweaked in order to make it more realistic.


113 Years BC: (Before Canon)
Roku dies, Aang is born.


101 years BC:
Aang runs away from the Southern Air Temple, and goes into suspended animation.


100 years BC:
Sozin's comet arrives, and the Air Nomad Temples are conquered. With their homes and descendents destroyed, the Air Nomads are systematically hunted down or forced into hiding.

The threat of the Avatar eliminated, the Fire Nation begins to attack the remaining nations in theri effort to unify te world.


80 years BC:
The disappearance of the Avatar and teh Air Nomads begins to affect the spirit world, causing several spirits to begin to cross over. Several of the more powerful spirits rampage through the world, causing massive chaos and destruction.

The Fire Nation's advance grinds to a halt, as they are unable to deal with the spirits properly.


50 years BC:
The world has settled into a tenuous quasi-balance, with the various peoples learning to deal with the spirits now actively present in the world.

The Fire Nation renews its efforts to unite the world, believing that it is their duty to instate order upon the world so balance can truly be restored. This results in several changes in their military tactics.

- The South Pole is blockaded, in an effort to prevent them from joining in the war effort. The Fire Nation Navy only attacks the Water Tribes in reaction to attempted breaches. Several imprisoned Waterbenders are released as a show of good faith.

-The Spirits are recognized as a legitimate power and threat, and soldiers are trained on how best to deal with them.

Scholars begin trying to achieve meaningful interaction with Spirits.

45 years BC:
Wa Shi Tong's library is discovered, and to Society of the Eternal Book is formed.

40 years BC:
Several Benders begin to form pacts with Spirits attuned to their elements, strengthening their Bending abilities. This is rapidly integrated with military rank and it becomes a rite of passage to form a pact with a spirit to reach the upper ranks.





0 years BC/Year 1 AS (After start)
Canon begins
 
#7
I powered through the whole series this past weekend, and I like the idea of Toph finding Aang instead of Katara and Sokka.
 

zerohour

Well-Known Member
#8
Let see... possible changes of Toph finding Aang...

-Aang waking up a couple months early. This is mainly so that Katara and Sokka don't find him, and to give him a couple of extra months to realize there's a war going on, and he has to step up to his duties. TOph doesn't seem the type to be too concerned about the War, since she didn't experience any personal loss as a result of it like Sokka and Katara.

-Aang may be able to avoid his role as the Avatar for awhile.

-Closer Aang and Toph, mainly because they have no one else to talk to.

-More conflict between Toph and Katara. Since Katara is the new arrival in this scenario, Toph would probably see her as taking Aang away from her.

-Possibly less confident Toph. Toph never really encounters a master earth bender, but she would likely end up meeting Bumi, who would show her that there's a lot more for her to learn. Of course, this could have the opposite effect and make Toph an even bigger badass.

-Katara being less confident. Considering that she'll be the only Bender who isn't a master in the group, that's gotta hurt her confidence in her abilities.



Interesting events:

-Toph at the North/South Pole. Considering there's no earth for her to see/bend with, she would be especially uncomfortable/vulnerable/irritable

-Bumi vs. Toph

-Toph's fortune

-Early Zuko encounters. At the very least, Toph will recognize Iroh.



Hm... did I miss anything?
 

Estrecca

Well-Known Member
#9
-Aang waking up a couple months early.? This is mainly so that Katara and Sokka don't find him, and to give him a couple of extra months to realize there's a war going on, and he has to step up to his duties.? TOph doesn't seem the type to be too concerned about the War, since she didn't experience any personal loss as a result of it like Sokka and Katara.
You don't have to change the timeline. You just have to change the place of awakening. Aang is inside an iceberg. Icebergs drift.

Call it chance, the will of La (the Ocean Spirit) or fate. But there is nothing that absolutely demands that Aang resurfaces when and where he did in canon. If the sea currents push him northwards, that puts him closer to the former Air Nomad islands that are the likely location of the Southern Air Temple.



Without Katara and Sokka to tell him about the war and his century long nap, he'll think that very little time has passed since his getaway and he'll want to avoid going back to the Temple, because that would mean losing Monk Gyatso.

Which means that he won't learn about the Air Nomad genocide right at the beginning. Which means that he won't freak the hell out in the Air Temple. Which means that the world (and particularly the Fire Nation) won't learn about the return of the Avatar early on.

A possible destination for Aang in the Earth kingdom -supposing that he doesn't simply go to ground somewhere- would be Omashu (since Bumi was such a good friend of his back before his nap) where he may or may not meet Bumi and learn the truth from him.

The possible consequences of all this are entirely too far reaching to explore in this post, but there are things like Aang's impact in the events of the Siege of the North that can change greatly if Aang isn't there for whatever reason: The Northern Water Tribe will probably be defeated and driven out of their capital city which would complicate even more finding a waterbender master for Aang (free nightmare fuel idea: Hama as the only experienced waterbender that Aang finds before the arrival of Sozin's comet).

-Aang may be able to avoid his role as the Avatar for awhile.
Almost certainly, since Aang won't even want to consider the idea until he fully realizes the magnitude of the war.

However, without the stunt in the Southern Air Temple that gave the Fire Nation confirmation about the return of the Avatar, eyewitness reports about a flying bison and a young airbender are likely to be treated as something close to UFO sightings by Fire Nation authorities (excluding Zuko, but then nobody cares about Zuko at this point).

-Possibly less confident Toph.? Toph never really encounters a master earth bender, but she would likely end up meeting Bumi, who would show her that there's a lot more for her to learn.? Of course, this could have the opposite effect and make Toph an even bigger badass.
Entirely different earthbending styles. Bumi is an older, more experienced and powerful version of The Boulder. Toph is a bit more about finesse in bending and economy of motion.
 

zerohour

Well-Known Member
#10
Estrecca said:
-Possibly less confident Toph.á Toph never really encounters a master earth bender, but she would likely end up meeting Bumi, who would show her that there's a lot more for her to learn.á Of course, this could have the opposite effect and make Toph an even bigger badass.
Entirely different earthbending styles. Bumi is an older, more experienced and powerful version of The Boulder. Toph is a bit more about finesse in bending and economy of motion.
They do use different styles, but Toph doesn't think she is the greatest practicioner of her style, she thinks she the greatest earthbender, period. The fact that Bumi uses a different style doesn't enter into the equation.


Regarding the Iceberg drift, it is an interesting idea, but I don't think that it would work very well for this idea. The point of this would be for Toph to find Aang, and the likelihood of that decreases if they don't encounter each other fairly quickly. Without Katara needing to learn waterbending, Aang might stick around Omashu to learn Earthbending, instead of moving on.

Though as a separate idea, it has a lot of interesting possibilities... Aang did say that he ha friends all over the world... Might bear some fruit in the Miscellaneous Ideas Thread. I'll offer it up there if you don't in the near future.
 

Latewave

Well-Known Member
#11
On your idea on the spirits becoming angry. I would think that what ever spirits that represent the air would be the most angry of the lot having their people wiped out.
 

ryugabriev

Well-Known Member
#12
zerohour said:
Another random idea:

What is Gyatso had caught up to Aang before he went into suspended animation?
I like this idea immensely.

Gyatso could probably make up his mind sooner than in canon and catch Aang just as he's leaving, since that's what he was going to do in the first place anyway: take Aang with him somewhere so he could grow up normally making the burdens of being the Avatar easier to handle.

Besides the thought of Gyatso being a member of the White Lotus Order and helping the old boys retake Ba Sing Se is just frikken awesome!
 
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