Opposite element AU
WANTWANTWANTWANT
So wait hang on. What exactly IS this AU though?
Are everyone’s circumstances the same except with different nations? The Water Nation attacked, the Earth Kingdom was wiped out except for Aang, Airbenders are the most populous nation? Toph sees via feeling the vibrations in the air, as taught to her by the Flying Bison?
Or do the circumstances go WITH everyone? Princess Katara the banished daughter of the Fire Lord, Avatar Toph? …In this case, is Sokka the Dragon to Hakoda’s (or even maybe Kya’s?) Big Bad, and Azula the mischievous tag-along?
Like this is one MASSIVE AU I need to know more. o-o
I was thinking more along the lines of the first one. Airbender Toph’s method of seeing is just as you described it, and it’s great because whether she’s standing on stone, wood, ice, or even up in the air, she can still ‘see’. The only times Toph would really be blind is when she’s underwater.
I’ve read some comments wondering why Zuko doesn’t have a frostbite burn, but I figured that with the water tribe emphasis on family and community Ozai would’ve lost a lot of respect if he disfigured his son. Zuko’s family overall would probably be healthier and less dysfunctional in this AU. And a united royal family is a lot harder to defeat than a fractured one.
As for how the Water Nation managed to wipe out the Earth Kingdom, perhaps there’s an event equivalent to Sozin’s Comet that enhances waterbending. This allowed them to overpower the eathbenders via tsunamis, drowning by encasing heads in water, etc. Or maybe bloodbending was discovered earlier and became widespread among the elites (which is a disturbing thought).
Aang is the earthbender avatar, and though he still has an easy-going personality he’s also much more eager for a good fight. He has a pet badgermole instead of a skybison and Aang is the one to discover metalbending in this AU. But I haven’t the faintest idea how he ends up sleeping through the Hundred Year War. Of course, this is just my version of this AU, and I’d love to read other people’s versions.
OOOH.
Okay so, on one hand I feel like that cheapens Toph to a point but when you think about it, WIND should have an effect, too. Like the windier it gets the more it’s like her “fuzzy” vision in sand, and in storms she’d probably be limited to a few-foot radius; in sandstorms she’d probably be about as limited as everyone else. She could probably bend a bubble around herself to deflect outside hazards/interference but then she’d only be able to see within said bubble. Since air isn’t as dense as earth, I also think she’d end up with less expansive far-sight as she got older, so that’s another nice counterpoint. So yeah, I think I’d like this Toph plenty. :V
Also imagine an evasive Toph who’s JUST AS HEADSTRONG. “Go ahead and try and hit me if you’re able” is all that comes to mind. xD She’d be so cocky and obnoxious and fantastic.
I definitely like this idea of the Water Tribe a lot. Basically, take every scary Water Tribe thing from Legend of Korra and move it to A:tLA. xD Bloodbenders as the elite warriors, benders who can manipulate spirits in place of the rare lightning benders. And man, imagine if the aggressive warrior race was ALSO the race that had the most proficient healers. THAT’S a scary thought.
(ALSO. WHAT IF Zuko has scars elsewhere? Like on his back or something? Scars that are not as immediately obvious in a crowd, nor as telling at a glance of his past, but that he still knows will always be there as a physical representation of his broken relationship with his father?)
Earthbender Aang would be a slightly different flavor of cinnamon roll but just as precious oh gosh. In the real series the Fire Nation sort of led the industrial revolution with help from occupied portions of the Earth Kingdom. Imagine, instead, the Water Tribe leading it with the help of Air Nomads. Steam power still comes along easily enough, but I feel like FLIGHT would have happened much sooner and more effectively. Imagine Aang– maybe he… buried himself? Katara accidentally exploded a rock and a boy was inside? xD But imagine Aang waking up to a world revolutionized and built so much on cunning and guile and favoring means of convenience. And here he is, this simple kid who doesn’t know much about manipulation either of people or the world. He just wants to be straightforward. Talk about matters bluntly and openly, appreciate the land as it is with no great lengths to alter it, settle problems by throwing fists and rocks rather than big convoluted ordeals. I mean it would’ve had more of a Miyazaki vibe, but CINNAMON ROLL.
Imagine Katara learning that she can cauterize wounds as a desperate measure.
Imagine if instead of metalbending, Toph managed FLIGHT. (I can’t even IMAGINE what an Earthbending Zaheer would discover in LoK.)
Imagine a WORLD in which the tough, practical, hard-working but kind of militaristic Earth Nation is extinct and the wise, peace-loving,contemplative and semi-nomadic Air Nomads are the most populous race, followed by a militaristic version of Water Tribe that has them under their control.
This is such a different planet and I WANT IT.
Oh wow, I love your world building ideas!
Yeah, Toph ought to have the limitations you mentioned. And with the Air Nomad values of peace and nonviolence, this Toph wouldn’t be as eager to fight (though she’s still just as badass). Maybe she’s much more manipulative and uses the political savvy her parents taught her to diffuse tension or get the most favorable outcome in a situation.
I know right, I find this Water Tribe much more intimidating than the Fire Nation in canon. I think that most of the bloodbenders should only be able to do so on the full moon, while Azula is one of the rare few who can bloodbend on any night (because if she were able to bloodbend even during the day, defeating Azula would be near impossible). The Northern Water Tribe is ruled by King Iroh and the Sourthern Water Tribe is ruled by King Ozai.
I like the idea of Zuko having scars in less visible areas. Imagine if Ozai forbid anyone from healing Zuko after he punished him, but Azula sneaks in anyway to heal him. So maybe Zuko and Azula are closer, but Zuko still feels inferior because unlike Azula he can’t bloodbend (yet).
The Fire Nation and the Water Tribe are both industrialized, and they are in an arms race over who can create deadlier and more destructive weaponry. Sokka is an engineering genius that would greatly contribute to the Fire Nation industry. I think that the Air Nomads would be very fractured depending on their location. For instance, the Northern and Southern Air Temples are located closest to the Water Tribes and would be conquered and forced to help with the development of steam power. The Western Air Temple (under Airbender Bumi’s leadership) would ally with the Fire Nation to avoid being conquered while the Eastern Air Temple remains neutral, eventually spreading out across the empty Earth Kingdom. The monks would make graves for the earthbenders and build temples all over the fallen kingdom.
Instead of hunting them down, the Fire Nation would protect dragons. Imagine Katara with a pet dragon, which is blue to parallel her blue flames!
Aang with a more Miyazaki-esque belief system is precious indeed. Maybe after learning he was the avatar he tried to run away to the Western Air Temple, but while he was trying to cross over – either on a boat or on a self-made rock bridge – he and his badgermole got caught up in a storm, so just like in canon he was frozen in an iceberg. A hundred years later when Sokka and Katara are on a Fire Nation ship heading to the Western Air Temple to discuss trade and tech, they encounter the iceberg, thus awakening Aang.