timepiececlock (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timepiececlock) wrote2008-08-06 12:25 pm
timepiececlock) wrote2008-08-06 12:25 pm
Entry tags:
ATLA finale: bizarro AU ending - brainstorming - SPOILERS
So, here's a thought: what if Katara still won the battle against Azula, but Aang died while fighting Ozai?
That would set up a really *interesting* scenario, if you think about it... Ozai as the Phoenix Lord is busy roasting 1/3 of the Earth Kingdom (let's face it, there's a lot of land to roast), but meanwhile a coup has occurred back home. The heir he left in charge isn't in charge, the other one is. But the war doesn't end.
Iroh: Re-taking Ba Sing Se, securing it for rebel EK forces & the White Lotus.
Ozai: Has control of the bulk FN army, has some airships which survived the gaang's sabotage, is laying waste to the EK landscape. He has an army, but is cut off from the FN and its support.
Zuko: Has control of the capitol, has control of the domestic military forces, is claiming the crown of Fire Lord. May have to defend the city against Ozai's forces.
That's THREE people from the royal family, all with "armies" of their own, all out in force. DUELING! Except, of course, that Iroh and Zuko are allied. But Ozai has most of the military power, right? All the forces still in the colonies and outposts like Omashu are under his control (except those in Ba Sing Se who now are under Iroh's control). In the Fire Nation, all the remaining forces and cities are in a state of flux--some swear loyalty to Zuko immediately, some refuse and swear to the Phoenix Lord instead. The generals split and choose sides, taking their armies & navy[s] with them.
It's freaking CIVIL WAR. How fun would that be to see play out? My brain adores the idea of 3 "princes" of the FN battling across the Earth Kingdom, each with their own armies and spying and traitors and military coups and broken loyalties and such. Meanwhile the EK and WT are like "Must you use OUR LAND to battle out YOUR FUCKING FAMILY PROBLEMS?" The world has become the royal family's chess board, just like Sozin wanted.
And for the others...
Katara: Zuko's new trusted lieutenant; after she gets word that Aang is dead, she is heartbroken, but decides to focus on the problem in front of her: helping Zuko take control of the city and rally the people to fight the Phoenix Lord. Zuko cannot do it alone, and with Iroh in the EK, she is all that Zuko has to rely on. They put Azula in prison. Zuko helps her deal with her grief, and she helps him deal with the clusterfuck that is his country. Her assistance and loyalty to him is very, very visible.
Sokka, Suki, and Toph: They succeed in destroying some of the fleet, but they witness Aang's death. They can't save his body, but they escape and head for Ba Sing Se on a distraught and near-suicidal Appa. Sokka becomes the person Appa relies on, the only one he'll listen to. [Appa *was* with them, right? Who had Appa during the final battle?] They hope to meet the White Lotus and Iroh in BSS and regroup, and plan for the coming civil war.
Mai & Ty Lee: Mai's uncle releases them when he gets news that Zuko has claimed power, and Ty Lee demands that the Kyoshi Warriors be released as well. As a group, they make their way toward the FN capitol. Along the way, they recruit for Zuko's forces, and gather information about the loyalties of the cities and towns. Mai and Ty Lee become closer. Mai gradually realizes that if the war ends, then Tom Tom won't be force into battle when he grows up, and he won't be at risk for dying young. If Tom Tom lives to become heir to their family's wealth, Mai will be free from her mother's control, and won't be forced to marry and have children. Tom Tom will be her freedom.
Hakoda & Co.: Heads to what remains of the Water Tribes, bringing news that the FN is about to have a civil war which could do even MORE damage to the surrounding nations, and that the WT must support Fire Lord Zuko if anyone's going to come out of it alive.
"There witnesses to our fight with Azula, you know that. Those old women--"
"My great-aunts."
"And others too. They keep talking about how you took Azula's lightning for me. They're saying--"
"It doesn't matter."
"But they think--"
"Katara, look at me. Look at me. It doesn't matter what they say. It doesn't matter what they think. What matters is that they recognize my claim, and that they all know beyond any doubt that you're here to support me. They will respect your power; they know that you healed me, and that you were my champion against Azula."
"Zuko..."
"I can't do this by myself, Katara. You helped Aang, before. Please...help me, too. Help us."
"I will help you."
"Thank you."
"It doesn't bother you, what they could be saying?"
'I put it out of my mind. If they want to see...I'm sorry, Katara. It must make you uncomfortable. I know that with--I know it's not easy to hear something like that right now. But I can't let myself think about it, because it doesn't change anything."
"You're right, Zuko. It doesn't matter, does it? What matters is that they know they'll have to get through me to get to you. That's what they need to think about."
I seriously need a map of all the cultures/cities....
That would set up a really *interesting* scenario, if you think about it... Ozai as the Phoenix Lord is busy roasting 1/3 of the Earth Kingdom (let's face it, there's a lot of land to roast), but meanwhile a coup has occurred back home. The heir he left in charge isn't in charge, the other one is. But the war doesn't end.
Iroh: Re-taking Ba Sing Se, securing it for rebel EK forces & the White Lotus.
Ozai: Has control of the bulk FN army, has some airships which survived the gaang's sabotage, is laying waste to the EK landscape. He has an army, but is cut off from the FN and its support.
Zuko: Has control of the capitol, has control of the domestic military forces, is claiming the crown of Fire Lord. May have to defend the city against Ozai's forces.
That's THREE people from the royal family, all with "armies" of their own, all out in force. DUELING! Except, of course, that Iroh and Zuko are allied. But Ozai has most of the military power, right? All the forces still in the colonies and outposts like Omashu are under his control (except those in Ba Sing Se who now are under Iroh's control). In the Fire Nation, all the remaining forces and cities are in a state of flux--some swear loyalty to Zuko immediately, some refuse and swear to the Phoenix Lord instead. The generals split and choose sides, taking their armies & navy[s] with them.
It's freaking CIVIL WAR. How fun would that be to see play out? My brain adores the idea of 3 "princes" of the FN battling across the Earth Kingdom, each with their own armies and spying and traitors and military coups and broken loyalties and such. Meanwhile the EK and WT are like "Must you use OUR LAND to battle out YOUR FUCKING FAMILY PROBLEMS?" The world has become the royal family's chess board, just like Sozin wanted.
And for the others...
Katara: Zuko's new trusted lieutenant; after she gets word that Aang is dead, she is heartbroken, but decides to focus on the problem in front of her: helping Zuko take control of the city and rally the people to fight the Phoenix Lord. Zuko cannot do it alone, and with Iroh in the EK, she is all that Zuko has to rely on. They put Azula in prison. Zuko helps her deal with her grief, and she helps him deal with the clusterfuck that is his country. Her assistance and loyalty to him is very, very visible.
Sokka, Suki, and Toph: They succeed in destroying some of the fleet, but they witness Aang's death. They can't save his body, but they escape and head for Ba Sing Se on a distraught and near-suicidal Appa. Sokka becomes the person Appa relies on, the only one he'll listen to. [Appa *was* with them, right? Who had Appa during the final battle?] They hope to meet the White Lotus and Iroh in BSS and regroup, and plan for the coming civil war.
Mai & Ty Lee: Mai's uncle releases them when he gets news that Zuko has claimed power, and Ty Lee demands that the Kyoshi Warriors be released as well. As a group, they make their way toward the FN capitol. Along the way, they recruit for Zuko's forces, and gather information about the loyalties of the cities and towns. Mai and Ty Lee become closer. Mai gradually realizes that if the war ends, then Tom Tom won't be force into battle when he grows up, and he won't be at risk for dying young. If Tom Tom lives to become heir to their family's wealth, Mai will be free from her mother's control, and won't be forced to marry and have children. Tom Tom will be her freedom.
Hakoda & Co.: Heads to what remains of the Water Tribes, bringing news that the FN is about to have a civil war which could do even MORE damage to the surrounding nations, and that the WT must support Fire Lord Zuko if anyone's going to come out of it alive.
"There witnesses to our fight with Azula, you know that. Those old women--"
"My great-aunts."
"And others too. They keep talking about how you took Azula's lightning for me. They're saying--"
"It doesn't matter."
"But they think--"
"Katara, look at me. Look at me. It doesn't matter what they say. It doesn't matter what they think. What matters is that they recognize my claim, and that they all know beyond any doubt that you're here to support me. They will respect your power; they know that you healed me, and that you were my champion against Azula."
"Zuko..."
"I can't do this by myself, Katara. You helped Aang, before. Please...help me, too. Help us."
"I will help you."
"Thank you."
"It doesn't bother you, what they could be saying?"
'I put it out of my mind. If they want to see...I'm sorry, Katara. It must make you uncomfortable. I know that with--I know it's not easy to hear something like that right now. But I can't let myself think about it, because it doesn't change anything."
"You're right, Zuko. It doesn't matter, does it? What matters is that they know they'll have to get through me to get to you. That's what they need to think about."
I seriously need a map of all the cultures/cities....
no subject
This is a pretty cool idea and there's lots of awesomeness herein. My thoughts (for whatever the thoughts of some random guy on LJ you don't know are)...
If you really want to get in depth on a Fire Nation civil war, I'd map out the governing and power structures of the Fire Nation well in advance and hew to them, because they'll be important. Important considerations..
-Who does Zuko need to cut deals with to stay in power? Example: it would appear that the Fire Lords receive legitimacy by being crowned by the Fire Sages. Is the High Sage a political apparatchik who will crown whoever is pointing a flamey fist at him at any given moment, or is he a mover and shaker with his own agenda and his own price for saying 'All Hail Fire Lord Zuko!'
-Politics in the Fire Nation are pretty cutthroat. Who else besides Azula is Zuko going to need to beat down in an Agni Kai, if anyone?
-This is going to be the second major upheaval in the Fire Nation in a little under six years. Something to remember is that Ozai is a very new Fire Lord. For a long time before him, it was going to be Iroh. Iroh is nobodies dummy, and back when he was the Dragon of the West 24/7 he knew how the game was played. Presumably he spent decades maneuvering his own favorites into positions of power in preparation for the day Azulon died. Equally presumably Ozai has spent the last five years getting rid of those people and promoting guys who would go 'Genocide? Sure, we're down.' But he probably hadn't gotten rid of ALL of Iroh's guys. How is that going to affect things?
-How is power centralized in the Fire Nation? Does absolutely everything flow into and out of the Palace, Forbidden City style, and the bureacracy rules everything? Or does Zuko have 'great houses' to contend with, powerful noble families who rule whole swathes of the Fire Nation as their personal fiefs? If the later, a traditional way to control them is with political marriages and family hostages. What does Zuko do if he discovers that the younger sons and daughters of lords of uncertain loyalty are currently residing in the palace and not that eager to stay?
-The Fire Nation is a fiercely nationalistic place that indoctrinates its citizens into the idea of their greatness and manifest destiny from a young age. The fact that Zuko whomped his sisters ass and is looking to get rid of the old man is likely to be viewed with equnamity; that's how they roll in the Fire Nation. The fact that if he wins Zuko is likely to abandon huge swathes of Fire Nation colonized line is less likely to be viewed as acceptable behaviour to a man looking to sit on the big flamey chair. Zuko won't have the Avatar on hand to bust heads, and he and Katara have to sleep SOMETIME.
-Speaking of said colonies, Ozai probably controls them. What's their industrial base like? Can Ozai make more airships and re-constitute his fleet? (One imagines that the Fire Navy is still frenetically rebuilding after getting what had to be a very large percentage of their total force thoroughly spanked at the Siege of the North.) Zuko, by contrast, probably has all the ironworks he could want, but whether or not he has the trained men to run'em and guys to crew what they make is open to debate.
I have more thoughts, but these will do for now...
Holy shit dude!
I'll definitely think about these things. But just seeing them all listed out is almost enough to make me run away from the idea in a panic. Epics take so much research! When all I really want is to get to the end where one guy goes "Ha! I smote thee!" and everyone applauds.
Re: Holy shit dude!
Anyway, before flying to Baltimore for the weekend, some more thoughts, if you are amenable...
Mai and Ty Lee trekking across the Fire Nation? I've got one thing to say about that. The Fire Nation has kickass steamships. It has kickass steam-powered zeppelins. What's the missing leg of the steam-powered trifecta here?
That's right. Put Mai, Ty Lee, and the Kyoshi warriors on the Fire Nation Express, riding cross-country on a whistlestop tour to rally the nation for Zuko, and having at LEAST one awesome fight on top of the train. I remain baffled that they didn't have an awesome train-fight in the series itself.
As far as Ty Lee trying to show Mai how she feels... I dunno. Ty Lee is neither shy nor subtle when it comes to these things. She practically threw herself at Azula and Sokka and isn't really hesitant about telling people what she wants from them.
Iroh: I think Iroh would have some real pathos if it turns out that retaking Ba Sing Se isn't the end of the war. Iroh is DONE being the Dragon of the West. One gets the impression that he summoned up everything he had left for his last great campaign and now it hasn't worked out the way he wanted, AND now he has to tear his nation apart. Dude is probably miserable.
Hakoda and Co: You're already spinning a lot of plates in the air here, so I'd minimize their involvement. They do have an airship, so they're pretty mobile and can go where you want'em. If you suddenly decide five chapters in you really need Haru or Teo somewhere, boom.
As a personal suggestion... if Aang dies, that means that at that exact moment, somewhere in the Northern Water Tribe, the next Avatar is a helpless infant. Hakoda might make sense as the guy dispatched to help Arnook winnow through their records to pin that kid down.
As a PERSONAL personal suggestion, I ship Hakoda/Ursa, so if they wanted to team up to assassinate Ozai WATER TRIBE style, that would be pretty hot. :)
For Sokka, Suki, and Toph... honestly, you may want to minimize their involvement as well unless you have a more specific idea as to how they tie into the overarching theme. This is supposed to mainly be about Iroh, Zuko, and Ozai going at it hammer and tongs and ripping the Fire Nation apart doing it, right? Mai and Ty Lee work into that nicely as a B-story because they're hip-deep in the Fire Nation, both physically, culturally, and politically. Sokka/Suki/Toph, not so much. If all they're going to do is hang out with Iroh, you might want to extend their trek across the Earth Kingdom so it ends up taking most of the story, and only check in with them occasionally. Happily, this is accomplished simply by keeping Appa away from them.
Once again, these are just suggestions. The fevered imaginings of my mind my not match in any way, shape, or form the fevered imaginings of yours.
Re: Holy shit dude!
You have some good ideas in this one, and some misguided ones. Our fever imaginings were closer on your last post. I agree about Iroh--very solid point there. And I would certainly have to have someone be on the look out for the next Avatar; though that really depends on whether Aang is in the Avatar State when he dies or not, I haven't decided.
But I don't ship Ursa, I don't even know if I want her around much less if she's actually going to assassinate anyone, and trains are a definite, definite no-no. I understand the cool factor of what you're saying here, as it could be QUITE awesome to do a train-fight, but the tech of the world doesn't support it. The FN's industry isn't built around coal-powered steam stuff, it's build around firebenders. And if they'd really invented the steam engine, the world would look dramatically different and be in the midst of an industrial revolution. Not viable. But if you are interested in fanfic, I think you should write a steampunk FN story. Sounds like you'd have a lot of fun with that.
Thank you for suggestions, but I really am not at the point where I can consider most of these factors yet. I don't even have a plot. I have a scenario, but I haven't got a plot. Until I figure out how I want it all to go down, I won't know what I need to consider or discard in terms of politics.