Editing Avatar: The Last Airbender (section)

== Setting ==

You have a world modeled primarily off Asia (in particular dynastic [[China]]), plus some people can magically manipulate simple matter using martial arts moves called "bending."  Benders can manipulate one and only one of the Earth, Air, Fire or Water elements.  The exception to this rule is one person called the "Avatar" who can master all four types of bending, and universally regarded as a spiritual leader (think: the Dalai Lama).  There is only ever one Avatar in each generation, who is the reincarnation of the previous Avatar and can remember (converse with the ghosts of) previous Avatars.

[[File:Avatar-.The.Last.Airbender.full.1161878.jpg|thumb|750px|right|The continent of the Avatar universe, only slightly inspired by [[China]] - The Republic City from the second series is situated on the western coast of the Earth Kingdom.]]
The world has one language and four nations:

* The '''Water Tribes''': Hunter-gatherer Inuit-like people who live in the North and South polar regions. The South Pole tribe consists of stereotypical Inuit, whereas the ones living at the North Pole got bored of making simple igloos and carved their ''entire city'' out of ice. Then they added canals to troll the physicists. Korra was born in the South. There is also a 'lost' water tribe (which was discovered in by Aang and gang) scattered in equatorial swamps that manipulate the swamp vines by bending the water saturating the vines. 
**The Northern and Southern Water tribes are Inuit and First Nations analogues, even casting Native Americans in the Netflix Live action (people tend to overlook that historically, the Indigenous Peoples of both Americas crossed from Asia, and so remain very genetically close to Asia.).
**The Foggy Swamp Tribe is like Southeast Asians living in a Louisiana Bayou, and originate from Southern migrants. They were unknown to the rest of the world, and have developed a unique and rigid style of waterbending.
**The Water Tribes were notable for not only creating a society in the barren poles, but doing so within proximity to two portals to the [[Chaos Wastes|Spirit World]]. A third would be created in the second series.
**The Northern Water Tribe is the first of the two, and is notably more advanced than their southern cousins, who are implied to be a mere colony, with the North often interfering in Southern politics, or sending their exiles there.
**That being said, a point of contention between the two tribes was that the Northern Water Tribe left the Southerners on their own while the Fire Nation was raiding them for 100 years; after the Air Nomad genocide, the Fire Nation wanted to stop the Avatar from reincarnating within the Water Tribe, so they arrested all Water Benders they could in the South, which was weaker than the North.

* The '''Earth Kingdom''': A large loose continental power ruled out of the massive fortified city of Ba Sing Se.  Wealthy and prosperous, they are masters of resource harvesting with bending as a safe and efficient means of mining metals and rare earths, and reduced labour required for farming.  
**Culturally diverse, the Earth Kingdom takes a lot of notes from Imperial China, especially the Warring States and Ming era China. Like the Warring States/Three Kingdom period, the entire "Kingdom" is actually divided into several provinces, led by an appointed Governor or a King (Bumi from Omashu) who leads their state in their own right, nominally paying tribute to the Earth King in Ba Sing Se. In the second series, after the assassination of the Earth Queen, the entire Kingdom actually fractures back into independent states, [[Great Crusade|each one having to be reconquered by]] h[[Miao Ying|ot fascist dom mommy Kuvira]].
**Ba Sing Se is the Capital City, and is arranged in three Concentric Circles (like the city in Attack on titan), each tier literally stratified to house ths different classes. It is the home of the Earth King, who lives in utmost luxury within the innermost circle. He is more of a figurehead, though, with most of the power held by bureaucrats within the city, or by the Kings and governors without.
**Modeled heavily by Ming and Qing era China, which both had emperors who ruled mostly through their bureaucrats, to the point that they had no idea how their subjects lived. The Qing emperors were notoriously out of touch, and were the dynasty that lost to the West in the Opium Wars. They even had their own secret police, which also served to stifle dissent and to shuffle away naysayers from the Emperor so that he wouldnt have to listen to reports of how bad they were losing to the West.
**Seriously, this shithole has a [[Inquisition|secret police force]] (nominally from the equivalent of the Ministry for Culture that went Gestapo/NKVD... go figure) that monitors the inhabitants and re-indoctrinates them to not cause trouble. Some [[Tolkien]]-esque undertones there. Then again, the first series is mostly about Buddhism, balance and peace, so it makes sense.
** The sequel splits the Earth continent into three big territories: The original Earth Kingdom, '''Republic City''' (a neutral territory independent from each nation while working with them all), and '''Zaofu''' (a city of metalbenders who made their own city after Toph began teaching Metalbending.  One of her daughters runs the place).

* The '''Fire Nation''': A technologically advanced state based off of a volcanic island chain with imperialistic ambitions (so, culturally Japan, but also mixed in with Malay and Indonesian aesthetic). By technologically advanced, we mean they have steampunk tanks, ironclad ships, a giant freaking drill and hot-air zeppelins (the original concept for the zeppelins was invented by an earth nation mechanic but the fire nation turned them up to 11), and by the time of the sequel, a ''nation-wide electric grid''. Their culture encourages ambition and competition.
**The Fire Nation is led by the Fire Lord, who unlike the Earth King, actually runs the country as an absolute monarchy. Even the Fire Sages, the pseudo-Shinto monks, that keep the nation's history and handle the Fire Lord's coronation, are more loyal to the Fire Lord than the Avatar they're supposed to serve/venerate. 
**As a technologically-advanced, imperialist state, they're modeled off Japan, but their clothing and food is very Malay/Indonesian. Seriously, avatar had '''two''' [[Weeb|beach episodes]], both of which were located in the Fire Nation, where the cast wore Malay-inspired outfits. 
**In the second series, the Fire Nation is still an autocracy, though this time led by Zuko's daughter (he abdicated, and is still alive in the second series). They are still militarized, but just like IRL Japan or Germany, only mobilize their troops for their own defense.

* The '''Air Nomads''': Monastic wanderer-gatherers who lived ascetic (if non-celibate) lives, like what normies think Tibetans live like.  They have four temple-cities that the wanderers will cycle through, and monuments scattered throughout the territories of the other three nations.  By the time of the first story, the Air Nomads were purged [[Exterminatus|with <s>holy</s> fire]] in an attempt to prevent the reincarnation of the next Avatar.  The Avatar was born to Air Nomads anyways and is the protagonist of the first story.
** After the Harmonic Convergence and Korra saving the world, a strange anomaly happens where random people begin developing airbending powers.  Of course, Tenzin (Aang's son) begins making a world tour to meet these airbenders and rebuild the Air Nomads.

There is a fifth faction, of the fae creatures collectively called "Spirits," who used to be common but have mostly left the physical world behind for their own [[Warp|Spirit World]] that is an alternate dimension.  The spirits that remain in the physical world are dedicated to the places they reside, interacting very little with people but they have been known to pick-up on the ambient mood of communities around them (ie. a river spirit will be irritable if the river is polluted and neglected, a mountain spirit will be confrontational if the nation has been at war).  

'''When the first story starts''', the Fire Nation has been expanding aggressively into the Earth Nation for four generations, which hasn't been reacting beyond resisting in small city-states and issuing an "everything is fine they'll never win" message from the capital in what's obvious procrastination, hoping the Fire Nation will give up and decide the constant sieges are too expensive (spoiler: nope).  The Fire Nation has already extinguished the Air Nomads, satisfied they have prevented the rebirth of the next Avatar prophesied to end their conquering.  The Fire Nation naval aggression have made a virtual embargo on the Water Tribes, isolating north from south and both from the Earth Nation.

The only surviving Air Nomad after the pogrom is the current Avatar, who hid himself in cryosleep.  Nobody was around to resuscitate him so he was out of the picture for a century or so.  His education was interrupted and feels he needs to learn all four forms of bending as well as visit each of the isolated culture/nations before he can fulfill his purpose as a peacemaker.

'''The second story''' is sixty years after the first story, and the world's technology has advanced to the level of the 1900's -- ironclad ships are common, we can see industrial manufacturing in privately-owned companies instead of Fire Nation government military efforts, automobiles are uncommon but visible, use of Electricity, while limited to the most properous areas of the world is a thing and we see people listening to crystal radios.  Most of the story takes place in "Republic City," which is for all intents and purposes New York City with Chinese architecture. Republic City is the world's equivalent of the United Nations; an independent city-state regarded as a symbol of the international peace. There is civil unrest, as the improved technology is closing the gap between benders and non-benders, causing resentment since benders have had a leg-up in social strata.  This resulted in the insurgency of the "[[Communism|Equalist Movement]]" who want to overthrow the "let them eat cake" bender bourgeoisie.

The Avatar of this era is a young woman from the water tribes who is comfortable with the physical powers granted by her mastery of multiple elements but stunted in her training with spiritual matters and diplomacy, making her a poor mediator in the role that's expected of her, and easily manipulated by politicians.  The Equalist insurgents are lead by a charismatic leader named "Amon," who claims to have a method for permanently disabling any person's bending ability; crippling the Avatar would be a huge symbolic victory for the Equalists, who see the Avatar as the pinnacle bender and biggest target for their resentments.