Minor (canon) info request

(You people are a bunch of xenophobics. You lot against guests giving opinions and asking questions without needing to register or something? That's just asking for yo-yo's to come to you site and clog your database with unused accounts. xD)

Weeell, hello to all potential awesome people around here, a newbie member-wannabe has crawled out of her rock and is now asking questions and trying to join this community.

Yes, this is not the intro-board, but since it's the first post, I thought it was appropriate.

Onto the questions:

1. After the gaang left the Northern Water tribe, what happened to the law against females learning to fight?

I mean, Katara made a very sexist Master Waterbender teach her, (even if he only did it because of Kana) and disrupted the norm that was in place until then. So, what happened then? Were the females just allowed to learn to fight? Did they have to make a stand (was it bloody?)? Are they still not permitted?

If the topic has already been addressed, please direct me to the relevant post (and sorry for all the hassle).


   1.a) Why was fighting and healing separated in the North?

Was any reason given for this (like healers were more sensitive to the rhythms inside the body and more prone to bloodbending if taught to fight as well (they would use the knowledge offensively) or just did it just stay at "Nah, sexist water tribe men, no reason whatsoever")?

I ask this mostly because reasons are often lost over the time after traditions are implemented, but the knowledge can survive if the right people keep it safe.


2. What is your stance on characters developing bending abilities that are considered basically impossible (like metalbending used to be)? Mind you, this is not something that would be developed overnight, or even in a year or two, nor it is something that I would use just because it's super cool and useful and other superfluous reasons. Some abilities could be discovered by mistake on a stressing situation, and then take a long time to fully master.

This is all just hypothetically speaking, of course. Yeah. Totally.


3. On bending and ranks: what are the subs for each type of bending, and what rank does a character need to be to learn it? (Specifically ice and crystal. Are they even considered subs here?)

4. I got the impression from canon that it was frowned upon for women to fight in the Earth Kingdom. This true here as well, on things are more liberal now? (Or it was never like that and I dreamed it all?)

I know I have more to ask, but I can't remember. Also, some things I asked can totally be ignored, in case they don't make sense. It's late here. I'm sleepy.

I'm interested in exploring the potential of bending and the effect it has on people, so, I just wanted to know what I was able to do you your permission. I also have no idea if I am going to really be playing with you, but I still like to exchange ideas.

So if you'll have me, I'll be here playing and chatting.

Thanks!

[nah, no need to have guests spamming things up (most would just advertise anyways). deleting accounts is fairly easy, yo. xD]

As the all-seeing eye and all-knowing presence on this site, I've got answers for each and every question.
1. Gender discrimination in the Northern Water Tribe has been fully eradicated. Men are often still encouraged for combat and women for healing (kind of how any society sort of makes these "Gender roles"), but it is fully legal for women to go into combat (or even men to go into healing. I have at least one of both such characters).

1a. That's a question you'd have to ask Bryke. I assume it was appeal to tradition, which, after the wars, was sort of done away with for practical reasons. And to those who think that time-honored traditions can't be so swiftly done away with... look up Chinese Foot Binding, which lasted for over 1,000 years and then was swiftly ended around 1911.
There exists plenty of waterbenders on this site that know a bit of both, and it's just a sitewide assumption that the Water Tribes allowed the two to merge simply because of the aforementioned practicality. Bloodbending, however, ios in fact illegal in the Tribes (and illegal to make as a character because of how OP it is)

2. Characters can develop on this site through good writing and RPing (something the writers of Korra should take a hint from), and some can in fact develop or create new abilities (some already have). Obviously it would depend on the ability, but if there are reasonable explanations as to both how it works and how your character learns it... I will generally give it the green light. It also depends on a person's RP skills. some people tend to go for OP stuff more than others, so the more I know a person, the more accurate I'll be able to be.

3. Ice is ice, and while there are variables depending on the level of ice, some can start as early as intermediate or even beginner (thawing and freezing water, at least). Generally, if you can get it to fit in context of your character's span of abilities, it is okay. I've never heard of crystal before. it sounds like little more than fancy-looking ice.

4. hrm... I never got that impression, but on here, it is far from the truth. In fact, most of the Earth Kingdom's strongest forces are female as of right now, and it is currently being ruled by a queen who appears to have no significant other. I think you might have dreamed it all, yo. xD (besides... Kyoshi Warriors, anyone?)


Hope that clears a few things up. Welcome aboard, kiddo.

~Zul, Chief Admin~

[Guess that, makes sense, almighty Avatar. Still, very ouchie for the critically shy like me. As you can obviously see.]

Thank you for all the swift answers. Highly appreciated.

Concerning 1 and 1.a - breaking traditions that used to favour a certain group of people are very hard to swallow. The aftermath often includes dissimulated discrimination from the previously favoured party. We can find examples of that everywhere.

Also, the foot-binding practice was only ended the fourth time the motion to end it was proposed. It took time as well, even if it didn't seem like it (from what I know).

Anyway, good to know that the Northern Water Tribe has better manners now.


3. Good to know. Also the "crystalbending" is just what Aang did beneath the catacombs of Ba Sing Se, where he covered himself in crystal armour. Part of earthbending and all of that? Yes? Goodies.

4. I've probably been corrupted by fanfictions, so ignore it. I seriously need to re-watch the series.

New questions:

Concerning the state of affairs in this AU world:

1. Is there a main plot being written/played/w.e? Where can I follow it? How do I know if anything important is happening?

2. What is the political status quo? Who is against whom, who's conspiring with whom, what are the things between the different nation leaders? Where are the tensions and problems?

I know the Earth Kingdom is being militarized, but not much else. What can you tell me that is not secret and covered in shadows?

3. What is legal/illegal (merchandise, abilities, etc.)? Besides bloodbending, of course.

4. Not sure if my first char is going to be male of female, and Sun Li sounds female. I can change the account name, yes?

Happy to be here, of course.

I can answer 3 and 4 pretty well...

3.  Basically anything that causes a certain amount of character control will be something we won't allow.  So bloodbending, spirits that can take over bodies, etc.  And while we don't usually get it, certain abilities might be far too Godlike to be allowable like...I don't know...meteor bending or something.  I can't think of anything else off the top of my head.

4.  Yeah, change your account name all you want.

For 1 and 2, to the best of my knowledge, the forum is in a state of peace right now.  Big plots are hard to take on because a lot most of our characters are not military or world leaders, so it ends up being like 5 people making war posts.  Zul can probably fill you in on the site canon far better than I can.

crystals are just fancy rocks, so yeah. earthbending.

fanfiction can either be really awesome (rare) or downright crud (sadly, common).
to answer the other questions...

1. here is where you can get an overview of what has happened. It is very easy to find given that it's a global announcement and is therefore viewable on all boards. Otherwise, Umbra/Loki's right. owing to lack of activity/dedication, we mostly just sandbox it around here, focusing more on individual characters and their development.  However, we usually make announcements when anything important happens, so yeah.

2. the political status quo is about equal. the Earth Kingdom is militaristically powerful, but are passive, and therefore there is little to no trouble apart from everyday crime you'll find just about everywhere. the Water Tribes went through a string of succession crises, but those have been resolved and all seems to be well enough.

3. Umbra pretty much answered that one. Just nothing game-breaking please.
4. you can change the name if you want. as long as it matches the name of your character.


[and remember that whole thing about me being the all-seeing eye? well... I can see you even when invisible. I wasn't joking. ]

I've seen and read the link. Didn't really clear up the situation, hence why I asked. Apparently, that's because nothing is really happening. Goodies, more room for action.

Thank you both for the answers, much appreciated. Honestly, I'm more curious about the illegal goods than the illegal abilities. Things like cactus juice. And other nice things.

It's also interesting to see that you don't really have organised crime nor underground societies. Really interesting.

And exploitable. Maybe. For someone who knows about that sort of thing.

Zulera wrote:

[and remember that whole thing about me being the all-seeing eye? well... I can see you even when invisible. I wasn't joking. ]

Mhehehehehehe mhehehe mhe... yeah you got me. Well, I'm always on the computer, but not always free to write. It keeps things simple.

we have a few people that have sort of tried starting groups like that, but none stayed active enough for them to take off.
cactus juice is legal, and so are most drugs and alcohol xP.

there are a couple of underground societies, some rumored to be linked to prominent people such as the Earth Queen or the Avatar... but it's hard to tell.

Otherwise, feel free to start making a character and whatnot.
=Zul=

Working on it.

And thanks for all the info. Much appreciated.