This story covers the last 3 prompts of @kataang-week 2022 and is a short over-arching story.
Chapter 3: Coda
Chapter 3/3
Prompt - Day 7: Wait for Me
Chapter word count: 3,813
Rating: G
Chapter summary: Katara falls into the Spirit Oasis.
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Katara saw herself sitting on the banks of the Spirit Oasis with another woman’s face. She was beautiful. Her hazel eyes were alluring, and her face was round and innocent. This woman’s name came to her lips as if on the edge of a memory riddled with a mysterious command.
“Ummi,” she said. It felt right. It felt wrong.
For a moment, they simply stared at each other. The shower of water that came crashing around them was like a diaphanous curtain obscuring Ummi from view. But she saw the brightness in her eyes and knew that there was so much more to this.
Katara was not quite sure where the rest of her was, only that she seemed to be seeing things through this temporary looking glass. She saw Ummi’s face on her body glance at someone next to her and say something, and then with a gasp, she was caught around her waist by an encroaching shadow that swallowed her whole.
Hello! I wanted to ask, in The Avatar and the Fire Prince AU, how does reincarnation (The Avatar Cycle) works? In Canon, the Avatar is a human soul (Wan) who after death reincarnates on Earth in a new body to live a new life with the Spirit of Peace (Raava) bounded to it. But how about in your AU? I'm asking because I want to know whether or not we're going to have a scene with Aang having an existential crisis over the fact that in his previous life he was Zuko's great-grandfather.
Hello anon! :) Yes, I do my best to ensure that my AU is as canon compliant as possible when it comes to lore (including all known lore from Legend of Korra, the comics, the TTRPG, and the Chronicles of the Avatar novels), so the Avatar Cycle does indeed work the exact same.
I honestly haven't given a ton of thought to Aang and Zuko's reaction of who Roku was (though it will definitely still be revealed at some point just like in the show). While I think they would both maybe find it a little weird of a coincidence at first, I don't think it would cause either of them to freak out or anything lol.
We've definitely seen weird coincidences/connections like this before with other Avatars - for example, Kuruk and Hei-Ran were past lovers (before he met Ummi), and then he was reincarnated as Kyoshi, who fell in love with Hei-Ran's daughter Rangi. Then we have Korra, who was taught waterbending by someone who is basically a grandmother figure to her (Katara), and who was also technically "her" wife in her past life. She was also taught airbending by someone who is a father/uncle figure to her (Tenzin), who was also technically "her" son in her past life.
In general, there seems to be an understanding amongst everyone in the world of AtLA that each Avatar is very much their own distinct person, each with different lives, memories, and personalities. Sometimes more spiritual people - like Toph for example - can see that the Avatar has the same spirit/soul, but again, even Toph knows Korra is her own person and not just Aang with none of his memories lol.
Of course, if Aang had a problem like Yangchen did in which he was constantly having flashbacks to memories from his previous lives, then I'd say that yeah lol, he'd be much more likely to have an existential crisis. But as far as we know, Aang does not have any "memories" of living as Roku or any other previous Avatar - he only views previous Avatars' life events from an outside perspective. And even if he did have the ability to "remember" living as Roku, at least he wouldn't be able to "remember" actively being a grandfather to Zuko, since Zuko and even Ursa were born decades after Roku's death. That would definitely be awkward if that wasn't the case lol.
All of this has actually got me thinking about the theory where an Avatar could possibly reincarnate as their own child/grandchild/relative, especially with mixed-ethnicity/nation families becoming more common in the time of Korra. Like, say an Earth Avatar dies right as their child with someone of Fire Nation descent (or their grandchild, or sibling, or cousin, etc.) is born. As long as they have the right DNA, a relative of the Avatar could theoretically be the next Avatar in this scenario. The closest thing I could compare this to is like a Steven Universe situation (where he kind of both is and isn't his own mom - it's hard to explain if you haven't seen that show lmao).
Anywayyyy sorry for the long ass response anon lol. I just love talking about AtLA lore! :)
If you could write your own indulgent episode of atla, what would it be about? By indulgent, I mean super indulgent. You write it in any style you'd like, happen whenever during the timeline, focus on any character you'd want (even making it completely about some ocs), anything!
Oh man, my tastes have changed so much since first watching the show (the value I put in it is more sentimental than anything tbh) that an entirely self-indulgent version would be completely unrecognizable. Instead of the love letter to animoo and kung fu movies we got, it'd be more like an amalgamation of Princess Mononoke, the Song of Ice and Fire books, the Táin Bó Cúailgne, Inupiaq orphan hero stories, Light Chaser Animation, Lone Wolf and Cub, the True Grit remake, Cultist Simulator, The Handmaiden, and my favorite operas. Also, it would have vampires. And maybe reference Homestuck. And the theme song would be a cover of Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones
For something that could actually exist in the Avatar: the Last Airbender we all know and love, however, i'd like to have an episode that leans into horror elements where Aang has to relive Avatar Kuruk's memories of fighting for his life in the spirit world. I'm thinking it would start with Aang in a very fitful sleep. We hear his heartbeat ring in his ears and it flashes to his dream where he is Kuruk fighting off dark spirits, and then it flashes back to Aang's sleeping face, but zoomed in a little, and this goes on, flashing to Kuruk and then back at Aang, a little closer each time, until Aang's eyes glow, suggesting he's in some altered form of the Avatar State.
The dream/memory plays out like a survival horror, where Aang as Kuruk is at all times just inches from death at the hands of beings that are not of the mortal world. Kuruk's voice is there too, asking Aang if he remembers Ummi from all those lifetimes ago. Aang says "she was stolen, wasn't she?" Kuruk also asks how Aang managed to push his mind into such a shameful time, but Aang says he just fell in.
Meanwhile in the mortal world, Sokka, Katara, and Toph are trying to figure out what's wrong with Aang. He's not just sleeping, it's more than that. He's not moving at all except to breathe and he feels cold.
Aang in Kuruk's body eventually finds the home of Koh the Face Stealer, intent on taking back Ummi's face or at least taking revenge. Koh, however, is not there, denying the avatar his catharsis, and no amount of shouted demands for the spirit to show itself compels it to appear. Kuruk falls to his knees in despair, he is swarmed by the same evil he was fighting off but now there is no will or energy to continue.
And Aang's eyes snap open.
Everyone tries to ask him if he's okay; if he can move; see; hear, feel, but he doesn't process any of it. He sits up and says in a shaky voice, "you know Avatar Kuruk didn't die an old man?" His body trembles as he says this and a tear rolls out of his eye. He's so terrified of failing the world. He's so terrified of dying.
Katara pulls him into a hug, and Sokka and Toph join. She promises him "but you will. We'll make sure of it."
Today is a big day because Netflix has officially confirmed 20 new castings in the upcoming live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series, which is now officially done both 7 months of principal photography and one month of reshoots, and now in post-production!
Four castings are brand-new:
Lucian-River Chauhan - Teo
Hiro Kanagawa - Fire Lord Sozin
George Takei - Koh the Face Stealer
Randall Duk Kim - Wan Shi Tong
Sixteen are confirmations of previous casting scoops, eight of which were Avatar News exclusives!
Amber Midthunder - Princess Yue
A Martinez - Master Pakku
Irene Bedard - Master Yagoda
Joel Oulette - Hahn
Nathaniel Arcand - Chief Arnook
Meegwun Fairbrother - Avatar Kuruk
Arden Cho - June the bounty hunter
Utkarsh Ambudkar - King Bumi
Danny Pudi - the mechanist
James Sie - the cabbage merchant
Momona Tamada - Ty Lee
Thalia Tran - Mai
Ruy Iskandar - Lieutenant Jee
Ryan Mah - Lieutenant Dang
C. S. Lee - Avatar Roku
François Chau - the Great Sage of the Fire Temple
We also have some new, illuminating, official character details:
Lieutenant Dang
Lieutenant Dang’s position in the Fire Navy is now confirmed to be Commander Zhao’s second-in comand.
King Bumi
The age of the character of King Bumi is confirmed to indeed still be an old man (“ancient” in the colloquial sense).
Avatar Kuruk
We have an official character description for Avatar Kuruk, which will be very interesting to anyone who has read the Chronicles of the Avatar novels: “A previous Avatar with a haunted past.”
(This could also be interpreted as being about Ummi, which of course factors in, but I do have confirmation that it’s related to the novels although I can’t say more since it’s spoilers for the end of the show!)
Three other castings were not confirmed today:
Sebastian Amoruso - Jet
Joel Montgrand - Hakoda
Rainbow Dickerson - Kya
I still have very strong confirmation these are still true, they just weren’t in today’s “main” Season 1 cast announcement. There will of course be dozens more characters than the ones officially revealed so far!
But, what feels like the biggest deal today in some ways is that after more than 9 months of complete, top-secret radio silence (285 days!), live-action ATLA is back with official news! This is a really good sign for times to come.
It’s also cool to me that they made their own special announcement for this rather than including it in Netflix’s Tudum Global Fan Event with dozens of other shows and movies, which was only just a few days ago. Because this show is special, it’s set apart, and it’s gonna be BIG. Now we just wait...
I always said that many Avatars' partners need a more fleshed out backstory, specially Ta Min (Roku's wife), Ummi (Kuruk's fiancé) and Katara (after ATLA). Today I'll give some agenda to Ta Min's character...
Ta Min (b. c. 82 BG) was Avatar Roku's wife and a Fire Nation noblewoman. The series' encyclopedia says: born into one of the wealthiest families in the Fire Nation, Ta Min always thought that she would marry someone in the royal family. But then, she met Roku and was attracted to his persistence, kindness, and intelligence. She never stopped loving Roku, even after he died. She never remarried and quietly lived out the rest of her days on Ember Island.
That's all we got from this Avatar's love, and I think it's time we do her some justice. So, how can we give Ta Min a backstory? Well, she was a noble, so her family should trace its origin back to one of the clans we met in 'The Shadow of Kyoshi'. Only five clans are mentioned by Rangi: Saowon (lady Huazo's), Keohso (lady Sulan's), Sei'naka (Rangi's), Inta and Lahaisin. As we know, the clans tend to name their offspring after a significant syllable or letter of their familyname (Hei-Ran and Rangi; Ilah and Iroh; Chaejin and Chaeryu; Sozin, Azulon, Ozai, Zuko and Izumi...), so Ta Min's family must have follow this tradition. 'The Shadow of Kyoshi' also tells us that the Inta clan controls trade with the Earth Kingdom, meanwhile the Lahaisins are in charge of the passage of many sea routes. By the 3rd Century BG, both families fell in disrepair because of the Fifth Nation and the sacking of their islands and fortresses by Fire Lord Zoryu.
However, I think both clans could've made peace with the Fire Lord, and thus the Inta clan was still in control of trade with the Earth Kingdom by the 1st Century BG. The Intas are the best clan for Ta Min: first, Ta Min and Inta share the ta syllable, which could be the one passed from generation to generation; second, the control of trade would explain why they were one of the richest families, living in Hari Bulkan and being part of the Royal Court; Third, what better backstory for the Avatar's wife than that of an international family traveling through the Earth Kingdom? It fits perfectly!
Therefore, Ta Min was born the same Summer Roku and Sozin were, in 82 BG, to Tanu and Min Su (I made up their names, yes). Their home island could be... Jonduri? Makes sense, since it was an island controlled by Shang Merchants, and its inhospitable environment would explain why the family chose to live in the capital. Other options are Kirachu Island―famous for its delectable and spicy food―and Hing Wa, where ash bananas―which are later exported―grow. If 'The Dawn of Yangchen' secquel leaves Jonduri's fate open, I'll go with that island, which looks (almost) uninhabited and (almost) deserted by Aang's Era.
She grew up in Hari Bulkan and she must have attended the Royal Fire Academy for Girls. I wonder if she was a firebender, but perhaps diplomacy, cultural knowledge and politics were her forte. Anyway, I headcanon she was a bender and part of Roku's team Avatar along Sud, Taqukaq, Gyatso and possibly Sozin―this last one for a time, at least.
Ta Min's parents died when she was just seventeen. Many nobles wanted to take over her family's business, so the young woman sought Prince Sozin's help. She wanted to keep her father's loom at all costs, since the silk business with the Earth Kingdom was very profitable, but even the Fire Lord (Sozin’s father) doubted that Ta Min could manage the business, especially since she had rarely set foot in the factories. Roku's family was her great ally: Roku's father loyally managed the looms, but always under Ta Min’s orders. In time, Roku’s parents made Ta Min their heiress, since Roku had to maintain his role as the Avatar. Of course, they were targeted by the Guiding Wind...
Ta Min was a brilliant and highly educated woman, interested in poetry, astronomy, physics, music, mathematics, and geometry. She never liked easy things and that is why Roku always saw her as someone admirable, unpredictable and shrewd. For Sozin, Ta Min was unsettling...
Hope you like Ta Min's fleshed out backstory. Gosh, how I'd love to work in Avatar Studios or writing the novels like FC Yee does...