welcome to republic city, hero...

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CAPE & MY CABBAGES

Basically you're in the Avatar universe now and have crazy Avatar bending powers, deal with it. In the same way that the City is the locus of the action in-game despite the world being huge, the center of this silly AU is Republic City! To explain there being so fucking many benders and keep to the superhero theme, in recent years there's been a disproportionately large percentage of people with bending talent being born, and now a whole bunch of those new benders are crammed into one 1900s-ish city together. Great power doesn't always come with great responsibility, though, and for every citizen interested in keeping the peace, there's one who wants to upset it! Or just steal that one guy's phonographs, idk, it's a toss-up. Either way, this is a cosmopolitan city full of weirdos that needs defending and is probably attacked by hordes of oversized gila-bears once every six months, which certainly isn't a familiar concept at all! Shenanigans.

HELPFUL (?) GUIDELINES:
-The format of this post is essentially like the way-back original CNC2020 setup, in that everyone comments with what their characters' powers are, what they're doing, what their history is, etc., and everyone else comments to them to try and hash out shenanigans! Since I'm too goddamn lazy to post a follow-up open RP post, you can also respond to each other ICly! Or someone else can post one a few days later, who... knows... either way, it's a pretty high effort meme and thus should be slow-burning! Nobody is late.
-Not everyone has to be a bender in this setting, but everyone can be a bender! For reference and a guide to what characterizes each type of bending, refer here: firebending, waterbending, earthbending, and airbending. There are also a few cool bending subsets, such as bloodbending, metalbending, and lightning generation, that benders advanced in their field might specialize in!
-If you understandably don't want to read all of those longass articles, here's a comment which sums each style of bending up more briefly! And if you don't know much, or anything, about the Avatar universe, feel free to ask questions! This is supposed to be fun.
-Nonbenders can totally be badasses too, so if you don't think your character would be one, that's no reason not to throw them in anyway! They can still use cool weapons, or block chi, making benders pretty darn useless, or invent and use technology; it's all up to you. And if the universe needs a little tweaking for them to exist in it, you can just make some shit up, let's be real.
-Nonhuman characters can either be human for the purposes of the AU or part of the Spirit World. Some spirits can also exist in the "real world" and interact with humans, though in order to make a permanent transition to the different plane they must give up their immortality.
-Pro-bending is totally a thing here.
-Just as in CNC2020, dropped characters or characters you just really really want to app can play too!
-Make new journals for this if you want, why the hell not?
-How the hell did all these white guys get into the Avatar universe? Why does everyone have statistically unlikely, totally awesome powers, and why are they all so good at using them? When is this set, anyway? Who's the Avatar? Why are the air nomads not all dead? THESE AND OTHER BURNING QUESTIONS WILL NOT BE ANSWERED BY THIS MEME.

Comments

LEAH TRIES TO EXPLAIN BENDING STYLES; FAILS AT IT

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WATERBENDING
-is based around water, the element of change; as such, waterbenders have to be yielding and work in concert with the environment.
-its style involves flowing and graceful movements that evoke the flow of water.
-the boundaries between defense and offense are fluid; waterbenders most frequently use their defensive strategies to turn enemies' attacks against them, rather than directly attacking them.
-this style is generally associated with peaceable people who are in touch with nature, but powerful waterbenders can be pretty goddamn terrifying! water is in everything, after all, including you.
-generally limited by the availability of surrounding water, creative and powerful waterbenders can extract water from their surroundings; for example, using sweat and the fluid in living organisms such as plants, though doing the latter will dessicate and kill the water source.
-waterbenders draw their power from the moon, and are strongest when it is full and weakest during the new moon; they also are more powerful during the nighttime. winter is associated with waterbenders, most likely because it has the longest nights.

FIREBENDING
-is based around fire, the element of power, and as such is characterized by powerful force and unbending will. firebenders have to act with decisiveness and certainty, using their will to accomplish tasks to add force to their attacks.
-as such, firebenders typically don't focus on defense, relying instead on powerful and rapidfire offensive moves, and their style is the most aggressive.
-this doesn't necessarily mean that firebending is "bad"; in the first series, however, it is characterized by the harnessing of aggression and rage, a result of the imperialist fire nation perverting firebending's original source.
-firebenders can manipulate the fire around them, but, unlike other benders, they don't inherently manipulate only their elemental surroundings; most commonly, they use their own internal body heat to generate the fire which they bend. in combination with the focus on will and power, this makes firebending a particularly internally-focused style of bending, and one that depends heavily on the self-control and state of mind of the person using it. where other benders rely on a close relation with their element, firebending comes from within.
-firebenders draw their power from the sun; they are strongest during the daytime, and unusual solar objects, such as comets, can give them massive power boosts. Solar eclipses, on the other hand, weaken them dramatically. their associated season is summer.

EARTHBENDING
-is based around earth, the element of substance; this means that earthbenders are typically unyielding opponents and have powerful attacks and a strong foundation, ba dum tish.
-earthbending as a general discipline centers around the use of neutrality and waiting, enduring and evading enemies' attacks until the right moment to strike arrives; when earthbenders attack, they do it decisively and at well-timed moments, rather than redirecting attacks or putting up a continuous barrage of offense.
-however, there are many different earthbending styles! this is probably a reflection of the size of the earth kingdom, which is the largest region in the avatar universe, and both the different cultures and different landscapes which earthbenders end up manipulating.
-in general, earthbending emphasizes a close connection to the earth surrounding the bender; movements are strong and powerful, and heavy stances reflect the mass and unyielding nature of earth. many earthbenders do not wear shoes, in order to maintain a direct connection to the earth beneath their feet, and earthbending styles generally heavily rely on the lower body, which is typically closest to the ground.
-in many cases, the waiting/neutral component ties into an anticipation of their opponents' next move, "reading" the opponents' actions and style and predicting the best time to strike.
-therefore, earthbending balances an intuitive defense style with an aggressive and powerful offense, evoking the earth's simultaneous stillness and powerful, even catastrophic potential.
-earthbenders draw their power from.... the earth....... surprise............. and this means that they're strongest when on their own two feet! their associated season is spring, when nature (and thus.... the earth........) is particularly powerful and vibrant.

AIRBENDING
-is based around air, the element of freedom, and as such, the key to airbending well is flexibility and a style that finds the path of least resistance. airbending is even more defensive and passive as a style than waterbending, partially because of the pacifist nature of the air nomads.
-all air nomads are born as airbenders! this is due to the culture's deeply-engrained spirituality and focus on a detachment from worldly concerns. as might be expected, airbending is associated with a nomadic lifestyle and few material ties, but despite going where the wind takes them airbenders are strongly principled when it comes to leading their lives and engaging with enemies.
-airbending style is particularly evasive; airbenders never seek fights, and when fighting attempt never to directly attack or even touch an opponent. almost entirely defensive, the style relies on avoidance and sweeping circular motions, making the practitioner fast and impossible to hit; however, airbending is also one of the most dynamic bending styles, due to the changeable nature of wind and air itself. imagination and creative uses of bending are strongly emphasized; airbenders are taught that, just as with the wind, there is always another path to take.
-since air is, obviously, fucking everywhere, airbending is extremely versatile and is not often limited by the availability of material with which to bend. airbenders are most powerful when in wide open spaces, rather than closed ones, where they have a large playing field and momentum to use against others.
-in principle, airbending has no killing moves, and airbenders are strongly opposed to ever taking lives; in practice, however, necessity sometimes forces them to disregard their ideals, and airbending can have strong fatal potential when used in this way.
-airbenders draw their power from the air currents around them, and their associated season is fall!
-THEY CAN FUCKING FLY