Road of a Blank Verse
Jun. 18th, 2008 03:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kolThis post stands as the official directory for Road of a Blank Verse fics. I tend to write out of order, so this serves as a way to read the story in chronological order if you wish.
What is Verse? Verse is an AU Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfic, centered on a world in which after failing to defeat Firelord Ozai, Aang summoned a terrible, last ditch Avatar power, the Magic Reset Button, in an effort to try again. Except the ways of the Magic Reset Button are mysterious, and he was sent back 100 years in the past to defeat Sozin instead. But since he changed history, the future Aang knew is lost.
The events of Verse take place in the alternative future that Aang created by defeating Sozin. There hasn't been a 100 years war, although after Aang's death, no Avatar has stepped forward, and some feel the cycle has been broken and are plotting dangerous things. The Water Sages have been terrorizing both Northern and Southern Water Tribes, stealing away any waterbending kids and testing them to see if they are the Avatar. They are quite desperate, because, quite frankly, they are running out of kids and time. The Four nations are uneasy, because over 16 years have passed since the last Avatar died, and no successor has stepped forward.
Enter Sokka and Katara, the only surviving children of Southern Water Tribe chief Hakota. Sokka is standing Vigil, undergoing the manhood ceremony that has developed in the 100 years of progress the tribe have experienced without the constant threat of war. Katara has been secretly waterbending, which starts a chain reaction that changes her life, and Sokka's, forever.
Verse follows Sokka, Katara, and Toph as they try to save the world in the Avatar's absence. There are a few original characters, but the story focuses on those three. Suki, Rinchen (one of Aang's grandchildren), Yue, one of the Water Sages, and the new Avatar are also minor POV characters.
Prologue
Aang's Departure
The Vapor Sequence
1. The Lost
2. Cling to Hollow Hope
3. Doubly Beaten
4. Find thy Rescue
5. Before Adventure Begins
The Swamp Sequence
6. The Sunken Pier
7. Lost My Heart and In Omashu (occur at the same time)
8. The Mystery of Toph
9. We Flee in Style
10. The Swamp Consumed
11. We Caught Ourselves an Avatar
The Ice Sequence
12. Chains of Pebble Stone
13. Bind the Princess and the Bandit
14. Clad in a Thousand Stars
15. All the World Falls
16. Before the Promise of the Moon
Epilogues
1. The Burning Throne
2. Neither Sun Nor Winter
3. Vows Earth to Water
As you might have seen, each of the sequences titles can be read as a line (chains of pebble stone bind the princess and the bandit, the lost cling to hollow hope, find they rescue before adventure begins, etc). If you read carefully, you can tell exactly what the endgame is. Particularly with regard to pairings. XD
Cast of Characters (includes spoilers)
MAIN POV (listed in order of POV importance)
Sokka: 15 year old from Atka City, Southern Water Tribe. His vigil to enter manhood is interrupted by Water Sages abducting his younger sister, and he leaves the safety of his home to track his sister down. A stubborn realist, he nevertheless has dreams he tells no one of and believes might be prophetic. In fact, they are partial memories of the Time Before. The strongest dreams include images of Aang (particularly his eyes), and a name with strong connotations of fire and anguish. Old manip here.
Ishi/Toph: A 13 year old Kyoshi Warrior, Ishi is not who she seems to be. Toph has been seemingly erased by the picture, but in fact somehow ended up on Kyoshi Island with a different name and a different strength of bending. How this all happened is a major part of the storyline. Early poor sketches here, as well as an old manip here.
Katara: 14 year old from Atka City, Southern Water Tribe. Torn between duty and a fierce independent streak, Katara is forever changed by her decision to learn waterbending in secret. After her abduction, she takes it upon herself to find the next Avatar so the Water Sages will stop tormenting Water Tribe children. Poor manip here.
Kahn: A 14 year old waterbender from The Swamp. He just wants to stay in the Swamp and play with his catgator Snuggles, but the world doesn't seem to have that in store for him. In his own way, he's very much like Aang, so much so that Rinchen is often creeped out. Technically, Kahn's name should be spelled Kanh, but I prefer the Mongolian variant. :D Additional picture here.
Yue: 16 year old Princess of the Northern Water Tribe, Yue is very different in the AU than she is in the show. Yue hasn't been dedicated to the moon (no white hair!) and she's a much more active participant in the action. She's also betrothed-- though not to Hahn.
Suki: The 16 year old leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, Suki has a lot of unresolved issues from things that cropped up in the new sequence. She is Toph's adopted sister and continues to kick ass, although she definitely doesn't have as easy a romantic sequence as the character has on the show. I'm not a fan of 3rd season Suki, so her appearance in the AU is me working through issues I have with the character, much as with Yue.
Minor, non-POV characters:
Rinchen: An adult? OMG. Rinchen kind of fills the Iroh void while acting as the occasional stand in for Aang before the group meets Kahn. Although he has the tattoos of an airbending master, he calls himself a simple nomad and has hair. He's been charged by Aang to protect his friends, and takes his job seriously. His bison is a lovely girl named Kipp.
Water Sages: Anun, Choden (POV), Karpo (hungry), Kelut (dog faced man), Niluk
Kyoshi Warriors: sharing lieutenant duties, Fen and Jian. Stoic Wen, the baby Yun, and the hilarious LiLi.
Omashuites: Bumi, Bala & Laji (Bumi’s assistants), Juhi (bounty hunter).
Gaolingers: Toph's parents, Rong Bei Fong (XD)
Foggy Swamp Tribe: Huu, Hai and Chi (Kahn’s parents), Toan & Vihn & Van & Bai (Kahn’s swamp gang -- Bai is a girl XD)
Northern Water Tribe: Chief Arnook, Hahn, Shika (Yue’s BFF), Umia (one of Yue's companions) & The Lost: Lochan, Lhyul, Ijun, Ohneka and Hatoka (twins), Ashka, Kayeri, Gei, and Takha
Southern Water Tribe (Atka City): Chief Hakota, (dead: Miksa and Sesi), Bato.
Q&A
1. What are the PAIRINGS?!
A: Verse diverges from the show in terms of pairings. There is no Yue/Sokka, for example, because the situation in which they met and interact is different (kind of hard to start a romance when your sister could be killed at any moment XD). This is not a particularly shippy fanfic, although the final sequence and the epilogue do have shippy vibes. I like to think the characters are too busy trying to survive to go around smooching. XD
2. Why the whole misdirection with Ishi? It was kind of obvious she was Toph.
A: Because I thought it was an interesting angle, sticking Toph with Suki, since a lot of the fandom thinks the two characters would loath each other. So, I made them pseudo-sisters.
3. Why isn't *blank* character showing up?
A: Because I'm just doing this as a lark. Trying to fit in each character is too difficult.
4. Why are the ages of Toph and Suki different? And shouldn't Kahn be 16?
A: When Aang fixed time, he set into motion a new timeline. In this timeline, Suki and Toph's parents had nookie at different times, whereas Sokka and Katara's parents, since they actually heard about the potential-future from Aang, were careful to have nookie around the same time. We're ignoring the impossibility of genetics here-- this is a fantasy AU after all. And Kahn is younger because the reset Aang pulled screwed up the Avatar Spirit; when he died, it had to take some time to recoup before finding a new host.
5. How can you do an Avatar reset without Zuko as the parallel/foil? Where is Iroh? Firenation rules!
A: Zuko is Aang's parallel/foil in the show. I really wanted to have Zuko in this fic, but he doesn't fit (except in the epilogue). The point is, he doesn't work as Sokka, Toph, or Katara's foil, so he doesn't have as essential a place in the AU as he does in the show.
6. When are you updating?
A: Sporadically and in whatever order writer-brain dictates. Hence the project page. I use to write in order, but found my brain has a hard time focusing when I lock myself in one section of the story.
What is Verse? Verse is an AU Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfic, centered on a world in which after failing to defeat Firelord Ozai, Aang summoned a terrible, last ditch Avatar power, the Magic Reset Button, in an effort to try again. Except the ways of the Magic Reset Button are mysterious, and he was sent back 100 years in the past to defeat Sozin instead. But since he changed history, the future Aang knew is lost.
The events of Verse take place in the alternative future that Aang created by defeating Sozin. There hasn't been a 100 years war, although after Aang's death, no Avatar has stepped forward, and some feel the cycle has been broken and are plotting dangerous things. The Water Sages have been terrorizing both Northern and Southern Water Tribes, stealing away any waterbending kids and testing them to see if they are the Avatar. They are quite desperate, because, quite frankly, they are running out of kids and time. The Four nations are uneasy, because over 16 years have passed since the last Avatar died, and no successor has stepped forward.
Enter Sokka and Katara, the only surviving children of Southern Water Tribe chief Hakota. Sokka is standing Vigil, undergoing the manhood ceremony that has developed in the 100 years of progress the tribe have experienced without the constant threat of war. Katara has been secretly waterbending, which starts a chain reaction that changes her life, and Sokka's, forever.
Verse follows Sokka, Katara, and Toph as they try to save the world in the Avatar's absence. There are a few original characters, but the story focuses on those three. Suki, Rinchen (one of Aang's grandchildren), Yue, one of the Water Sages, and the new Avatar are also minor POV characters.
Prologue
Aang's Departure
The Vapor Sequence
1. The Lost
2. Cling to Hollow Hope
3. Doubly Beaten
4. Find thy Rescue
5. Before Adventure Begins
The Swamp Sequence
6. The Sunken Pier
7. Lost My Heart and In Omashu (occur at the same time)
8. The Mystery of Toph
9. We Flee in Style
10. The Swamp Consumed
11. We Caught Ourselves an Avatar
The Ice Sequence
12. Chains of Pebble Stone
13. Bind the Princess and the Bandit
14. Clad in a Thousand Stars
15. All the World Falls
16. Before the Promise of the Moon
Epilogues
1. The Burning Throne
2. Neither Sun Nor Winter
3. Vows Earth to Water
As you might have seen, each of the sequences titles can be read as a line (chains of pebble stone bind the princess and the bandit, the lost cling to hollow hope, find they rescue before adventure begins, etc). If you read carefully, you can tell exactly what the endgame is. Particularly with regard to pairings. XD
Cast of Characters (includes spoilers)
MAIN POV (listed in order of POV importance)
Sokka: 15 year old from Atka City, Southern Water Tribe. His vigil to enter manhood is interrupted by Water Sages abducting his younger sister, and he leaves the safety of his home to track his sister down. A stubborn realist, he nevertheless has dreams he tells no one of and believes might be prophetic. In fact, they are partial memories of the Time Before. The strongest dreams include images of Aang (particularly his eyes), and a name with strong connotations of fire and anguish. Old manip here.
Ishi/Toph: A 13 year old Kyoshi Warrior, Ishi is not who she seems to be. Toph has been seemingly erased by the picture, but in fact somehow ended up on Kyoshi Island with a different name and a different strength of bending. How this all happened is a major part of the storyline. Early poor sketches here, as well as an old manip here.
Katara: 14 year old from Atka City, Southern Water Tribe. Torn between duty and a fierce independent streak, Katara is forever changed by her decision to learn waterbending in secret. After her abduction, she takes it upon herself to find the next Avatar so the Water Sages will stop tormenting Water Tribe children. Poor manip here.
Kahn: A 14 year old waterbender from The Swamp. He just wants to stay in the Swamp and play with his catgator Snuggles, but the world doesn't seem to have that in store for him. In his own way, he's very much like Aang, so much so that Rinchen is often creeped out. Technically, Kahn's name should be spelled Kanh, but I prefer the Mongolian variant. :D Additional picture here.
Yue: 16 year old Princess of the Northern Water Tribe, Yue is very different in the AU than she is in the show. Yue hasn't been dedicated to the moon (no white hair!) and she's a much more active participant in the action. She's also betrothed-- though not to Hahn.
Suki: The 16 year old leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, Suki has a lot of unresolved issues from things that cropped up in the new sequence. She is Toph's adopted sister and continues to kick ass, although she definitely doesn't have as easy a romantic sequence as the character has on the show. I'm not a fan of 3rd season Suki, so her appearance in the AU is me working through issues I have with the character, much as with Yue.
Minor, non-POV characters:
Rinchen: An adult? OMG. Rinchen kind of fills the Iroh void while acting as the occasional stand in for Aang before the group meets Kahn. Although he has the tattoos of an airbending master, he calls himself a simple nomad and has hair. He's been charged by Aang to protect his friends, and takes his job seriously. His bison is a lovely girl named Kipp.
Water Sages: Anun, Choden (POV), Karpo (hungry), Kelut (dog faced man), Niluk
Kyoshi Warriors: sharing lieutenant duties, Fen and Jian. Stoic Wen, the baby Yun, and the hilarious LiLi.
Omashuites: Bumi, Bala & Laji (Bumi’s assistants), Juhi (bounty hunter).
Gaolingers: Toph's parents, Rong Bei Fong (XD)
Foggy Swamp Tribe: Huu, Hai and Chi (Kahn’s parents), Toan & Vihn & Van & Bai (Kahn’s swamp gang -- Bai is a girl XD)
Northern Water Tribe: Chief Arnook, Hahn, Shika (Yue’s BFF), Umia (one of Yue's companions) & The Lost: Lochan, Lhyul, Ijun, Ohneka and Hatoka (twins), Ashka, Kayeri, Gei, and Takha
Southern Water Tribe (Atka City): Chief Hakota, (dead: Miksa and Sesi), Bato.
Q&A
1. What are the PAIRINGS?!
A: Verse diverges from the show in terms of pairings. There is no Yue/Sokka, for example, because the situation in which they met and interact is different (kind of hard to start a romance when your sister could be killed at any moment XD). This is not a particularly shippy fanfic, although the final sequence and the epilogue do have shippy vibes. I like to think the characters are too busy trying to survive to go around smooching. XD
2. Why the whole misdirection with Ishi? It was kind of obvious she was Toph.
A: Because I thought it was an interesting angle, sticking Toph with Suki, since a lot of the fandom thinks the two characters would loath each other. So, I made them pseudo-sisters.
3. Why isn't *blank* character showing up?
A: Because I'm just doing this as a lark. Trying to fit in each character is too difficult.
4. Why are the ages of Toph and Suki different? And shouldn't Kahn be 16?
A: When Aang fixed time, he set into motion a new timeline. In this timeline, Suki and Toph's parents had nookie at different times, whereas Sokka and Katara's parents, since they actually heard about the potential-future from Aang, were careful to have nookie around the same time. We're ignoring the impossibility of genetics here-- this is a fantasy AU after all. And Kahn is younger because the reset Aang pulled screwed up the Avatar Spirit; when he died, it had to take some time to recoup before finding a new host.
5. How can you do an Avatar reset without Zuko as the parallel/foil? Where is Iroh? Firenation rules!
A: Zuko is Aang's parallel/foil in the show. I really wanted to have Zuko in this fic, but he doesn't fit (except in the epilogue). The point is, he doesn't work as Sokka, Toph, or Katara's foil, so he doesn't have as essential a place in the AU as he does in the show.
6. When are you updating?
A: Sporadically and in whatever order writer-brain dictates. Hence the project page. I use to write in order, but found my brain has a hard time focusing when I lock myself in one section of the story.
