application for polychromatic
[nick / name]: Ivy
[personal LJ name]: ivellinus
[other characters currently played]: NONE!
[e-mail]: oceans_13th@yahoo.com
[AIM / messenger]: AIM: hpfreakir / PLURK: milordivy
[series]: Avatar: The Last Airbender
[character]: Aang ( The Avatar )
[character history / background]: Aang's history on the Avatar wiki
[character abilities]: Aang's outrageous abilities on the Avatar wiki. To ensure that Aang is not more powerful than the deities, he will no longer have the ability to reach the Avatar State. He will still have a certain spiritual connection to his past lives, but his ability to glow and become a supreme master of all the elements will be no more. As the Avatar he will still have the ability to manipulate the four elements, but even at the end of the series he is not yet at the master level when it comes to Earthbending ( Shortly before the finale Toph commented that Aang's Earthbending could still use some work and never confirmed whether or not he had mastered it) and Firebending. Being able to control the Avatar State and tap into the abilities of his past lives is what helped him defeat Fire Lord Ozai (and also the giant lion turtle), but shortly before that battle he had spent most of the time unable to achieve that state at all, even unwillingly. I don't see why his placement in this city can't tamper with his ability to reach the Avatar state.
** If these sources aren't acceptable I will gladly write it out or expand it.
[character personality]: Aang has come a long way from being "The Boy in the Iceberg." Only a year has passed since since the young Airbender was freed from his iceberg prison, but after all he has been through it sometimes feels like a lifetime. In that short amount of time Aang was able to master all four of the elements ( something that usually takes years for the Avatar ), survive being chased all over the world, and lead the world into a new era of peace. Accomplishing this was no easy task, but it was because of his strength of heart and those unbreakable bonds of friendship that the young monk was able to overcome all of the odds. Aang has always valued life, friendship, love, and balance above all else, but it's also no secret that having fun is something the young Avatar views as necessary to leading a healthy life. Sure, he might get carried away from time to time, but he has great friends to back him up and keep him focused when he's a little too distracted.
Aang was born to two airbenders some one hundred and thirteen years ago. Like all Air Nomads he was born with the ability to control and manipulate the air currents around him, and airbender. At a very young age he was sent to the Southern Air Temple to live and train with the monks there. Although their community was like one giant family, most of what Aang learned in his first twelve years of life was taught to him by Monk Gyatso. He was a wise old man who acted as the boy's guardian and mentor, but he was more than that, he was also his best friend. The monks valued peace and freedom above all else. They taught that all life was sacred and aimed to detach themselves from the problems and suffering of the world around them in the pursuit of spiritual enlightenment. Aang embraced his people's way of life and has always had a heightened sense of spirituality because of it, but he is still a kid through and through. He has also always valued friendship and fun. Maybe on occasion he's been known to stir up some trouble too, all of it in the name of fun of course.
Friendship was something Aang has always actively sought out, all over the world in fact. It was heartbreaking to discover the balance and harmony of the world had been shattered by the Fire Nation, and that having friends all over the world was something unheard of. This is why was funny that by the time Aang faced Fire Lord Ozai he did friends from all over the world; friends from the Fire Nation, the Earth Kingdom, and the South Pole. He may have lost his people, but the young monk's close circle of friends -- Appa, Katara, Sokka, Momo, Toph and Zuko are his family now.. The love he has for his people will always live on his his heart, and in that sense they will always be with him giving him strength and support just like his new family. Had Aang not been able to cleanse himself of the guilt and anger he felt about losing his people and being the Avatar, gaining that kind of strength and support would have been impossible -- winning the war would have been impossible. Friendships don't win battles, but just knowing that his friends have his back makes the weight of the world seem a little less of a burden. He went from protecting them to fighting by their side, and he wouldn't have it any other way. Whenever Aang assumed being the Avatar meant he had to walk alone, his friends were there to prove him wrong, through the thick and thin they have always been with him. Sometimes he's not sure how much they realize it, but he needs them just as much as they need him. Avatar Roku showed him that true friendships last lifetimes. Aang has no doubt that will be the case for him and his friends.
Like all of the Air Nomads, Aang was born with the ability to bend the air currents around him. Because his people decided to detach themselves from the problems of the the world in the pursuit of spiritual enlightenment, they were all born with this ability. They were a peace and freedom loving people who viewed life as sacred, always remembering their intimate connection to the earth. It was crushing to discover he was the last of the Air Nomads, but Aang has continued to carry on his culture and it's wisdom ever since was freed from that iceberg. If it were not for Aang's upbringing and the culture he had been raised in, he might have not have been able to become a fully realized Avatar in such a short amount of time. Even before learning he was the Avatar, he was already very spiritual and in touch with nature. The young Airbender has never been a fan of big cities because they are overflowing with sadness, greed, and corruption; the worst part has to be knowing that people are duped into being loyal to a city that actually does little to protect him in the long run. Corruption breeds corruption and in a city it's hard to stop. The young Avatar was even more disillusioned by his experience in the great Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Se -- just when he and his friends were about put an end to to the citywide brainwashing scheme, a new problem took the old one's place. A cycle like that is almost impossible to break in a huge city, someone is always after more control and power and something is always there to take the place of whatever was once there. It's true that Aang was raised into a certain way of thinking and has some bias because of it, but he accepted it as his way of life with much enthusiasm, even after being exposed to the world around him. He has described himself as a simple monk and really that's all he wants to be. But the fact of the matter is, Aang is still a kid and the Avatar to boot so his life will probably never be simple. He's always tried to make the most of everything and enjoy himself while doing it. Like the man who raised him (Gyatso), Aang has always understood the importance of having fun, especially while you're still a kid.
Surfing on the backs of coy fish, flying with lemurs, or simply having a good time and laughing with your friends are only a few of the possibilities for fun in Aang's world. With an open mind and a little imagination there is fun to be had everywhere around the world; if he could, the young monk would do all of it, literally. He'd even make up his own games along the way. It's no secret that the Airbender can become too distracted by fun and games, even placing his duties to the world second sometimes, but one of his friends is always there to remind him of what's really important. That's not to say that everytime Aang has fun he is reprimanded for it, on the contrary, he's always actively promoted fun within his circle of friends, he's insisted on it in fact. Festivals, mega slides, and mini vacations were only some of the fun detours on his and his friends journey to save the world from the Fire Nation. Admittedly, even during those detours it was Aang's friends that usually told him when enough was enough. In the year that has passed since Aang was in that iceberg he has grown up a lot, he hasn't lost track of his sense of fun, but he has grown more serious about his Avatar duties. By the time Aang had defeated Fire Lord Ozai being the Avatar felt less like a burden and more like a responsibility. The kind of responsibility he would take on willingly, with fire burning in his heart, all of that to protect the earth and people on it.
As the Avatar Aang has the ability to bend all four of the elements, he is also known as the bridge between the world of the living and the world of the spirits. The Avatar's purpose is to maintain balance and protect the world on both small and large scales. On his journey to defeat the Fire Lord Aang helped everyone he could. Whether it was saving a village from a volcano or settling a feud between two tribes, the young Airbender did whatever he could, tackling large and small problems alike. As it is his job to maintain balance, Aang understands why it is needed -- with balance comes peace and prosperity. The imbalance caused by the Fire Nation left the world torn apart, the Fire Nation even went as far as to try to destroy the moon, but they did not succeed.
Because he is the Avatar it is his duty to help others, but that is not why Aang does it. He does it because he is a kind and loving human being incapable of turning his back on anyone in need, even his most fearsome enemy. Aang doesn't think of himself as the Avatar first, he thinks of himself as an Airbender, a monk from the Southern Air Temple because it's who he is. Even though he can manipulate all of the elements and use the proper stances, he'll always think like an Airbender and rely on it more than any other element. Airbending is Aang's birth element so it's no shock that he is more skilled and confident with it. Like all Airbenders Aang prefers speed and evasion over attacking relentlessly. With a sharp mind and some resourcefulness clever solutions to problems can always be found -- Aang would confuse his opponent and wrap them up in a tarp before he would send a damaging blow. It's not as if he likes to fight, on the contrary, he would rather not do it at all. He would rather use an opponent's power against them instead of firing some catastrophic air punch -- Aang is certainly capable of wiping out an entire village with his power, but he would never do something like that, not even to one person because it's just not in his nature. Aang can be pushed into attacking, sometimes he has no choice, but he never sets out to kill. As small and kind as he is, Aang is extremely strong willed and stubborn -- he doesn't like to do anything that goes against what the monks taught him and that includes killing anyone. When everyone told Aang that he would need to kill Fire Lord Ozai he refused. It was only after being pushed into a wall that he agreed, but even then it was only words. Aang could not kill Fire Lord Ozai, instead he did things the way he wanted, effectively and as peacefully as possible. He ended up bending the energy inside of Ozai, successfully disabling him from Firebending ever again. Through strength of heart Aang was able to overcome all of the odds in his own way.
Aang has more power than anyone in the world because he is the Avatar, but he is still pretty grounded and modest about... most of the time. Sometimes that Avatar stuff can go to his head, but at least he has strayed away from entertaining groups of girls with tricks. He is happier just to be appreciated now. Aang is the type of man who really reflects on his mista90-kes and learns from them -- even though he changes constantly, he will always be the same person and maybe a little smarter for it. Aang could be described as a social butterfly, he's not shy and he likes attention, plus he is genuine and sincere with what he says more often than not. People are drawn to his kindness and cheerful demeanor, and sometimes it's even contagious. As popular and sincere as he can be however, Aang has lied in the past, and he will probably do it again. Aang has lied for selfish reasons, but also to protect his friends. If he lies to protect his friends it's usually to keep them from worrying about him. If something particularly heavy is weighing on Aang's mind he could become moody and detached while he tries to sort things out; sometimes bottling everything up has led to unpleasant bursts of anger. He doesn't like himself when he's angry, but sometimes not worrying your friends seems like the better and easier choice. Of course he cares about what his friends think, they are more important to him than anything else, that's not a bad thing, but Aang has lied to them because of it. Losing anyone he loves would be the singles scariest thing that could happen to him, the prospect of being sent away everyone he loved is what prompted Aang to run away from the Southern Air Temple (which is how he ended up in that iceberg). After discovering that his people were killed by the Fire Nation those feelings only intensified, so much so that Aang was selfish enough to want to keep Katara and Sokka from seeing their father so they wouldn't leave him. It was one of the biggest mistakes he has ever made, but at least he learned from it. Needless to say, he felt very guilty during and after that little lie. After the war Aang was able to breathe easier because the threat of losing any of his friends was significantly less.
[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: Shortly after the end of the series
[journal post]: [ action / voice ]
[ Aang sits in front of Katara and Toph wearing his serious face. He's only been her for a while and already wants to find a way to get everyone home, the only problem is, he's having some difficulty. ] I've been thinking a lot about this place since I got here, it's different from our world in a lot of ways, but it's also similar. The reason we can still bend here isn't just because we're surrounded by our elements, it's because we're already connected to this world as if it were an extension of ourselves. [ He touches the ground with his eyes closed seeing just like Toph would and smiles because he can't help it. ]
I'm still the Avatar and I can still bend all four elements, maybe I can still act as a bridge between this world and the spirit world! [ He's still smiling to ask if you're on board. ] I'm having some trouble when I try to cross over, but I don't know anything about the spirit world here, or even if there is one. It's not like I can ask Roku or Kiyoshi for advice, they're in the same boat as I am -- we don't know anything about this place. [ Now that some of that negative energy is out. ] There has to be someone here who has seen something, or knows something? Have you guys heard anything? I was thinking about asking everyone here about it. What do you guys think?
[ Little did Aang know, the device is recording right now. He's careless with it and shoved it in his belt without much thought, letting it record. That's what he gets for being lazy about learning how to work his communicator -- he really needs to get around to asking Katara to show him how. Wait until it starts going off from the responses. ]
** I wouldn't do a post like this without plotting and permission of course, but I hope it's a good example of his voice.
[third person / log sample]: "Sorry buddy, but I just don't think it's a good idea for you to go in here." Aang stood at the edge of the forest with a wide eyed, nervous expression. Appa, the young Airbender's flying bison made a sound of agreement. "Go back to Katara and Toph, we'll meet you there later." Despite his reservations about this forest Aang gave Appa a reassuring smile. He couldn't explain it but something about the forest was drawing him in, then again maybe he was becoming desperate to find a way to cross over into the spirit world here. Before he had the chance to talk himself out of it, he entered the forest with Momo, the lemur flying at his side.
"Wooow. This place looks even bigger from the inside!" Excitement was finally taking over his apprehension; Aang opened his glider and took off, using the air currents around him to fly through the trees in the forest. He was careful not to go too fast so he could have the chance to observe his surroundings, but quickly found there was too much he wanted to look at. The Airbender made a mental note to return to the forest at a later date since he wouldn't be able to explore it all today and landed on the ground once more. Aang's and Momo's eyes landed on the plant at the same time, ripe, delicious looking berries were growing on the bush that had caught both of the boys interest. They couldn't get to it fast enough.
He had to stop Momo from grabbing a fistful of the berries and gave him a stern look. "Wait! I've never seen this kind of berry before, for all we know they could be poisonous." Aang's eyes landed on the large tree a few feet behind the bush. "Let's hide up there and wait to see if some of the animals in the forest eat any of them first." Momo grumbled in his lemur language but followed as the young monk jumped from branch to branch. Aang was sure the animals in the forest could teach him all sorts of things about this place; this was only one of the ways he could learn from them, animals wouldn't eat a poisonous berry.
Aang and Momo were up there for an hour before an animal finally came a long and ate some, they wasted no time in jumping back down next to the bush and stuffing their faces full of berry. "MMM Weez-er-ceelishes" Aang exclaimed with a mouthful. He meant to say "These are delicious" but at least Momo understood him.
Before he knew it they had lost track of time, Aang couldn't remember how many berries he had eaten, but he felt like he was about to explode. "I don't know about you, Momo, but I'm stuffed." But they tasted so good. He rolled over on to his back, trying to catch a glimpse of the sky through the trees, it was almost impossible. "So much for crossing over into the spirit world." He frowned and sat up. "We should get back." Before leaving he stopped to gather some berries for Katara to try later, she had to like them as much as he and Momo did.
Once his pockets were full he looked to his lemur and nodded. "Let's go, Momo." Again, Aang took off on his glider, zipping through the trees in what he hoped was the direction he came from. The further he flew from the bush the more worried he became. He didn't think they had flown that far into the forest, but the place where he entered from was nowhere in sight. Appa could probably get them out of here, but he didn't want to call him unless it was absolutely necessary -- as it turned out this forest wasn't exactly bison friendly. "What are we going to do? I know we're going in the right direction, but the City is nowhere in sight!" He looked at Momo for the answer, but it didn't come. "We need to get out of here before it gets dark. Let's climb above the trees and get home that way." Aang landed on a tree branch before closing his glider and leaping to the highest branch he could reach above him.
"HELLO UP THERE!" The voice shattered Aang's concentration. "WHOOOOAA" He slipped off of the branch as soon as he landed on it, hitting some larger and smaller branches before breaking his fall by bending a ball of air beneath him. He could have shouted at the stranger for startling him like that, but he was more interested in one thing.
"Hi there. Do you know the way out of this forest." He gave the stranger his kindest and brightest smile. That's all he wanted, was to leave this place.
**If I ever plotted with someone who lived in the forest something like this could totally happen to Aang. I hope it's okay that I used somebody else at the end like that.
SAMPLE TWO
The mess that was left in the wake of the war was unbelievable. Winning the war was a great step toward peace and restoring balance to the world, but there was still a lot of work to do. Aang always knew that would be the case, but he hadn't really grasped the situation until he had seen it with his own eyes -- first when he stayed in the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se and again when he visited a Fire Nation prison. Both of them were devastating sights.
For one hundred years families were uprooted and torn apart by the war. Aang understood the heartache of losing a family and he couldn't help but feel partly responsible for tearing these families apart. He didn't burn down their villages, but for one hundred years he could do nothing to stop it on account of being stuck in an iceberg. Aang blamed himself entirely for landing in that terrible situation; he wouldn't give up on reuniting families until he was completely finished. The balance of the world depended on it.
Unfortunately, bringing them together wouldn't be so easy; entire villages were burned down, people were left with nothing and scattered all over the world. A lot of them were in prisons and even more of them crammed into Ba Sing Se's Lower Ring. If and when Aang brought these families together, far too many of them would be without a home. That was the last thing he wanted. The young Avatar thought it was best to tackle all of the big problems before he tried moving people anywhere. Thankfully, Aang was meeting Zuko and other leaders from around the world to discuss this problem and many others. He knew the others would have ideas, but that didn't mean he wanted to show up with nothing. Aang was genuinely concerned about how to solve this problem -- if he had hair, he might be pulling it out right now. He was terribly frustrated, but also determined to come up with a good idea.
"I won't be able to sleep until I figure this out, but you don't have to stay up with me Momo." He gave his pet flying lemur a small smile before resting his chin in his hand. Momo wasn't leaving but Aang was grateful, he enjoyed the late night company. "They can't all fit in Ba Sing Se, the Lower Ring is already too crowded as it is."
Sighing he stood up and walked outside hoping that the fresh air might help the ideas flow. There were plenty of Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom, maybe there would be room for some of the refugees. Then again maybe the people of the Earth Kingdom wanted the colonials gone completely. Who knew if they even wanted to stay in the Earth Kingdom. Dealing with the Fire Nation colonies would be another huge issue to tackle all together. They weren't bad people, but the land they lived on had been conquered and claimed for the Fire Lord. It probably wasn't a good idea to think about sending refugees there. The colonies were going to be another topic for tomorrow's meeting, but Zuko was more involved with them than Aang was. He pushed aside thoughts of the colonies for now and continued brainstorming.
"There has to be something we can do to help these families get a fresh start." Spreading families out in the cities and villages that weren't destroyed was an option, but that would still leave too many without a home. Besides, Aang wanted to bring entire villages back together if he could -- some might say it would take more effort than it was worth, but he didn't think so. Katara's entire village was one family even though they weren't all related -- Aang would rather see communities like that brought together again, not spread them apart all over. He needed to think of something that was better than just dropping families in different cities and villages.
Before he knew it Aang was pacing, too tense to sit still. Momo presence helped a lot, it made thinking easier. He liked to pretend his pet flying lemur could understand everything. It wasn't hard to pretend either, Momo looked like he was genuinely listening half of the time.
"Maybe a little late night flying will help." It's not as if he could fall asleep. Jumping off of the balcony Aang closed his eyes for a moment, allowing his other senses to take over as he soared through the darkened sky. The cool night air was refreshing and soothing; he was convinced this was just what he needed. Opening his eyes, Aang too a deep breath and went over the small part he had already figured out to his lemur. Momo was flying next to him and happened to be the perfect listener. "We can use Appa to transport small groups and the airships to transport large groups." At least some good would come out of those massive airships built by the Fire Nation's military -- they could really carry a lot of people and travel long distances. "I think we'll have to start with the people who have cities and villages to return to though."
He felt a slight twinge of anger and hardly noticed the new tight grip he had on his glider -- the Fire Nation armies had gotten too close to winning the war and destroying the world. The fact was, none of these people should be without homes. It was too bad he couldn't take everyone home at once, but nothing was every that simple. He just hated thinking about how long some people might have to wait to really start out new. Aang had a difficult time not feeling twisted inside because of it -- he was angry and sad all at once. He was angry at Ozai, Azulon, Souzen, the military, Zhao, Azula and others who promoted the war. He was disappointed in himself for being weak and running away after discovering he was the Avatar. But most of all he was sad that the world had suffered so much because of all of them. Guru Pathik had taught Aang to open his chakras and release the negative energy that was blocking them. He could do this, and he had to do it now, it would be the only way he could think clearly. Rather than focus on the problem Aang needed to be dedicated to the solution.
He had hardly noticed the scenery below him, but when he did he was amazed. It was untouched earth that stretched far beyond what his eyes could see. The land was green, lush and sprinkled with all sorts of life and other colors that would be easier to see during the day. Aang started descending automatically as if he was being pulled down and landed next to a small creek.
"This looks like a good place to think." Sitting down in front of the creek with his legs crossed Aang closed his eyes and and focused on meditating. He thought of the uprooted families and what the Fire Nation military had done to them. The anger and sadness he felt was still there but he was confident in his ability to deal with it -- he'd done it several times before. He could hear Guru Pathik's voice ringing in his mind, he was telling Aang to let the energy inside of him flow. Rather than dwell on the suffering of these people, Aang allowed his mind to go to a happier place. First the young Avatar thought about the happy faces from every nation at Zuko's coronation, then he thought about what an awesome job Zuko had already done in his short time as Fire Lord. He pictured the happy faces of the families he had already seen reunited, and that caused him to think about The Order of the White Lotus taking back Ba Sing Se. Finally he thought about his good friend Bumi rebuilding Omashu. Aang smiled, the energy was definitely flowing.
He opened his eyes, suddenly struck by inspiration. "I've got it! I knew a late night flight was a good idea!" Of course, the spectacular scenery that surrounded him also helped out a great deal.
"What if we built a new city?" He looked at Momo who was sitting next to him. "A place like this would be perfect! Between the Earthbenders and all of the resources the Fire Nation has we could actually do it. I'm not sure how long it would take, but with a bunch of people helping, not too long, right?" Momo made a sound in response and Aang pretended to understand it. "The important thing is, the people who don't have homes would have one. We'll build new homes for them!" It would be a huge undertaking, but it seemed like a great idea. Aang wouldn't be surprised if Zuko liked this it, and even less surprised if he already thought about it himself.
"You know what, Momo? For the first time, I'm actually excited about the meeting tomorrow!" It was amazing what a little fresh air and natural scenery could do to inspire ideas and calm a guy's nerves. "I think I can sleep now."
Aang smiled at Momo before opening his glider and jumping up into the sky.