*More* LoK AU Weirdness...
So instead of the sort of half-assed bending-focused togetherness Aang seems to have preached and put together, part of what came out of the big United Republic reformation movement included a theoretical fifth element (ha ha, yes, Meeloo et all:) as a subject of study and cultural exchange- mastery of self, as well as mastery of elements. Maybe it's something that was completely independent of Aang, and that's why it's looked askance at today as a hotbed for radicalism- a wide and varied philosophy that's about finding what you do best and getting very, very good at it, regardless of elemental bending or ethnic allegiance. Shit like Jet and Mai, Jun and Piandao do, and especially Ty Lee and the Kyoshi Warriors, because that's the sort of information that people would probably really like disseminated, even if a lot of the bending elites would regard it as an unfair advantage (war crime isn't the right word here- I'm looking for something like a banned weapon or technique and I cannot find the right word right now).
It seems like the sort of thing that would grow out of a huge mixed city where the paradigm is shifting. And it would give a lot more depth and weight to the Equalist movement- not only would it be a radical fringe to a legit school of philosophy and activism, it provides a stronger background source for so *many* Equalists, as well as the paranoia about them, because there's people wearing their buttons and spouting some of the same words walking around on the street, man! -who aren't necessarily anywhere near as hardline as Amon/Noatak himself, wanting to actually destroy bending as a power.
Dunno, just a thought.
It seems like the sort of thing that would grow out of a huge mixed city where the paradigm is shifting. And it would give a lot more depth and weight to the Equalist movement- not only would it be a radical fringe to a legit school of philosophy and activism, it provides a stronger background source for so *many* Equalists, as well as the paranoia about them, because there's people wearing their buttons and spouting some of the same words walking around on the street, man! -who aren't necessarily anywhere near as hardline as Amon/Noatak himself, wanting to actually destroy bending as a power.
Dunno, just a thought.