Plot-bunny-ish idea: Avatar: the Last Airbender

Watching Avatar: the Last Airbender was a whole lot of fun. Although, I have to say, it was odd to watch it for the first time only after I had read Vathara's Embers fanfic. It was interesting to see what changed and what didn't. And, while the cartoon definitely grew on me, there were still times when it threw me out of my suspended disbelief. After all, here are kids (and adults) throwing around dangerous things and no one ever gets seriously hurt. There are a few people who were killed in the backstory, but no one really dies in the plot. Evil people and groups put together these elaborate and expensive prisons in order to hold dangerous prisoners, but there's no thought of simply killing someone.

Defeat, torture, maim, etc... all of these happen, but not killing.

The few exceptions are:

1. A fire nation commander kills Katara's mother, but then does his best to hide the fact. (The mother's body is never found.) Zuko agrees that the commander committed a crime that deserves payback. And the commander recognizes Katara pretty much immediately as the only witness to what he had done.

2. Katara considers killing the commander who killed her mother but refrains in the end.

3. Azula tries to kill Aang and Zuko.

4. Everyone tells Aang that he must kill the Fire Lord. Aang really doesn't want to and eventually finds a way around it.

Now, of course, the fact that the story is a cartoon intended for young children could clearly explain the lack of deaths. However, I had a thought: 

What if, instead, it's that killing is seriously taboo. Given all of the elemental benders around, it would be easy enough for even young children to kill each other, but rather than just being a matter of morality and/or strength, killing is considered seriously disgusting and unthinkable. You want to defeat your enemies, destroy their culture, possibly put them into a situation where they won't survive, but the culture of all four nations agree that to directly kill someone is on par with having an affair with your own mother or some such.

Thus, benders in particular need to be able to pull their punches.

Anyway, this wouldn't necessarily change the events of the story, but how would it change the implications all the way through? 

Something to think about.

And while this idea definitely came from watching Avatar, it could also be applied to an original story. What would the implications be for a society if everyone had the ability to do vast damage to all around them--property damage was common and construction workers well-paid--but killing was completely anathema? 

minor plot-bunny: Stargate / Avatar: the Last Airbender

I'm not sure if it was while watching Avatar: the Last Airbender or while reading related fanfic, that I discovered that benders didn't tend to use weapons. Zuko is unusual in that he is a fire bender who can also use a sword. Most benders just use their bending for both offense and defense, and people with weapons are clearly marked as not being benders.

Another thing is that the Air Nomads all seemed to be benders. The other nations had a much longer percentage of benders in their populations. But let's pretend for a bit that instead most people, in any given nation, are benders.

So, I had a thought: 

SG-1 walks through the stargate and comes out near some small village in the Avatar universe. It doesn't even matter which nation it is. Just four soldiers all armed to the teeth, saying, "We're just peaceful travelers. We come in peace. etc."

O'Neill thinks it's getting to be increasingly ridiculous to introduce themselves that way when they are so obviously armed soldiers. Most of the people they meet on trips think it's ridiculous, too, and tend to try to kill them. These villagers on the other hand seem only slightly amused and condescending when they agree that SG-1 are peaceful visitors.

What's odder still is that a couple of times the adults in the village have had to take the village children to task for making fun of the poor strangers with their many guns.

Then they see some school yard scuffle between two kids. It might involve them throwing boulders at each other or maybe shooting flames. The school teacher walks right into the middle of it, breaks up the fight and gives both kids detention. Nobody is hurt.

But even Teal'c is disturbed.

Jackson goes around chatting with various people and finally comes back to the SG-1 to explain that, "well, everyone is a bit condescending BECAUSE we're carrying weapons, not despite it."

"Oh."

"It's a bit like if someone on prosthetic legs or in a wheelchair came to the SGC and announced that they didn't intend to challenge anyone to a hand-to-hand fight."

"Oh." 

"I'm beginning to see why the Goa'uld never tried to conquer this place."