#Water Tribes

[theduckeminence]

ATLA Infection AU - Origins

It all began when after the Fire Nation went about executing their genocide of the Air Nomads.

Because of Sozin’s determination to seek out and kill Roku’s successor, as well as the imperialist regime that he led, it would only cause further destruction of the world — thus throwing everything out of balance.

Enraged by his actions, the spirits would cast punishment onto the Fire Nation’s leader — all in the form of a disease. A disease later known as Spirit Rot.

Spirit Rot is what it sounds like. It essentially rots that affects one’s own aspects of living — physically, mentally, emotionally, and to some degree, spiritually. It degrades the mind of its proper functions and memories, crashes on sensations, and gradually deteriorates the body into a rotting state.

The intention of the disease was so it would punish Sozin and Sozin alone for his actions. And it did work — as it had served its original purpose in sending Sozin into a painfully slow and grotesque state, dying slowly to the disease.

That is until he attacks one of his servants — feasting away and further spreading the illness, first throughout the Fire Nation.

And eventually, the rest of the world.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #infection au #atla infection au #avatar #spirit rot au #air nomads #fire nation #water tribes #earth kingdom #sozin #aang #katara #sokka #toph #suki #zuko #iroh #ozai

[yourhighness6]

This is such a random thought but is it just me or were we cheated out of seeing the first conversation between the water tribe siblings and the members of their sister tribe in "The Waterbending Master". Like, it probably would have been hilarious for one considering that they would have to explain that yes, this is the avatar, yes, he is alive, yes, they are just kids, yes, they are the chief's children. Besides that, this is the first time the Southern and Northern tribes have had contact with each other for probably at least a decade. We were robbed

#Emmie babbles #I feel like there's so much going on in this episode that it gets kind of lost #but it's my favorite atla episode of all time and I've been really good in 2024 so I think I deserve it #water tribe siblings #atla #avatar the last airbender #sokka #katara #waterbending #water tribes #southern water tribe #northern water tribe #princess yue #chief arnook #the waterbending master #atla live action #go on Netflix give the people what they want #I say as the only person who has ever spoken about this ever #atla rewatch

[prodogg]

in the Atla world, there is a period where any nation can do what they want without the avatar intervening, between Avatar Kyoshi and Avatar Roku was a period of like 27 years (with 16 years the avatar gets told they are the avatar and then 11 years of learning all the elements although it can be argued it was just Roku traveling around and he took maybe 5 years to learn all. So in the time between an Avatar's death and a new fully realized one is no one to keep the world in check.

#avatar the last airbender #atla #musings #pd talks #fire nation #earth kingdom #air nomads #water tribes

[zuko-always-lies]

Please reblog this post so that we can get more responses! I'm very curious about what the fandom will say!

@atla-polls

As for myself, I feel like in a certain way I identify the most with the Fire Nation, since they are powerful and evil colonial power which seeks to impose its ideology on the world. They even practice settler-colonialism. It reminds me a lot of my own society's past and present.

#atla polls #avatar the last airbender #atla #Fire Nation #Earth Kingdom #Air Nomads #water tribes #water tribe #Northern Water Tribe #Southern Water Tribe

[kyoshi-lesbians]

have y'all heard about the rad Inuit number system that's visually intuitive?

#for worldbuilding around the water tribes. i think it could be neat #water tribes #resource

[aanglican]

maybe the reason most of the water tribesmen we see in avatar are darkskinned despite living in cold areas is not just due to the fact that they have food sources rich in vitamin D (which helps thwart the need for beneficial mutation AKA light skin to help synthesize vitamin D from the sun itself, since it’s already absorbed thru diet) but also because their pre-water tribe ancestors originated in tropical regions, and thus had dark skin

#atla #water tribes #mytext #can you tell i’m in the middle of writing a fic lol #meta

[heavenboy09]

TODAY IS THE DAY

WHEN THE WORLD 🌎 WILL NOW WITNESS

NICKELODEON'S GREATEST ANIMATION OF ALL TIMES

RETURNS.....

ON FEBRUARY 22ND,  2024

NETFLIX PRESENTS

In a world where human civilization consists of four nations, named after the four classical elements:

the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads.

In each nation, certain people, known as "benders" (waterbenders, earthbenders, firebenders, and airbenders), have the ability to telekinetically manipulate and control the element corresponding to their nation, using gestures based on Chinese martial arts.

The "Avatar" is the only individual with the ability to bend all four elements.

The Avatar is an international arbiter whose duty is to maintain harmony among the four nations, and act as a mediator between humans and spirits. When the Avatar dies, their spirit is reincarnated in a new body, who will be born to parents in the next nation in a set order known as the Avatar cycle: Fire, Air, Water, and Earth.

By tradition, the new Avatar will travel the world to learn all four bending arts, after which they will begin in earnest their role as global peacekeeper. The Avatar can enter a condition known as the "Avatar State", in which they temporarily gain the skills and knowledge of all their past incarnations. Although this is when they are at their most powerful, if the Avatar was ever killed while in the Avatar State, the reincarnation cycle would be broken and the Avatar would cease to exist.

A century ago, young Avatar Aang, afraid of his new responsibilities, fled from his home and was forced into the ocean by a storm. He encased himself and his sky bison Appa in suspended animation in an iceberg near the South Pole.

Shortly afterward, Fire Lord Sozin, the ruler of the Fire Nation, launched a world war to expand his nation's empire. Knowing that the Avatar must be an Air Nomad, he carried out a genocide against the Air Nomads, which he timed with the arrival of a comet that gives firebenders tremendous power.

A hundred years later, siblings Katara and Sokka, teenagers of the Southern Water Tribe, accidentally discover Aang and revive him.

WATER 💧

EARTH 🌎

FIRE 🔥

& AIR 💨

ONLY THE AVATAR MASTERED ALL 4 ELEMENTS TO PROTECT US FROM THE RUTHLESS MIGHT OF THE FIRE 🔥 NATION

100 YEARS LATER

I BELIEVE  THAT THE AVATAR WILL RETURN ...

TO SAVE THE WORLD 🌎

NETFLIX PRESENTS

A NICKELODEON PRODUCTION

BASED ON THE GLOBAL PHENOMENON

AVATAR : THE LAST AIRBENDER 💨

MASTER YOUR ELEMENT 💧🌏🔥💨

#AvatarTheLastAirBender #Aang #Katara #Sokka #PrinceZuko #WaterTribes #EarthKingdom #FireNation #AirNomads #Nickelodeon #AnimeMonth

#Avatar The Last Airbender #Aang #Katara #Sokka #Prince Zuko #Water Tribes #Earth Kingdom #Fire Nation #Air Nomads #Nickelodeon #Anime Month #Spotify

[sokkastyles]

Just wondering if you had any thoughts on the kind of antagonists Sokka and Katara would be if everything changed when the Water Tribes attacked. Obviously, there are a lot of factors that would go into that. But i've been low-key toying with that AU, and while i've seen some takes on it that work better than others, it hasn't quite clicked for me yet.

The problem with that premise is that the Water Tribes, and Sokka and Katara, are strongly defined by being part of a marginalized group, so a lot of "What if they were the oppressors" stories don't work unless you radically change the premise, and run the risk of parroting racist stereotypes about colonialist fears about if oppressed peoples were ever given power. The Water Tribes are mostly based on Inuit cultures who are some of the most marginalized in real life. So even if you switched things up and made them the colonizers, or made Sokka and Katara firebenders, as I've seen some AUs do, there are some unfortunate implications.

I think an interesting way to go, instead, would be to look at the ways that water can be a villainous element. Katara, in particular, is very linked to water and her personality reflects that, the power and chageability, but if you wanted to take that to its logical extreme, water can also be volatile and dangerous. Someone with the negative aspects of water can be as dangerous and unpredictable as the tides and as cold as ice. I think Katara, as a villain, in particular, would be consumed by her desire to change the world in her image and her tendency to run on high emotions. I could see her as a well-intentioned extremist type of villain.

#katara #water tribes #au #elemental symbolism

[justanotherthrowaway1950]

Iroh Should Have Taken the Throne After the War, Not Zuko

On the surface, Zuko becoming Fire Lord seems like the cherry on top for his happy ending. 

For him and Mai, who thankfully survived committing treason on Zuko’s behalf, are now able to rebuild their relationship on healthier grounds now that they are no longer under the yoke of Ozai’s regime, he has gained true friends in the form of the Gaang, he finally realized that Iroh was his true father all along and managed to rebuild his relationship with him, his abusive father and toxic at best sister are locked up and unable to hurt him or the ones he loves ever again, he atoned for the most part for helping Azula take over Ba Sing Se, and is now posed to help his nation redeem themselves like he did in regards to himself.

However, if you dig deeper, you start to realize that Zuko’s happy ending is not so happy after all. For he has no blood family that doesn’t hate him and isn’t rightfully locked up except for Iroh, who decided to spend his retirement in Ba Sing Se as a tea maker thousands of miles away from Zuko, and thus is hard to reach in a timely fashion.

The Gaang may be his friends, but they also have their own lives, responsibilities, and families, and so they won’t be able to stay in the Fire Nation for long outside of diplomatic meetings. 

Not to mention the fact that they can never again be just friends like the couple of weeks they spent together fighting to end the war, for Zuko is no longer just their friend, but also Fire Lord of the reforming Fire Nation as well.

And with Ty Lee, until the Kyoshi Warriors become his bodyguards, moving to Kyoshi Island so she can be a Kyoshi Warrior, the only person who he trusts who is constantly in his life is Mai, who loves him dearly, but is ill-equipped to help Zuko deal with his emotional struggles as he continues to heal from his upbringing, let alone the political struggles Zuko will encounter as he attempts to de-Sozinfiy the Fire Nation.

Especially since Mai is a 15 year old teenager who also needs to continue healing from her upbringing and has no relevant experience when it comes to governing.

LIke if we are being honest, Zuko never really had a chance to figure out what truly made him happy. 

For instead of getting time and space to figure out what he wants to be now that the war is over and he is free from Ozai, Zuko instead has to be Fire Lord at least until his heir is of age since Iroh said that it was Zuko who had to the take throne, with Zuko obliging due to wanting to please his real father his sense of honor and responsibility.

All this even though he was only crown prince for two years and the couple of weeks he was in the Fire Nation after his banishment was lifted, which does not bode well for someone trying to reform a nation that has waged an immoral war of conquest for over a hundred years and is so heavily steeped in propaganda to the point that the average person considers airbending demonic.

Hence, why I think the show should have ended with Iroh taking the throne with Zuko as his heir instead of what ended up transpiring.

That way, not only can Zuko continue his crown prince education, an education that was almost certainly interrupted by his banishment, but also so that Zuko has the space to heal and grow without the burden of guiding and reforming the post-war Fire Nation weighing him down. 

Especially since guiding the Fire Nation through the early steps of de-Sozinization would be a struggle for even an experienced monarch, let alone a 16/17 year old with no real experience in governing.

This is because Zuko has no experience, as far as we know, dealing with court politics or running the administrative state of an industrial superpower. 

Zuko has no real connection with his people despite his banishment forcing him to interact with and empathize with Earth Kingdom commoners. Thus, it is hard to see how Zuko can craft policies to help de-Sozinize them, let alone gain their support for such policies outside of the implicit threat of the Avatar. 

Whereas Iroh, despite also being a traitor, was once a beloved war general, and so he can use his status, even if it is heavily diminished by his actions during the end of the war, to get people to buy into his de-Sozinzation policies.

Though I admit that Iroh, like Zuko, has no real connection with Fire Nation commoners.

And Zuko would likely struggle to determine what type of relationship, if any, he would like to have with Ozai and/or Azula after everything that has transpired. And if he chooses to try to interact with them, he is likely to get manipulated like he did in the comics. 

But if he doesn't have the throne, at least the consequences of such manipulation would only be limited to his personal life, and not have dire consequences like what happened with Yu Dao or the lingering threat that an escaped Azula presents in canon to the post-war order.

Not to mention, I think Zuko not getting the throne because he isn't ready for it would send a good message of how just because Zuko redeemed himself doesn't mean that he is now perfect, and thus doesn't need to further heal and grow, as well as avoid giving Zuko the thing he wanted at the start of the show. 

For Zuko in the start of the show wanted the throne for validation, and while after betraying Ozai he never expected it until he met with Iroh in the White Lotus encampment, he ultimately ends up getting what he wanted all along. But if he didn't get the throne, at least for the time being, I think it would better show that Zuko has moved past the throne being (external) validation, as well as strengthen his claim that he didn't betray Ozai for the throne, at least in-universe. 

This is because even though we the audience know that the Zuko betrayed Ozai's regime due to being horrified by Ozai's plan to genocide the Earth Kingdom, the general population doesn't. 

And so it is likely to appear to them, or at least a significant proportion of the Fire Nation population, that Zuko betrayed his father, sister, and nation in order to get the throne he knew he would never get due to not being his father's favorite, even if it meant becoming the Avatar's puppet.

Also, while it is true that the other members of the Gaang all play active roles in the post-war order despite being pre-teens or teenagers themselves, none of them are formerly engaged in politics or ruling outside of Aang, who is the Avatar, and thus sadly can’t delegate his responsibilities to an adult until he is emotionally and mentally ready, a burden that the show and comics took great pains to highlight as tragic.

And while it is true that there have been world leaders who have had successful reigns despite taking power as a pre-teen or teenager, the closest to those rulers in ATLA is Azula, who showcases, among other things, what tends to happen more often than not when you put too much pressure on children to rule, and is a prima facie case for why Iroh, and not Zuko, should have taken the throne at the end of the war.

“Ok, ok, you have some good points, but don’t you remember how Iroh all but said during Sozin’s Comet that he could not take the throne, or even confront Ozai in the case that Aang was missing, since no one trusts him in a position of power except for the White Lotus and the Gaang? So even if Iroh is the most qualified man for the throne, he was right to not take it since the sight of the Dragon of the West on the throne is liable to cause people in the Water Tribes and Earth Kingdom to start another war, or at least launch terrorist attacks, to get him off it.”

Iroh’s point about how no one outside of the White Lotus and the Gaang trusts him in a position of power after decades of war mongering makes sense on the surface, but when you dig deeper, it makes no sense at all.

For Iroh, despite refusing the mantle of Fire Lord, is still in a position of great power: Grand Lotus of the White Lotus, a secret, world-spanning, information gathering organization that is made up of some of the most powerful leaders and benders in the world. 

An organization that not only mobilized within a few short weeks to reconquer Ba Sing Se during Sozin’s Comet, but also became Avatar’s version of UN Peacekeepers under Iroh’s leadership.

(Legacy of the Fire Nation all but says the White Lotus starts taking a more active role in the world while Iroh is still an active Grand Lotus. In fact, Xai Bau starts the Red Lotus in response to this change, with Iroh not only being aware of the Red Lotus’ existence, but also not understanding why taking a more active role is a betrayal of the White Lotus’ anarchist roots.)

Like outside the Avatars and other world leaders, Iroh is one of the most powerful people in the world. And yet, despite operating a tea shop in Ba Sing Se under his real name post-war, there is never indication that people attack him for assuming such a position of power, let alone for his past.

Not to mention, Iroh at times becomes interim Fire Lord for weeks on end with actual power (ex. Iroh created National Tea Appreciation Day when he was interim Fire Lord during the search for Ursa), and even at times actively plays a role in international affairs, like when he stood in for Zuko during Yu Dao’s inauguration ceremony. And yet, as far as canon is concerned, there is nary a peep from anyone outside of the Fire Nation.

Therefore, Iroh’s excuse that seeing the Dragon of the West in a position of power to influence world affairs again, let alone on the Fire Lord’s throne, is liable to send the rest of the world into a frenzy doesn’t hold up when scrutinized.

So to conclude, Zuko was not emotionally or mentally ready to assume the Fire Lord mantle by the end of the show since his crown prince education was basically non-existent and he still needs to continue growing as a person. Especially since attempting to reform the Fire Nation after the Hundred Year War is a task that even the most experienced and savvy leaders would find challenging.

However, Iroh does have the relevant training and emotional and mental maturity to help guide the Fire Nation during the early post-war years. And even on the surface the world may not stand for him on the throne, considering they are more than fine with him being a Grand Lotus of the White Lotus, or serving as interim Fire Lord, the world, in my opinion, would be more than fine with Iroh on the throne. 

Especially if he makes it clear that he would abdicate once Zuko’s crown prince training is complete and he is emotionally and mentally ready to take the throne.

So the fact that Iroh did not take the throne after the war is quite odd and does not reflect well on someone who is supposed to be wise and loves his surrogate son more than anything in the world.

For if Iroh was truly wise and loved Zuko as much as he, along with the narrative, says he does, why would he abandon his “son” to the metaphorical wolves?

#iroh #zuko #fire nation #water tribes #earth kingdom #atla #atla comics #legacy of the fire nation #iroh meta #zuko meta #fire nation meta #water tribes meta #earth kingdom meta #iroh critical #zuko is not done growing #iroh is not a flawless saint #justanotherthrowaway1950meta

[ly0nstea]

How avatar holds up its systems of power, and why its a problem.

Avatar is surprisingly good monarchist, and generally totalitarian propaganda, especially for a show about equality and justice.

Every single failure of power is always and irrefutably shown as an individual issue rather than a systemic one, the fire nations fascist past, and present, culture, war crimes, are all issues that will be solved if you just 'get the right people in power', the Earth Kings failure arent his fault, there was a dictator puppeteering him, dont ask how that happened, the kings back so all is fine! The Water Tribes rampant sexism can be solved by beating up old men, and not any systemic change within the tribes, especially not abolishing the patriarchal chiefdom that keeps women out of power, it consistently proposes and props up the fallacy that as long as you have the good guys in charge, the power is safe, its good, when that isn't true. Zuko is still an exploitative king, leeching off the serfs that he rules, the earth king is still an oblivious ruler that can't run a city, let alone a kingdom, and the water tribes are still sexist patriarch-run societies that will for the forseeable future keep women out of power for as long as they humanly can.

#avatar #avatar the last airbender #atla #zuko #water tribes #earth kingdom #fire nation

[theduckeminence]

You know I’m getting tired of most ppl portraying the Northern Water Tribe as the most devilish, demonic nation that exists — so much so that its somehow worse than the Fire Nation (aka the literal imperialist nation that is responsible for genocide??).

Like yeah yeah I get the NWT follows a heavily gender divided societal structure and therefore will lead to sexist values and misogynistic mindsets/ideas. I understand why people would hate on the NWT for that reason.

With that being said, I think its a lame/boring take to just straight up paint them as this “evil” and bad nation of people.

I would have found it more fun and interesting if people actually went about showing the NWT in a complex matter in terms of their society, culture, and etc (rather than immediately paint them as a bad nation specifically due to the sexism laced in their old fashioned traditions).

Also not to mention the Northern Water Tribe separated gender roles is most probably inspired by the fact that indigenous groups such as the Inuit often separate their work among genders (or really sexes honestly but y’all get what I mean).

And I personally feel the reason for such a strict division in gender roles is perhaps due to the 100 Year War and the NWT doing what they could to preserve their culture — leading down to canon present in ATLA.

#but thats just a whole other post i made before actually #atla #avatar the last airbender #northern water tribe #water tribe #water tribes #yue #yagoda #yugoda #arnook #pakku #hahn

[innocentimouto]

Hakoda could have done more!

One thing I’ve realized is how Hakoda was never allowed to do much.

Sokka sees him after years in Book 2, and then immediately has to leave him without doing anything. Hakoda deals with some fn ships off-screen, but doesn’t get involved in the main action.

Then in Book 3, Hakoda is there again, only for the group to leave. They join up for the invasion, so of course Hakoda gets some action right?

Nah. Just like 5 minutes max before he’s taken out. Guess what they separate. Then Sokka plans to save him and literally every character, even the random prisoner has a role except Hakoda. Yes, he helped plan with Sokka, but he fights no one after and does nothing. 

Guess Suki, Sokka, and Zuko have more experience than him right?

Then they separate again in the next episode. Why? What was the point of it all?

And Hakoda has nothing to do after this.

I get that they want the kids to fight and not have the adults do everything in atla, but like four old men fought in Ba Sing Se. Four old men who could have fought anywhere else? And chose the day of the comet. The worst day to fight firebenders.

I just wish we got to see more of him.

#Hakoda #Atla #Water Tribes

[briarruler]

AU: Opposing Elements Swap Locations

Firebenders in the poles; fire is light, fire is warmth, fire is life, in the frigid snow and dark nights.

Waterbenders on a chain of islands, connected by the sea.

Earthbenders shaping their mountains, living as much inside them as atop them.

Airbenders travelling across a massive continent, leaving no roads.

#Avatar the Last Airbender #Alternate Universe #Fire Nation #Water Tribes #Earth Kingdom #Air Nomads #Location Swap

[anonymous-gambito]

I'll never understand the ATLA fandom's weird obsession with both real and fictional racial purity between the nations in the show. Like, that world shows a great deal of diversity on the people of each and every nation, with the Earth Kingdom in particular being incredibly culturally diverse. There's no one eye color, skin tone, hair, clothing color that's gonna be found in only one nation and ppl aren't gonna be "clocked" by some minor shit. Fire Nationals can have dark skin; people on the Earth Kingdom can have blue eyes and wear blue robes; Water Tribespeople can have lighter skin, grey eyes and straight black hair; and folks within every nation will have different views in a lot of things, as well as different experiences.

Why do folks act like someone in the EK would be arrested if they "dared" to dress on anything that didn't look like grass, rock or mud? Or that they'd take a magnifying glass to someone's eye to try and discern if their brown was a bit too amber? Or that a Fire National would look at someone with curly brown hair and be like "Uhhhh You're not one of us"? Like, what's the deal with all that???

#earth kingdom #fire nation #water tribes

[atla-fandom-confessions]

On the one hand I like that there are more waterbenders in SWT but story wise Katara turning out to not be the last waterbender of the SWT really cheapens a lot of the story, like Kya's sacrifice and Hama's imprisonment. I did think the SWT seemed too small in ATLA. It being revealed to be this massive land with way more tribes fits more with how it was depicted in LoK but Katara and Sokka just not knowing about them and never even mentioning any of these other tribes feels very dumb. They couldn't have just walked over to some other tribes wtf??

x

#atla #atla fandom confessions #water tribes #worldbuilding #katara #kya

[aanglican]

my wishes for the live action avatar costuming is that southern water tribe people wear much more muted colors, somewhat rugged, and a lot of animal furs due to decades of war interfering with with their resources and trade in luxury materials.

meanwhile, the northern water tribe has much brighter colors and diverse textiles to work with. silks and satins from the earth kingdom have made it in their shores. precious stones and metals like silver. less practical fashion among the upper class. etc.

#natla #water tribes #mytext