#air temples

[fuzzykidney]

Take on airbending and how it relates to spiritual stuff.

I know Jesa supposedly lost some of her bending because of her choice in becoming a career criminal. And it interfered with the ideals of Air nomads. But so did Zaheer murdering people. I’m thinking the biggest difference would be their own guilt or connection to themselves. Zaheer was sure of himself. Meditated all the time. And centered on what he was doing. Jinpa is shown to be pretty strong but he still strays ideals from the Typical air nomad teachings. Part of being free like the wind I would think is accepting who you are, even if it’s slightly different or way different than who you are “supposed” to be. But maybe Jesa struggled with that. Got her tattoos early and was most likely dedicated to her cultures teachings until she found Hark. I’m sure it confused her and she wasn’t sure of who she was at that point or where she belonged. Like she didn’t know what was right or what she deserved. Almost like what one could consider a struggle of faith. That I think might have been more detrimental to her power.

Zuko lost his power in firebending and had to find it again. Within himself (with some help). Jesa just compensated instead. Dealing with anger and some hidden self hate for who she turned out to be.

Or it was just A rumor and she liked the fans as weapons.

My take.

#kyoshi #avatar the last airbender #atla #aang #avatar kyoshi #avatar yangchen #avatar aang #airbending #air bending #air nation #air temples #Jesa #Hark #Jinpa #Zaheer #Laghima #rise of kyoshi #avatar rok #ROK #shadow of kyoshi #avatar sok #SOK #kelsang

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

Air Nomad Culture Headcanons

Because if Bryke refuses to actually develop Aang’s culture I will do it my fucking self.

Not all Air Nomads were benders, or lived in the temples. Most of them lived in nomadic villages that migrated around different continents depending on the season, which is why they’re ‘Air Nomads’. The ones in the temples were either the children of former monks who had chosen to give up that lifestyle, orphans or abandoned kids, or the children of spiritual or intellectual leaders who had decided they wanted their kids educated in a more focused environment.

Everyone in the Air Temples was a bender due to how close the teachings got them to the Spirit World.

It was possible for Monks in the temples to give up that lifestyle and return to living in the villages, but it was a permanent decision, one they couldn’t come back from, so most didn’t ever do that.

The only time of the year all Air Nomads would be at one of the four temples was during a festival which coincided with the date that Sozin’s Comet would be appearing in the year Sozin chose to time his genocide. 

Not all Air Nomad’s were vegan. They did eat meat, but they used every part of the animal and had rituals they performed after animals were killed to ensure their safety in the Spirit realm after death. Aang is just vegan because he’s Like That.

Flying Bison shed a lot of their fur, like Appa did in that one episode, so they used it to weave clothing, blankets, and baskets a lot. The fur is really thick and sturdy and the cloth they spun was very valuable. After the genocide, upper elites in the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation still kept old Air Bison cloth as a status symbol.

Most Air Nomad kids, both in the temples and in the villages, were taught to spin wool practically from birth. Making their own toys to play with was very common among Air Nomad kids.

Along those lines, Air Nomads were big traders and merchants due to how much they moved around. They would take goods from one area and distribute it across huge swathes of land. They didn’t use money as a concept; their entire economy was based on trade of goods.

They also kept aside a certain amount of whatever they got and sent it back to the temples regularly.

As a result, a lot of their culture developed around give and exchange. Exchanges of gifts, like a bison fur shawl for a reed basket, were shows of respect, and a favor taken was always expected to be given back. they had a dislike of owing people in general within the villages. In the temples, as they were monks, it was generally assumed that between Air Nomads what they were given would be exchanged for the Monks’s spiritual guidance, education for some children, and direction during global issues or conflicts.

Within the temples, it was considered impolite to accept gifts from non-Air Nomads, especially if you didn’t return it. In the villages, it was just a general trade.

As long as you lived in the villages, Air Nomads did not care who you fucked. Sexuality was fluid as hell and no one gave a damn. In the temples you fucked no one because monks took an oath of celibacy.

They also had a very fluid concept of gender with blurred lines and few gender norms. Literally no one cared aside from ‘ooo when you do this with this person it makes a baby’.

The Air Nomads in the villages had a much more relaxed and free culture than was there in the temples, where things were a lot more regimented. The villages were a lot more focused on arts as well - as well as weaving, all sorts of handcrafting was common, and oral arts, like storytelling and folk songs, were very popular as well.

In the temples things were a lot more focused on the spiritual side, but they still told a lot of folk tales and used weaving as a method of concentration.

A lot of those folk tales had heroic trickster characters who used their intelligence to outwit stronger opponents. As opposed to moral absolutes, a lot of the folk tales focused on making the best out of bad situations or on the value of being friendly and welcoming.

The Air Nomads believed in reincarnation, for everyone and not just the avatar, kind of like how Hinduism or Buddhism do, but without Moksha or Nirvana. They believed it was just a cycle of being reborn into either better or worse circumstances depending on how you had behaved in your previous life.

Karma was also a thing. If you gave bad to the world you would get bad back, and if you were generally helpful and kind you would get good things back as well.

Their food dishes had a lot of variations depending on where you learned to make it from. In the Western Air Temple for example there was more influence from Fire Nation spices, so the food was spicier. They used more fish in the Northern and Southern Air Temples + surrounding villages.

#avatar: the last airbender #air nomads #airbenders #aang the last airbender #headcanons #culture #reincarnation #moksha #karma #air nomad culture #aang #air temples #flying bison

[airteacher]

Master Tenzin, how many of the air temples have you been to ?

"All of them. Visiting and learning of their history is an important part of the training. Regular pilgrimage among them is also tradition."

#linnorabeifong #air temples #air nomad culture

[demaparbat-hp]

Handprint

#atla #avatar the last airbender #zuko #katara #zutara #atla art #atla fanart #zuko fanart #zuko art #katara art #katara fanart #atla zuko #atla katara #katara of the southern water tribe #prince zuko #zuko x katara #katara x zuko #Western Air Temple #zutara art #zutara fanart #avatar #She figures it out on her own #And Agni it hurts #Who's up for killing papa Ozai? #fire lord ozai #This is one of my favorite ZK headcanons of all times. Katara just... putting the pieces together and figuring out what happened to Zuko. #It's a different kind of angst #Zuko's scar having the shape of Ozai's hand is heartwrenching. I get why some people describe it as a comet and whatnot. But a Handprint... #The visual metaphor... #Agni help Ozai 'cause I fucking won't

[thyinum]

A forgotten memory of home

#atla #aang #yangchen #avatar the last airbender #air nomads #air benders #western air temple #atla fanart #украрт

[comradekatara]

in which zuko is still adjusting to the group dynamic, and katara's got jokes

#id in alt text #atla #avatar the last airbender #i like to think that this is set at the western air temple #when katara still hates zuko's guts #but she would simply never miss an opportunity to make a mean joke at toph's expense #zuko #aang #momo #katara #aang&zuko #aang&momo #momo&zuko #katara&toph #art #mart #[aang voice] good one katara! #if katara wonders why her dinner has 50% more sand in it than usual that night. well that shall simply remain one of life's great mysteries

[candle-scm]

not thinking things through

#atla #avatar the last airbender #zukka #zuko #sokka #digital art #atla fanart #my art #artists on tumblr #i like to think sokka and zuko started sucking face at the western air temple #which is fun because it brings the angst of falling for somebody right before a life-or-death battle #and also sokka lamenting being fwb with the worst guy ever #even if he is recently reformed and maybe not so bad #hes still zuko #and sokkas rationality goes out the window #no matter how hard he tries #also obligatory rip toph #school has been kicking my ass but im still going to draw zukka dammit

[myhyperfixationisiforgot]

The ATLA renaissance shifting the fandom from Zutara towards Zukka without actually changing the ship dynamic is so fucking funny because most of the time it functions pretty well. However today I saw another 'oh Sokka had this forbidden crush on Zuko from the beginning' and. Look. What happened there? Seriously, did we watch the same show? Fucking nobody likes Zuko from the get-go! He's an acquired taste at best. Jet notably falls for Zuko at first sight under explicitly false pretenses. Sokka has both a brain and a decent understanding of Zuko's early role in the Fire Nation. He would not say that.

#i have nothing against zuko/sokka i just have strong feelings about fanon sokka #to be clear they are negative feelings #like sokka's early picture of zuko is an heir-apparent to the worst genocide in living memory #and there are signs to the audience that this is changing - that zuko is changing - but sokka doesn't ever see those #sokka isn't katara or aang. there's no necklace. he doesn't have positive feelings toward zuko until the western air temple at the earliest #avatar: the last airbender #zukka #sokka #zuko

[whoareyousaidthecaterpillar]

I'm super pleased with how this one turned out! I started it a while ago, but set it aside because it was looking real rough there in the middle, but I'm really glad I finished it.

Watercolor on paper, 5"x7"

#atla #atla fanart #atla landscape #atla scenery #atla air temple #atla eastern air temple #eastern air temple #watercolor #watercolor painting #watercolor fanart #atla watercolor #atla painting #avatar the last airbender #avatar

[wevemadeitthisfar]

in love with this tik tok by sfordaisy

#western air temple zutara at its finest #go send the artist some love #and outnumber the anti-shippers in the comments 🫶🏼 #zutara #atla #zuko #katara #zuko x katara #katara x zuko #avatar the last airbender

[zukkaart]

No one else has said it so I’m going to

The fact that they made the Air Nation women hijabis in LOK means so much to me.

I mean they made the women of air,,,the element of freedom,,,, hijabis,,,, they’re the only true allies. I wish we had gotten a scene in AtLA where Aang had a bit of a flashback/emo moment upon seeing a woman wear a headscarf.

#avatar the last airbender #atla #aang #the legend of korra #air nomads #air temple #hijabi representation #lok #avatar wan

[zukosdualdao]

the fact that zuko blusters and threatens to give zhao a scar “to match” his own when zhao is being a jerk about it and then not only does zuko not kill zhao, he doesn’t actually burn him at all despite his threats… significant

#atla rewatch ‘24 #zuko #zhao #zuko & zhao #the southern air temple

[sokkastyles]

In "The Western Air Temple," when Zuko joins the gaang he is shown to a room and told to unpack, which implies that every one of the gaang has their own room.

Yet they all continue to sleep in the same room in sleeping bags while they're at the Western Air Temple instead of in seperate rooms. Which I guess has some practical reasons - they're less vulnerable to potential danger if they stay together, and also have the advantage of being near a heat source - but it's also kind of sweet. It's not like they're out in the wild, they're in a temple built to house many people and could have stayed in seperate rooms, yet they sleep near each other.

#zuko #sokka #aang #katara #toph #the western air temple

[silima]

#uncaptioned cuz 😶 idk what to say #but im really proud of this art lol #lok #avatar the last airbender #avatar #legend of korra #atla #avatar korra #korra #aang #avatar aang #republic city #air temple island #artists on tumblr #id in alt text

[survivalove]

Air Temple Island, the Water Tribes & the Real Life Influences that bring them together

I was gonna screenshot a post I saw and add it to my post but I don’t feel like giving that individual attention (and the 300+ notes they got), so I just decided to make my own standalone post debunking this narrative that air temple island is this fully air nomad brothel (yes they said this) with ZERO water tribe motifs which katara is forced to live in until aang passed away.

frankly it just reminded me of how little people in this fandom actually bother to analyze the actual content, instead preferring to write entirely made up scenarios of katara being reduced to an air nomad incubator along with dozens other female acolytes (yes they also said this lmao. also them acting like both male AND female acolytes weren’t living on the whole other side of the island 😭)

when in truth, i’ve come to find a lot of elements of both water tribes as well as traditional inuit elements across air temple island:

1. the paifang

a traditionally chinese element that for some reason is exclusively found in the northern water tribe (why do they have a gate inside a throne room, you ask? ask the white people that made this show). the one on the left is actually one of two aang BUILT, at the main entrance and another at the temple entrance. this is just one example of water tribe design on the island.

2. the bagua mosaic

another structure is the bagua mosaic on the training grounds. bagua is a set of traditional chinese symbols of the cosmology, taoism. the bagua composes of 8 sets of broken or unbroken lines that represent yin and yang. where have we seen yin and yang in the original series? oh yeah, as tui and la of the water tribe! (because atla is a mess of asiatic and indigenous motifs joined together and spread out across each nation, mainly traditionally chinese elements at that.) aang building this right next to the air nomad training grounds is a symbol of the dual bending heritage their children will have.

3. gold and blue accents

now, gold and blue are the main colors of the exterior structures but is also very strong inside the air temple itself. note, the massive air nomad symbol designed fully in blue in the center and the blue banners and rugs throughout the temple. this is no doubt, for me, a visual depiction of both katara and aang’s representative cultures, but of course this is not limited to color only.

4. cloud carvings

now, this is a slight detour since clouds aren’t a significant part of either of their individual cultures (that we know) but i love the kataang monopoly they have on clouds as a couple so i’m talking about it. if you look at these images very closely what do you see? CLOUD CARVINGS!! specifically near the ceiling of the pavilion (left) and the arches and walls of the temple (right) just imagining aang painting and etching these very consistent swirls, like he’ll never be the selfish inconsiderate unromantic loser you people want him to be, but let’s get more into the southern water tribe style interior.

5. interior design

so here is a southern water tribe white lotus outpost vs the air temple island main dining room. first thing, the seat cushions and rug! while we don’t see air nomad eating quarters we do get to see enough SWT customs both in atla and lok, to know this is how they traditionally eat compared to the north (limiting myself on pics cuz mobile).

another thing is the dining table itself. both have what i believe to be built in fire pits (i couldn’t actually tell for the air temple island one cuz of the quality but if you zoom in you can see the lines go in the table plus the hanging kettle on it makes it obvious to me idk). the southern water tribe one however is clear and likely a more traditional version of what aang and katara have.

thirdly, the exposed timber on the ceiling. i actually looked it up and found this is a common element of these two inuit structures: left is an aasiaat peat house and right is an igloolik turf house. all this for me to believe not only did aang build air temple island to be a haven for the TWO of them but also that katara herself had a lot of input on the interior than people care to notice lol.

maybe instead of projecting these loser fantasies of katara being some unwilling air nomad baby making machine so you can feel better about your fantasies of katara living in a red palace with people that tried to wipe her out for a whole century, you all can go study the actual canon you were shown and the real life cultures the franchise takes from.

6. lastly, some of my own headcanons/stuff i want to see in the movie

the bathroom because I LIVE for a white marble tiled bathroom. i just know katara has to have a HUGE tub and they have one of those insane glass showers that can fit like 3 people, with cloud swirls everywhere because aang clearly got it like that

the KITCHEN, i imagine it being timber like the dining room and is probably on the other side behind the built-in shelf (get into the details like hello). in a perfect world, it would be open plan but hey

the bedroom, now we saw it in lok a bit but i wanna see it in the gaang movie too. i’m on pic limit but there’s a lot of artwork and flowers throughout the whole house which i give katara credit for because I can. like the desk, the bookshelf, that fancy looking vase thing? these two clearly have taste like don’t talk to me rn

I also didn’t show the rooms and aang’s study but there’s a lot of blue decor in those places which makes me think katara decorated the whole house, even the acolytes’ hall has blue sitting cushions and columns which i think is such a nice detail.

if you guys have any air temple island headcanons of your own please reply with some i’m feening lol

big shoutout to this user:

atla-annotated (their page is so great and filled with a lot of incredible information if you guys like this sort of stuff)

#atla #kataang #anti anti kataang #anti anti aang #aang the builder #i’ll keep saying it #anti anti katara #anti zutara #enough of with these loser fantasies #i’m sorry kataang will never have that cold sad narrative y’all desperately want them to #they need their own architectural digest house tour at this point #katara interior decorator fic when?? #i need the hgtv kataang fic too btw #my fic ideas #my headcanons #air temple island #lok #cloudfamily #water tribe #air temple

[moonlithourstudio]

3/4 - Southern Air Temple

...

i was super excited to post this one since the south air temple is definitely one of my favourite redraws simply because of the color pallette and the serene atmosphere 🍃

#digital art #digital illustration #digital drawing #digital painting #art #artists on tumblr #illustration #artwork #illustration art #avatar the legend of aang #avatar the last airbender #avatar #atla #atla fanart #screencaps #redraw #fanart #air temple #painting