#Air Nomad!Ty Lee

[avatarrdd]

Can we appreciate comics Mai😌

[janadoesstuffwrong]

Thinking abt the air nomads:

What if, after the war, once the dust has settled a little, Aang goes back to travelling, hoping that maybe he can find at least some trace of surviving airbenders. As an added bonus, he gets to do more of the exploring and wandering that he had to put on hold.

Toph goes with him ofc. She only just got a taste of real freedom and it was overshadowed by ever-present impending doom. While she's on speaking terms with her parents, she isnt quite ready to be back under their roof on a permanent basis. The rest of the gaang have their individual homes and responsibilities that they get back to, though they join for the odd field trip or adventure when they can.

So anyway, they're touring all over the world and over the years they notice just how displaced so many people have become. EK citizens who barely escaped the blaze but lost everything; FN military now decommissioned with no idea how to carry on; people looking for a new start in the hard-won peace. Maybe it starts with Toph heading back to Earth Rumble, where a group of young runaways scrounge for cheap fights to make a little money.

At each turn they find more and more people with no homes to return to and no family to protect them; runaways escaping the roles the war forced them into. Gradually, Aang and Toph start to see that they aren't so different from themselves. They just want a new start.

So they decide to give them one. They clean up the temples and set up villages in the surrounding areas (helps to be master earthbenders), where people can arrive and stay as long as they need. Travellers and refugees pass through in droves, sometimes choosing to stay and rebuild their lives there, sometimes continuing in their wandering with a guarantee that they'll always have a place to return to should they have the need.

Over time, the lemurs grow in number and even some flying bison calfs (hybrids with a relative species maybe?), can be seen in the skies. Whenever the founders visit, it isn't the same but Aang feels a little more at home.

The first time someone asks Aang to teach him his philosophies, and expresses his desire to become a monk, how can he refuse? Maybe it's a former soldier, somebody who's done terrible things, looking for a path to redemption. So Aang teaches him, and then he teaches others. And though they may not be airbenders, they are as earnest and faithful as any nun or monk Aang knew before. The temples become filled with new faces: Firebenders, Earthbenders, Waterbenders and non-benders all wearing Air nomad orange and yellow.

Aang always feared that it would be his responsibility to have airbender children, and the idea of forcing that on someone he loved terrified him. Maybe that's why he waited so long before acting on his feelings for his best friend, his travelling companion, his fellow-village builder and temple-restorer. How could they have a truly happy relationship with this pressure hanging over them? He wishes he could be content with the new way of things that he and his friends have created. But he knows that he can't be the last airbender forever...

Nobody knows why some children can bend the elements and others can't. Is it blood? Is it blessing? Is it the land in which you're born? Or is it the simple allocation of fates decided by the values and norms you're raised believing in? Is it enough to be surrounded by the culture and beliefs of the Air Nomads? Nobody knows...

All they know is that nobody sees it coming when the six-year-old daughter of two non-bender villagers from the Earth Kingdom and Northern Water Tribe sends herself flying twelve feet into the air with a sneeze.

[polls4you]

Avatar The Last Airbender: Choose your favorite character! (Round 3)

[zuko-always-lies]

Historically Accurate Polyamory and ATLA?

One thing that's inexplicably on my mind right now is that East Asian royal families were generally historically polygamous, so if you wanted to have Azula or Zuko or King Kuei or some other Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom royal or noble take multiple partners, that would actually be reasonably historically accurate. It seems like the Fire Nation royalty has avoided polygamy in recent decades (or you would expect the royal family to be much, much bigger), but isn't the point at the end of the series that they are supposed to return to old ways?

Interestingly, some of this applies to the Water Tribes as well. Although I don't know nearly as much about this subject as I know about East Asian royalty and I don't want to say anything too confidentially, I know some Inuit groups sometimes practiced polygamy. I also know that some groups sometimes practiced "spouse exchanges" where two couples would temporarily exchange spouses in order to create fictive kinship between them. Although the SWT is not identical to historical Inuit groups and the NWT in particular seems very, very different with it's city and state, I think you could definitely justify polyamory being in the tradition of both Water Tribes.

While the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Water Tribes might have traditions of polygyny (where one man marries multiple women), the Air Nomads might have a very different traditions. They are inspired at least in part by Tibetan Buddhism, and Tibet has it's own traditions of plural marriage. Historically, the most common type was fraternal polyandry, in which two or more brothers would take the same wife. However, apparently polygyny, conjoint marriages, and of course monogamous marriages were also historically acceptable in Tibetan society. Of course, there were specific economic reasons why fraternal polyandry made sense in Tibet, which might not apply to the Air Nomads and we really don't get a sense of how their marriages and family life might look like, but it's another reminder not to force their culture into "Western marriage norms, circa 2007."

With all the various forms of plural marriage that would theoretically be culturally appropriate, I think you can culturally justify just about any form of polyamory you are interested in writing.

[punkeropercyjackson]

"Katara should've been Zuko's endgame instead of Mai!She's his opposite in a complimentary way so they understand eachother better than anyone else and he obviously loved her and they're perfect together!"

Anywayyyyyy.......Katara is Aang's forever girl,Ty Lee is Zuko's perfect girl.Moving on!!

[theduckeminence]

Yk a part of me wonders why the Fire Nation is often more explored and well-liked by the fandom than other nations like the Water Tribes or Air Nonads.

Like yeah, the Earth Kingdom has its fair share of interest among the fandom but my point still stands

I just wanna know why so many people gravitate more towards the Fire Nation than any of the other nations.

[metellastella]

It’s so funny to me that we got art of the grown-up Gaang so late after the series ended.

Because in those intervening years, I pictured Aang and Toph being small adults. I mean they’re both literally based on Chinese people (and Tibet).

So Toph would continue to be this force to be reckoned with, but look unassuming- the Pint-Sized Powerhouse trope, or Cute Bruiser.

And Aang would always be this dainty-looking airbender who was maximally enabled to fling himself in the air and flip and stuff

as it goes,

He'd fly through the air with the greatest of ease

A daring young man on the flying trapeze

His movements were graceful, all girls he could please

So now I’m reflecting on the fact that I’ve just written a passage that references almost-sixteen year old Aang’s ‘canon’ height, and reminiscing about when I wrote older!Toph as a moderately-muscly-but-still-small woman.

[kyoshi-lesbians]

hi anon 👋 i'm not going to respond directly to that post (there's a lot there) but I will go into why I personally find ty lee & suki interesting!

the fun part of tysuki for me is that they would not get along at first. it would take time for both of them to trust each other and significant growth, especially for ty lee. (also, to note for this analysis, I interpret ty lee as having air nomad heritage and being aware of this in some way. that’s just sort of the base for any post-war imaginings I have for ty lee. an interpretation of their relationship where ty lee is not an air nomad is interesting for how it is a sort of microcosm of the decolonization and reconciliation that must take place after the war, but I won't delve into that.) what makes their dynamic compelling to me is suki’s justified distrust of ty lee and ty lee striving to become worthy of suki’s trust −  because she would respect suki, who leads the warriors with love and compassion and without competition, unlike any group ty lee has been part of before (including the circus, the cruelty of which we see through the eyes of appa). 

first step would be ty lee sincerely apologizing to suki for her role in the war. no matter the circumstances ty lee was operating under, she caused immense harm to the world and suki personally. ty lee may have earned the trust of the other warriors but suki wasn't there for that - that suki doesn't advocate to kick her out of the warriors is a testament to the level of trust between suki and her sister warriors, and probably the structure of decision making in the group as well (consensus or majority rule). 

but as an ongoing practice, ty lee would struggle to let her guard down around the leader of a powerful warrior group, while some honest vulnerability is a part of what suki would need to trust ty lee after the war. their skills and personalities complement each other, but only after they understand the logic the other operates under. 

as intelligent as ty lee is, as much as she can recognize and appreciate that the kyoshi warriors have a unique culture that is nothing like the fire nation, ty lee has been operating under (cultural) threat for her entire life in the fire nation and direct physical threat from azula for several years (childhood, with a break from her time in the circus, to being back under her thumb in more danger than ever.) her way of navigating the world wouldn’t completely change, but I do think it will take time, energy, and a lot of healing for ty lee to develop a ways of relating to people (other than mai) that are more emotionally honest and healthy.

but ty lee could. as a part of the warriors she would start using her people skills for group cohesion instead of solely her default state of personal protection (and, even more important to her, protection of mai). she starts to consciously consider it her social role/ responsibility within the warriors to manage the tense moments that come up in any large group −  even a tight knit, disciplined sisterhood like the kyoshi warriors. once suki recognizes ty lee is actively choosing to do this for the group, only then does she fully emotionally accept ty lee as one of the warriors. suki (to her own surprise) even starts to rely on ty lee's perceptiveness for group dynamics during difficult situations.

however to suki's dismay, ty lee can read her too, including when suki is struggling but not showing it for the sake of the other warriors. initially suki would be deeply uncomfortable with this, offended even when ty lee attempts to support suki personally (how dare she question suki's leadership? suki is fine. she's a teenager leading an elite warrior group while reconstructing her village, their island, other towns in the earth kingdom, providing advice to the fire lord to maintain world peace, she's fine, she even got a full 4 hours of sleep last night. she doesn't need ty lee telling her to take a nap while ty lee takes over leading afternoon training) but suki grows to accept the support, eventually recognizing that she has a responsibility to her girls to take care of herself.

I'm oscillating on whether they would develop a leader/second-in-command type dynamic. it's a role ty lee could slot into comfortably, hopefully now in a healthy way. either way, the work they go through to trust and understand each other would, i think, create something beautiful. 

and maybe, after some time (and a visit from aang) ty lee would open up about her heritage to suki. and suki, who as a kyoshi islander exists on the margins of the earth kingdom and whose home was destroyed by colonial powers, would understand. (this shared personal understanding is maybe the one thing that mai can't provide ty lee. and I think mai would recognize this and be grateful for the people in ty lee's life who can, like suki.)

ty lee wouldn't stay on kyoshi island forever… maybe a year or so before moving on to the most important mission for herself and the most meaningful she could do in the service of kyoshi: rebuilding the air nation with aang and her own family. but when she or suki need some rest or some fun, kyoshi island is just a bison ride away.

[the-badger-mole]

Do you believe in the “Ty Lee is an Air Nomad” theory? I think it would work with your thoughts on how Air Nomads treat non-benders.

"Believe" is the wrong word for it. I find the idea interesting, and I think it adds depth to Ty Lee's background and history, but do I think that was the canon intent? Probably not, but only because I don't think the writing team put that much thought into her. That being said, the lack of care given to her development means that pretty much anything goes, as long as the story is compelling enough.

[elijones94]

🌸 Is Ty Lee an air nomad? 🔥

[frost-queen]

Zuko 

• Have mercy, Oh fire lord (sis!R)

• Tickles that heals all

• Falling leaves (LA)

• Omahu’s beholder (LA)

• My mortal flaw series (LA)

Sokka

• A lie with good reasons

• Elements in harmony (LA)

• What fire reveals (LA)

[avatarrdd]

As an only child I'm crying🫡

[horroraceman93]

An overprotective Azula holding Ty Lee back from anyone would take Ty Lee from her.

That's a Femslash February 2024 Fanart all right!

[polls4you]

Avatar The Last Airbender: Choose your favorite character! (Quarterfinals)

[echothelover]

Sure ATLA canon says Aang is the last air bender, but that's not going to stop me from writing about an Air Nomad diaspora in every single one of my fics

[greenmoons]

How Ty Lee learned chi-blocking?

Yes, I know about all of the of airbender ancestor theory or she is an airbender herself, but I don't like it, I think it's stupid. This ability is ancient one, part of the history, was known in all four nations, airbending is not related. Maybe they invented it long time ago, but regardless, it's not related. The water tribe learned about chi in healings and all of that so they might have invented it themselves. We do not know. So yes Ty Lee has grey eyes, who cares. The eyes are the only hint for a possible ancestor, which could be logical because we know from avatar legends that's a lot of airbenders lived in the Fire nation in Roku's era. But it's still not an explanation for her abilities.

What I want to talk about is how she learned this secret technique. We saw in the Avatar comics chi-blockers from the Water Tribe and the Earth Kingdom, but only now in the roleplaying game we got information about chi-blockers besides Ty Lee.

Fai Lan was a gang member in the Fire's nation capital city who knew chi-blocking. He was active few years before the series begin. Now a little reminder, Ty Lee had a hard time with her sisters, it wasn't easy for her in her house. So, she could have meet him at some point in the street of the city, even though it's not a place for a nobleman daughter to be, Ty Lee doesn't seem one who care. So, she could learn it from him, even before the circus she was good in acrobatics, so he could be impressed by her.

I know it can be sound weird that a criminal will notice Ty Lee and won't hurt her. So I have another direction but it less solid. There was another person from the Fire Nation who knew chi-blocking, it was Zeisan, Sozin's sister. Maybe she taught the technique to someone and this person was there to teach Ty Lee or someone else this person taught the chi-blocking. If Ty Lee's knowledge indirectly related to Sozin's sister it could be really interesting and ironic.