#Republic city

[shockapple]

They are just so sweet 🥺❤️

[kowachi]

Beach Day in Republic City ⛱💕

Prints! https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/kowachi/beach-day-in-republic-city/

[19panophobia16]

Korra: "Can I ask a dumb question?"

Lin: "Better than anyone I know."

[count-horror-xx]

The one thing that truly irked me about legend of korra (there might be more I just can't think of them rn lol) is that there's not one mention of the kyoshi warriors. Not fucking one. And they're like multiple places they could of put them and I have three examples:

Zaofu

Literally instead of having guards that didn't know wtf they were doing, they could've had the kyoshi warriors. And before yall say "well it's a metal bending city they need metal benders" bro they could've had metal bending kyoshi warriors! And their uniform look like a mix between republic city police armor and traditional kyoshi warrior uniform. I know I'm definitely stretching with this one but hear me out. (Also thier fans I'm pretty sure are made of metal if not in lok they could make them metal) speaking of republic city-

Republic city

I feel like it would've made 100% more sense if suki had transferred some of the kyoshi warriors to be the protectors of republic city than toph all of sudden giving a shit about making laws and creating a police force. Like how cool would it be to have Lin be a kyoshi warrior??? THE daughter of toph beifong being a kyoshi warrior would've been cool as fuck.

Just keep them being the fire lords bodyguards

It's literally cannon that they protect zuko when he becomes fire lord 😭😭 I don't understand why they just didn't keep that for firelord Izumi. Especially during book 3 when zaheer was going after all the world leaders zuko could've mentioned the kyoshi warriors protecting his daughter but worried it wouldn't be enough or something.

Like dude kyoshi warriors were probably on of my fav part of og atla and I hate how they completely got rid of/ not mention it in lok 😭

[i-put-the-ass-into-sass]

rewatching ATLA and I just saw a little parallel of the avatar being humbled by an old grump (except Lin isn't that old and also MOTHER (freudly 😏))

[addictedball]

OK! Now it’s suffering time!

Imagine Aang and Zuko slowly getting to know each other at the Western Air Temple and then naturally develop a relationship so pure and romantic that grows just like them.

But life happens, they have to heal the world that was marred by the war, they search for Zukos’s mother, they have to move forward and build families.

Then they have to make choices and maybe one of them is drifting apart or hide their love. In TLOK we get to see that Aang wasn’t the perfect father. Maybe some of his travels to the Fire Nation have something to do with it.

Ohh a forbidden love 💔

[kingbadgermole]

Uh. This photo of Mako from the Republic City Setting Toolkit. That's it (I'm gay).

[silima]

[slutpoppers]

Tenzin being the baddest ever.

[blackflash9]

Aang Was Right: Ending the Cycle of Violence

The older I get, the more I endear and respect Aang's persistence and determination in adversity. It speaks to the will and strength of his character. Aang’s decision not to kill Ozai was more than just an act of mercy—it was a rejection of the toxic cycle of violence that the Fire Nation had perpetuated for a century. Those who pushed him toward killing Ozai were victims of the Fire Nation's cruelty themselves. Yet, ironically, they had fallen into the very mindset that caused their suffering: that might make right, and death is the only way to resolve conflicts.

Aang, having known the world and its people before the war, wasn’t just fighting to preserve his people’s memory or existence. He believed the world could be better than the broken state it had come to over the past century. His refusal to kill Ozai wasn’t just a personal triumph; it was a pivotal moment that kickstarted the path toward peaceful resolutions, setting a tone for the future.

This choice laid the groundwork for the diplomatic transformations we later see in The Legend of Korra, such as reforming the Republic City Council into a more representative governance system to ease tensions. Similarly, Korra's decision not to kill Kuvira, echoing Aang’s choice with Ozai, allowed for Kuvira’s redemption and opened the door for the Earth Kingdom to reflect on and eventually move away from its rigid monarchy toward a more democratic structure, as explored in Ruins of the Empire.

[shockapple]

How can we miss Korrasami?

[beifong-brainrot]

Considering what most tlok fans vs tlok haters feel about the setting of tlok, what are your personal opinions regarding the setting of Korra? Because at first I thought it felt jarring with the way it felt more “Americanized�� mainly because of how Republic City appeared, but then some said it does resemble (maybe?) east asian cities like Hong Kong for instance. But then I’ve also heard about the reason why it felt jarring to begin with was more so the idea it poses in terms of the Industrial Revolution and it’s relations to imperialism (post below):

https://medium.com/@nettlefish/the-inescapable-whiteness-of-avatar-the-legend-of-korra-and-its-uncomfortable-implications-debc76bbf7f

Honestly, this is a subject I've tried to not speak of directly, being neither American, nor a member of the nationalities primarily depicted in Avatar. So take my response with a heaping portion of salt, ok?

I personally have a love/hate relationship with Republic City. I like the idea of an are where the four nations intermingle, prompting progress and growth. I also have talked at length about how much I hate the fact that the plot seems to revolve around this shitty poorly utilised oriental reskin of New York.

As for the question of whether RC is 'orientalised Western cities' or if it was actually based on actual East Asian cities, I think it's a bit of both. Mind you, I only have access to old photos and drawings, so my comparisons won't be ideal, but it seems the general buildings of the 'bulk' of Republic City do resemble cities like Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo at the time.

It does however seem that the named buildings and areas, eg. places with actual importance seem to be be mainly inspired by actual western buildings.

Of course, there is also the issue that a lot of the buildings of major Eastern cities at the time looked the way they did due to western interference, and so we are posed with the question if Republic City, a city in a world where there are close to no European influences would even look like said cities.

But relying on these aspects of history leads us to irreversably tying westernisation to progress, which I cannot even begin to describe as a problematic and untrue idea. This further muddles the concept of tlok's industrial revolution, as it follows a very western pattern, eg. the devlopment of for example electrical power, telephones and telegraphs, and train lines which is what enabled another wave of colonialism. Trying to consider what would happen in a world where that never happened would be fascinating, and probably liberating for many cultures.

For example, would the world of Avatar even have a need for electricity in a world where Spirits and people who can control the elements with their minds exist?

I admit, it would probably be difficult to envision a modernised world without western/european influences off the cuff, but it is possible. It would take a lot of research and imagination, but it is possible. It would require isolating western influences and trying to establish new patterns in how the world could evolve without white ppl sticking their noses into everything. (I actually have personally been trying to 'reengineer' Republic City fashion bacause I want to redesign the Krew so I'm kinda in the depths of research hell on this lol. The things I do cause I miss sewing apprenticeship...)

The author of the article says that tlok is steampunk, which is an easy mistake to make, one I have made in the past. That still isn't the best choice for a post atla world, in my opinion. I believe tlok is actually more diesepunk. However, I'd say that if tlok wanted to cling to Avatar's clear wuxia inspirations, it should've opted for something like silkpunk, which, in simple terms, melds East Asian aesthetics, history and philosphies with fantastical technology. I say insimple terms because there is a lot more to silkpunk than just that, and not every "Asian scifi" is silkpunk, but if a creator were to attempt to do something of the sort, silkpunk would be a good jumping off point.

Here are some sources I personally used when researching the genre.

Ken Liu, the Author who coined the term Silkpunk explains the term

Interview with Ken Liu

Interview with silkpunk artist, James Ng

Now, when it comes to the sociopolitical narratives around imperialism and colonisation in tlok, I can only comment so much. But I agree with the author of the article that the Fire Nation imperialism and its results should've been explored more. And it would be SO easy. For example, in the comics we see a wealth disparity in between Fire Nation citizens and Earth Kingdom citizens of the area that would later become the Republic.

How would this develop over time? If we look at irl examples, we could see this gap become even wider due to lack of affirmative action. And, lo and behold, don't we already have an incredibly wealthy family canonically descended from Fire Nation settlers. Hiroshi may have described himself as just a humble shoe shiner, but it would be so easy to rework his backstory into being a nepo baby feeding off colonialism. Driving that point further, how would Mako and Bolin be treated as children of q mixed union? Would they be treated differently based on their bending abilities, or their appearance?

This could be easily incorporated into the characters' storylines and characterisation and would probably lead to some interesting dynamics, especially from the perspective of Korra, an outsider.

But the silence on the potential issues of discrimination in an america based city created off colonialism and imperialism is a symptom of another point. That Republic City is not only 'oriental America', it's also idealised 'oriental America.'

A lot of tlok feels like a very odd American centric fanfiction of history, with the America stand in always shoehorned in as important. Despite president Raiko being presented as an all around dickwad, Republic City itself is posed as a bastion of impartial fairness and as having a say in solving international conflicts. We're shown and told that extreme poverty exists in Republic City but we're never told why, we simply have to accept it as a fact of life, why don't we all go look at the cool rich ppl, look at Asami and her big airship, don't think too hard about Mako and Bolin's past.

The characters in charge of most of Republic City's important militias are nepo babies to soem extent, and skate by on their likeablity. Iroh II was cool for the ending of B2 and then got relegated to Raiko's spineless lackey. Lin is, in my probably very controversial opinion, a really bad chief of police in the most stereotypically American way possible.

I've talked ay length at how frustrating it is that we keep coming back to Republic City even when the actual plot is going on somewhere else. B2 and B4 have this problem in particular.

Instead of showing us primarily the perspectives of actually dealing with Kuvira or Unalaq's agression, throughout most of the seasons, the Krew are sorta chilling in Republic City talking how much it sucks that war crimes are happening somewhere else. It's giving American self centeredness to the max. But I think I've already screamed into the void about this a lot.

I will, however, say that the author of the article you sent me makes some crucial mistakes relating to the actual plot and scenes of tlok, which I wouldn't hold against her if it weren't the fact that she uses them to back her points. Points which are, mind you, mostly valid. But the author seems to misremember or falsely represent facts in the show to bolster these points, which is never a good look, even if you are making good points. For example, claiming benders being the only ones with political power in RC, as well as saying that the Council was made of benders, which is false. As is accentuating Korra's role as a Southern Water Tribe princess, whose father is somehow chief, despite also being the shamefully exiled brother of the Northern Water Tribe chief to bolster her opinion on tlok's theme on focusing on those in power. Korra is already the Avatar, a divine vessel. And her father being chief happened later in the show, after Unlaq was revealed to be a little shit. It is ultimately inconsequential to Korra's character, and makes her no more a princess than Katara was.

I can see what the author is trying to do and I think she makes good points, but it feels like she either didn't watch tlok very carefully, or is either intentionally or subconsciously skewing facts to fit her arguments. Making mistakes and oversights like this sours the whole text and is probably the reason I feel like agenda came first in this article. Be it a good agenda, it still leads to certain parts of the article feeling disingenuous to a cerain degree.

However, I do still see a lot of merit in the articke and agree with a lot of its points. I wish Republic City and tlok as a whole had delivered on the amazing concepts it offered, but due to a probable myriad of reasons, tlok will always feel slightly lacklustre to me.

[19panophobia16]

They made her look so fine and then just dropped her and did nothing with her character 😔 just some flashbacks and emotional damage.

[nerdycanible1]

Here is a little something I have for y'all!

So awhile back I've created a playlist for Republic City, with a bunch of old songs. Not entirely accurate or anything but songs I think Lin would like and such.

It was supposed to be a Lin playlist but I've ended up liking a whole lotta songs so I thought it would be better to think of it as Republic City Radio.

I've created two playlists, the second is sorta incomplete but I hope you enjoy them!

Here is the first one, it's a whole whopping 8 hours and some minutes. It's the type of playlist I fall asleep too. So I hope you like it.

And the second playlist is relatively the same but with more Chinese music. But if you guys like it or if you want to add your own music based in that era, send me an ask and I can invite you to help create it!

It's not much, I just wanted to share some music with you all and I am sorry if it doesn't feel like that old time vibe or anything but id love it if you guys listened to them!

And if you guys have any requests or questions feel free to comment below, send an ask or dms.

I also made a modern au music playlist for Kya, Bumi, Lin and Kuvira. If you want me to share those as well, I can! And I can always write little snippets or hcs about this radio stuff and how Lin or any of the others react to music and such!

Have a good day, evening, night! UwU

[myimaginationplain]

AU where Katara & Toph both set up premier waterbending & earthbending academies in Republic City; the two schools are dedicated to teaching holistic, unified forms of their respective elements, bringing together previously disparate styles. Katara's school teaches Southern style, Northern style, & Foggy Swamp style waterbending, without any gender-based segregation between self-defense or healing classes (no, bloodbending wouldn't be taught because Katara don't like that shit). Toph's school teaches her personal seismic style of earthbending, metalbending, & more classical forms of earthbending. Katara's academy is on the coast of Yue Bay, in sight of both Aang's memorial statue & Air Temple Island; Toph's academy is far inland, to the east.

Rather than Toph, Suki is the one who establishes a police/security force. Suki's police academy could have a special program with Toph's, so you'd still get those cool metalbending officers. But the school prioritizes non-bending combat first & foremost. Ty Lee's chi-blocking technique is taught there as a required course.

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Pitch for the Earth Avatar tv show (after Korra):

TITLE -

“Avatar: The Ballad of Inoue” (alt title would be “Avatar: The Tragedy of Inoue”)

STATE OF THE WORLD AFTER KORRA -

For this write-up, Korra lived to be around 120. So the setting is not just several decades after the end of TLOK, it’s also the Avatar world’s version of our modern day. Modern technology is now prevalent, such as computers/the Internet, firearms, commercial airlines, and television.

Regarding the international community, the world is currently in a Cold War scenario in which the nations are on the verge of another 100 Years War. The reason for this is that despite the rise of democracy in the Earth Kingdom, the system was corrupted by bad actors. The Earth Kingdom is now a false democracy; elections are shams since the ruling party - the One Earth party - remains in power while their opposition are all controlled.

The Northern Water Tribe and Southern Water Tribe were taken over by ultranationalists and have formed a confederation for the sole purpose of expanding their influence. The Water Confederation have also formed an alliance with the Earth Kingdom, stemming from their ancestral hatred of the Fire Nation. Despite this, they merely tolerate each other as both nations want to expand their own interests.

Meanwhile, the newly formed Air Federation (no longer Nomads) has grown wary of the Water-Earth alliance. Since they’re the newest nation, the Water Confederation and the Earth Kingdom have been subtly trying to turn the Air Federation into their vassal/puppet state. Basically, those nations are not respecting the Air Federation’s sovereignty. Because of this, the Air Federation have formed their own alliance with the Fire Nation. The Fire Nation have proven themselves to be trustworthy allies to the Air Federation since (1) they genuinely want to atone for causing the Airbender genocide and (2) they recognize the threat that the Earth-Water alliance poses to their own interests.

So the Cold War scenario is the Fire-Air alliance against the Earth-Water alliance. This scenario lasts throughout the entire show. Also, unlike Aang and Korra’s shows, it’s not clear which alliance is the one we should be rooting for. This is because one of the core themes of the show (which I’ll get into later) is that the Avatar is now considered a relic of the past. How are you supposed to maintain the balance of the world when you can’t tell who is in the right? Also, how can you operate in a world that doesn’t want you around anymore?

ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT THE STATE OF THE WORLD?

The world has gone through an Enlightenment period due to the rise of democracy. Now that more power is being shifted to the people rather than monarchs, public opinion of the Avatar has become extremely negative. This is because people have started to view the Avatar as someone whose authority supersedes the leaders of each nation - basically, a super fascist. For example, if one nation does something that the Avatar doesn’t like (such as Sozin setting up colonies in the Earth Kingdom), then the Avatar can go in and unilaterally take them down (which Roku sorta did).

This anti-Avatar sentiment started during the final years of Korra’s life, which is one of the things that Inoue talks about with Korra whenever her spirit shows up. But it’s not just Korra who is hated, even the past Avatars have lost their reverence to the people. Personally, I was imagining a scene where Avatar Inoue is walking down a street and sees a statue of Aang that’s been heavily defaced, with one of the graffiti being, “JUSTICE FOR OZAI / I STAND WITH OZAI”.

So a huge issue that Inoue has to deal with is that he’s living in a world that no longer wants him around. This ends up affecting his world view as he starts to wonder if the world is even worth saving anymore.

HOW ABOUT INOUE HIMSELF?

In contrast to Aang and Korra, I pictured Inoue to be a darker, angrier, more bitter, anti-heroic Avatar. But it’s not just because of the international politics and the anti-Avatar sentiment. For his backstory, I imagined something like this.

We start off with 16-year-old Inoue finishing up his training. With him is his own Team Avatar - Yuu (the comic relief), Ayumi (the love interest), and Sai (the loudmouth). Inoue, Yuu, Ayumi, and Sai head off into the world, excited to start their journey…

…flashforward 20 years later. 36-year-old Inoue is in a cemetery. We then see he’s paying his respects to Yuu, Ayumi, and Sai, who died shortly after the flashback sequence. No longer the bright-eyed rookie Avatar, Inoue is now bitter and angry, although it’s not clear why his team died (that’ll be answered in later seasons). Inoue has also been living off the grid since his team’s demise and he hasn’t been acting as the Avatar for those 20 years.

While in Republic City, Avatar Inoue is contacted by a woman named Marin. Marin is revealed to be an ex-Dai Li agent who has gone rogue after learning about an Earth Kingdom plot to assassinate the current leader of the Air Federation. Marin asks Inoue to intervene, which he refuses, saying that he’s retired from being the Avatar. Sometime later, Marin is hunted down by her former teammates from the Dai Li, their goal being to eliminate her. Despite Inoue’s refusal to get involved, his good nature shines through and he ends up saving Marin. Because of this, he’s now gotten involved in the Dai Li conspiracy. This plot ends up being the focus of season 1. The rest of the show focuses on the aftermath of Inoue being forced out of his self-imposed retirement.

So in comparison to the other shows:

* Aang’s show was about a naive kid who ran away from his responsibilities and his journey was to accept his role as the Avatar

* Korra’s show was about a hothead who had to learn how to appreciate the responsibilities of being the Avatar

* Inoue’s show is about a depressed, angry man who must rise from his lowest point (grief and depression over his team’s deaths / living in a world that despises his very existence) in order to embrace his role as the Avatar

HYPOTHETICAL CAST (not meant to be the complete list)

1) Avatar Inoue, the protagonist

2) Marin, the deuteragonist and the only other member of Inoue’s new team Avatar (so Inoue has the smallest Team Avatar when compared to Aang and Korra)

3) Yuu, Ayumi, and Sai, members of Inoue’s former team Avatar. They’re all deceased in the present day and the story behind their deaths is one of the main arcs of the show. If I had to pick a reason, they were killed by Air Federation assassins who were actually targeting Inoue because they feared an Earth Avatar would be too loyal to the Earth Kingdom. This would be a season 2 reveal.

4) President Jin-seok: The corrupt president of the Earth Kingdom, leader of the One Earth political party, and the main antagonist of season 1 (it’s his plot to assassinate the Air Federation leader).

5) Ruisa: The leader of the Dai Li and Marin’s mentor. She’s the secondary antagonist of season 1 since she’s the one who spearheads the hunt for Inoue and Marin.

6) Jiang: A social media icon who is the face of the anti-Avatar movement.

7) Prime Minister Noriko: The leader of the Air Federation. It’s revealed later on she’s Jinora and Kai’s great-granddaughter.

8) Masaru: Marin’s father, who works as an engineer in Republic City

9) Chief Mato and Chief Tarlo: The leaders of the Northern and Southern Water Tribes, respectively. They are also the co-leaders of the Water Confederation.

10) Fire Lord Zuko II: The leader of the Fire Nation. (And yes, I did imagine Dante Basco playing this character).