#Water Tribes

[theduckeminence]

Avatarverse Worldbuilding Concept:

What if the reason why the world of Avatar is so mish-mash in terms of culture is because during those years prior and during the process of unification of the Four Nations, alot of existing cultures continued to exist and persist in various spots among the nations?

What I mean by this is that numerous aspects of East Asian cultures (mainly China and Japan/Imperial Japan) existing primarily in areas of the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom could be the result of trade and migration — thus leading to major cultural exchanges between nations, and possibly certain aspects engraining itself into the nations’ way of living.

For instance, Kyoshi Island.

(image resource)

Kyoshi Island is most notable in its Ainu influences regarding the fashion of its residents. Quoted from a post by /@atlaculture (who’s going to be a large source for this post), they stated the following:

“The Ainu (アイヌ) are an East Asian ethnic group indigenous to Hokkaido (the northernmost island of Japan) and the Eastern Russian islands of Sakhalin and Kuril...Kyoshi Island exists in close proximity to the Southern Water Tribe, having their inspiration be the Ainu, whose islands are in close proximity to the Yupik and Inupiat peoples of the Bering Strait…”

Going off from this information, there’s two things that come to mind.

Since the Ainu is an ethnic group indigenous to Hokkaido — a northern island of Japan— neighboring with islands that also home other ethnic groups such as the Yupik and Inupiat people, this can offer an interesting concept that can add onto the Avatar world—

What if the ancestors of those born in Kyoshi Island consisted of a mixture between earth kingdom residents, & settlers from both from the Fire Nation and the Southern Water Tribe?

And since we don’t see it too often within the EK or other nations, aspects of South East Asian cultures could also be apart of cultures that exists within the islands of the Fire Nation — which can give the idea that those cultural influences could have originated from certain areas of FN for most of the time (unless I might of missed smth whenever I thought about the EK).

And the reason why the FN seems to lean more towards the ideas of Japanese, and the Earth Kingdom seems to lean more towards Chinese influences (at least, among major towns, groups, and cities such as Gaoling and Ba Sing Se), this could be because of cultural trends that had to the prominence of said ideas.

(Shown here is Toph wearing a Hanfu outfit from the Tang Dynasty & Azula wearing a Southeast Asian garb reminiscent of Cambodian/Khmer fashion).

Furthermore, another idea I have in mind is why the Northern Water Tribe is different — visually speaking — compared to the Southern Water Tribe. Cultural values and traditions aside, the NWT seems to lean a bit less towards Inuit-inspired influences, and more so towards various of other cultures. While the Inuit influences still exist, there also appears to be a mixture of Mongolian influences, as well as hints of other cultures in it as well.

(image resources)

Here in the images shown are examples of the misc. cultural influences within the NWT. In the left image shows a background NWT character wearing a tassel that is crossover between a Korean norigae (a decorative pendant/good-luck charm) and a traditional Korean hair ribbon known as a daenggi. In the right is another background NWT character wearing a hat that’s reminiscent of a Mongolian hat. I’ve also seen alot of people telling about the more Siberian influences the NWT has as well.

Personally, I like to think the reason the NWT may have these differentiating influences could be partially due to cultural exchanging/mixing with neighboring Northern regions of the Earth Kingdom.

(side note: shoutout to @atlaculture for the wonderful resources and explanations on the world of ATLA that inspired me to make this post :3! I highly suggest checking out their blog if you’re interested in learning more about the cultural influences found within Avatar!)

[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

[siamesephoenixrandomideatank]

[Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss Characters as People of the Four Nations(Avatar)] (Based on Pre-Korra)

Charlie: Fire Princess.(Anti-Azula)

Vaggie: A Kyoshi Warrior.

Angel Dust: North Water Tribe, an unskilled bender.

Husk: Renegade/Excommunicated Airbender, disguised as nonbender of Earth Kingdom.

Nifty: Fire National maid. Losing an eye from the pirate raid.

Sir Pentious: A goofy guy from Swampy Tribe, moved to the southern region of the Earth Kingdom.

Alastor: Nonbender, but understand all philosophy of the four elements.(Like Iroh + The Hermit's unholy mix)

Lucifer: A Widowed Fire Lord. Weak claim.

Velvette: One of the few female Dai Li with nobility and respected rank.

Valentino: A brothel owner in Ba Sing Se. Having connection with Dai Li.

Vox: A nonbender of an unknown origin, working with pirates and merchants.

Adam: Corrupted Fire Sage/Noble.(Like Admiral Zhao)

I.M.P.: Blitzo is an excommunicated airbender(he might even be the Avatar), Millie a nonbending acrobatic fire national, Moxxie a nonbending Earth Citizen specialistic in a weapon, and Loona a Waterbender with a preference for positive Jing.

[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.

[masterhallmark]

Me in a couple of weeks when my orders of Air and Water arrive

[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.

[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

[kyoshi-lesbians]

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

[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

[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.

[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???

[theduckeminence]

he is looking respectfully,,,

Original meme below:

[demaparbat-hp]

He's never happy

[chiptrillino-art]

(ID in ALT text)

found the time to dust off and colour some sokkas! at least some concept to make sure our boy is well-dressed and protected through the episodes in season one. (i am not entierly sold on all though... hm...

you may also like: zuko, sokka, ty lee, suki,

[seasideoranges]

twitter // ko-fi

okay, maybe mom didn't say that last part..

[mah-o-daryaa]

THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING! EVERYTHING'S CONNECTED!!!

Uh, Kuruk, we get it. Someone acknowledged your opinion. Now get off my computer.

Fine.

Sometimes I think a lot about the overlap the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes have in the unsaid things, or the things implied by the biome: heavy emphasis on seafaring, how ocean kumquats are similar to sea prunes, the Painted Lady being a beloved water spirit specifically revered by a Fire Nation town, respect and appreciation for the opposite element (you can’t tell me the Fire Nation wouldn’t have a monsoon season to create all that lushness, or that the Water Tribes wouldn’t be thankful for the return of the sun after every polar winter)

Which also made me think about any overlaps or connections like that with the Air Nomad Temples and the Earth Kingdom: the temples are all built high up on mountains, but I feel like Air Nomads would appreciate the overwhelming sense of big sky that Earth Kingdom plains and more arid landscapes would have (if you’ve experienced the American Southwest, you know exactly what I’m talking about).

Nebulous thoughts, but I like to think about the overlaps and parallels of opposing elements a lot