#swamp tribe

[theduckeminence]

sometimes i think about the atla world and its geography and how the world is structure. whenever i see the map i keep thinking that thats just ONE side of the world and that theres a whole other side that was never discovered. and then i remember that according to our history that, as human beings, we all once thought that there wasn’t much to the world than the couple continents, land, and ocean we lived on and owned.

that was until the age of exploration and the “discovery” of the americas as well as several more other places around the world that we realize the world is a much bigger place than anticipated.

imagine new lands containing the numerous possibilities of new cultures and land of other benders and new practices of living. i thought back to that one post talking about creating a land inspired by Ethiopian culture, to my moots/friends adding a latine-inspired earth kingdom town. all those possibilities…

with that being said, i hope to create a tropical tribe of water and earthbenders that live on a group of islands—with the tribe being inspired on precolonial filipino cultures.

[nyamadermont]

Fake fic titles:

Twenty-five or Six to Four

Bad Moon Rising

Finally! I was so befuddled, it's taken me ages to work out something intelligible.

I hope these don't disappoint.

Twenty-five or Six to Four

Lin sits on the floor of her apartment wondering how to exhaust herself into forgetting her so-called ‘life’ - working 25 hours, or working the night shift.

Bad Moon Rising

People of the Swamp Tribe discuss whether to join that funny little airbender on his mission, far away in the Fire Nation.

[psychologeek]

OK but it's actually very close to how my HC about the world. Like, I have this thought on how things go and it's 100% go with "The Water tribes used to rule the world too in some past time".

[Then they were banished\retreat, so now they live as the main population only in the Polars, where they are also the strongest. But there's a swamp tribe, and some in the Ba Sing Se, Kiyoshi Island, and (strangely) one of the Volcano Islands.]

I have this very complex worldbuilding in my head. huh.

I like to think that at least once, the Avatar cycle seemed to skip the Water Tribe—like people knew it was the water tribe’s turn, everyone was looking for them, the tests are done on all the kids, but like 60-80 years go by and no avatar until some Earth Kingdom kid shows up. People wonder if the cycle skipped a generation or what, but nothing serious was going on at that time so they shrug and move on.

It’s only many many years later that someone is researching Swampbender oral history and someone tells the story of “Ol Stinky Jess, she was a funny one, could light the swamp on fire an’ all sorts o’ shenanigans! Best catfishgator catcher in the tribe, she was” and thats literally it, she just lived a totally chill life in the swamp and nobody knew what an avatar was at the time so they just rolled with that funny gal’s odd bending ways.

[tuktukpodfics]

Thinking about how underrated the Foggy Swamp Tribe was in Avatar.

In the show they’re mostly played for laughs. They don’t wear pants, they have thick accents, they don’t seem to know much about the Northern and Southern Water Tribes. But they're a lot wiser than they're given credit for. Not to mention they're big dang heroes.

The Banyan-grove tree

Philosophically, the swamp is fascinating. Their home is centered around a banyan-grove tree, a cross between a mangrove and a banyan—two trees symbolizing life and death.

Mangrove trees are the nurseries of the ocean. Sea life migrates to mangrove forests to lay eggs in the protection of their murky root systems. Bato may look down on the swamp people and make a snide comment about them not wearing pants, but the swamp people are the stewards of ocean life.

Banyan trees are trees of death. The banyan is a parasitic plant that grows by latching onto another host plant, eventually choking the host to death. Banyan figs are also pollinated through death. Wasps crawl into the immature fig, lay their eggs, and die inside it.

So this tree needs death in order to live. And it can’t provide shelter and food for animals without the death of other animals. You can see how this cycle of life and death is reflected in their worldview—which is completely ride or die.

Everything is connected.

The first thing they do once the gaang stops attacking them is call them kin. They bring them home and treat them like family. And I think the swamp people really do see them that way.

They could have comfortably sat out the war. They didn’t. The war might not have affected them personally, but they still felt responsibility to help.

Death is an illusion. 

They’re not even scared on the Day of Black Sun. They don’t seem afraid of death at all. They keep cat-gators as pets! For fun! Katara and Sokka are distraught by the visions of dead loved ones they see in the swamp gas. The swamp people live in the swamp gas all the time. Death is all around and they do. not. care. In fact, they embrace it, treat it like a normal, necessary part of life.

Sometimes I wonder what happened to the swamp people after the Day of Black Sun. They surrendered along with the other adults, buying the children time to flee. The swamp people have their own section in the crowd at Zuko’s coronation, so presumably they were released. But released from where? Were they locked in a prison for water benders like the horrific one Hama was imprisoned in? What happened to them in Legend of Korra when Kuvira harvested the banyan-grove’s vines? Where was their kin when they needed help?

[onefail-at-atime]

Okay.

BUT what if.

WHAT IF the live action actually does well?

What if Netflix decides to renew it?

What if they decide to do more than three seasons?

What if they lengthen Aang's journey of mastering the elements while building on the story of the resistance within the Fire Nation?

What if they decide to do more than three seasons and we get to see more of the Southern Water Tribe Warriors?

WHAT IF WE GET MORE TIME WITH THE SWAMP BENDERS?!

What if they extend the story arc for the preparation to invade the Fire Nation?

WHAT IF WE GET MORE OF THE WHITE LOTUS?!

Nobody would have to accept anything from the live action as canon (except for Oma and Shu because they're badass lesbians now) but would it be great to see some more world building?

Personally, I'd love to see more about the resistance within the Fire Nation and more of the resistance in the Earth Kingdom.

Optimism and positivity, my friends. 💚

[piichivii]

dew & cloudburst // sương, the destined

[hillectant]

yeah i'm crazy keep scrolling

(notes: swamp na'vi are inspired by cajun/mississipian/southeast native cultures and GATORS. they've got bigass tails but they aren't spiked or scaled like the desert river na'vi)

[kyoshi-lesbians]

and another thing *gesture to a white board with the words FOGGY SWAMP written at the center and various lines & shapes coming from it* the Swamp benders recognize Katara & Sokka as kin thru waterbending. their cultures are not alike, they didn't know the other tribe existed, bending is the only connecting point. water bending is so endemic to the culture of the water tribes that millennia can go by but as long as they keep waterbending alive they are one people. no bending and they aren't a people . Katara isn't just carrying the last of their unique cultural art, she is the last tie connecting her people to their identity.

[paragonrobits]

i don't know what the WESTERN Water Tribe would be, but I think its probably safe to say that the Foggy Swamp Tribe (given that they are explicitly Waterbenders and kin to the Water Tribes), postioned in the Earth Kingdom which can be presumed to have an eastern direction given the focus on the Fire Nation as being to the West, is the Eastern Water Tribe

[creepingroundthegarden]

Started off wanting to have a second character to play in my campaign and suddenly I'm 7 pages deep in the lore of the swampbased wood elf tribe I created and I'm working with my DM to create a whole new part of land for them

[niwow-s]

Haikyu!! - Avatar AU:

Waterbending Teacher in the Swamp

I had this idea a while back for a Haikyuu AU in the Avatar universe.

Tsukishima - Northern Water Tribe

water bender (associated with the moon) 🌙

specializes in ice (he's a cold person) 🧊

he's talented in making ice walls (middle blocker vibes)

from the northern water tribe (the moon fish spirit, Tui, lives there too!) 🌕

his older brother, Akiteru, exists in this universe. Told his family he was in the military (Tsuki used to idolized him when he was young) but turned out he didn't make it because he's not that good at waterbending 😅

Kuro - Foggy Swamp Tribe

water bender specializing in water walls and plants 🌊 (middle blocker vibes)

teaches tsuki his water wall making ways 🤓

likes to call anyone not from the swamp CITII BOY and laughs 🌃 (i know that's Tanaka's thing but he did laugh at the way he said it in canon lol)

There's more to this Haikyu - Avatar AU but my art skills won't let me sometimes. Maybe I'll update it someday?

[theduckeminence]

so while im creating these filipino-inspired tribal groups on the other side of the Avatar-world (which I’ll call Sun Islands or Solar Islands though the name is pending), I thought about adding a part of the island that is the the most modernized out of all the islands. This island would be inspired by 18th-century spanish-colonized Philippines, and the how this island (or rather small kingdom). But for a Native land to go so far as to turn into a modernized jurisdiction, while still retaining to their roots, it brought another question:

Or what if theres OTHER places not known to the Nations but close by to the Sun/Solar Islands that they interacted with and thus had a developing culture/environment?

And that such places are inspired by latine/hispanic cultures?

Now, while I’m unsure about the prospect of there being a place where it’s adjacent to Spain, I like the idea the Sun/Solar Islands and these other places that are a part of this “Hidden World” (a term I’ll be using to describe these hidden lands) interact with each other while remaining isolated and away from the 4 Main Nations.

And while the cross between Latine/Hispanic and precolonial Filipino cultures would be more or less different from when IRL Spanish-influenced Filipino era occurred, it would be interesting.

[baldyeosang]

ill never forget korra was airring and there was drama about like "ooohhh theres no white representation in the avatar universe" like. the swap benders are right there

[banqanas]

🏹 #SukiWaka cast comment from 🏹

Kimura Keito (FANTASTICS) as Aoyama Hiroto

💙Ikuko's junior from the same company

💙Handsome high achiever who always makes a move on Ikuko

#Overflowing with handsomeness and ability #That it's too bright for the eyes #You can't help but fall for him #Team Aoyama #Team Keito

Broadcast starts this spring!

Sukina Otoko to Wakaretai (I want to Break Up with the Man I Love) 2024 Spring drama by TV Tokyo adapted by the manga of the same name by Fujio Ai Synopsis: Ikuko, a working woman who is dating with Kurokawa Hiroji, a useless man who freeloads at her house and doesn't have a regular job). As Ikuko approaches the age of thirty, she is beginning to feel anxious about marriage and her future, and tries to break up with him in order to start seriously looking for a partner, but truth be told, she wants to be with Hiroji forever. Amidst all this, Ikuko is approached by Aoyama, a younger, high-spec handsome guy, who confesses, “I’ve always liked you.” Additionally, she’s advised by those around her that it might be better to break up with Hiroji… From: SukiWaka twitter

[atla-fashion]

Swamp Bender fashion

Jean Paul Gaultier Spring/Summer 2010  

[harleyification]

that swamp tribe korra au idea sounds g e n i u s

JSAIDOJSAJIODAS THANK YOU ANON!! YOU JUST MADE MY NIGHT!! here, have some more of my thoughts since I've been thinking of this AU non-stop and have been researching a LOT:

Korra's animal guide is still Naga, but I'm changing her species to fit Korra and the Swamp Tribe more! Here's a sketch I made a few days ago of Naga, the Wolverine-Deer!!

+ Some other sketches of animal guide ideas!

Naga's deer side is more inspired by the Sika Deer, since their adults tend to keep their spots! I chose the wolverine rather than the badger because wolverines are typically loner animals that can take down both predators and prey DOUBLE the size of them, which I think fits Korra's character more!

I've also been doodling around with Korra's design a little bit, since I don't think it would be a 1-to-1 copy of her canon design. Still, I haven't been able to settle down on anything just yet - especially since I've been trying to give the Foggy Swamp Tribe more of a culture rather than just being the Water Tribe's hillbilly cousins. I'm trying to combine both Native American tribes that lived in Florida and other wetlands with the obvious Vietnamese inspiration their tribe has! It's...taking me a bit, though, since I am researching multiple things at once while also being A Responsible Adult, skldjaldaja

So far, I'm settling down on these facts for my fic (cause I WILL BE WRITING THIS - SOMEDAY!!):

Senna is from the Foggy Swamp Tribe. Tonraq is still from the NWT. After his banishment, his ship veered off course and ran into the Swamp Tribe's delta, where he met Senna and decided to stay! He's not the chief, however, as I'm thinking that the most enlightened elders of the tribe are the elected leaders (maybe one has to meditate at the Banyan-Grove tree first before leading the FST?), and it is someone else at this current moment in time.

Sokka isn't dead! I headcanon that he died due to injuries in the Red Lotus attack, and..well...I don't think that goes exactly as planned in this AU, sjadkajdlade. Due to this, and thanks to him figuring out first that the water avatar was most likely Swamp Tribe, he has a bit of influence in Korra's life!

(Zukka will be in this btw, since I Love Them, but they won't take priority.)

Korra wasn't taken by the White Lotus when they discovered who she is. The Foggy Swamp Tribe is very protective of their own and who they see as family, loyal down to the bone, and when the White Lotus says that Korra has to go to their Southern Water Tribe facilities to be taught bending, they REFUSED it. I like to think that the family unit and community is INSANELY important to the Foggy Swamp Tribe, and just because Korra is the avatar doesn't mean that she needs to be taken away from her home.

So, basically, Korra grew up with her community and has childhood friends rather than being isolated like in canon! This changes a bit in how she approaches Mako, Bolin, and Asami when she meets up with them eventually. (AKA, fuck the romance triangle, I ain't doing that)

The entire plot of Korra has changed - due to Sokka being alive, Korra's stance on non-benders is different. Due to growing up in the Foggy Swamp Tribe, who teaches the ideals of everything and everyone is connected and that connection is important, Korra also goes about defeating Vaatu differently. Due to Tonraq never making it to the SWT, almost everyone thinks he's dead (mail can't exactly get through tall trees or extremely vicious animals), so Korra never even met Unalaq either...

That's all that I have thought of for now! Thank you for the ask, Im so SO HAPPY that you like my silly lil FST Korra AU!!!!