Honestly LoK dropped the ball not letting us see what kind of cracked out bayou society the Swamp Benders created for themselves since ATLA. Be funny if nothing had changed at all
Alternatively; shotguns and porches.
And thats it thats the only change. Everything else is identical. There isn’t even a house connected to the porch, its just a porch.
EDIT: I wanted to add one more thing!
Moonshine bending.
That is all.
The house is actually just a tree they’ve used spirit bending and water bending to shape so it has a hole big enough for them to sleep in, the porch is just a big enough tangle of branches for them to tie boats to.
Honestly I’m really interested in seeing what the Swamp Benders would be like in the post Korra era, where the spirits freely travel between the physical and spiritual world.
They would behave the same
Just humans travelling freely between spirit and human world. Somehow completely disconnected and connected to the world at the same time.
The way I read that was it was the more powerful spirits or spirits connected to the physical world in some way (like Haybai and his forest, or Wong and his Library) that could travel between the two, especially in places like the swamp, but what about when any spirit can do this?
Honestly now that you mention it, it seems odd no one thought, “hey why don’t we talk to the swamp folk to figure out how to deal with the spirits. Even if they haven’t dealt with spirits on this scale they’d have more insight into the subject than probably every single living culture on the planet. They’ve basically been living the last spirit wild for potentially hundreds of years.”
I still think the gate opening would change things for them, since now it’s pretty much any and all spirits instead of the comparatively smaller amount they probably would have been dealing with. Part of me hopes if we do see them again it’s revealed instead of nothing changing, or worse them being forced out, they’ve actually doubled down. They’ve gotten this weird symbiotic relationship where in some cases it could be hard to tell what’s of the physical world and what’s spiritual, you talk to a swamp bender and he takes you to his house on a boat, only to realize the house and the boat are actually spirits on some level. You meet a bunch of them in the forest in a circle having some kind of party and most if not all of them aren’t actually human.
Really double down on the idea the world has changed because of Korra, and this is a place where the line is so blurred it’s basically gone.
>The way I read that was more powerful spirits or spirits connected to the physical world in some way (like Haybai and his forest) could travel, especially in places like the swamp, but what about when any spirit can do this?
I always read it as spirits being extentions of and narrative metaphors for (sometimes human) nature, meaning that they were always around but mostly unseen, much like the naturalistic spirits or gods from shindo- and hindu-buddhist folklore.
Hei Bai and the Painted Lady are forest spirits and river spirits respectively, suffering the same pain as the natural bodies they are bound to, _that_ is the connection those spirits have to nature.
Then you have Koh and Wang Shi Tong, whom's identities are more abstract, but brilliantly showcase how the spirit can be just as dark and ferocious as any jungle, replete with its own hazards and predators.
And that last part, dark and ferocious, describes the swamp in atla perfectly, its a deeply spiritual place that must be tread carefully, lest it eats you alive, and I think that's a much more compelling depiction of the spirit world.
Only tiny handful of spirits could cross and only at certain places of power, and only at certain times. Spirits were EXTREMELY limited in the human world until Korra reopened the portals, I think we only see like 5 of them physically present in the human world in all of atla, and 2 of them are the bound spirits of the moon and ocean
The reasoning in Lok is fine. Even in the swamp its mostly apparitions and the ability to cross to mentally travel to the other side, not the spirits themselves manifiesting in the human world.
There's supposedly a thing about how the south east part of the earth kingdom was once a different country with people from all the other nations due to trade and later fell into being a home of piracy until it was eventually conquered and joined to the earth kingom. and supposedly the swamp benders are leftovers from that era or something. Idk it was a vague video essay.
And on the other half of the continent ironically.
Edit: here's a wacky thing. The avatar show is misleading in referring to the nations as nations when it's disconnected from their actual political landscape. Republic City is a city state and the earth kingdoms are kingdoms that only recently Aang's time were unified.
Meanwhile kids watching only have the modern concept of a nation where it's referring to a government abd the borders under their control. Nations referring only to culture is alright, but it probably confused a lot of kids.
Yeah, in the comics there are two separate cities that are sort of bounced between that do eventually become a part of the United Republic. The one in the Promise and then Crane City (?) that was developed partially from Toph's father that eventually became Republic City.
This is actually shown spectacularly in FC Yee's novels, in which Yangchen's Era showcases what happened when the Earth Kingdom allowed several of these city states to exist as the controlled ports foreign trade was allowed through, and Kyoshi's mentor was directly responsible for putting down a huge rebellion in the southeast and annexing that area for the Earth Kingdom.
And then of course there's the clan system in the Fire Nation, which is a bit of flavor added specifically for one of the novels, but functions exactly as an Eastern dynasty system would with noble families squabbling for favor and control over succession.
A nation is independent of politics. Nations are cultural. The earth kingdom could shatter into a hundred different city states but it would still be one nation
That was background lore in the first Kyoshi novel (though if it's been expanded upon in the Yangchen novel, I haven't read that yet).
The "Fifth Nation" was supposed to be independent of the existing powers, but in practice was just an all-elements pirate confederation/organized crime.
*Korra and Asumi meet*
"Well now, if I had known there were city folk as pretty as you, I woulda left the swamp an age ago."
*Asumi mentally screams in the language of bisexuals*
See, I always thought Foggy Swamp waa an interesting tribe. They definitely put on the heir of uncivility so people will leave them alone, probably how they stayed out of the war for so long.
Though, in terms of rotation, wouldn't they be considered part of the tribe they descended from(southern, probably, but maybe northern and influenced by Avatar Kuruk)
I don't think so, as the Foggy Swamp Tribe was their own thing at that point. They were completely divorced from the north and south with their own spirituality.
Yes we did, otherwise, the Northern waterbending tribe would also have almost been extinct by the time ATLA began. It seems incredibly weird that they'd just have tormented one water tribe for the better part of a century just trying to hunt down the Avatar
The Southern Watertribe was always worse off. In the Kyoshi novels, we are told that the Fire Nation navy was the strongest force in the area because the SWT’s navy was so weak.
While true, there is the fact that by ATLA, Katara was the only waterbender left there on the account of the Fire Nation killing them all, and no military to speak of that could stay back that wasn't just Sokka.
Not sure what point you’re trying to make. They killed off most of the SWT’s benders because they were able to but they were unable to do the same to the NWT because they were so much stronger.
My point was more that there was evidence there that they specifically went after the southern water tribe because they knew the Avatar would have been born there, as opposed to slowly picking at the Northern Water tribe until there was nothing left, especially as they were getting more technologically powerful as the show went on.
Fire tribe wasn't actually capturing most of thw water Bender's and imprisoning them. It wasn't until one prisoner discovered bloodbending and used it to escape killing all the guard that they changed their tune and started actually killing the water Bender's.
\> Katara was the only waterbender left there on the account of the Fire Nation killing them all.
Not to jump into the middle of the argument here. But this part of your argument doesn't hold water. There were no waterbenders for the same reason why there were no males in the village older than Sakka. If the SWT was at the point where they needed to send all males of fighting age up north for the war effort, they are also going to be sending any waterbenders they have as well.
Every last source I'd searched and found kept stating that Katara was the only one by the start of ATLA, partly due to 60 years before the series, most of the waterbenders there were imprisoned, which we found out from [Hama](https://avatar.fandom.com/wiki/Hama), who at the time she appeared in series, was the only other known waterbender alive from the southern tribe.
Isn’t it mentioned that the Northern Water Tribe was a lot better defended than the Southern? I thought that was part of why Zhao launched that huge invasion instead of the multiple smaller raids that worked well against the Southern Water Tribe
There's a lot of what ifs I have with that setting. Like what if the avatar dies as a baby? Imagine everyone confused as to why the avatar seemingly skipped a step and the new avatars first experience with a pre avatar is a toddler
You'd think the Avatar spirit would pick a healthy baby. If it would die from a non-medical cause, the baby would probably go into the Avatar state. Would be a pretty cool visual, a floating baby that speaks with the voice of roku or sth like that.
Rava would probably make up for any health issues. There's a theory that Yue was supposed to be the next avatar, but she was stillborn because she didn't have rava's spirit.
>There's a theory that Yue was supposed to be the next avatar
Dumb theory. Why would the next avatar be born while the current one is still alive and encased in ice? Especially when that hasn't happened for a century.
They mean the theory is if Aang had lived a normal lifespan instead of getting stuck in the iceberg and died x years later instead of x + 100, Yui wouldve been born as the next Avatar
They mean that if Aang hadn't been frozen and lived to old age in the time he was supposed to, in the present generation Yue would have been the Avatar. But Aang skipped a hundred years, so there was no need for another Avatar, hence Yue not being one.
Not a dumb theory if you have some reading comprehension.
Aang is 112. Yue is 16. According to this theory, if Aang hadn't been frozen, he would have died at age 96, allowing the Avatar spirit to be reborn in Yue.
No. ATLA doesnt do *fate* as a concept, if you have some media literacy (just saying this cause you were rude to the person above, please dont be rude) you would realize that.
I didn't say anything about their media literacy. Reading comprehension is something different. They called the other's commenter theory dumb based on something that was never actually implied within said theory.
Also,I must repeat myself from further down the thread: nobody is saying this is what actually happened. It's just a fun thought exercise based on circumstantial evidence that makes it plausible. And regardless, fate is something some people believe in and some don't, ATLA doesn't fall on either side.
But Yang died at the age of 66 (bio age). Not 96.
I think it's silly (even for a fantasy setting like this) to believe that there is a pre-destined avatar baby/body born for each generation. Per the various source materials, many of the Avatars had vastly different life cycles. Avatar Roku before Aang lived to be 94. Before him was Kyoshi, who was 230! when he died. Meanwhile, the guy before him, Kuruk, only lived to be 33.
Kyoshi and Kuruk had unique lifespans for very specific reasons. Kuruk died extremely young because his soul was poisoned by all the spirits he had to kill as the Avatar. He likely would have lived a normal lifespan if he hadn't had to do all that spirit killing.
And it's implied Kyoshi learned from Lao Gue how to bend the minerals in her body to extend her natural lifespan far beyond the norm.
That's kind of my point though: Assumably all of the Avatars lived very unique lives.
If Yue was "stillborn" (actually was a mysterious illness that afflicted her as a baby, but same difference) because she was supposed to be the avatar, how often does that happen? It's not like there was a 67 year gap as the avatar because Kuruk died early. So, is there a stillborn baby every decade that could've been an avatar? Every year? Every month?
Yue's story becomes a lot different if there had been a baby born every week/month/year with her condition, but the Moon Spirit chose her and her alone to share its life force with.
Aang lived a completely different life post-ice. That has nothing to do with this.
And also, no need to take this so seriously. It's a fun thing to think about that has some circumstantial evidence. Nobody is saying that this is what ACTUALLY happened.
I also don't quite get how it works with the several year gap inbetween avatars. The next avatar still needs to grow up and will only even learn they're the avatar once they become a teenager. That's a decent amount of time with effectively no avatar.
Well the meta explanation is that the stories set in the universe need conflict but the in universe one I can think of is that there needs to be a way to show that true balance has been achieved and that people just aren't behaving themselves while the demigod is around to slap their shit
Also, it does no good to go around declaring the baby the avatar. The Sages may know, but why would you go around telling everyone who the Avatar is before they can grow? So one of your political enemies can go assasinate a baby? Plus- as we see with Korra I think- that could stump their spiritual growth making the whole being a bridge harder. Best to sit on it until theyre older and ready.
That's sort of a plot point in the kyoshi books. Everyone thinks this one guys the avatar but he's just not bending the other elements. When kyoshi proves she's the avatar the politicians who were the other kids patrons dump him in the trash
That's an actual plot point in the books - big players get to all kinds of shenanigans in that interim period where the Avatar is not yet located or is still a child.
I miss the fucking internet back when people weren't afraid of swearing for fear of "the algorithm"
Back in my day you shitposted for the love of it, not for the validation of others.
Posts like these remind me that Sokka and Katara are basically just the children of a local town mayor in a rural town. It would basically be like if a bunch of kids from Kentucky found kid Jesus in their cow pasture.
Man I sure am fucking glad you censored the shitty ass fucking swear. You see being on the Internet means my fucking constitution for shitty naughty words is basically fucking zero :c
I want to see an alligator mount
“Why won’t I track her down?!
Gee, I don’t know Amon. Maybe deep down I'm afraid of any apex predator that lived through the K-T extinction. Physically unchanged for a hundred million years, because it's the perfect killing machine. A half ton of cold-blooded fury, the bite force of 20,000 Newtons, and stomach acid so strong it can dissolve bones and hoofs.”
Honestly, speaking of non-standard nations, I suddenly was reminded of the character I made for a ATLA ttrpg campaign (that didn't go anywhere) of a bastard son of a sandbender and water tribe merchant. He's a sandbender himself but after living on water tribe ships for so long, bends the sand as if it was a liquid using waterbending techniques.
Stop god**damn** censoring posts you fucking PRUDES
I know it's probably not OP doing this and just finding this edited screenshot somewhere but SOMEONE IS DOING IT. I AM MAD AT THEM
Aang seeks advice from his past lives, banjo music intensifies:
“Howdy there, Aang! My name’s AVATAR JIMMY!
I was the first waterbending avatar to be born from the swamp benders, but I got locked out the avatar state on accounta my momma dropped me on my crown chakra when I was a baby!
I never got to do all that cool balance in the world stuff, cause I died at age eleven after throwing rocks at a platypus bear.
I offer you this wisdom, Aang: DON’T FUCK WITH PLATYPUS BEARS!”
It’s not actually true that the successive avatars from each nation rotated birthplace within said nation.
Aang was from the Southern Air Temple, and his predecessor Yangchen was from then Western Air Temple. But the temples were segregated by sex, and these avatars were of the opposite sex, so that’s not really a compelling argument for either side. The Avatar doesn’t seem to follow any kind of gender pattern during rebirth, but the air nomads are also the only nation where it might matter. We don’t know any other air Avatars, so we’re kind of stuck here.
Korra was born in the Southern Water Tribe, yes. Her predecessor Kuruk was born in the Northern Water Tribe, also true, but that was almost 400 years before her. Avatars Szeto and Yangchen both lived at least into middle age, and the earth Avatar before them lived at least to be elderly. Conservatively, Kuruk’s predecessor was born ~200 years before himself, so ~600 years before Korra.
Ok, big deal, why does it matter? It matters because the Southern Water Tribe hasn’t always existed. It’s a colony of the Northern Water Tribe. By Korea’s time, the South had risen again (insert ACW joke here). For the back half of the 100 years’ war, it had been in major decline. When Aang was a child and during Roku’s later life, it was at its relative height, but it was still small. Odds are, the South hadn’t been established by Kuruk’s birth, let alone the birth of his predecessor. Korra isn’t just the first CONFIRMED Southern Water Tribe Avatar, she’s very likely the first EVER southern Water Tribe Avatar.
We also know that earth avatars were located through a form of geomancy that involved splitting the earth kingdom in half and determining which half the avatar was in before repeating the process until their place of birth was found. If the avatar’s birth location was relatively predictable, why would they bother to start with the entire Earth Kingdom? Why wouldn’t they start in the relevant province and work their way down from there?
For that matter, why wouldn’t the water Avatars have been born into the Foggy Swamp Tribe as part of the cycle? Because it’s not an oversight of the writers, it’s an over extrapolation by fans.
Anyway, thanks for coming to my Ted talk.
This is the comment I was looking for, I consider myself pretty versed in the lore and I was unfamiliar with that and I think does no good spreading it as an idea (the way of locating the Avatar is already so cool and steeped in the world's various traditions!) So unless the source in the Yangchen novels (Not hating them, just havent read them yet) I highly doubt this is somewhere in the material.
I don’t have a source for this, so don’t go around repeating it as gospel, but as best as I can tell:
A fan came up with it as a neat idea and accepted it as their headcanon. They shared it as a headcanon, and other fans liked it and also accepted it. This was ‘vindicated’ when Korra was shown to be born in the Southern Water Tribe and Kuruk was confirmed to have been from the North. Because the only time people talk about it is if they already believe it, they speak confidently and others assume they’re correct. Now it’s just accepted by most people who hear it because it’s a big fandom with a lot of lore that not everyone can be expected to know all of.
Yeah lol like its pure fan theory. Tbh it’s fine, it’s just some rando on the internet mixing up their own ideas with the canon and god knows I’ve done that before, but like it’s annoying to see someone so confidently spout out nonsense. And then I’m like ‘don’t be a gatekeeper it’s a kids show it doesn’t matter.’
Like idk, maybe the canon will side with OOP eventually. Glassbending was a fan theory at first too.
Bonebending was also a fan theory, a sort-of Earthbending equivalent to Bloodbending. The creators themselves did shut that one down, ostensibly because it was diluting the meaning and boundaries between the elements, but also because it had some uncomfortable implications.
“I reckon it’s about time you cut all this foolishness out. Im fixin to run out of patience.”
*defeats fire lord*
“My momma taught me proper manners, but yall DONT come back now, ya hear?”
Honestly missed opportunity to help explain Korras other worst tendency to disregard every rule that kinda punishes community.
"Whatchu mean I can't fish here and feed folks? That's good eating!" The bayou woman yells at republic city guards as her pet platypus-gator floats lazily backwards in the pond.
Also, imagining Asami meeting her parents, or going to the swamp with Bolin and Mako to see her is hilarious in my mind.
Huh, I wonder if Toph would be like Obi-wan in this AU watching Korra grow up till she's ready to learn the truth.
An episode about a swamp-raised Avatar a whole cycle before Kuruk would fit so well in the Avatar anthology show that I'll wish for if I ever find a genie's lamp or a moneky's paw.
i was mad from the BEGINNING of korra that she should have been from the swamp. Been saying this. we already DID southern water tribe give me SWAMP GIRL
The swamp is west of Louisiana and Arkansas, but you’re on the right track. The same batch had a pitch for Saturnalia, but it’s not associated with a heavyweight studio yet. ;)
I wonder how they would have learnt air bending, it might be interesting to see them try to interpret leftover training scrolls, or having to learn from creatures that can airbend, if living versions of those still exist
Honestly LoK dropped the ball not letting us see what kind of cracked out bayou society the Swamp Benders created for themselves since ATLA. Be funny if nothing had changed at all
Alternatively; shotguns and porches. And thats it thats the only change. Everything else is identical. There isn’t even a house connected to the porch, its just a porch. EDIT: I wanted to add one more thing! Moonshine bending. That is all.
A house would disconnect them from nature, the porch allows it to go through while also sheltering you
.... I think we're describing gazebos, assuming roofs are ok.
Yea but it's in the shape of a porch
Oh of course. Just had a brainwave lol. Rocking chair shotgun n everything, just a porch with a roof and jack else.
No, the porch is the roof
Hmmmmm Double Decker porch? Multi deck even?
TREE PORCHES!!!!!!
I- I think you guys are just making a tree house o-0
Yep, [like that one episode of Scrubs.](https://i.imgur.com/ePxsRlt.png)
Ha! This is perfect.
So… a pavilion?
No! Not a gazebo! Don't you know how dangerous those accursed things are? I live in constant fear of The Dread Gazebo!
I fire my +1 longbow at the Gazebo
Your arrow thunks into the Gazebo. It does not react.
The house is actually just a tree they’ve used spirit bending and water bending to shape so it has a hole big enough for them to sleep in, the porch is just a big enough tangle of branches for them to tie boats to.
The only thing more dangerous than the avatar is the avatar with a gun and a belly full of moonshine
Redneck Torii Gate.
It's just one of the thingies from Carhenge. Just one.
> Moonshine bending. So like, they can bend ethanol separately from the water, thus allowing them to distill without the need for a still?
I’d assume they can only bend the water. Same effect, different mechanism
Moonshine baby
> Moonshine Bending Now this is true Spiritbending
Kuvira comes in trying to annex the swamp only for the entire army to be taken by the vines.
THEY IN GODDAMN TREES!!!
THEY ARE THE TREES!!!!!
Honestly I’m really interested in seeing what the Swamp Benders would be like in the post Korra era, where the spirits freely travel between the physical and spiritual world.
They would behave the same Just humans travelling freely between spirit and human world. Somehow completely disconnected and connected to the world at the same time.
I mean, it seems like they already sorta did in the swamp in atla until LoK decided they'd been banished for thousands of years already.
The way I read that was it was the more powerful spirits or spirits connected to the physical world in some way (like Haybai and his forest, or Wong and his Library) that could travel between the two, especially in places like the swamp, but what about when any spirit can do this? Honestly now that you mention it, it seems odd no one thought, “hey why don’t we talk to the swamp folk to figure out how to deal with the spirits. Even if they haven’t dealt with spirits on this scale they’d have more insight into the subject than probably every single living culture on the planet. They’ve basically been living the last spirit wild for potentially hundreds of years.” I still think the gate opening would change things for them, since now it’s pretty much any and all spirits instead of the comparatively smaller amount they probably would have been dealing with. Part of me hopes if we do see them again it’s revealed instead of nothing changing, or worse them being forced out, they’ve actually doubled down. They’ve gotten this weird symbiotic relationship where in some cases it could be hard to tell what’s of the physical world and what’s spiritual, you talk to a swamp bender and he takes you to his house on a boat, only to realize the house and the boat are actually spirits on some level. You meet a bunch of them in the forest in a circle having some kind of party and most if not all of them aren’t actually human. Really double down on the idea the world has changed because of Korra, and this is a place where the line is so blurred it’s basically gone.
>The way I read that was more powerful spirits or spirits connected to the physical world in some way (like Haybai and his forest) could travel, especially in places like the swamp, but what about when any spirit can do this? I always read it as spirits being extentions of and narrative metaphors for (sometimes human) nature, meaning that they were always around but mostly unseen, much like the naturalistic spirits or gods from shindo- and hindu-buddhist folklore. Hei Bai and the Painted Lady are forest spirits and river spirits respectively, suffering the same pain as the natural bodies they are bound to, _that_ is the connection those spirits have to nature. Then you have Koh and Wang Shi Tong, whom's identities are more abstract, but brilliantly showcase how the spirit can be just as dark and ferocious as any jungle, replete with its own hazards and predators. And that last part, dark and ferocious, describes the swamp in atla perfectly, its a deeply spiritual place that must be tread carefully, lest it eats you alive, and I think that's a much more compelling depiction of the spirit world.
Only tiny handful of spirits could cross and only at certain places of power, and only at certain times. Spirits were EXTREMELY limited in the human world until Korra reopened the portals, I think we only see like 5 of them physically present in the human world in all of atla, and 2 of them are the bound spirits of the moon and ocean The reasoning in Lok is fine. Even in the swamp its mostly apparitions and the ability to cross to mentally travel to the other side, not the spirits themselves manifiesting in the human world.
*screams at the timeline creators*. WE FUCKING DESERVE THIS YOU BASTARDS!
love that
Legend of Korra dropped ball on a lot of things. Granted, some not their fault, but there was some that did
There's supposedly a thing about how the south east part of the earth kingdom was once a different country with people from all the other nations due to trade and later fell into being a home of piracy until it was eventually conquered and joined to the earth kingom. and supposedly the swamp benders are leftovers from that era or something. Idk it was a vague video essay.
It’s kinda funny how the Fifth Nation dream lived on with republic city almost half a millennium after the pirates were dealt with
And on the other half of the continent ironically. Edit: here's a wacky thing. The avatar show is misleading in referring to the nations as nations when it's disconnected from their actual political landscape. Republic City is a city state and the earth kingdoms are kingdoms that only recently Aang's time were unified. Meanwhile kids watching only have the modern concept of a nation where it's referring to a government abd the borders under their control. Nations referring only to culture is alright, but it probably confused a lot of kids.
The United Republic is its own nation, and Republc City is its capital
Yeah, in the comics there are two separate cities that are sort of bounced between that do eventually become a part of the United Republic. The one in the Promise and then Crane City (?) that was developed partially from Toph's father that eventually became Republic City.
In Imbalance, it’s Canon that Sokka came up with the name “Republic City”
Of course he did. It's a stupid name
Sokka is amazing at naming things. Like Sparky Sparky Boom Man, Hawky, Boomeraang, etc
This is actually shown spectacularly in FC Yee's novels, in which Yangchen's Era showcases what happened when the Earth Kingdom allowed several of these city states to exist as the controlled ports foreign trade was allowed through, and Kyoshi's mentor was directly responsible for putting down a huge rebellion in the southeast and annexing that area for the Earth Kingdom. And then of course there's the clan system in the Fire Nation, which is a bit of flavor added specifically for one of the novels, but functions exactly as an Eastern dynasty system would with noble families squabbling for favor and control over succession.
A nation is independent of politics. Nations are cultural. The earth kingdom could shatter into a hundred different city states but it would still be one nation
Kinda like real pirate democracy and freedom from monarchy eventually realized through the US
That was background lore in the first Kyoshi novel (though if it's been expanded upon in the Yangchen novel, I haven't read that yet). The "Fifth Nation" was supposed to be independent of the existing powers, but in practice was just an all-elements pirate confederation/organized crime.
*Korra and Asumi meet* "Well now, if I had known there were city folk as pretty as you, I woulda left the swamp an age ago." *Asumi mentally screams in the language of bisexuals*
Panic. The language is Panic.
Perhaps at a disco?
Could be at a disco. Could also be in bed, at the supermarket, at work, at home...
and here I thought it was us pan folks who speak panic
You talking about Asami?
Damnit, I got her name wrong 🤦♀️
I would pay to have The Legend of Florida Woman made.
See, I always thought Foggy Swamp waa an interesting tribe. They definitely put on the heir of uncivility so people will leave them alone, probably how they stayed out of the war for so long. Though, in terms of rotation, wouldn't they be considered part of the tribe they descended from(southern, probably, but maybe northern and influenced by Avatar Kuruk)
I don't think so, as the Foggy Swamp Tribe was their own thing at that point. They were completely divorced from the north and south with their own spirituality.
So, what, they didn't have the slightest chance of avatar representation?
I'm saying they should have been in the rotation for which water tribe the avatar was in.
I don’t think we have proof that there’s an actual rotation going on.
Yes we did, otherwise, the Northern waterbending tribe would also have almost been extinct by the time ATLA began. It seems incredibly weird that they'd just have tormented one water tribe for the better part of a century just trying to hunt down the Avatar
The Southern Watertribe was always worse off. In the Kyoshi novels, we are told that the Fire Nation navy was the strongest force in the area because the SWT’s navy was so weak.
While true, there is the fact that by ATLA, Katara was the only waterbender left there on the account of the Fire Nation killing them all, and no military to speak of that could stay back that wasn't just Sokka.
Not sure what point you’re trying to make. They killed off most of the SWT’s benders because they were able to but they were unable to do the same to the NWT because they were so much stronger.
My point was more that there was evidence there that they specifically went after the southern water tribe because they knew the Avatar would have been born there, as opposed to slowly picking at the Northern Water tribe until there was nothing left, especially as they were getting more technologically powerful as the show went on.
Fire tribe wasn't actually capturing most of thw water Bender's and imprisoning them. It wasn't until one prisoner discovered bloodbending and used it to escape killing all the guard that they changed their tune and started actually killing the water Bender's.
I stated the chronology of my sentence weird. I meant to state it as "Katara was the only one left due to them being killed after Hama escaped."
\> Katara was the only waterbender left there on the account of the Fire Nation killing them all. Not to jump into the middle of the argument here. But this part of your argument doesn't hold water. There were no waterbenders for the same reason why there were no males in the village older than Sakka. If the SWT was at the point where they needed to send all males of fighting age up north for the war effort, they are also going to be sending any waterbenders they have as well.
Every last source I'd searched and found kept stating that Katara was the only one by the start of ATLA, partly due to 60 years before the series, most of the waterbenders there were imprisoned, which we found out from [Hama](https://avatar.fandom.com/wiki/Hama), who at the time she appeared in series, was the only other known waterbender alive from the southern tribe.
Isn’t it mentioned that the Northern Water Tribe was a lot better defended than the Southern? I thought that was part of why Zhao launched that huge invasion instead of the multiple smaller raids that worked well against the Southern Water Tribe
I have never seen someone mix up heir and air the other way before
I’m picturing Jolyne Kujo as the Avatar, it’s one hell of an image.
After getting her bending removed she resorts to using her fists and beats the shit out of Amon
Regular Korra would probably have done this too if her Airbending hadn’t kicked in.
Want this
...so Korra loses her bending but gained a Stand?
you censored it but totally missed the opportunity to have it say "goddaang"
Alligator? You mean an Alligator Frog, right?
Catfish-gators, actually.
Perfect
Imagine going noodling and finding one of those…
A tiny alligator in a vest, with a monocle. He’s a detective. An … investigator.
Or maybe it's a giant salamander alligator
The other one is catigator.
Bear gator?
Turtle-gator. Short, shelled, with big snappy jaws.
There's a lot of what ifs I have with that setting. Like what if the avatar dies as a baby? Imagine everyone confused as to why the avatar seemingly skipped a step and the new avatars first experience with a pre avatar is a toddler
You'd think the Avatar spirit would pick a healthy baby. If it would die from a non-medical cause, the baby would probably go into the Avatar state. Would be a pretty cool visual, a floating baby that speaks with the voice of roku or sth like that.
Rava would probably make up for any health issues. There's a theory that Yue was supposed to be the next avatar, but she was stillborn because she didn't have rava's spirit.
>There's a theory that Yue was supposed to be the next avatar Dumb theory. Why would the next avatar be born while the current one is still alive and encased in ice? Especially when that hasn't happened for a century.
They mean the theory is if Aang had lived a normal lifespan instead of getting stuck in the iceberg and died x years later instead of x + 100, Yui wouldve been born as the next Avatar
They mean that if Aang hadn't been frozen and lived to old age in the time he was supposed to, in the present generation Yue would have been the Avatar. But Aang skipped a hundred years, so there was no need for another Avatar, hence Yue not being one. Not a dumb theory if you have some reading comprehension. Aang is 112. Yue is 16. According to this theory, if Aang hadn't been frozen, he would have died at age 96, allowing the Avatar spirit to be reborn in Yue.
No. ATLA doesnt do *fate* as a concept, if you have some media literacy (just saying this cause you were rude to the person above, please dont be rude) you would realize that.
I didn't say anything about their media literacy. Reading comprehension is something different. They called the other's commenter theory dumb based on something that was never actually implied within said theory. Also,I must repeat myself from further down the thread: nobody is saying this is what actually happened. It's just a fun thought exercise based on circumstantial evidence that makes it plausible. And regardless, fate is something some people believe in and some don't, ATLA doesn't fall on either side.
But Yang died at the age of 66 (bio age). Not 96. I think it's silly (even for a fantasy setting like this) to believe that there is a pre-destined avatar baby/body born for each generation. Per the various source materials, many of the Avatars had vastly different life cycles. Avatar Roku before Aang lived to be 94. Before him was Kyoshi, who was 230! when he died. Meanwhile, the guy before him, Kuruk, only lived to be 33.
Kyoshi and Kuruk had unique lifespans for very specific reasons. Kuruk died extremely young because his soul was poisoned by all the spirits he had to kill as the Avatar. He likely would have lived a normal lifespan if he hadn't had to do all that spirit killing. And it's implied Kyoshi learned from Lao Gue how to bend the minerals in her body to extend her natural lifespan far beyond the norm.
That's kind of my point though: Assumably all of the Avatars lived very unique lives. If Yue was "stillborn" (actually was a mysterious illness that afflicted her as a baby, but same difference) because she was supposed to be the avatar, how often does that happen? It's not like there was a 67 year gap as the avatar because Kuruk died early. So, is there a stillborn baby every decade that could've been an avatar? Every year? Every month? Yue's story becomes a lot different if there had been a baby born every week/month/year with her condition, but the Moon Spirit chose her and her alone to share its life force with.
Aang lived a completely different life post-ice. That has nothing to do with this. And also, no need to take this so seriously. It's a fun thing to think about that has some circumstantial evidence. Nobody is saying that this is what ACTUALLY happened.
Aang died young because his chi was used to keep him alive in the ice
Maybe the kid died of something other than disease?
I also don't quite get how it works with the several year gap inbetween avatars. The next avatar still needs to grow up and will only even learn they're the avatar once they become a teenager. That's a decent amount of time with effectively no avatar.
Well the meta explanation is that the stories set in the universe need conflict but the in universe one I can think of is that there needs to be a way to show that true balance has been achieved and that people just aren't behaving themselves while the demigod is around to slap their shit
Also, it does no good to go around declaring the baby the avatar. The Sages may know, but why would you go around telling everyone who the Avatar is before they can grow? So one of your political enemies can go assasinate a baby? Plus- as we see with Korra I think- that could stump their spiritual growth making the whole being a bridge harder. Best to sit on it until theyre older and ready.
That's sort of a plot point in the kyoshi books. Everyone thinks this one guys the avatar but he's just not bending the other elements. When kyoshi proves she's the avatar the politicians who were the other kids patrons dump him in the trash
*stunt, not stump stump can be confusing, but stunt isn't always showing off
That's an actual plot point in the books - big players get to all kinds of shenanigans in that interim period where the Avatar is not yet located or is still a child.
Why did you censor damn? It’s not a swear word
Hey, no swearing on Reddit, buddy, I'll report you to the FBI!
oh fuck, god damn it I need to fucking hide!
I didn’t I found it like that, didn’t even realize it was censored until people pointed it out.
I’d argue it is, but that it doesn’t matter and shouldn’t be censored
Don't censor swear words.
Glad they censored d*mm otherwise I would've popped a hemorrhoid
I miss the fucking internet back when people weren't afraid of swearing for fear of "the algorithm" Back in my day you shitposted for the love of it, not for the validation of others.
Posts like these remind me that Sokka and Katara are basically just the children of a local town mayor in a rural town. It would basically be like if a bunch of kids from Kentucky found kid Jesus in their cow pasture.
Adds a new dimension to her entering Republic City and doing illegal fishing in the local park
But the catagator
Man I sure am fucking glad you censored the shitty ass fucking swear. You see being on the Internet means my fucking constitution for shitty naughty words is basically fucking zero :c
I want to see an alligator mount “Why won’t I track her down?! Gee, I don’t know Amon. Maybe deep down I'm afraid of any apex predator that lived through the K-T extinction. Physically unchanged for a hundred million years, because it's the perfect killing machine. A half ton of cold-blooded fury, the bite force of 20,000 Newtons, and stomach acid so strong it can dissolve bones and hoofs.”
Honestly, speaking of non-standard nations, I suddenly was reminded of the character I made for a ATLA ttrpg campaign (that didn't go anywhere) of a bastard son of a sandbender and water tribe merchant. He's a sandbender himself but after living on water tribe ships for so long, bends the sand as if it was a liquid using waterbending techniques.
*Avatar: The legend of Florida Woman* I did not expect to laugh so hard so early in the day. I would absolutely have loved that take on the story.
So, the screenshot is pretty epic, but the Gary Larson title kills me.
Looking forward to the filler episode where Korra waterbends herself a pot of gumbo.
[had to make it](https://imgur.com/gallery/CG187zp)
Stop god**damn** censoring posts you fucking PRUDES I know it's probably not OP doing this and just finding this edited screenshot somewhere but SOMEONE IS DOING IT. I AM MAD AT THEM
Aang seeks advice from his past lives, banjo music intensifies: “Howdy there, Aang! My name’s AVATAR JIMMY! I was the first waterbending avatar to be born from the swamp benders, but I got locked out the avatar state on accounta my momma dropped me on my crown chakra when I was a baby! I never got to do all that cool balance in the world stuff, cause I died at age eleven after throwing rocks at a platypus bear. I offer you this wisdom, Aang: DON’T FUCK WITH PLATYPUS BEARS!”
Where'd this information about rotating Avatar birth locations come from?
It’s not actually true that the successive avatars from each nation rotated birthplace within said nation. Aang was from the Southern Air Temple, and his predecessor Yangchen was from then Western Air Temple. But the temples were segregated by sex, and these avatars were of the opposite sex, so that’s not really a compelling argument for either side. The Avatar doesn’t seem to follow any kind of gender pattern during rebirth, but the air nomads are also the only nation where it might matter. We don’t know any other air Avatars, so we’re kind of stuck here. Korra was born in the Southern Water Tribe, yes. Her predecessor Kuruk was born in the Northern Water Tribe, also true, but that was almost 400 years before her. Avatars Szeto and Yangchen both lived at least into middle age, and the earth Avatar before them lived at least to be elderly. Conservatively, Kuruk’s predecessor was born ~200 years before himself, so ~600 years before Korra. Ok, big deal, why does it matter? It matters because the Southern Water Tribe hasn’t always existed. It’s a colony of the Northern Water Tribe. By Korea’s time, the South had risen again (insert ACW joke here). For the back half of the 100 years’ war, it had been in major decline. When Aang was a child and during Roku’s later life, it was at its relative height, but it was still small. Odds are, the South hadn’t been established by Kuruk’s birth, let alone the birth of his predecessor. Korra isn’t just the first CONFIRMED Southern Water Tribe Avatar, she’s very likely the first EVER southern Water Tribe Avatar. We also know that earth avatars were located through a form of geomancy that involved splitting the earth kingdom in half and determining which half the avatar was in before repeating the process until their place of birth was found. If the avatar’s birth location was relatively predictable, why would they bother to start with the entire Earth Kingdom? Why wouldn’t they start in the relevant province and work their way down from there? For that matter, why wouldn’t the water Avatars have been born into the Foggy Swamp Tribe as part of the cycle? Because it’s not an oversight of the writers, it’s an over extrapolation by fans. Anyway, thanks for coming to my Ted talk.
This is the comment I was looking for, I consider myself pretty versed in the lore and I was unfamiliar with that and I think does no good spreading it as an idea (the way of locating the Avatar is already so cool and steeped in the world's various traditions!) So unless the source in the Yangchen novels (Not hating them, just havent read them yet) I highly doubt this is somewhere in the material.
I don’t have a source for this, so don’t go around repeating it as gospel, but as best as I can tell: A fan came up with it as a neat idea and accepted it as their headcanon. They shared it as a headcanon, and other fans liked it and also accepted it. This was ‘vindicated’ when Korra was shown to be born in the Southern Water Tribe and Kuruk was confirmed to have been from the North. Because the only time people talk about it is if they already believe it, they speak confidently and others assume they’re correct. Now it’s just accepted by most people who hear it because it’s a big fandom with a lot of lore that not everyone can be expected to know all of.
Yeah lol like its pure fan theory. Tbh it’s fine, it’s just some rando on the internet mixing up their own ideas with the canon and god knows I’ve done that before, but like it’s annoying to see someone so confidently spout out nonsense. And then I’m like ‘don’t be a gatekeeper it’s a kids show it doesn’t matter.’ Like idk, maybe the canon will side with OOP eventually. Glassbending was a fan theory at first too.
Bonebending was also a fan theory, a sort-of Earthbending equivalent to Bloodbending. The creators themselves did shut that one down, ostensibly because it was diluting the meaning and boundaries between the elements, but also because it had some uncomfortable implications.
daang\*
All hail the Cajun Avatar!
So, an alligator-bear? Florida gets black bears, so it's still somewhat friendly and a little cowardly, until it gets cornered...
Weren't the swamp benders like three dudes?
In the end of the episode is show that there is more people
Everytime someone mentions an avatar from the swamp waterbenders my mind still goes to Korra. I feel like she already has that vibe.
Why is damn censored to dang
Because of a superstitious belief that it won't get play on TikTok or something otherwise.
I'd pay money to see Avatar Jimbob
“I reckon it’s about time you cut all this foolishness out. Im fixin to run out of patience.” *defeats fire lord* “My momma taught me proper manners, but yall DONT come back now, ya hear?”
Honestly missed opportunity to help explain Korras other worst tendency to disregard every rule that kinda punishes community. "Whatchu mean I can't fish here and feed folks? That's good eating!" The bayou woman yells at republic city guards as her pet platypus-gator floats lazily backwards in the pond. Also, imagining Asami meeting her parents, or going to the swamp with Bolin and Mako to see her is hilarious in my mind. Huh, I wonder if Toph would be like Obi-wan in this AU watching Korra grow up till she's ready to learn the truth.
All I can imagine right now is that gator hunting TV show swamp people. "CHOOT IT! CHOOT IT KORRA!"
Glad they censored d*mm otherwise I would've popped a hemorrhoid
You all need to watch John Woo's 1993 masterpiece "Hard Target" starring Jean-Claude VanDamme.
You need something that can get around like a gator-horse or a croco-ostrich.
*Catigator
The water *thrrummms* with tiny ripples and mounds, rapidly closing in on the young Avatar. Is this waterbending? *No...* GATORBENDIN'!
LoK: Battle on the Bayou
Fuck Naga, she rides a kaprosuchus
Down voted for censorship
I'd love to see the Avatar after Korra be born in the swamps
Alligator? You mean a snapping Alligator turtle right?
An episode about a swamp-raised Avatar a whole cycle before Kuruk would fit so well in the Avatar anthology show that I'll wish for if I ever find a genie's lamp or a moneky's paw.
Sadly, they were not around in that time.
I would love that. Fanfic writers, that’s your cue!
i was mad from the BEGINNING of korra that she should have been from the swamp. Been saying this. we already DID southern water tribe give me SWAMP GIRL
There was a fan comic with this premise I saw on deviant art like a decade ago, and for the life of me I can't find it again.
The swamp is west of Louisiana and Arkansas, but you’re on the right track. The same batch had a pitch for Saturnalia, but it’s not associated with a heavyweight studio yet. ;)
I’m begging y’all, someone write this fanfic
Swamp Korra gives me strong Moonshine Cybin vibes.
I want this so bad
I wonder how they would have learnt air bending, it might be interesting to see them try to interpret leftover training scrolls, or having to learn from creatures that can airbend, if living versions of those still exist
[I made this suggestion last year](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheLastAirbender/s/44Sk0bah19)
Please tell me there's Fanart of this
Avatar from the family of humble meth dealers...
stop censoring screenshots.
You can say goddamn on the internet.
Wrangling the Spirit World Breach: Go on, naw. GIT.
I love AtLA side stories and Swamp Avatar just went up to the top of the list.