A lot of fanart of Katara takes inspiration from Inuit cultural tattooing culture, and that's valid as a concept.
However, there have been some complaints from the ATLA indigenous community that straight up ripping tattoos directly from photos with no cultural understanding or alteration (as the shapes and lines and specific art is very personal and can give information about who or where someone is from) is inappropriate at best.
I decided that, for this AU, as it is very much steeped in the culture of this fictional tribe, that tattoo inspiration needed to be inspiration.
SO
Every tattoo has meaning, and the lines that make it up have not only individual meaning, but also give on-sight information about the person they belong to. The SWT in the Mooneater!AU is a matriarchal society, meaning that the lines are passed down through the mother. Heritage is a key component of Katara and Sokka's story, so in every tattoo, there is a Family Line.
Family Lines are passed down through the mother, always, no matter who the father is. The father will have a different family line, inherited from his own mother, but the child inherits the mother's family line nonetheless. The Family Line is always framing the inner markings, going from the external to create the internal shape. This is because your family and those who shape you from the outside impact your inner self, and the inner self we keep close.
The second line is called a Spirit Line, and this can tell us a lot. In men, it doubles as an indicator of marriage(!). The Spirit Line goes from the internal, the inner self, to form the external half of the forehead shape. This is because the spirit comes from within, and presents externally as who we are as individuals. In opposition but similar function to our Western patriarchal society, the man takes on his wife's Spirit Line (like how wives will take on a husband's last name). Is he still an individual? Yes! And we know because the intersecting shape of both the Family and Spirit Lines will be completely unique (unless two brothers marry two sisters, I suppose).
In case of divorce, the man's Spirit Line through Marriage will have a dividing line put through the center. Needless to say, divorce is rare and remarriage doesn't NOT happen, but it would make for a very unique tattoo.
Daughters inherit their parents' Spirit Line. If her parents are unmarried, which is not taboo and fairly common, she will inherit the Spirit Line of her mother.
The last component of Katara's tattoo as pictured are indicators of Ancestral Leadership. Katara has three Chieftesses in her family. The star on the chin is Kya, immediately predecessing her. Below that is Kanna, and at the heart is Kanna's mother, Kosa, the first Chieftess of their lineage. When Katara becomes Chieftess, she will receive the Chief Star above the Spirit and Family Lines (they make the Mark of the Brave moon shape btw), closest to her hairline and therefore the most inner of her Self and most defining of her identity.
Here is a guide! Kya and Katara have the same lines, except Kya only has the Chief Star on the center of her forehead.
I threw in Sokka's theoretical Lines as an adult if he were to marry Yue or Suki respectively, or marry Yue, divorce, and marry Suki later, for fun and also because visual aids:
[looking at people younger than me] you have your whole life ahead of you [looking at people older than me] you have your whole life ahead of you [looking at myself] its over
The young person who took his power role seriously, being the king of one single nation, while dealing with the colonies issues:
The young AVATAR, who has responsibility over the whole four nations, while dealing with those same issues:
The avatar who should have learnt to master himself, the second someone does something he disagrees with, together with the young woman he should have let go of in order to master his power:
Two young people understanding the nuance and complexity of their power role and their decisions... together with the avatar, who should be the most responsible and reliable one...
Chapters: 1/?
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender (Cartoon 2005)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Zuko (Avatar), Katara (Avatar), Sokka (Avatar), Hakoda (Avatar), Kya (Avatar), Kanna (Avatar), Iroh (Avatar), Azula (Avatar)
Additional Tags: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Slow Burn Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Slow Burn, Chief Katara (Avatar), Water Tribe Lore (Avatar), Spirit World shenanigans, Mermaids, Sirens, Mooneater!AU, mooneaterzk, yes there is a tumblr about this as well as a fanart collab, Alternate Universe - No Avatar (Avatar: The Last Airbender), Technically ;), Shared Greif Trauma, it’s Zutara, YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS, Cultural Differences, Gender Roles, Matriarchal Southern Water Tribe, there’s no planned smut but i’ll update the tags if i change my mindddd
Series: Part 1 of Mooneater
Summary:
Zuko has finally accepted that the Avatar simply doesn’t exist. He’s been sailing around the world chasing a myth for 8 years, and it’s time to concede defeat. …He will instead sail around the world chasing the next best thing: the mythical Southern Water Tribe, lost for 100 years, and their legendary last defense against the Fire Nation Empire.
Status: Active. Updates on the 5th and 20th of the month.
Watched Avatar a few weeks ago. Not going to say that I became a diehard fan but I really liked it. I love Zukos social awkwardness, I think he's my favourite character by now.
I also really like Aang, boy is funny and adorable. Same with Toph, she's such a badass and I really like her friendship with the guys.
Iroh. ❤️
As you can see Zutara became my fave ship in an instant,lol.
Katara is just awesome.
I like Azula too, I have some idea for her as well.
I'm not saying ATLA became my favourite show but I enjoyed it and sometimes I'll make some content for the fandom. That's all.👋
Who wants to bet that the new 7 havens series will include a Zutara remark. Like it’s basically tradition for bryke to include a dig at the ship, they just can’t help themselves just like their anti minions that worship them.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they have a check list of making it mandatory that they put some type of diss to zutara shippers whenever they make or expand on more avatar content.
ok but legitimately i think the reason why kids aren’t taking internet safety seriously is because the people who are telling us not to put our personal information out seem so out of touch. no one acknowledges the possibility of meeting very real teenaged friends online, they always say that everyone you meet is a 40 year old white man in disguise. because they aren’t acknowledging things we know are true, it becomes a lot easier to dismiss the rest of what they’re saying as well. internet safety lessons absolutely must keep up with the times and acknowledge the internet’s capacity for good if you want kids to take to heart warnings about its capacity for bad.
1. Have proof they're a teenager first. More than just a picture, have a video call with them.
2. If you want to meet up with them, have your parents or a trusted adult come with you. Even if they are a proven teenager, its still good to have supervision in case any issues happen.
3. If you are talking to an adult, and they start being sexual in any way, you run the fuck away. It doesn't matter if they're 40 or 20. An adult inherently has a power dynamic that teenagers do not. And its up to the adult to act responsible about it. There's exceptions of course, if you're 16 and dating an 18 year old, that's not a problem, we're not talking about that.
4. Being in a server with adults or ran by adults is not inherently bad. Talking to adults is not inherently a problem, and will likely happen in any number of Discord servers. It is only an issue when they are acting sexual and show predatory behavior.
5. Look out for grooming behavior. It can be difficult, because at first it seems like innocuous behavior, like complimenting or giving gifts. Especially if you feel lonely and have low self esteem. And groomers actively target people like that.
If they start trying to isolate you, talk sexual with you, state they depend on you for emotional needs, blame you for their own actions, try to be secretive about the relationship- Then you need to talk to people you trust, block the perpetrator, and call the police on them.
6. If this does happen to you, remember this: It is not your fault. Even if you didn't listen to a single thing listed here, it is not your fault. It is the fault of the adults who knew better, and didn't care. It's not your fault.
To my followers: if any of you guys are underaged, please be very VERY careful on here, and don’t fall for any of the tricks the groomer would use on you, just block them and report them.
Just my opinion: even if Zuko and Katara were canon, they wouldn't need to change Kya or Izumi's physical characteristics, because... somehow... well...
