[batmanisagatewaydrug]

the thing is that you KNOW if Zuko had been on that mountaintop in that storm at literally any other time just minding his own business he would have been struck by lightning seventeen consecutive times in defiance of all known laws of nature and science

[slappapow]

Here's a huge ramble about cool hair symbolism in the fire nation royal family. I'm not an expert in hairstyles whatsoever, so this is just from a writing/artistic perspective!

Sozin's hair as crown prince is very similar to young Zuko's: the two little spikes away from the corner of his hairline. At this time, there was peace in the world, and he was still friends with Roku. However, as a newly-fledged warlord, all of his hair is perfectly tied back into his topknot. His levity has been replaced by ambition, and his connection to Roku has been erased in favour of that want for perfection and legacy. What's also interesting is that all of his hair is pulled into his top knot, not just the front half. I wonder if this is further evidence of his pursuit of perfection, a personal preference, or changing Fire Nation fashions...?

More under cut.

Eternally, Lu Ten's hair is perfect. And so was he: the perfect prince; the perfect heir. The patriot and the soldier, off to fight on the front lines alongside his Uncle. Dying a perfect warrior's death. The shadow of war looms over the entire series, of course, but I argue that the world of a:tla is haunted first and foremost by the death of Lu Ten - without Iroh's loss, grief, and spiritual journey, the war may have been won by the Fire Nation long before Aang was broken free of the ice. His sideburns are juuust starting to grow into something similar to Iroh's, representing how perhaps Lu Ten had just begun to morph into a younger version of Iroh himself. A perfect grandchild for Azulon and his empire.

Ursa's hair isn't much to write home about, except in the looseness of her topknot. It's soft and layered, but still very neat... Except in the loose back ends, which are jagged and uneven. Very fitting for someone who projects perfection and tries to lead with compassion when it comes to her children, but is hiding her true strength and willingness to commit dangerous acts underneath it all. Layers!

Everyone talks about Zuko's hair evolution, but Azula's is honestly more interesting to me. Hair is a symbol of pride and perfection in the Fire Nation. Loose hairs are flaws; topknots are sacred symbols of nobility and honour. Azula's hair is perfect - Azula is in control. Except... Azula isn't perfect. She's a 14 year old girl reared to be a killing machine. Flawless from the front, but always hiding jagged edges close to the back of her scalp.

"Almost perfect." "One hair out of place." "Almost isn't good enough."

It's interesting that this point ^ was made in regards to her lightning. It's what separates her; makes her royal and powerful. But it is also her downfall in the final Agni Kai, and these lines foreshadow that. In that fight, 'almost' was what enabled Zuko to sacrifice himself for a blow that Katara could not survive - ending with Katara restraining Azula, before saving him in turn. Nobody was there for Azula.

Another point of foreshadowing was the fight at the Western Air Temple. When Zuko and Azula's power was shown to be clearly matched for the first time, their stalemate blasts them both off the airship. But while Zuko was saved by the Gaang (specifically Katara, again, the person he first opens up to!!), Azula was left alone in freefall. And how does she survive that fall? Brute force. Ripping the symbol of her nobility out of her hair and letting her topknot fall free of control. This parallels the final Agni Kai, in which she attacked a spectator in order to get at what she perceived to be Zuko's weakness, uncaring that she threw away her claim to the throne just to win. To be perfect.

Her willingness to emulate Ozai isolated her from Ursa. But deep down, Azula knew that her mother loved her. She didn't fear her, or think her a monster. It's just that those are the only ways that Azula has left to connect to people. And that is the actual hair out of place; Azula's true weakness. Fear is not the only thing that controls people, and many things can overcome it - most essentially in a:tla, love. It was love for Zuko that lead Mai to betray her, it was Ty Lee's love for Mai that lead her to betray Azula in turn. It was love that Kya sacrificed herself for, love that sent Lu Ten to the frontlines. Love that Zuko spent years struggling for, that Iroh stayed with him all along for. And for Azula, when all that fear fails, and Ozai abandons her, she has nothing. Not even control. So she cuts her hair in an attempt to punish it. The hairs at her nape are now overgrown and bedraggled. She can no longer put her own hair in the noble topknot (that, or she never learnt how... Getting waited on by now-banished servants her entire life). That is the downfall of Sozin's empire.

In contrast to Azula and Lu Ten, Zuko's always had loose strands of hair. It's most obvious in the war meeting and his first Agni Kai against Ozai: he is directly challenging the Fire Nation's prerogatives as the less-talented child. Despite trying to learn and be a good heir (as the rest of his hair is tied perfectly into his ponytail, the only time we see those side-pieces tamed) there is still one hair so clearly out of place. His weakness, at least in this moment, is the compassion that was instilled into him by Ursa. Compassion that made him bow and surrender.

Everyone already knows about the bald ponytail thing so I'll skip ahead. I appreciate how even when Zuko returns to the Fire Nation that he can't keep his hair as symmetrical as Azula's. His hair cannot match how it was when he was a child: his hair is literally too short; his experiences outside of the palace have changed him too much. His scar - his first and most eminent trauma - in and of itself prevents a 'clean' hairline. It may be long enough to be pulled back into a noble topknot, but it's bursting at the seams. A burden waiting to be undone once more, for the love of his Uncle and in pursuit of true peace for himself and the world.

It's only when he's crowned Fire Lord that the flyaways become symmetrical once again. Hairs out of place, intentionally. A new era of love and peace.

I don't have much to say about Iroh, but I find it interesting in his character design how much his topknot sticks out of his head. He's very round in general, so it accentuates even further. I think the reasoning for that is twofold: the love Azulon showed for his favoured firstborn (however the hell it was conveyed, who knows) enabled Iroh to show love to Lu Ten where Ozai had none. Even while laying siege to Ba Sing Se, he loves his son and gives thoughtful gifts to his niece and nephew. Secondly, his journey through the Spirit World and through grief itself has unfettered him from his attachment to nobility in general. His 'station' - and thus his topknot - is conspicuously un-matching with his appearance, demeanor, and philosophies. Getting rid of it doesn't even phase him.

Thanks for reading!

[atlaculture]

This has been bugging me for ages and I feel like you’re the only other blog who would appreciate my conundrum here. Do you think people in the avatar-verse drink cow’s milk?

On the one hand the lost lore archive seemingly confirms that cow-pigs produce “delicious” milk, but how canon can we really consider that? On the other hand, if you didn’t already know, most humans are lactose intolerant. The gene for lactase persistence (the ability to digest milk past babyhood) originated in the Middle East or Europe and spread from there. Even today East Asia has some of the highest rates of lactose intolerance in the world, and lactase tolerance was virtually nonexistent in North America pre-colonisation. Not drinking cow’s milk is the norm for humanity, not the exception, so I just think it would be cool to have at least one fantasy world where the main characters are lactose intolerant and soy milk is the norm.

Granted, given that cheese can be made to be palatable to lactose intolerant people and that there does seem to have been some lactase persistence traditionally in northern Indian and Himalayan regions (at least at a cursory research glance), you would probably expect it to vary by region and culture. Maybe cow-pig milk is consumed in only certain regions and otherwise usually made into cheese. I personally headcanon that air nomads eat sky bison cheese, which might taste similar to chhurpi.

From what I've read, dairy cows aren't native to East Asia, hence the lack of cow milk in most of the traditional cuisine of that region. I would say that cow-pig milk in Avatar might just be a local delicacy unique to the EK town from "Zuko Alone".

However, a predisposition towards lactose intolerance is not necessarily a permanent roadblock to enjoying milk products. Speaking from personal experience, I can generally build up my tolerance for dairy if I make a point of drinking milk every day. However, if I take a break of more than a week, then I have to start the whole process over again.

As for the consumption of other animal milks...

Based off cultural inspiration, the Air Nomads likely had close to 100% lactase persistence. Dairy is a huge part of Tibetan and other Himalayan cuisine. Plus, if Appa is any indication, sky bisons were roughly the size of sperm whales. Assuming there was a sky bison for every nomad, there was probably enough extra milk produced for it to become a staple of the Air Nomad diet.

The Northern Water Tribe probably has some lactase persistence, since they have Mongolian and Sakha cultural influence in addition to Inuit. Both Mongolian and Sakha culture are known for their consumption of mare's milk, both as a drink and as an ingredient in dishes. Plus, the NWT canonically has Buffalo-Yaks, which is a combination of two animals whose milk is commonly consumed in parts of Asia. Lactase persistence might not be as strong in the Southern Water Tribe, who don't seem to have domesticated any milk-producing animals.

The Earth Kingdom probably only has lactase persistence in certain regions, such as the village in "Zuko Alone". This aligns with its primary cultural inspiration, China. While most of China does not have a cheese-making tradition, there are pockets of regional cheeses: cow and goat acid cheeses in Yunnan, fermented cow milk cheeses in Xinjiang, and yak cheeses in the Tibetan and Mongolian autonomous regions. However, on the whole, I think most EK citizens stick to non-dairy milks made from soy, seeds, or nuts.

Finally, there's the Fire Nation. I don't think they drink much milk. In addition to China, the Fire Nation's other major cultural influences are Southeast Asia (Thailand, especially) and Japan. Historically, none of these cultures consumed much animal milk. I think the Fire Nation's choice of milks would be soy, sesame, coconut, or peanut.

[lizardlicks]

Aren't arctic camels a domesticated animal in the swt? camel milk is a pretty common staple among people who keep them (and I know several north American farmers that have brought camels. onto their farms specifically for milk!) Sami people also milk reindeer, but immmmm not sure how well snow leopard caribou would take to being milked

[atlaculture]

You're right! In Korra, we do see arctic camels, so the SWT likely consumes dairy regularly, at least in the post-war period. This would imply that Katara and Sokka have some lactase persistence. I can just imagine Sokka bringing this up whenever a game or situation requires the Gaang to split into teams:

Sokka: Alright, Team 1 will be me, Katara, and Aang. That leaves Suki, Toph, and Zuko for Team 2. Suki: Are you basing this off seniority in the group or something? Sokka: More like who can handle a few rounds of drinks without turning into a tomato. Team 2: *glares* Sokka: Kidding! It's based on who can have a milkshake without turning into a walking stink bomb---*gets dirtball to the face*

[atlageography]

Okay, this really got my cartography brain going, so...

Lactase Persistence in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender!

The map is inspired by the above thread, but also some additional real-world biological anthropology, heavily referenced from this paper.

Of course I kept the high lactase persistence (LP) around the air temples, but I also showed the diffusion of that trait in the areas around the temples. This could be because of Air Nomads mixing into the non-nomadic local populations (genetically and culturally) and due to the trading/gifting of sky bison dairy products to those populations. I think the latter would reinforce the former, in this case.

Important to remember is that this map is representative of the percent of a population's LP if there is a population living in a given location. For example, for over a hundred years, there were no people living in the air temples, but if there were, they would have high rates of LP. Similarly, the Si Wong Desert is sparsely populated, but those who do populate it likely have LP (operating under the assumption that the sandbenders and other nomadic people get milk from the camelephants).

As in our reality, there are also high rates of LP in less fertile lands like deserts or higher latitudes (by the poles) and altitudes, as these regions tend to have more issues growing crops that can meet diet requirements. By having dairy producing animals eat the less nutritious crops, their bodies can basically add in the missing nutrients. This is why I have marked more mountainous regions + the Si Wong Desert as having more LP.

Version without the location labels:

Reference map (Wells 2021):

🌊 If I missed something or anyone has questions, always feel free to tag me! Big thanks to anon, atlaculture, and lizardlicks for the inspiration today!

[atlaculture]

This is so awesome! My only recommendation is that you add a character on the right and left sides of the map like the original Avatar world map:

However, instead of longevity, it should be the character for milk:

奶

It's also the character for breastfeeding/tits so win-win!

[atlageography]

@atlaculture Your wish is my command~ Almost—I added the character for milk in the negative space because I thought it looked cute there.

Additionally, here's a new map:

Dispersal and Domestication of Ruminant and Dairy Cattle!

We are really going down a rabbit hole with this one.

So once again I'm referencing the Stock and Wells paper, because it has really nice maps and it's pretty accessible in terms of academic language.

This map is pretty straightforward—circles represent points (areas) of origin, and the arrows denote the dispersal of the species. But for lore purposes, this requires some notes.

Flying Bison: I have marked their area of origin as being in the Southern Air Archipelago. We really don't know where they're specifically from, but seeing that there are populations of bison living in the Fire Nation (with/around the Bhanti tribe), I'm guessing they're from either the Western or Southern Air Archipelagos. And purely because the Bhanti tribe lives in the southern part of the Fire Nation, I've placed the bison as from the South. Their dispersal paths are also the most unique of the list, as, since they can fly, I imagine them flying directly to their preferred habitats, and the Air Nomads following/settling based on that.

(Really, the bison are too enlightened to be considered 'domesticated' by humans, but I included them because of their teamwork with the airbenders + their dairy potential.)

Arctic Camels: These creatures have more appearances in the Southern Water Tribe than the Northern, so I've placed their area of origin in the South. Perhaps they reached the North on trading ships or pirate ships traveling between the tribes?

Moo-sow (Cow-pig) and other pig hybrids, excluding the Picken/Pigster: The moo-sow are the only pig hybrids confirmed to be raised for their milk. Others, like the wooly-pig (cross between a sheep and a pig), are raised for specific functions like wool for clothes. But seeing as sheep in our world have been utilized for dairy, I don't think it's a big jump to think wooly-pigs would be in similar circumstances. All other pig hybrids are fully mammal (so this inference could still apply) except the picken (pig + chicken) and pigster (pig + rooster). (I don't know why they're two separate things. Weird!) Since these are birds crossed with mammals, they might not be able to produce milk. In Beasts of the Four Nations, Aang supposes that they lay eggs, and makes no mention of milk.

If the Picken and Pigster are more like chickens than pigs, they are likely to be native to A:tLA's equivalent of Southeast Asia—the Fire Nation. (Wikipedia page for the red junglefowl, from which chickens were domesticated.)

On the subject of the Fire Nation, I remembered—after completing this map, of course—that the Fire Nation has a native milk producer: the hippo cow.

Admittedly, this throws a wrench in the whole 'lactose intolerant Fire Nation' theory, but we could suppose that they are raised primarily for meat, and milk is an extra. According to the wiki, hippo cows are also domesticated in the Earth Kingdom after the Hundred Year War.

Final notes:

Non-hybrid yaks also exist and can be found around the Northern Water Tribe. Their dispersal pattern likely follows that of the buffalo yak quite closely, so they were not included in order to prevent crowding and clutter on the map.

Goat dogs and goat gorillas exist in the Earth Kingdom. While goats in the real world produce milk, these goat hybrids seem to express their non-goat 'genes' more prominently than the goat ones. Therefore, I have decided not to consider them.

New version of lactase persistence map, without labels:

Version of cattle map with labels:

And the lovely reference map (Stock and Wells 2023):

🌊 Questions, comments, concerns, critiques? I'll take them all :P

[atlaculture]

Your posts are so good! I love how easy it is to encounter academically minded people on Tumblr for literally any subject.

However, regarding the Hippo-Cow, I actually contend that it's not originally from the Fire Nation. Here's the excerpt from the original profile that was on the Nick website:

Creature: Hippo-Cow If you haven't already guessed, this animal is a cross between a hippo and a cow, and can be found on farms throughout the world. While in most cases the hippo-cow is known to be a vegetarian, in the Fire Nation, things are a little different. The hippo-cows of the Fire Nation love meat. Like Sokka says: In the Fire Nation, "Even the meat eats meat."

The Hippo-Cow's "default" state is being an herbivore, but it seems to have adapted to being a meat eater in the Fire Nation. This implies that they're native to somewhere else, most likely the Earth Kingdom. This leads me to think they're a rather recent (<100 years) import from the colonies and the Fire Nation raises them for meat rather dairy. They kind of look like those scarily buff cows they raise for their lean meat.

Good ol' Belgian Blues.

[samtamdan]

[fishbonesart]

incorrect quotes courtesy of my discord server

[lenaikart]

yuetara mermay as tui & la

[cirifiona]

Zutara Turkic AU (Oghuz & Sakha)

[lizanthium]

I missed them!!! Warming up sketches that I liked too much to leave them bare tbh 💜

ZK hugs will always be top tier <33 (ft, the ZK SWT AU)

[nuinokata]

as much as I love and live for (and believe me, I DO) zuko confronting a.ang over his treatment of katara, may I humbly offer: katara finding out how m.ai canonically treats zuko and absolutely losing. her. shit. world's most valid, necessary, and deserved crashout

[okikaguloveforever]

I'll have your signature, please.

[linnature]

Katara, the prettiest girl.

[kikibellpink]

I want to try making more lineless ones 

[okikaguloveforever]

In Chinese, Katara and 'otter' share similar-sounding parts.So I've brought Otter Katara🦦!

[bamdoodle]

Yesterday I finished watching ATLA and IM OBSESSED I LOVE THIS SERIES SO MUCH

[suspicious-sunset]

Day 6 - Old Friend | Ghost Hunting

“Do you think friendships can last more than one lifetime?”

[okikaguloveforever]

I've posted all the current pieces I have! I'll be commissioning more in the future.

If there's a theme or story you'd like to see, feel free to leave a comment here – I might find some inspiration from it.

This image is free for everyone to use as you like~

[navelee]