#kyoshi headcanons

[girlbossrangi]

“Kyoshi’s strong, compulsive need to put things back in their rightful place, minimize clutter, and maintain order.” ~Rise of Kyoshi, page 57

So…my homegirl has OCD?? Coming from someone who has it, that line made me happy ngl-

[charles-angles]

atuat and hei-ran (convalescence) headcanons

- when hei-ran is recovered enough to hold coherent conversations she at first cannot stand the healer assigned to her. the woman is pushy and full of herself and so rough around the edges it offends every one of her sensibilities

- but atuat grows on her, mostly because they find a mutual favorite topic of shitting on all the stupid men who have doubted their power

- hei-ran tells her a lot of avatar kuruk stories and especially enjoys that the bawdy ones make atuat lose her shit. she delivers all of these with a straight face and crisp tone which makes atuat laugh harder

- hei-ran, like her daughter, secretly loves to have her hair played with despite (or maybe because of?) the taboo. atuat doesn’t know about the taboo (well, she does, but she doesn’t care and hei-ran doesn’t need to know that) and one day hei-ran is woken up from an intense healing session by atuat carding her hands through her hair to pull it back from her face in a braid.

- hei-ran doesn’t have the heart to get atuat to stop because she’s in unbelievable pain everywhere else and those rough hands feel so good

- this becomes a daily routine. neither of them mention it

- rangi notices that her mom’s hair is braided every time now when she comes to fetch her from the healing center but she doesn’t comment. hei-ran only makes her undo it and put in a topknot if they’re going to have visitors

- during the long months hei-ran searches for things to do to distract herself and actually learns to cook sea prunes (which are atuat’s favorite, of course) an activity made appealing by the fact that the cooking is done in a large pot over a low fire and she can stay seated

- she does have fire nation spices imported though, and she makes up new recipes combining the two cultures’ culinary traditions and forces atuat to try them

- hei-ran absolutely refused to cook anything while she was traveling with kuruk and jianzhu. she hated the expectations that she, as the only woman companion of the avatar, would be in any way domestic. the first couple times jianzhu suggested it she nearly burned his stupid little beard off

- hei-ran tries to get rangi to join her - she may have to travel alone with the avatar, after all, and should know how to look after the avatar in all ways - but rangi spends most of her time sparring with the waterbenders (rangi of course is unbelievably pissed off that they only train men to fight here and after four months she can kick the ass of every single student in the academy, to her great satisfaction)

- hei-ran also spends time learning everything she can about non-waterbending-based healing from the city’s massive library and the oral traditions in the healing center and rangi grudgingly accepts to help her transfer important information to scrolls to take back to the fire nation

- atuat does like to tease hei-ran about her uptightness and it isn’t until two months into the healing process that she realizes that hei-ran’s eye crinkles are the equivalent of her bursting out in laughter at atuat’s antics

- her fave antic? bothering rangi. that girl is so easy to tease and once they realize that the amount she talks about kyoshi is because the two are romantically involved, atuat takes every opportunity to slip filthy innuendos into perfectly normal conversations. this gets really bad when atuat starts to have dinner with the two fire nation women on the regular. hei-ran is in hysterics (meaning her eyebrows twitch and she has a slight smirk). rangi turns red and storms out most evenings, cursing her mother’s injuries and that crazy doctor of hers

[youghvaudough]

Lek: aw shit

Kirima: *turns to Wong* look at what you’ve done to the fucking kid now he’s picked up your shitty habit

Wong: *turns to Lek* we will not tolerate this type of behavior on this goddamn bison

[11ofcrows]

I have this theory that Avatar Kyoshi died in a fight. Like she lived to be 230 and theoretically could’ve lived forever. And, assuming that the avatar’s past lives appear to the current avatar how they looked when they died (Roku is an old man, Aang looks like he would when he died at 66, Kuruk looks in his 30s cause he died in his 30s, etc.) and Kyoshi still looks relatively young because she kept herself in a constant state to remain immortal.However, she’s wearing her makeup and battle outfit. I don’t understand why she would always appear in that get up except for 1. She was killed in battle or 2. It’s just that iconic. However I have no idea who could’ve possibly killed her, and you don’t hear about anyone terrorizing people while Roku was growing up, so I also think that she won the fight and then died of her wounds later. These are all just theories because Kyoshi lives in my head 24/7 rent free but I’m interested to see what you all think

[charles-angles]

atuat and hei-ran (romance) headcanons

- it isn’t til six months into the year at the north pole that hei-ran realizes that the friendship she has formed with her shockingly powerful and absurd healer has started to tug on her heart in a particular way

- atuat drives her up the wall but at the same time when the water tribe woman gets going on a particularly long burst of laughter hei-ran just wants to grab her by her stupid fur collar and kiss her senseless

- one day, in fact, just after atuat makes a very pointed barb at rangi about her obsession with a certain earth avatar and the girl goes stomping out to the sound of the doctor’s guffaws, hei-ran does just that

- hei-ran is a very private person and very used to keeping secrets so rangi doesn’t know about their relationship until one day...

- ...when she arrives at the healing center early to complain to her mother about yet another sexist waterbending master and brag about her defeat of him in the sparring ring...

- ...and finds atuat straddling - straddling! - her mother’s lap, their lips locked

- rangi backs out immediately and doesn’t say a word. dinners start to get awkward though as she stares at the two older women and hei-ran eventually works out that she knows. she forces rangi to sit down and talk to her and her daughter is incredibly uncomfortable but gives hei-ran her blessing. (she just wants her mom to be happy and healthy)

- the relationship isn’t that deep at first, but their travels to the fire nation make hei-ran realize her guilt about yun and that she needs to confront this and she opens up to atuat about it

[charles-angles]

atuat and hei-ran (and alcohol) headcanons

- we know that atuat likes a good drink but imagine hei-ran getting drunk on fire nation whiskey while they’re still in the north pole bc atuat runs into her igloo one day and is like “today’s the day!” and just shoves an extremely expensive bottle of it into hei-ran’s lap

- hei-ran’s like “ma’am i am recovering from near death” and scoffs a little but it IS her favorite drink

- atuat remembered this from the time she showed up for dinner and drank some shitty fire nation wine and hei-ran made fun of her for enjoying such a plebeian drink from her country and went on a rant about the process of distilling the finer whiskies

- so the two split the bottle.

- rangi comes home to find them sitting together in a pile of furs and cackling while atuat attempts to freeze the ice cubes in their drinks into tiny dicks

- (her mom? is drunk? the headmistress of the royal fire academy is...rolling in the floor and laughing? about ice cube penises?)

- rangi just shakes her head and leaves them to it. at least her mother is feeling better

- and yes this does imply that the convo they have in the fire nation palace about hei-ran drinking during her recovery is an old argument (and atuat always intended to drink both the plum wine and sorghum liquor by herself)

- during the end of their time in the north pole they got drunk together more than once, hei-ran always protesting that it won’t help her healing and atuat always brushing it off and tempting her to join in her fun

- and every time, hei-ran wakes up in the morning, curled into atuat’s side in the middle of their igloo under a warm fur and feeling like shit, and the water tribe woman just calls over some water to bend onto hei-ran’s temples to relieve the headache without being asked

[slacktension]

no omg im going with the bull bc i cant pass up the face paint thing and!!

since the bull would be used for the farm, kyoshi can't take it with her to start her FN training bc it's needed at home or else family will starve!! and first year of training for kyoshi SUCKS

but then months and it's all "avatar kyoshi a....package has arrived" and IT'S HER BULL HER ANIMAL GUIDE

and satu licks her face and attached to her collar is a letter from kyoshi's love interest back home like: "satu had a baby, we decided she was better off with you" and kyoshi can't read so she gets her firebending sifu to read it for her (the first letter out of hundred she has gotten from her not-gf) bc she's so happy that she starts to open up to the FN people training her and!!

THIS IS LIKE OCs RN I REALIZE THIS BUT ITS 3 AM NO FILTER AND ALSO IT'S SUPER CUTE GOOD NIGHT

[slacktension]

Avatar Kyoshi Headcanons

I think the most character we see from Kyoshi comes from the flashback where she kills Chin the Conqueror. Obviously, we know she is an extremely powerful bender, a god-like Avatar, and unafraid of action from that moment.

But the moment is interesting, because she acts less as a protector of the world, and more as a protector of her homeland. Chin’s title is The Conqueror: his name implies that he has taken many lands. This indicates that Kyoshi was allowing Chin to conqueror until he chose to act against her personally.

Because of this, for the purposes of headcanons and frivolous plans, I think Kyoshi’s story would deal more with the concept of home and family rather than journey and friendship as A:tLA and LoK do.

Background

Kyoshi is the eldest daughter of Kyou, her mother, and Goro, her deceased father. She has two younger sisters: Satomi, the middle sister two years younger than Kyoshi, and Kiyoko, who is four years younger than Kyoshi. 

Goro was a powerful earthbender, a skill that is only passed down to Kyoshi. It helped him raise a successful farm, and the family made most of their profits from selling crops at the market. It was important to Goro that the family be self sufficient, something he instilled early in Kyoshi, whom he taught how to care for the farm through earthbending lessons - she first discovered the ability when she was five.

However, there isn’t much peace within the Earth Kingdom: the royal line doesn't care much for the areas outside of Ba Sing Se, and so the other provinces are allowed to dispute amongst themselves, leading to many small wars. When Kyoshi is seven, her father goes off to war, where he dies in battle.

(There is not much mixing between the four nations yet - they have warred before, but it is mostly armies/merchants/royals/the Air Nomads that have the means to travel. Most people in other nations haven’t seen the other elements or peoples of other nations.)

Kyou is unable to work the farm at the same rate as Goro due to his bending, and she has Kiyoko and Satomi to care for. Kyoshi takes it upon herself to work the farm. This is how Kyoshi spends most of her childhood - she only ever manages enough crops to feed the family. Her mother brings in money by picking up seamstress work.

Their last remaining gemsbok bull is Kyoshi’s animal guide, born when she was 12. Sturdy, strong, bred to till the land and help encourage it to grow, an animal necessary to the process of growing and living. A temperamental animal with glossy chocolate-brown eyes and sleepy, sweetly long eyelashes. Name: Satu, meaning sugar.

She has one friend her age: Naoko, her neighbor that’s in a similar situation as her. Both of her parents died in the war Goro died in, as they were both earthbenders. Naoko is an earthbender herself and lives with her younger brother, her aunt and uncle, and cousin. She has less family responsibilities as Kyoshi, and is calm, quiet, and is one of the only people in their village that can read and write (Kyoshi can’t do either). Still, like Kyoshi, she has a strong sense of family and duty.

At the age of 16, the Earth Kingdom equivalent of the Fire Sages come and tell Kyoshi she is the Avatar, and must start her training. Naturally, the aspect of being away from home for years upsets Kyoshi, and she doesn’t want to leave. She hates the idea of being the Avatar and protecting people that are not her responsibility.

Her mother and Naoko convince her to go: it is her duty, she can’t avoid it, they’ll be alright without her. Naoko promises to help with the farm and watch over Kyoshi’s family while she is gone; Kyoshi also passes the torch on to Satomi to take responsibility for the family, asking her to look out for their mother, sister, and Naoko.

Firebending

Fire is the first element she has to learn, and it takes her a long time to feel comfortable bending elements other than earth. Her fire comes from the passion she has for her homeland, but the distance and foreign element and nation makes her firebending weak. She is honestly a weak firebender for most of her training until her efforts fall into place - coinciding with the moment she trusts her firebending master to read her Naoko’s letters out loud to her.

Her teacher is a young, handsome nobleman, an unserious young man who is clearly spoiled, but good at what he does. He ends up being her unlikely best friend (a fondness that makes it to the next Avatar, Roku, who is from a Fire Nation noble family).

Kyoshi finds the Fire Nation confusing, strange, but on the whole not terrible. She meets the Firelord and learns the intricacies of politics in the FN - she doesn’t like politicians, but finds the idea of a singular ruler appealing.

Because firebending comes from within, Kyoshi understands it: fire is self sufficient.

Airbending

Kyoshi hates airbending, hates the Air Nomads, all of it from the start. It is too flighty, esoteric and scholarly, spiritualism flies over her head. She stays with the nuns of the Western Air Temple.

Being a farmer’s daughter, she had no formal education. By the time she starts her air training, she is 19, and unable to read. She can produce cold breezes and has to sit in classes with children. The only upside is that she can now respond to Naoko’s letters, and begin to read them herself - the letters become more private.

The Air Nomads preach about her duties, about selflessness - her airbending master calls her selfish when she proclaims she doesn’t want to protect anyone, and she flies into a rage - she knows nothing about the sacrifices she has had to make for her family.

In an effort to show Kyoshi the world she is meant to love and protect, the Air Nomads make her become nomadic. She travels to each Temple and, by the end of her four years of training, she just manages to pass her airbending test. She can communicate with her past lives and has grounding in her spirituality, but she actively tries to avoid it, just as she tries to avoid her duties to the world.

When she leaves, the master gives her many textbooks and scrolls on spirituality. She tells her master that she won’t bother with them, but takes them with her anyway, and reads them often to try and understand the Avatar side of herself.

Waterbending

Her worst element. She understands the sea, growing up on the coast - she understands its purpose but not how it can be found within her. She is only in the Southern Water Tribe for a few days until she is informed that the Earth Nation has fallen into a full-scale war.

She doesn’t think twice: she leaves for home immediately.

The Earth Empires

Kyoshi returns home, ignoring the bloodier, larger wars across the land in favor of the smaller one occurring in her village. On the battle field, she goes into the Avatar State for the first time, shielding the soldiers of her home and killing many of those on the opposing side. The resulting earthquake she causes travels throughout the entire land, putting a stop to all the battles. Word spreads that the Avatar caused it, and people are too afraid to continue, putting the war at a stand still.

This starts her reputation, which she ultimately embraces, as a wrathful, god-like Avatar. 

She has been gone for seven years, returning at the age of 23 to her home. Her mother has aged and her sisters are grown. The only change Kyoshi can spot in Naoko is that she is very, very beautiful.

Satomi, however, is the most changed. She is Kyoshi without her power, with all the responsibility. Her hands are just as rough as her older sister’s, and her personality is sharper. She is 21, angry with everyone and everything, horribly sarcastic and likes to pick fights. She is strong and tall, her body and life dedicated to hard labor.

Kiyoko is the only one in the family allowed any fun, attending a small school, doing minimal farming, mostly helping with seamstress work and enjoying her time with friends at the market. She is fun, funny, and gets bored easily.

Kyoshi stays home for a month. Her mother drops hints that she should leave and return to her duties, but Kyoshi doesn’t want to hear it. She tries to adjust to the changes at home. In town, men flirt with Naoko, and Kyoshi has trouble keeping her eyes off her. A lot of things have changed.

Finally, her mother tells her she has to complete her training, and that her sisters will go with her. Their mother feels guilty for having Satomi dedicate her youth to their family, for boxing her in with responsibility, especially when now, Naoko is more than capable of keeping up with the farm, and they have money to support themselves. Kiyoko begs to tag along until they relent.

Reluctantly, the Kyoshi agrees.

Actual Story:

The story would revolve around Kyoshi, Satomi, and Kiyoko traveling from their home to the Northern Water Tribe for Kyoshi’s training, to mastering waterbending. Their travels are condensed within the Earth Kingdom, exploring the lack of unification among the people, though they all rally around their land. 

Kyoshi comes to understand her duties when she finds herself calling Satomi selfish, for the exact same reasons her airbending master called Kyoshi selfish. During her waterbending training, she reflects more on her emotions, on her duty, her spirituality. Water is about balancing: from accepting her duty and not sacrificing herself to it as an individual - having pride in who she is, the daughter of a farmer and seamstress, a sister, stubborn, powerful woman; with what she must be, the Avatar, a job she ends up taking very seriously and embracing, just as she embraces her family/village - however, they always take precedent. 

All this and: sisterly bonding, finding out Kyoshi is in love with Naoko, reluctantly making friends that last lifetimes, the opening of chakras, Kyoshi's sisters calling her out of the Avatar State. Kiyoko running off and hitting on anything that moves, while Satomi quietly, accidentally falls in love with a monk from the Northern Air Temple (they run into him in the EK, where he wears his hair long - he tells her he gave up being a monk when he fell in love, and couldn't properly dedicate himself to that life. It takes her a while to realize he meant he fell in love with her).

You know.

Just, a lot of things a lot of people would like to see.