#gaoling

To compensate for the fact their granddaughters would be the first Beifongs in decades to be raised away from Gaoling, Toph agreed to send her daughters to spend a month a year with their grandparents. Since Lao and Poppy knew Toph wasn't concerned in the slightest in keeping with a proper education for young ladies of the house of the winged boar, they made it their mission to ensure they were provided with the best instruction in manners and ladylike skills while they were in Gaoling under their tutelage.

As part of their curriculum to become proper ladies and one that actually took (because Poppy had to accept defeat in her effort to reign the girls' enthusiasm in physical pursuits like sparring wirh the household guards), Lin and Suyin learned to play musical instruments. While Lin favored the guqin*, Su ended up with the suona** because her first choice, drums, was unavailable. Grandpa Lao was adamant that percussion was "unbecoming of a noble lady of Beifong," but Su, like the little shit she was, proceeded to make her lessons hell on Earth for anyone with ears playing as strident and off key as humanly possible, making Lao regret his decision many times over.

Despite Su's antics, they both became good enough for Lao and Poppy's to organize recitals with the girls for their guests. Once Lin learned to play, she was inspired by a metalbending giqao player from a traveling opera troupe who used his bending to play and Lin took it as a challenge to become more proficient and to master her control.

Bonus Linvira headcanon:

Once Lin and Kuvira's relationship was made public, and after Lin retired (well, sort of because she would still accept cases as a part time Private Detective) they would occasionally host dinnera for their closest friends and family. Sometimes on Kuvira's insistence (because she loved coming up any justification to get Lin to play and despite Lin's repeteated reticence, Kuvira would win her over with a healthy dose of persuasion), they would end up putting on a little show featuring Lin playing while Kuvira displayed her proficiency in the metal wire dancing arts, which coincidentally was the persuasion that would win Lin over every time to play. 🤭

*Giqao

**Suona

Zhao successfully kills the Moon Spirit Tui and incapacitates Yue before she can fix it.

The tides and weather are so thrown out of balance that ATLA becomes an almost fully-submerged planet, with only the tallest mountain peaks remaining as islands; most notably, the Air Temples, Omashu, and the Insane Herbalist’s Greenhouse. The only other territory to remain is Gaoling.

Submerged Territories include the Water Tribes, Fire Nation Archipelago, Freedom Fighter Forest, Ba Sing Se, Foggy Swamp, Kyoshi Island, and the Abbey.

Yue is both waterbending and the Avatar Cycle’s only chance to return. Until then, the return of the moon is the Gaang’s new mission.

Sokka fails to contain his smugness when his sister asks for boomerang lessons to supplement her waterbending.

Northern Water Tribe is one of the first communities submerged due to being the coastal city and epicenter of La’s grief. La wishes to protect Tui’s corpse under his waves.

The majority of Fire Nation territory, including the capital (Caldera City), is completely submerged. What remains of the Fire Nation’s citizens lives on rare mountainous colonies, the navy, mercantile fleet, fishing industry ships, and the elite’s literal showboats.

Fire Navy ships undergo catastrophic amounts of bad luck, so many sinking that it may be a curse from La. Civilians are encouraged to join merchant and fishing ships instead.

The Herbalist’s Greenhouse, Gaoling, and Eastern & Southern Air Temples are the planet’s main sources of food besides aquatic life.

Refugees learn quickly to survive off fishing and farming aquatic plants, learning from Water Tribe members and other coastal residents.

The Unagi is happy to continue guarding the Kyoshi Island residents on their new fleet of ships. It is happy to spend more time with its old friend’s legacy.

The Serpent’s Pass’s namesake, however, is the Unagi’s polar opposite. Though it is happy to explore, stake more territory, eat all the humans flooding its waters.

The Northern Air Temple’s tech-enhanced citizens remain free as always, their gliders becoming an even more valuable transportation method with so little ground to walk on. To be safe, they gain a focus on naval technologies, building the whale submarines early and spreading their borders with floating docks.

Toph is warned of the incoming disaster by the spiritually connected Badgermoles. She, along with her fellow Earth Rumble Competitors are able to raise Gaoling and part of its surrounding forest high enough to create a mountainous island before the floods arrive. Tall enough for even the Badgermoles to remain underground.

Ba Sing Se, Eclipse Invasion, and Boiling Rock Prison Break storylines are either postponed or erased since all those places are underwater.

This is all from a lesbian point of view, btw. I always imagine Azulon's wife, Fire Lady Ilah, singing this. I hc that his wife is bisexual. I was digging deep into my lesbian desires to write all this. Hope y'all love it.

Ba Sing Se

BSS said better keep it PG

I agreed so that they won't brainwash me

Begging for that big D, where is the Dai Li?

Gaoling

Waterbender, you know that I'm squirting

So deep in my kidneys that it's hurting

Heard the richest girls are here in Gaoling

Agna Qel'a

Agni Q'ela, girl, you are so icy

She said where to bust I said, "Behind please."

What's your fav position? Mine is doggy

Wolf Cove

They call it Wolf Cove, I call it Pound Town

Ladies, you know I'm ready to go down

Your pussy's so wet, I think I might drown

Caldera

Caldera, what a beautiful city

Fire women are so hot, believe me

If you agree, ladies flash your titties

Omashu

Omashu, you know your king is crazy.

Strapping you so hard, you're screaming, "Baby!"

Sure! I will share more when I finally write my sukka and kataang-centric fics (I’m @eleonorastay on ao3). If you want to use any of these in a fic, please credit me and let me know where to read it! :) Here are my ideas so far: 

Earth Nation: varies based on city/village. For upperclass families or in cities like Gaoling and Ba Sing Se, it’s important to treat the ceremony as a celebration: ornate clothing/jewelry, beautiful decor, and food that’s aesthetic as well as delicious. The couple are expected to present each other with gifts (often wedding clothes) to symbolize their joy over the union. In smaller/more rural villages and for lower class families, clothing & gifts are still important but there’s more emphasis on the community showering the couple with love--in Haru’s village, for example, the community cleans the couple’s new home and takes care of chores (preparing food, gardening, etc) so they can focus on each other for the first week of their marriage. 

In Omashu, King Bumi will send the couple a strange riddle on the day of their wedding, accompanied by an equally strange wedding gift. When he has the time, he may also attend the wedding in disguise. 

On Kyoshi Island, the village make effigies that look like the couple and throw them into the South Sea to be destroyed by the Unagi; the superstition is that this will bring them lifelong protection from the Unagi afterwards. (This idea will be appearing in bruise belies the break lol) 

Fire Nation: Like the Earth Nation, it depends on the place, and traditions have changed a lot after the end of the war. During the war, couples would hang a picture of Ozai at their altar and declare their dedication to him and the Nation in their vows. After Zuko was crowned Firelord, marriages began to take on a more spiritual significance, so couples ask for the spirits’ blessings instead. LGBTQ marriage was banned by Firelord Sozin and reinstated by Zuko, so there was an influx in LGBTQ marriages after his coronation. Wedding events are commonly held twice, hosted once by each family, except for the ceremony. Even in the rural areas, the dress codes are stricter than for other nations (color schemes, which flowers the brides wear in their hair, etc), and ceremonies are usually in summer & in the morning to honor Agni. Fireworks after sundown on the day of the ceremony are common for richer couples, and if one or both are firebenders, bending displays often occur during receptions. 

Air Nation:  the marriage ceremony is more about announcing their commitment to the spirits and getting their blessings, so it's common for couples to elope or have a private ceremony. Of course, romance festivals full of food, dancing, and music abound, so there are plenty of opportunities for couples to share their love publicly. Non-heteronormative unions are common. It is tradition for the couple to spend their first year after marriage traveling and visiting as many friends as possible, to further cement their commitment to experiencing the world as a pair rather than as individuals. This honors the significance of hospitality, friendship, and travel in the culture. 

Water Nation traditions differ between the North and South--as we’ve seen, in the North betrothal necklaces are common, and marriages tend to be heteronormative. Marriages in the South are less binaristic--one member of the couple is expected to produce a warm, safe shelter and the other a pair of winter parkas, but there’s no rules as to which gender does what. The Southern tribe also does a big potluck since everyone is invited to the same events, whereas in the North it’s more common to divide up guests to attend different feasts on different days. For both, elders give their blessings + married couples give as much advice as possible (whether the couple wants it or not). It is also common for the couple to spend the days leading up to the wedding with each other’s families, learning their individual histories and traditions. 

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