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[kyoshi-lesbians]

her ba sing slay

[kyoshi-lesbians]

people tend to talk more about the doll iroh gives azula as a spoil of war that directly illustrates iroh’s attitude of colonial paternalism, but there’s something so fascinating to me about how iroh gives zuko a knife that says “made in earth kingdom” on one side and “never give up without a fight” on the other, reducing a call to action, direct resistance through any means necessary, into an abstract, inspirational quote. a weapon that symbolizes the strength of a nation of resist imperialist conquest/colonial occupation is put in the hands of a ten year old who has no way of truly understanding the implications of that slogan. of course, zuko eventually does come to understand, and he does refuse to give up without a fight, as does iroh, but at the time that iroh gives zuko the knife, he is perverting that symbol of revolutionary action & resistance into a colonial artifact, a mere child’s plaything, its blade dulled and its power denied through the act of gifting it to the sheltered prince of the nation against whom they are fighting. yes, zuko has his own fight, and must face his own struggles, and he is largely defined by his persistence, so it’s easy to forget what this knife means within its original cultural context: “made in earth kingdom” isn’t just a dismissive joke, it’s also a grave reminder of who iroh was, what his “gifts” represent, and where they came from.

[kyoshi-lesbians]

The Gaang take another vacation at the library

[kyoshi-lesbians]

Katara >///<

[kyoshi-lesbians]

“Indeed the essence of the Blue Spirit is its love of the unnatural: of artífice and exaggeration. And the Blue Spirit is esoteric - something of a private code, a badge of identity even.

10. The Blue Spirit sees everything in quotation marks. It's not a lamp, but a "lamp"; not a woman, but a "woman." To perceive the Blue Spirit in objects and persons is to understand Being-as-Playing-a-Role. It is the farthest extension, in sensibility, of the metaphor of life as theater.

16. Thus, the Blue Spirit sensibility is one that is alive to the double sense in which some things can be taken. But this is not the familiar split-level construction of a literal meaning, on one hand, it is a symbolic meaning, on the other. It is the difference, rather, between the thing as meaning something, anything, and the thing as pure artifice.

23. In naïve, or pure, the essential element is seriousness, a seriousness that fails. Of course, not all seriousness that fails can be redeemed as the Blue Spirit. Only that which has the proper mixture of the exaggerated, the fantastic, the passionate, and the naïve.

56. The Blue Spirit is a kind of love, a love for human nature. It relishes, rather than judges, the little triumphs and awkward intensities of “character”… The Blue Spirit identifies with what it is enjoying. People who share this sensibility are not laughing at this thing they label as “The Blue Spirit,” they’re enjoying it. The Blue Spirit is a tender feeling.”

— Susan Sontag, Notes on the Blue Spirit

[kyoshi-lesbians]

hi anon 👋 i'm not going to respond directly to that post (there's a lot there) but I will go into why I personally find ty lee & suki interesting!

the fun part of tysuki for me is that they would not get along at first. it would take time for both of them to trust each other and significant growth, especially for ty lee. (also, to note for this analysis, I interpret ty lee as having air nomad heritage and being aware of this in some way. that’s just sort of the base for any post-war imaginings I have for ty lee. an interpretation of their relationship where ty lee is not an air nomad is interesting for how it is a sort of microcosm of the decolonization and reconciliation that must take place after the war, but I won't delve into that.) what makes their dynamic compelling to me is suki’s justified distrust of ty lee and ty lee striving to become worthy of suki’s trust −  because she would respect suki, who leads the warriors with love and compassion and without competition, unlike any group ty lee has been part of before (including the circus, the cruelty of which we see through the eyes of appa). 

first step would be ty lee sincerely apologizing to suki for her role in the war. no matter the circumstances ty lee was operating under, she caused immense harm to the world and suki personally. ty lee may have earned the trust of the other warriors but suki wasn't there for that - that suki doesn't advocate to kick her out of the warriors is a testament to the level of trust between suki and her sister warriors, and probably the structure of decision making in the group as well (consensus or majority rule). 

but as an ongoing practice, ty lee would struggle to let her guard down around the leader of a powerful warrior group, while some honest vulnerability is a part of what suki would need to trust ty lee after the war. their skills and personalities complement each other, but only after they understand the logic the other operates under. 

as intelligent as ty lee is, as much as she can recognize and appreciate that the kyoshi warriors have a unique culture that is nothing like the fire nation, ty lee has been operating under (cultural) threat for her entire life in the fire nation and direct physical threat from azula for several years (childhood, with a break from her time in the circus, to being back under her thumb in more danger than ever.) her way of navigating the world wouldn’t completely change, but I do think it will take time, energy, and a lot of healing for ty lee to develop a ways of relating to people (other than mai) that are more emotionally honest and healthy.

but ty lee could. as a part of the warriors she would start using her people skills for group cohesion instead of solely her default state of personal protection (and, even more important to her, protection of mai). she starts to consciously consider it her social role/ responsibility within the warriors to manage the tense moments that come up in any large group −  even a tight knit, disciplined sisterhood like the kyoshi warriors. once suki recognizes ty lee is actively choosing to do this for the group, only then does she fully emotionally accept ty lee as one of the warriors. suki (to her own surprise) even starts to rely on ty lee's perceptiveness for group dynamics during difficult situations.

however to suki's dismay, ty lee can read her too, including when suki is struggling but not showing it for the sake of the other warriors. initially suki would be deeply uncomfortable with this, offended even when ty lee attempts to support suki personally (how dare she question suki's leadership? suki is fine. she's a teenager leading an elite warrior group while reconstructing her village, their island, other towns in the earth kingdom, providing advice to the fire lord to maintain world peace, she's fine, she even got a full 4 hours of sleep last night. she doesn't need ty lee telling her to take a nap while ty lee takes over leading afternoon training) but suki grows to accept the support, eventually recognizing that she has a responsibility to her girls to take care of herself.

I'm oscillating on whether they would develop a leader/second-in-command type dynamic. it's a role ty lee could slot into comfortably, hopefully now in a healthy way. either way, the work they go through to trust and understand each other would, i think, create something beautiful. 

and maybe, after some time (and a visit from aang) ty lee would open up about her heritage to suki. and suki, who as a kyoshi islander exists on the margins of the earth kingdom and whose home was destroyed by colonial powers, would understand. (this shared personal understanding is maybe the one thing that mai can't provide ty lee. and I think mai would recognize this and be grateful for the people in ty lee's life who can, like suki.)

ty lee wouldn't stay on kyoshi island forever… maybe a year or so before moving on to the most important mission for herself and the most meaningful she could do in the service of kyoshi: rebuilding the air nation with aang and her own family. but when she or suki need some rest or some fun, kyoshi island is just a bison ride away.

[kyoshi-lesbians]

Since you guys seemed to really dig the first bunch, here are a few more studies of the kids :>

★ patreon || website || twitter ★

[kyoshi-lesbians]

i enjoy the way that sokka & zuko both have a conversation with the universe/creator in "bitter work" so you compare & contrast zuko crying screaming begging to be struck by lightening with sokka facetiously promising that he will give up his entire (projected) identity to live another day

[kyoshi-lesbians]

season 2 zuko's gayest season

[kyoshi-lesbians]

"twinkle-toes" don't worry toph we can see the slurs you're throwing thru the PG filter

"i figured you wouldn't mind. and besides even if you did, you're too much of a pushover to do anything about it" cartoon version of toph calling aang a pussy like I know she wanted

[kyoshi-lesbians]

"i figured you wouldn't mind. and besides even if you did, you're too much of a pushover to do anything about it" cartoon version of toph calling aang a pussy like I know she wanted

[kyoshi-lesbians]

the thing is, mai’s most significant act is a direct parallel to zuko. Standing up to azula while disproving her logic and asserting her power by hurting azula as much as possible − mai's  “I guess you don’t think you know people as well as you think you do” and  “I love zuko more than I fear you”  is zuko's “it was cruel and it was wrong” and redirect of ozai's lightning.

zuko’s arc being his rejection of imperial patriarchal logic−  driven by his lifelong inability to conform to the violent (male) role others demanded he embody, as much as he wanted to −  loops back to mai’s relationship to fire nation patriarchy. her personhood was always put below her father’s. she was effectively told to be “seen, not heard” but unlike zuko she did have the ability to conform to their expectations and she often did (though she did have her little personal rebellions and snark through it. “Fire flakes dad?” and “I’m not going in that sludge”). Mai craves freedom and is defined largely by how she represses expressions of that. 

zuko joining the resistance against the fire nation proves to be the catalyst for mai actively rejecting the logic that has put her, even with her extremely privileged position, in a lesser category than men. mai committing treason against the fire nation princess undoubtedly destroyed her father’s political career. By betraying azula, mai puts her own feelings above her father who is acting on behalf of the ultimate patriarch, the fire lord. ironically, the moment we see mai the most free is when she is being put in chains. (being in prison is also when she is the most safe.) 

zuko and mai’s acts of resistance are defying an imperial patriarchal system that dehumanizes the majority of the world and personally harms them. zuko’s actions are partly influenced by his being gay and mai’s decision is influenced by….?  yeah.

I’ve said this before but that mai dating zuko literally makes her gayer is so funny. “I love zuko more than I fear you” and she's STILL SO GAY. that’s crazy.

[kyoshi-lesbians]

like I could believe mailee being one sided if it wasn’t for zuko being gay. luckily whenever zuko attempts heterosexuality it becomes obvious how homosexual he is. and we are left interpreting what this reveals about the girls he attempts to be heterosexual with

I’ve said this before but that mai dating zuko literally makes her gayer is so funny. “I love zuko more than I fear you” and she's STILL SO GAY. that’s crazy.

[kyoshi-lesbians]

I’ve said this before but that mai dating zuko literally makes her gayer is so funny. “I love zuko more than I fear you” and she's STILL SO GAY. that’s crazy.

[kyoshi-lesbians]

do you have a masterpost of "ty lee comes from crypto-air nomad" posts? I'm fascinated by this idea and want to read everything I can but I can't find where it started 😭

i feel like this is a question better posed to @kyoshi-lesbians, who, at least in my book, is the leading expert in ty lee studies (among other things). that said, i can definitely synthesize the argument (and why i find it cogent and persuasive), even if i don't actually know from where the theory originated (but i'm sure that if you look up "ty lee air nomad you'll immediately be directed to an old reddit page or fan forum from years ago; it's a "theory" that goes way back).

firstly, ty lee's appearance is distinctly "air nomadic" in a way no one else's is. save for aang, of course. she and aang do bear an uncanny resemblance. everyone else in the fire nation has yellowish brown eyes, for example, while ty lee, like aang, has charcoal greyish brown eyes. and they also have similar (round and cute) facial features, similar expressions, similar vibes. similar dispositions...

ty lee does not "have the personality" of a ruthless fire nation soldier, despite acting as the princess's right hand who takes out more opponents than pretty much everyone else put together. ty lee acts like an airbender, flirty and flighty. her relentless optimism and goodwill and cheer is decidedly a mask, but it is a mask she adopts adeptly. even if she is performing, she nonetheless performs the "aang" function of her respective group.

ty lee presents herself as more spiritually attuned than other people in the fire nation, who outright disrespect the spirits and spirituality. her constant talk of auras is likely a calculated move on her part, as nearly everything is, to make her seem silly and trivial, because she thrives best when she goes underestimated. but her talk of auras also has to come from somewhere, and seeing as literally no one else mentions auras once throughout the entire show, ty lee's sources are clearly scarce.

ty lee also fights like an airbender. despite generally taking the offensive, ty lee nonetheless exhibits a graceful, acrobatic quality when in combat. she never kills anyone either, merely incapacitates them momentarily. and when she is faced with stronger than typical opponents, she usually relies on her skills as an acrobat by taking the aerial advantage. note her ability to jump incredibly high, such as in "the chase," or her ability to run along a moving cable wire in "the boiling rock." ty lee's skills go beyond merely being a good acrobat. she's incredible. and perhaps even exhibiting some latent airbending skills she inherited from her ancestors.

ty lee's air nomad ancestry coheres really well with her arc as a character. imagining that her family of genocide survivors hid in the heart of the fire nation and assimilated into the imperialist culture that sought to exterminate them makes her own role that much more impactful. there's already a beautiful parallelism to the fact that ty lee is an acrobat and performer who contorts herself to suit the desires of others and performs obsequious loyalty for her own survival, but an extra layer of depth is added if she's also assimilating into the royal court by reducing herself and hiding her true feelings and motivations, just as her family did.

i see ty lee's ancestors as having assimilated into the imperial core out of fear, but over the generations, genuinely being subsumed into fire nation culture, with the desire to social climb a natural extension of their patriotism. but there are also still facets of ty lee's ancestry, whether genetic or otherwise, that have remained in traces. the generational trauma, for example, definitely reflects why her parents had so many children. and the fact that she's constantly torn between two worlds, as a genocide survivor who also directly serves the imperialists who murdered her ancestors, represents her internal struggle as someone who desires freedom of expression and the choice to assert her individuality, but is also forced through circumstance into lying and deflecting and manipulating (which, to be honest, is also the air nomad way) for the sake of survival.

surviving is ty lee's number one priority, in a way it just isn't for mai. mai and ty lee both come from social climbing families (although i've always assumed that mai's family is far wealthier than ty lee's) but mai is also depressed and frustrated and bored out of her mind. and even though she was raised in a family that forced her to don a mask and reduce herself and perform a passive model of femininity, she also has no problem stating aloud how she's feeling and what her limits are (with the exception of when azula gives her a veiled command as a test, and mai has no choice but to obey).

mai has the privilege of knowing that the stakes don't really matter, which she all but states when she claims that she grew up in luxury and opulence, and always had everything handed to her. which isn't to say that she led a perfect, easy life. she wouldn't be as depressed and repressed as she is if there weren't factors actively harming her, but she still chooses to join azula by choice, even if it's really only the illusion of choice between two awful options, whereas ty lee has to be coerced through violence.

mai kind of has a "fuck it we ball" attitude and doesn't really seem to care about her own safety (if anything, she's more concerned with comfort), whereas ty lee would do anything to ensure her survival. and that kind of mentality illustrates how she differs from most of the fire nation elites, who were inculcated into imperial privilege and never really considered what prioritizing survival even entails (zuko learns that lesson the hard way). ty really exhibits the mentality of the genocide victim/colonized subject through her prioritization of survival in the face of what to mai is a problem, but to ty lee is an existential threat.

whether or not ty lee even recognizes that her desperate desire to live comes from a place of generational grief and trauma is another story, but i do think there is something to be said for the fact that descendants of genocide survivors can feel that grief as it has been passed down to them. i think ty lee feels it, and i think that it motivates her to do whatever it takes to live, because above all, she is a survivor. and even if she has to assimilate and manipulate and cut away every part of herself that's real and authentic and true, she will do it (until she doesn't). and that's also, incidentally, what makes her such a great foil to aang.

[kyoshi-lesbians]

[ID: A series of GIFs showing the parallels between Azula introducing herself to King Keui in Kyoshi Warrior disguise and Ozai asking Fire Lord Azulon to make him the crown prince over Iroh. The last GIF shows Azula and Zuko peeking through curtains watching Ozai speak to Azulon.]

“I am your humble servant, here to serve you and our nation. Use me.” // "We are the Earth King's humble servants."

[kyoshi-lesbians]

my out of town friends went back home 😔 time to get back to important things like uhh *checks notes*... my atla blog