#fc yee

[lilrobinbird]

repost bc I wanted to fix some small details + rangi doodles

[allgremlinart]

The Most Underrated Line In All Of ATLA/TLOK And Its Many Worldbuilding Implications - A Ramble

In S2E7 of TLOK we get this dialogue from Wan and The Aye-Aye Spirit: "There are other Lion Turtles?" "Of course there are - dozens of them!" [timestamp 3:38 in this video]

It's such a quick line it's easy to miss, but there's one thing about it that made a LOT of things click into place for me about the Avatar universe's worldbuilding; the fact that there are (or were) dozens of Lion Turtles. NOT four, with one for each element, like you would assume. Dozens.

What does this mean in terms of the Four Nations? What connections might this have with other previously established lore? Well uhm follow me on this journey. I guess.

Pre-Unifications - A Global Warring States Era?

A warring states era on a wouldn't be nearly as compelling if there were only four Lion Turtles. If this were the case, everything would be perfectly balanced; why would there be disarray, violence, cultural disparity and struggles for power within each elemental group if the world was already perfectly divided into four solid groups? Why would a national identity be in question at all?

But the fact that there are more than one Lion Turtle per element... that means different groups of people being isolated from one another for long periods of time. This means different bodies of identity, regardless of element. Different city states, regional Kings, Queens, fiefdoms, dynastic power struggle, etc etc, before any sort of inherent loyalty the ones element as a national and cultural identity was established.

We know the Avatar world was not always divided into Four Nations. In Chapter 21 of The Rise Of Kyoshi we learn that Guru Laghima - a name you'll recognize from TLOK S3 - was from an era when the Four Nations had not yet been formed. We also know from Zaheer that he lived about 4,000 years before the events of TLOK (for context, thats about 6,000 years after Wan became the first Avatar).

There's further confirmation of this in Smoke And Shadow, where we learn about the first Firelord and the Fire Nation's unification wars.

However there's implications of this even in the original series; it's not some sloppy ret-con from the books and comics, it fits. Think Omashu:

In S2E2 of ATLA we get the story of Oma and Shu - and we learn that they come from "warring villages." Now why exactly would their villages be warring if The Earth Kingdom already existed? Why the need for a power struggle? Why is it not presented as a civil insurrection or civil war, but as a conflict between two distinct groups of people? The answer is that the "Earth Kingdom" as we conceptualize it did not exist. I'd go further and say that we can assume that after Omashu was established it became a powerful regional kingdom, and created strong sphere of cultural influence. Think about it - Bumi is King Of Omashu. King. NOT the Earth King, King Of The Earth Kingdom, but still King Of Omashu.

[Now there's some debate about where Omashu's founding sits on the timeline but to me it HAS to be post-Wan, probably very nearly immediately post-Wan. The line that calls them the "first earthbenders" and that they "learned earthbending from the badger moles" has caused some to question if they fit in with the "Lion Turtles bestowed bending" lore, but to me it fits pretty easily. The Lion Turtles may have bestowed the power but the actual technique was learned from the badger moles and dragons and blah blah blah.]

I also find this line from Jianzhu in The Rise Of Kyoshi very illuminating:

VINDICATION !! And Jianzhu's moaning over the cultural diversity within his country brings me to the second part of this post...

FC Yee And Gene Luen Yang Accidentally (?) Make Avatar's Cultural Mish Mash Make More Sense

Avatar's cultural gumbo of visuals has always been a little hard to parse. If you follow @atlaculture then you know it'd be kind of fruitless to try and apply any one single ethnicity/culture to one nation. A common, and very valid, criticism of Avatar is the pan-asian approach it takes to worldbuilding. I'm not here to defend that lol. I think people who dislike Avatar on that basis are well within their rights to do so, and I also think it's important to enjoy things critically.

HOWEVER, from a worldbuilding perspective, the mish mash becomes easier to swallow when you think of it in terms of multiple groups of people being unified into different nation states over a very long period of time and slowly intertwining their cultures into a single(ish) identity.

Take the Fire Nation for example: in FC Yee's The Shadow Of Kyoshi we learn that the government was much more decentralized and the country was controlled by different clans, like the Saowon and Keosho, who had individual spheres of influence and strong senses of identity. It makes me think about Mai and Ty Lee

They're both Fire Nation nobles and they both live in the Fire Nation capital - but their styles/clothes are completely different. Now, obviously that can be boiled down to personality-based character design but. There's a wide discrepancy between Mai's Edo Japan inspired hair and Ty Lee's Thai inspired performance outfit, and a little retroactive canon about them being part of different but powerful clans .. ? Yeah. That'd be fun, at the very least.

I could go on about this... was there a Water Lion Turtle at the north AND the south? How did the airbenders transition from relatively sedentary life on a Lion Turtle to nomadism? etc etc etc BUT in conclusion: TLOK and the comics have some very fun worldbuilding implications snuck in there !! Which makes up for a lot in my opinion. Personally I'd KILL for an Avatar series set in the warring states/unification period... I think that could be insanely cool...idk. The End. For Now.

[avatar-news]

Avatar Szeto to star in next Chronicles of the Avatar books?

(Art by Avatar News)

Avatar Szeto, the fire Avatar before Yangchen, Kuruk, Kyoshi, Roku, Aang, and Korra, could be the main character of the next Chronicles of the Avatar novels.

In a recent interview with Nerds of Color, Chronicles of the Avatar writer F. C. Yee said he doesn't know if he'll be writing more books after Kyoshi and Yangchen, but "if he had his choice of what Avatar to tackle next, he named Avatar Szeto as a possible candidate." 👀🔥

F. C. Yee introduced Avatar Szeto's backstory in the Kyoshi books, revealing that he was born in a time of crisis in the Fire Nation due to natural disasters, plagues, and clan conflict. Instead of using his divine position as Avatar to enforce his rule, he joined the Fire Nation government as an entry-level bureaucrat and worked his way up with no special privileges until he was an advisor to the Fire Lord-- that's why he has that vizier-like hat in the few glimpses of him we see in Aang and Korra's eras.

But as we all know, there's more to every Avatar than their legacy, and in the Yangchen books we learn that Szeto's life was secretly messy and "a library of intrigue in the realm of spycraft and trickery".

His name comes from the Chinese Han dynasty title 司徒 (Sītú) meaning "Minister over the Masses".

[readtilyoudie]

If she couldn’t be a creature of grace, then she’d be a battering ram.

Avatar: The Rise of Kyoshi (The Kyoshi Novels, #1) by F.C. Yee

[st4rdust-days]

Junjinta: why do you both look so sad?

Kavik, solemnly staring at the ground: you'll have to sit down for this one, bud

Junjinta, sits: ???

Yangchen, sighing: the bench is freshly painted

[survivalove]

fc yee flipping the script and making kavik be the one threatened instead of doing the threatening was very delicious. maybe i get the enemies 2 lovers appeal after all

(and yes i finished both yangchen books, yangchen and kavik both find each other attractive and have a great arc with a very implied ending thank you)

[headcanonsandcupcakes]

Okay can we all collectively agree that F.C. Yee just needs to be the main author of any future "Chronicles of the Avatar" books???? Just finished Legacy of Yangchen and my god I want more <3

[scribe-of-maat]

Yangvik Won

Legacy of Yangchen spoilers, obviously. Part II to the Dawn of Yangchen evidence.

Spirits bless you, F.C. Yee

[lari-draws]

“I offer you this wisdom. Only justice will bring peace.” - Avatar Kyoshi

[light-bender]

"There was only one spoon."

The Avatar Yang Chen book just keeps getting better and better.

[comradekatara]

absolutely adored zongdu chaisee in the dawn of yangchen. just a girlboss building her empire

[avatar-news]

Chronicles of the Avatar: The Legacy of Yangchen by F. C. Yee hits shelves this summer on July 18th, 2023!

This is the second Yangchen novel after last year's The Dawn of Yangchen, and the fourth Chronicles of the Avatar novel after The Rise of Kyoshi and The Shadow of Kyoshi!

Check out the cover reveal above the the official description below:

“Common enemies make for strange friends . . .

Avatar Yangchen has succeeded in bringing a measure of stability to Bin-Er, but her successes have been limited to a single city, and rumors concerning Unanimity—a weapon capable of total obliteration—have led to increasing tensions among the Four Nations.

Desperate to restore diplomacy, Yangchen attempts to de-escalate hostilities between heads of state. But in the wake of a brutal assassination and the freeing of Unanimity, Yangchen is forced to bring Kavik—the trusted former companion whose betrayal crushed her—back into her fold.

As the Four Nations teeter on the brink of conflict and she begins to unravel the power-hungry Zongdu Chaisee’s true agenda, Yangchen is forced to measure the worth of humanity, and how much can be sacrificed in the name of balance.

This taut and provocative fourth installment in the Chronicles of the Avatar series follows Avatar Yangchen as she charts the course of her legacy, finally making peace with her choices and facing Avatarhood with the courage it demands.”

[readtilyoudie]

She never understood how they managed to wound each other and then forgive each other so quickly. Wrongs meant something, even if they were inflicted by your family. Especially if it was family.

Avatar: The Rise of Kyoshi (The Kyoshi Novels, #1) by F.C. Yee

[emachinescat]

A Year in (Book) Review: My 2024 Reading Journey 📚

#6 - The Legacy of Yangchen by F. C. Yee

Fantasy / Chronicles of the Avatar #4 / 336 pages / published 2023 / Finished Jan. 11

One Sentence Review: Even better than its predecessor, Legacy enriches the world and history of the Avatar world even further, ties up all loose ends, mends the rifts that were so distressing to me in the first book, expands the political complexities of the world, and gives all characters a satisfying ending.

Quotes of Note

"Everyone wanted to write history, but there was only so much ink to go around."

*

"Maybe the world, blithely dancing along the precipice, needed to know what it was like to fall."

*

"You are so deep in my pocket, you're covered in lint."

*

"The true mind could weather illusions without being lost. The true heart could touch poison without being harmed."

*

"The work would wait for you, no matter the ragged tear in your spirit. Work would be a lover in your bed as you wept, ever present and steady, cradling you when you woke up soaked in your sweat, unsure of how long you'd lost consciousness. You still have me. You always have me."

My rating: 5/5

A Few More Thoughts (Spoilers)

If the first book was incredible, then this one is a masterpiece! It's exciting, smart, challenging, and, much like the show it comes from, offers a beautiful redemption arc that is hard won. It also kept me guessing at every turn. The ending is perfect, and the relationship between Yangchen and Kavik is life!

I had no idea that the stabbing and torture scene with Kavik was a ruse, nor that it was Kavik's idea in the first place. I was also completely tricked into thinking that Yingsu was dead. I suppose I was also surprised - and impressed - by all that these characters went through. I did not expect Nujian to die - that hurt!

This book teaches that peace and prosperity do not always come easily. In fact, sometimes healing can only come after everything we love, feel, or believe is lost, sacrificed, or put to the test. Also, the pressure of being the Avatar is far too much for one person to bear.

[nolem-etvez]

Ahhhh Avatar Szeto 😂 (Minor spoilers. Really wanted to share this tho, sorry ✌️)

[earthravenclaw]

57 days until my daughter (Yangchen) returns!!!!