I’ve put a little too much thought into atla slang for gay people tonight so here’s this.
Kyoshi Island:
Speaks about sexuality openly on Kyoshi Island but knows to be more careful around outsiders.
“Is she, you know…a student of Rangi?” (gay/lesbian)
“No. But she does follow in the footsteps of Avatar Kyoshi. She prefers the versatility of the fan over the sword or the shield.” (bi)
Water Tribe:
More “traditional” than the other nations so it’s a bit more subtle and reliant on accompanying eyebrow movements, hand gestures, and tone of voice.
“He’d rather go sailing than stay in the village.” (mlm)
“She’s shown some interest in ice fishing.” (sapphic)
“I personally prefer to fish in the same waters as Avatar Kuruk.” (bi)
“He’d rather spend the winter months alone.” (ace)
Earth Kingdom:
“Are you a member of the Flying Opera Company?” (lgbt+)
No one, including the Kyoshi Islanders are aware of the origins of this particular phrase
Fire Nation:
“I’ve dabbled in dragon’s fire before.” (This phrase specifically would be something like ‘I did some experimenting in college’ but the reference to dragon’s fire/breath would mean lgbt+)
“He wears a crown of fire lilies.” (lgbt+)
Even before the hundred year war they were one of the more intolerant of the nations (based on the Kyoshi novels) and they probably only got worse during the hundred year war. I’m sure they would’ve come up with more slang by the time we get to Korra’s time but I’m out of ideas for the Fire Nation.
Air Nomads:
As they are totally open and accepting to all genders and sexualities they wouldn’t feel the need for coming up with specific labels, let alone weird secret codes and slang. When nomads begin exploring the world and start to learn about the other nation’s ideologies and slang and everything they’re always confused but respects the other nation’s traditions and cultures.
bonus
Swamp benders:
Even more open about gender and sexuality than Kyoshi Islanders. They’re super casual and blunt about it without being disrespectful but also not trying to be respectful because why would anyone be disrespectful about this? There’s a polycule consisting of roughly ten people who all connected through an asexual tribe member that each member of the polycule has a qpr with. Darryl over there is interested in folks of all sorts. His spouse is all the genders. Not to be confused with Jim over there who is none of the genders. Not to be confused with Junjun who is the third gender… (etc)
I didn’t do a big deep dive into each nation’s culture and history. This is just from the top of my head and is just for fun. Let me know if you guys have any other ideas!
I noticed that every time someone says "flameo, hotman" in ATLA and beyond, none of the Fire Nation characters understand what it means. So imagine if you will, 16 year old Roku, freshly diagnosed with Avatar, landing at the air temple and being greeted with "flameo, my good hotman" by nearly all of his new classmates and being so confused.
When he asks them what the hell that means, they all just glare at Gyatso nearby, who is howling with laughter after having told everyone to say this to a Fire National that they're meeting for the first time as a prank. And he's internally like "you are a strange little man with a lot of guts. i want you on my team at all times now."
I'd also be willing to bet Gyatso told this to Aang as well and when he said it to Kuzon, he thought it was downright hilarious and the inside joke carried on.
Yangchen: Hoping is all well and good, but ultimately it gets you nowhere. Be the change you wish to see in the world. Run me the fuck down yourself instead of waiting for others to do your work for you, you coward. You lazy fool.
i finished the legacy of yangchen and immediately decided to fix the lack of kavik content on here, can't believe i was blind to his potential until yesterday
(read the last one as how they would react to their love interests btw)
arguing over which Avatar had the worst “failures” just shows that you do not understand the story whatsoever. the whole point of the Avatar being reborn over and over is that the work of keeping balance in the world is never done and the world needs different things at different times, and no matter what good you do there are unintended consequences which is WHY the Avatar always comes back. There is no end-all-be-all fix. I’m really so over this nonsense arguing over “who’s the worst Avatar.” every Avatar has to adapt to their time and every Avatar has successes and failures and every single Avatar leaves consequences for their successors! That’s the whole point!!!! Being the Avatar is a never-ending job because the world is always changing. What was right for one time won’t be right forever, THAT’S WHY THE AVATAR ALWAYS COMES BACK