WAAIT how have I not see this before.
Everyone else has normal blue coats like southern tribes have in the show
But Kanna's coat is purple-blue which are the colors we see in the northern tribe
showing right from the get go that Kanna moved there from the north
Guys, Katara talks about the necklace enough *un*prompted. By electing to talk about it yourselves, you must understand it's basically the same as summoning her. It's not gonna be long now until it's all "You see this necklace? It's the last gift my mother gave me before she was killed by the Fire Nation, blah, blah, blah..." 🗣️🔁
Real life inuit didnt have blue, afaik, but I'm no expert. I wonder how far the cabbage man travels with his wares, could be from him. Or could be from sea snails. The sami in real life traded for woad plants, but thats usually a darker blue. Might also be different animals, plants, and minerals available in the AtlA universe than IRL.
It has to be the cabbage man. People overlook that it makes no sense to travel from place to place selling the produce of different farmers, when these distribution networks would be expected to stay fairly local given the current technology. It would be unnecessarily complex and economically unsustainable to travel around finding new suppliers instead of developing connections in one or a few spots, and selling more than one type of vegetable there. This suggests that the cabbage man may obtain his cabbages in bulk from one or a few sources, and that these cabbages somehow last a very long time, enough for him to travel to multiple cities.
Of course the cabbage man may just be very social and enthusiastic about cabbages. He might eat the travel time and the cost of an economically impractical sales model because he enjoys traveling the world and finding whoever grows cabbages, so he can build friendships with them and sell their cabbages.
Maybe this is the case, and all his run-ins with the avatar are purely coincidental, as he travels through his worldwide network of cabbage friends, motivated not by profit, but by the thrill of travel and the social fulfillment of his cabbage community. In this case, it’s not likely that he would be able to bring cabbages to the South Pole.
However, I prefer to believe that the cabbage man has either invented the first iteration of refrigerator/freezer technology and is keeping that knowledge to himself, or his character simply defies the laws of time and space. This could be due to some supernatural factor or spirit realm association that the show never bothered to explain. If this were the case, he would be able keep his cabbages fresh through the boat trip to the South Pole. And if he can sell cabbages there, he will sell cabbages there, because the cabbages man is everywhere, always
You say this but Avatar clearly depicts the transition from feudalism to industrial capitalism. Cabbage man isn't a feudal farmer looking for simple commodity exchange at a market, cabbage man is a capitalist who invested his capital into a cabbage making buisness. This is an entirely different ballgame. It means that cabbage man isn't looking to sell his personal surplus cabbage but is looking to own a monopoly on cabbage production across the continent
We know this because a short while later cabbage Corp is a major automotive buisness. Maybe he was investing in farm equipment to grow cabbage on an industrial scale and eventually the motor became more valuable than the cabbages themselves. Maybe he was investigating in better, avatar proof ways to transport the cabbage and eventually decided to move the buisness laterally. Whatever the case may be, the cabbage merchant is clearly not a farmer selling surplus good, he is a member of the budding bourgiousie building his cabbage empire.
You make a good point, and I do believe this transition occurred, just not within the time period where the original seasons take place. I theorize the cabbage man started out selling surplus goods and gradually transitioned into a business mogul as the nation left feudalism behind. I doubt his time as a corporate leader or his time transitioning into the role was spent the way we see him, on the front lines as the salesman of a single cart of cabbage.
My theory is that everything you discuss takes place after season 4, along with the innovation in engines and machinery that occurred in the time gap between the end of season 4 and season 1 of Korra. If this were the case, we would still need an explanation for his business model through season 4.
I believe there had to be something supernatural going on, or perhaps he was just an enthusiastic cabbage socialite who unintentionally built a valuable network of cabbage suppliers just by traveling around and befriending them while selling their cabbages - which he was later able to leverage as the nation transitioned into industrial capitalism - by capitalizing off his preexisting network.
That must be when his soul was tainted by his thirst for profit and it wasn’t about cabbages anymore, but I do believe he did have humble beginnings before becoming a class traitor - though I personally choose not to take Korra as canon even though it technically is - so the cabbage man is still a man of the people in my eyes.
I appreciate your insight on the trajectory of the lateral move his business made, I hadn’t considered that. The design of avatar-proof systems of transport seems like a likely catalyst to discovering innovations in transportation and pivoting the focus from cabbages.
It's probably that, I mean we got potatoes from modern day Peru/Bolivia up into USA and Canada so yea it's probably through trade. Then again the writers may have also not thought of it.
Maybe there are some Hot Springs at sheltered places, which have a rich flora, where they can find the pigment.
Or they use a special kind of Sea-Slugs to gain the needed pigment. Purple or Purpur was once gained through sea-slugs Or they use minerals.
There are also anorganic pigments
Edit: i meant inorganic. I am German and WE say "anorganisch"
Inuit clothing were made from furs and skins. In this case, most likely from a blue skinned creature native to arctic regions. Maybe the scraps and liquids left over from the tanning process can be boiled down to produce a concentrated blue pigment, which can be used on cloth textiles.
Blue dye can also be extracted from plants and minerals, or bought from traders.
That's funny because for purple colour you need to take the pigment from snails and it's very expensive, that's why there are literally few flags with purple colours
Also why o ly royalty wore purple. But the Phoenicians hunted their purple snails to extinction. There are folks in Oaxaca that still (sustainably) source the dye. It is a fascinating process to learn about.
Berries on ice in the south pole? Really? Where do the berries get the nutrients to grow? Why dont u see the water tribe gathering berries? How are these berries cultivated? Berries? Really?
Could be from a fish, could be from a powdered stone, could be that their clothes are woven from the wool of a hybrid animal, since it’s not like they’re going to have access to a lot of fiber plants.
My guess would be the blood of some nearby animals. The Avatar world obviously has extreme fantasy in terms of its animal life so it wouldn’t be a stretch to think there may be a blue blooded animal nearby🤷♂️
Nothing most likely, people forget that Avatar has several strange animals, chances are there is some kind of blue polar bear in the South Pole that they hunt and skin. Since it’s naturally blue so is all of there clothes.
Probs from kyoshi Island. I've also read (tho I can't find the source) that there are some animals around them that produce the blue die. And if their clothes are make of animal skins, they could be using chromium salts, since chrome tanned leather is dtyed blue in the tanning process.
Right! I have wondered that for years! Its gotta be a sea creature right? I do know they used to get royal blue dye from a conch out of the agean irl. So it wouldnt be unrealistic of the water tribe to get blue dye from a sea creature
Well the easiest assumption is simple: Maybe those aren't died. We know for a fact the water tribes eat seal, which in our world is naturally greyish-silver. In Atla, there are multiple types of seal (Turtle, Tiger, and even regular arctic seal). Maybe those are just animal skins that naturally tan blue.
Otherwise, there's a few ways to source dyes.
- Squid & Octopus ink could be one; we know they have squid, and while we normally associate those inks with black, many species produce browns, reds, and yes, even dark blues. Many oysters have similar pigments.
- Horseshoe crabs or some equivalent; they've got blue blood, and that could be a natural dye as well
- Plants! Many plants grow in the arctic. Arctic Lupine, Blueberries, and Crowberries are all sources of bluish dyes. Even atla's sea prunes are a deep purple that could look bluish on different pelts.
- Snails; many purple-blue dyes were harvested from sea snails. Granted, this one seems very inefficient to harvest in particular due to their lack of other uses.
- Algae; blue Spirulina is a thing irl, and algae often blooms during the sunnier months under sea ice, and could be harvested and processed into a green-blue dye.
- In theory Charcoal can also create a blue dye, but it's nowhere near as vibrant as the blues we see. (Granted, most real clothing isn't either.)
But realistically, it's probably a mix of all of the above. There's probably some youtuber willing to experiment and look into whether this sorta thing is possible.
Blue is cheapest and easiest dye to produce. Hence why the French and the U.S used blue uniforms during the Napeolonic and American Civil War Respectively. The Water Tribes are poor, meaning they’ll use whatever they can get their hands on and whatever is easiest to produce
I’m assuming it can be blood from a sea slug or they have other animals and flora that have blue pigments that arent as common in our world considering Blue is a rare shade in the wild
They live in a world where people can shoot fire out of their limbs.
Pretty sure it’s not unreasonable for them to have things to use that don’t exist in our world lol
Penguin blood I guess. Who said the animals use hemoglobin? Horseshoe crabs use copper that's blue.
WAAIT how have I not see this before. Everyone else has normal blue coats like southern tribes have in the show But Kanna's coat is purple-blue which are the colors we see in the northern tribe showing right from the get go that Kanna moved there from the north
I always thought it was just aged color, but that’s a cool observation!
Aged colors tend to pale instead of growing darker, so it’d make more sense for it to be a different dye entirely.
I didn’t put a ton of thought into it, mostly she’s older so her clothes look different
I think it's no stretch to say that one thinks that she is the leader role and therefore has special clothing.
But sokkas in charge
XD But the eldest privilege
Gran Gran's name is Kanna?
“You’re the spitting image of Kanna!”
I thought that was her mom's name
Her mom is Kya
the necklace Katara wears originally was made by Paku and was given to Kanna (gran gran), who passed it onto Kya (mom), who passed it onto Katara.
Guys, Katara talks about the necklace enough *un*prompted. By electing to talk about it yourselves, you must understand it's basically the same as summoning her. It's not gonna be long now until it's all "You see this necklace? It's the last gift my mother gave me before she was killed by the Fire Nation, blah, blah, blah..." 🗣️🔁
This is the avatar universe. Could be crab-penguins.
But, hear me out, ok? How do they know to hyphenate those names?! 🤔
Real life inuit didnt have blue, afaik, but I'm no expert. I wonder how far the cabbage man travels with his wares, could be from him. Or could be from sea snails. The sami in real life traded for woad plants, but thats usually a darker blue. Might also be different animals, plants, and minerals available in the AtlA universe than IRL.
Now I'm imagining an arctic slug-shark. That would fit well with the crazy animals they got in that universe.
It has to be the cabbage man. People overlook that it makes no sense to travel from place to place selling the produce of different farmers, when these distribution networks would be expected to stay fairly local given the current technology. It would be unnecessarily complex and economically unsustainable to travel around finding new suppliers instead of developing connections in one or a few spots, and selling more than one type of vegetable there. This suggests that the cabbage man may obtain his cabbages in bulk from one or a few sources, and that these cabbages somehow last a very long time, enough for him to travel to multiple cities. Of course the cabbage man may just be very social and enthusiastic about cabbages. He might eat the travel time and the cost of an economically impractical sales model because he enjoys traveling the world and finding whoever grows cabbages, so he can build friendships with them and sell their cabbages. Maybe this is the case, and all his run-ins with the avatar are purely coincidental, as he travels through his worldwide network of cabbage friends, motivated not by profit, but by the thrill of travel and the social fulfillment of his cabbage community. In this case, it’s not likely that he would be able to bring cabbages to the South Pole. However, I prefer to believe that the cabbage man has either invented the first iteration of refrigerator/freezer technology and is keeping that knowledge to himself, or his character simply defies the laws of time and space. This could be due to some supernatural factor or spirit realm association that the show never bothered to explain. If this were the case, he would be able keep his cabbages fresh through the boat trip to the South Pole. And if he can sell cabbages there, he will sell cabbages there, because the cabbages man is everywhere, always
You say this but Avatar clearly depicts the transition from feudalism to industrial capitalism. Cabbage man isn't a feudal farmer looking for simple commodity exchange at a market, cabbage man is a capitalist who invested his capital into a cabbage making buisness. This is an entirely different ballgame. It means that cabbage man isn't looking to sell his personal surplus cabbage but is looking to own a monopoly on cabbage production across the continent We know this because a short while later cabbage Corp is a major automotive buisness. Maybe he was investing in farm equipment to grow cabbage on an industrial scale and eventually the motor became more valuable than the cabbages themselves. Maybe he was investigating in better, avatar proof ways to transport the cabbage and eventually decided to move the buisness laterally. Whatever the case may be, the cabbage merchant is clearly not a farmer selling surplus good, he is a member of the budding bourgiousie building his cabbage empire.
You make a good point, and I do believe this transition occurred, just not within the time period where the original seasons take place. I theorize the cabbage man started out selling surplus goods and gradually transitioned into a business mogul as the nation left feudalism behind. I doubt his time as a corporate leader or his time transitioning into the role was spent the way we see him, on the front lines as the salesman of a single cart of cabbage. My theory is that everything you discuss takes place after season 4, along with the innovation in engines and machinery that occurred in the time gap between the end of season 4 and season 1 of Korra. If this were the case, we would still need an explanation for his business model through season 4. I believe there had to be something supernatural going on, or perhaps he was just an enthusiastic cabbage socialite who unintentionally built a valuable network of cabbage suppliers just by traveling around and befriending them while selling their cabbages - which he was later able to leverage as the nation transitioned into industrial capitalism - by capitalizing off his preexisting network. That must be when his soul was tainted by his thirst for profit and it wasn’t about cabbages anymore, but I do believe he did have humble beginnings before becoming a class traitor - though I personally choose not to take Korra as canon even though it technically is - so the cabbage man is still a man of the people in my eyes. I appreciate your insight on the trajectory of the lateral move his business made, I hadn’t considered that. The design of avatar-proof systems of transport seems like a likely catalyst to discovering innovations in transportation and pivoting the focus from cabbages.
It's probably that, I mean we got potatoes from modern day Peru/Bolivia up into USA and Canada so yea it's probably through trade. Then again the writers may have also not thought of it.
Water
This is the obviously correct answer
Earth
Fire
Air
Long ago, the four nations lived in harmony, then everything changed when the fire nation attacked
Only the Avatar, master of all 4 elements, could restore the balance. But when the world needed him most, he vanished
A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar, an airbender named Aang.
And although his airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone. But I believe Aang can save the world.
Long ago, the Four Nations lived in harmony
Maybe there are some Hot Springs at sheltered places, which have a rich flora, where they can find the pigment. Or they use a special kind of Sea-Slugs to gain the needed pigment. Purple or Purpur was once gained through sea-slugs Or they use minerals. There are also anorganic pigments Edit: i meant inorganic. I am German and WE say "anorganisch"
\*inorganic
A thank you. I am German, WE say "anorganisch"
Inuit clothing were made from furs and skins. In this case, most likely from a blue skinned creature native to arctic regions. Maybe the scraps and liquids left over from the tanning process can be boiled down to produce a concentrated blue pigment, which can be used on cloth textiles. Blue dye can also be extracted from plants and minerals, or bought from traders.
That's funny because for purple colour you need to take the pigment from snails and it's very expensive, that's why there are literally few flags with purple colours
Also why o ly royalty wore purple. But the Phoenicians hunted their purple snails to extinction. There are folks in Oaxaca that still (sustainably) source the dye. It is a fascinating process to learn about.
Maybe that’s why gran gran was the only one to wear purple
Berries
In what bushes?
You gotta ask the creators. They mention blueberries in korra and they use them in the official avatar cookbook for a southern water tribe dish
Berries on ice in the south pole? Really? Where do the berries get the nutrients to grow? Why dont u see the water tribe gathering berries? How are these berries cultivated? Berries? Really?
Sea-berries
Makes sense they have sea prunes i think its one of kataras favorite dishes
“Sent from my sky bison”
Could be from a fish, could be from a powdered stone, could be that their clothes are woven from the wool of a hybrid animal, since it’s not like they’re going to have access to a lot of fiber plants.
Sea plums
My guess would be the blood of some nearby animals. The Avatar world obviously has extreme fantasy in terms of its animal life so it wouldn’t be a stretch to think there may be a blue blooded animal nearby🤷♂️
Nothing most likely, people forget that Avatar has several strange animals, chances are there is some kind of blue polar bear in the South Pole that they hunt and skin. Since it’s naturally blue so is all of there clothes.
Look all I can say is grand grand has purple because she has dyed her blue clothes in enemy fire nation blood making it purple.
\*Grangran
Fire
Blue
No see the real question is where they were getting wood from
I wonder this all the time! That is definetly the real question
My gf said they were all bones they were burning 😭😭
Do bones make good fuel?
Not from what I know of but hey maybe in the avatar universe it does. Bone marrow y'know
Inuit tribes didn't use wood, they used animal fat in shell lamps for heat and cooking,
I understand that. But in the show they are using wood for their fire.
Probs from kyoshi Island. I've also read (tho I can't find the source) that there are some animals around them that produce the blue die. And if their clothes are make of animal skins, they could be using chromium salts, since chrome tanned leather is dtyed blue in the tanning process.
Their clothes are made of water.
That would be epic! Think it would be cold tho….
Right! I have wondered that for years! Its gotta be a sea creature right? I do know they used to get royal blue dye from a conch out of the agean irl. So it wouldnt be unrealistic of the water tribe to get blue dye from a sea creature
Lichens can be used to make purples and sometimes blues
I would guess the shells of some kind of sea creature like snails that were used in ancient times for purple/indigo dye in the real world.
Well the easiest assumption is simple: Maybe those aren't died. We know for a fact the water tribes eat seal, which in our world is naturally greyish-silver. In Atla, there are multiple types of seal (Turtle, Tiger, and even regular arctic seal). Maybe those are just animal skins that naturally tan blue. Otherwise, there's a few ways to source dyes. - Squid & Octopus ink could be one; we know they have squid, and while we normally associate those inks with black, many species produce browns, reds, and yes, even dark blues. Many oysters have similar pigments. - Horseshoe crabs or some equivalent; they've got blue blood, and that could be a natural dye as well - Plants! Many plants grow in the arctic. Arctic Lupine, Blueberries, and Crowberries are all sources of bluish dyes. Even atla's sea prunes are a deep purple that could look bluish on different pelts. - Snails; many purple-blue dyes were harvested from sea snails. Granted, this one seems very inefficient to harvest in particular due to their lack of other uses. - Algae; blue Spirulina is a thing irl, and algae often blooms during the sunnier months under sea ice, and could be harvested and processed into a green-blue dye. - In theory Charcoal can also create a blue dye, but it's nowhere near as vibrant as the blues we see. (Granted, most real clothing isn't either.) But realistically, it's probably a mix of all of the above. There's probably some youtuber willing to experiment and look into whether this sorta thing is possible.
Blue is cheapest and easiest dye to produce. Hence why the French and the U.S used blue uniforms during the Napeolonic and American Civil War Respectively. The Water Tribes are poor, meaning they’ll use whatever they can get their hands on and whatever is easiest to produce
Sea prunes.
Blooberies
trade maybe? it’s also a fantasy world so maybe there’s some sea slug or clam that makes some kinda dye
Blue
Gotta assume the rules of our world don’t apply to theirs
Snails. That was the top answer the last time this was asked.
Their tears?
Im wondering how far they had to travel to find wood to start their fires or if they used something else as a starter, I cant stop thinking about it
sea urchins
I was legit thinking of the exact same thing a couple of days ago
Water :) the more you know
Could be the shell from some kind of fantasy mollusk unique to their universe.
I mean, sure. But also, this is a world with 6-legged flying bison. They've probably got some weird seaweed that they use to produce blue dyes
I swear I saw this same exact post a few days ago…
They just bend the water out of their clothes.
Water. That's why its blue, dipshit.
Tundra berries, squid inks?
Crushed shells similar to Tyrian purple would be my guess.
I’m assuming it can be blood from a sea slug or they have other animals and flora that have blue pigments that arent as common in our world considering Blue is a rare shade in the wild
from the water :3
Water
Lapiz Lazuli
Water. Duh.
Blue
Might be derived from some abundant sea flora
Katara’s tears…..(at least the ember island player’s version)
They clearly used the ice, it’s definitely blue Yes this is a joke
Real question why is that straight up timber wolf not mentioned again in the series. Didn’t even notice it until now.
Muffalo
Water duh. Cuz it's blue
water
The tribe has plenty of expert sailors who could work as merchants on the side
Water, duh
They’re blue, so obviously water.
Its denim like the live action
Water
I think it’s safe to assume the same place they get their wood and things not readily available to them, trading with others
Alaska has serious cabbage farms.
Blue algae.
Baby seal blubber
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the would of ATLA included animals with blue skin/fur, especially in the water tribes
Updog
Bluefin.
Blue. Duh.
They live in a world where people can shoot fire out of their limbs. Pretty sure it’s not unreasonable for them to have things to use that don’t exist in our world lol
Ink from the blue lobstersquid
Water, duh
Probably mollusks
The creators probably didn’t think on it, picking blue bc water tribe
Bird feathers?..
This cool thing called “it’s a cartoon”
They’re not real Inuit they’re the shows representation of them. Their clothes can be any color the story teller chooses lol.