#post comics zuko makes me sooo

[nemkero]

heres more of that stupid au

[allgremlinart]

hai good friend,, tell me about mai. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of her before… look what we are doing to our beautiful queens 😔

YIPEE I love when me going insane about a character for a day makes you curious about them... especially cus atp I can kind of predict what is going to pique ur interest

ok ok: so, Mai. She's 1/3 of Azula's Evil Girl Group, colloquially known as Ozai's Angels, and thats the context you see her in for most of the show which is why it's important to know. You know how all cartoons in the 2000s HAD to have ONE morose goth chic? Well she is atla's quota. She's a noble, she's an only child (THEE only child. The first only child they made at the only child factory <33), she fights with 🔪KNIVES 🔪!!! she's Zuko's canonical comphet love interest and she has a very understated but underrated arc..

Her role/arc in the show:

I mentioned Ozai's Angels because her interactions with Azula and Ty Lee are the real meat and potatoes of her character. They're like... baby's first toxic yuri love triangle <3333 REALLY can't overstate how toxic yuri love triangle they are. Mai and Ty Lee end up betraying Azula in season 3 which is both the climax (imo) of Mai's arc and the inciting action for Azula's descent (but we're not getting into Azula never ask me to get into Azula please). A lot of people reduce Mai going turncoat to JUST being about saving Zuko - and like partially it IS. She saves Zuko from dying because she loves/cares about him and that's a big part of it.

But it's ALSO about her finding her voice ?? Like throughout the show we NEVER see her voice opinions about something unless it's to say that she's bored, or jaded, or what have you. She never seems to have strong feelings about anything; her stated reasoning for joining Azula's Imperialism Girl Band is because she's bored living with her parents 💀 but it's like. It becomes clear to the audience later in the show that she was raised to never speak unless spoken to, to mask emotions, etc etc LIEKKK SHE'S SOOO REPRESSED ONLY CHILD SHE'S SO WOMAN TM... So her telling Azula "I love Zuko more than I fear you" was THEE cuntiest moment EVER because it's like oh shit ?? this is something pretty unexpected from this character ?? Waow so crazy so cunt ??

A lot of people point out that she and Ty Lee never really got a "ohhhh Imperialism is bad" arc like Zuko did but. imo there wasn't a whole lot of room in the show for it lol. Would have been something interesting to explore in the comics for sure !! but uhmmm I'd rather walk into the ocean than watch Gene Luen Yang try and write about imperialism and colonialism again so maybe its better we never got that.. (no offense to him he's just... not that great at doing it in the atla comics...not his strength..)

Her reception in fandom:

She's usually only ever talked about in the context of being Zuko's love interest (either positively OR negatively) hence my post that you saw. Like. Victim Numero Uno of zutara/kataang shipping wars cus at least a bunch of people LIKE Aang whereas people either ignore or actively dislike her.

There's often discourse about like. Who's the "toxic" one in the Mai/Zuko pairing and it's annoying when she gets flak for it cus like newsflash: they both are. My GOD they both are. They've canonically broken up twice. They're the emo boy/goth girl pairing. They're cute together. They're miserable together. They're both homosexual. You get it.

Also a lot of times people just call her boring or emotionless and it's like congrats !! you have fallen for her facade... in conclusion... sorry this is so long uhm.. your fault for asking me though... how long is it going to take until I've just told you the entire plot of this cartoon piecemeal ask by ask...

[limeade-l3sbian]

i was going to leave it at just the shipping discussion at first, but i decided this bothered me too much, and i need to vent it out. i've had this on my mind for quite some time but i don't know many people into atla who are radfem or adjacent, and i absolutely do not trust anyone outside of radfem circles to not have the most status quo, heteronormative, male-centric, "things are exactly as i first imagined" / "i cannot imagine right or wrong or natural outside of the literal text given to me by the original writers" views on this topic (based on my own experiences with trying to talk about atla with others).

the show would have been far better if zuko were a (gnc) girl and azula were a boy. i know you may be resistant to this because i know you had at least some level of a formative crush on azula, but i'm begging you to hear me out on this one.

aside from the fact it would give a hero role to a fully gnc girl (as opposed to partial, like suki or toph), it just makes sense. zuko not being able to get approval from ozai no matter what, while azula is favored at every stop turns into a matter of familial misogyny, rather than "azula is just naturally better at being evil" (which takes a vaguely eugenicist angle when considering the comics, which say that zuko is probably not ozai's kid, but azula is). it doesn't matter that zuko is older, it wouldn't matter if she were more cutthroat, it wouldn't matter if she were better at bending, it wouldn't even matter if she caught the avatar. a patriarchal dictator like ozai would always favor a son over a daughter.

second, it would make all of the fire nation characters' situations more realistic and more poignant, in general. aside from the aforementioned favoritism towards a son over a daughter, it would make azula's characterization as a violent narcissist who believes (s)he deserves ownership and control over the world make more sense, it would change the context of mai and ty lee standing against azula for the sake of zuko (and each other) into a vaguely anti-feminist situation to a wholly feminist one (i don't ship mai and zuko at all, so the context of being a romantic couple here doesn't really matter to me; it could be motivated by romantic love or platonic love and solidarity imo), it would make zuko and katara's relationship and growth stronger (both of them would have a history of facing near-constant misogyny that served as barricades in the way of the direction they want to take in life), and it would almost completely erase the uneasiness of the fact that zuko was entirely redeemed and azula wasn't redeemed at all (even in the comics), because the real life context of violence and perpetuation of harmful cycles committed by women vs men supports that women can very frequently recover and be redeemed, and men recovering and being redeemable is much less common (because they don't want to).

this is just one aspect of the series i could talk on and on about, by the way, but this post is already too long. as a bonus, though: i believe this minor change would give so much more potential for better lesbian ships than whatever was happening in lok (which i hate for a number of reasons; mainly that it completely destroyed previous worldbuilding and i felt that the plot was just outright stupid in comparison to the original series, and the shipping stuff in that show was sooo...ugh. as i said, a completely different topic i could go on and on about).

OKAY WAIT ANON BECAUSE - AUGH YES WAIT!

It is true that I had a crush on Azula, but I'm almost CERTAIN I would've come out much earlier if Zuko had been the female GNC sibling LMAO.

I think the decision to make Azula the evil one and all that was based on making a good, long term female villain. I think the creators were trying to break a few barriers (which, in many respects, they absolutely did!). But what you're saying would have played so much deeper and allowed so much more insight (canon or otherwise) into this world. I imagine having a GNC daughter would also foster some resentment from Ozai compared to Iroh who has shown in canon time and time again that he's not going to get pressed about a bender's sex (I avoided the rhyme on purpose).

I haven't read the comics so correct me. But to me, Ozai always appeared to be a traditionalist where it benefited him. The topic of gender bias in the series isn't nearly as touched on as they could've gone. And in a way, I understand because it is technically a kid's show and as far as I'm aware, they were constantly on thin ice with Nickelodeon. But goddamn would this have made the whole show just that extra layer of *chef's kiss*.

My basis for Zuko and Katara were the usual points made. But what you said just AUGH ANON YES 😭😭 it would've been amazing! 😭

Talk as much as you want! Leave a whole essay for me to read idc when you're this based. 🫶🏾

[magicwithineleteo]

thinking about how much better the gaang deserved.

like it truly breaks my heart thinking about it. they were left to fight, end, and pick up the pieces of a war that they weren't responsible for. it was never their faults. they fought, harder than many. they literally ended the destruction the fire nation had started. and they were left to clean up the mess of the world.

the gaang's ages ranging from 12-16 makes me so sad. like theyre just kids, and they had the entire world on their shoulders. even the other characters, who are controversial, they are not to be blamed. none of this was their fault. it was all of the adults. (i primarily think of azula in that.)

that's why i feel like any sort of jabs at characters, specifically the younger ones are invalid, because they're just kids.

it's why the hate against katara is so infuriating. she's just a 14 year old girl, who grew up and matured faster than she should have, essentially acting as the mother over her friends, and even her older brother. because she saw her mom in her last moments, then realized her mom died for her. that's the way she coped. she fulfilled the role her mom left behind. she doesn't bring up her mom every 3 seconds, and if she did, it would be completely valid.

all of the different kids' traumas and the way it manifests in their personality is so heartbreaking man

and i hate thinking about the gaang after the war, specifically zuko, because i just feel so bad for them.

they are all left to faciliate peace for the entire world. to pick up the pieces. they don't get a chance to breathe, because there is so much that needs their attention, and no one else who has the criteria or maturity to handle it.

they're all so young. but they're the only ones who have the empathy and understanding to properly rebuild.

i have not read any comics but i've read a bunch of fanfics and the common hcs i see regarding post war is the following:

zuko is STRESSSSSEDDDDDDDDDDDDD this boy cannot BREATHE (i saw in a comic he goes to see ozai for guidance which can u imagine? zuko would've have to been strugging so much to go to OZAI for help) also it makes sense bc he literally had no experience nor training to be the firelord. he wasn't the original heir (rip lu ten) so he never got the training , then he was banished and presumably, azula got firelord training. this boy has nothing to go off of

also, he's sooo targeted, ozai supporters coming for his head every 2 seconds. assassination attempts are everywhere oh my god

ozai shooters in his council, and so he gets rid of them. but he can't remove certain ppl on his council, like ppl w power and influence, but these ppl don't believe it was right to end the war bc they are fully enthralled in fire nation propaganda

which leads to zuko and whomever else from the gaang is in the council to constantly be undermined and spoken down to, simply bc of their age and lack of experience in political setting

but these kids literally did more for the people and were more involved in the war than all of these mean ppl ever were

suki (and ty lee and the rest of the kyoshi warriors) are zuko's bodyguards which i think is cute but must be a very difficult job considering zuko's got a lot of haters on him

w katara and sokka, i either see one of them rebuilding the southern water tribe or one of them is on the zuko council thing , in which they are spoken down to, as a water tribe peasant

ive also seen katara be a healer for ppl in the fire nation

ive also seen suki and sokka go back to kyoshi island as well as go to southern water tribe

aang literally has to be everywhere bc hes the avatar and needs to be present for all peace talks

toph either stays w zuko in the fire nation bc theyre bffs and she can also be very good security or she tries to make amends w her parents and goes back to the earth kingdom

that's the general consensus i would say

but it just makes me so sad bc theyre so young and they have to bear the weight of the world on their shoulders. my babies.

i like to hc that zuko specifically sometimes deep down misses when he was w the gaang during the war. he feels really guilty for that, but he misses them a lot. he misses having a geniuine family.

speaking of zuko's family, azula is a whole other story and frankly it breaks my heart too. maybe i'll make a post ab it but i just. it's devastating.

oh yeah and uncle iroh ruled until zuko healed and was ready and now is in ba sing se w his jasmine dragon tea shop. which i love but i also have mixed feelings about.

in conclusion, they deserved to just be kids. they deserved to just breathe. not be responsible for the world.

some songs that make me sad as i think about all this:

once in a lifetime by one direction (it's literally so them, like zuko reminicising ab when he was w them everyday)

are you with me by nilu but specifically this version.

it just makes me want to throw up with so many various emotions i love them so much and i feel so bad for them

thank u for listening

[marciego]

💔 Least favorite ship you have written about?📃 Ever written something inspired by someone elses fic?✏️ The first fanfiction you ever wrote? (doesn’t have to be a posted fic)👀 What’s an idea you had for a fic that you never did anything with? 📬 The best comment you ever recieved?

💔 and ✏️ answered here <3

📃 Ever written something inspired by someone elses fic?

actually i don't think so? i've definitely been inspired by other people's fics, like sooo many times, but most of the time it's more about the mood the fic puts me in. like if i read a really good fic that makes me feel a very deep sense of longing i'll go back to one of my wips in the same mood, but it might not be the same pairing/fandom at all you know. also i have a huge list of like. sentences from fics that make me FEEL you know, like it awakens such a deep feeling in me and sometimes when i need to Feel tm to write i go back to this list, but it's not really "inspired by" a fic

now on a side note, i think the single sentence that breaks me the most in that list is "he doesn't treat him like he's made of glass - or if he does, he's a kid at the aquarium who'll keep tapping at the glass with the absolute confidence that it won't break" and i genuinely think that you don't need to read anything else ever to understand exactly what i search for in my ships, and in my writing

👀 What’s an idea you had for a fic that you never did anything with?

SO MANY OF THEM. i have those zutara ideas i'm not sure i'll ever write, the biggest one being my take about the search because i think the comic absolutely sucks and that ursa deserved better than that, so it was basically zuko and katara going on a journey just the two of them to find ursa and well. you know how life changing trips with zuko are, so they come back in love

i have also a looooot of hq wips and ideas i'm not sure i'll ever continue/do anything with but i love them with all my heart and im sure all i need is the hype of the next season to get back into it

📬 The best comment you ever recieved?

i've received so so so many nice comments that keep me awake at night because of how amazing they were, so it might not be the "best" but the last one i received on one of my fics warms my heart so much, i adore it and have been rereading it so much these past few days!!!

[samurithecat]

This is originally a post I made on my blog but I wanted to hear your thoughts on it so I decided why not send it in an ask. Hope your doing well.

I believe with all my heart that Bryke are a cancer to Avatar.

They've done irreparable damage to the franchise, are fake af, are the reason we don't have Book 4 of ATLA and why the characters in Book 3 are so OOC.

Bryke assassinated the characters of Katara, Korra, Mako, Asami, Kuvira, Toph, and Ursa. Also the reason we don't have an Azula Redemption Arc (which we would've gotten in Book 4 with Zuko in the role of Iroh)

They continue to manipulate people with Korrasami and LGBT pandering for undeserved praise and most importantly to them that sweet cash with no signs of ever stopping (which is evident when you see how many characters they've made into token lgbt rep such as Kyoshi and Kya)

Do you think that if Aaron & Elizabeth Ehasz handled the Avatar Franchise that it would be saved from Bryke?

A good example is The Dragon Prince which is handled by The Ehasz. It's brilliant and it hasn't even begun to peak in terms of storytelling and potential which makes me hype and feel that childlike excitement that ATLA gave me as a child.It's the closest thing to Avatar's Living Legacy imo.

It has the spirit of Avatar while still being beautiful on its own.

TLOK is a hollow, terribly handled, absolutely awful show but it could've easily been a masterfully done show (I wanted to love it sooo much it killed me how far it fell from grace)

I am doing well, thank you.

I actually made a video on youtube about my thoughts for the next potential new avatar series that also showcases my experience with the series and I made a good point that I wish Aaron Ehasz had some involvement with Korra and try to promote The Dragon Prince.

I agree that Bryke has done damage to the franchise but they also created said franchise, which is why my last point in that video is that even if they come up with great concepts for the potential new series, they will need better writers for the series to make it good and maybe make them have open minds when it comes to shipping like 'don't make fans feel bad for not shipping Canon ships' and 'I know you guys would like this ship to be Canon but character development on a personal level needs to happen first.'

Also, I think I saw it in a SDCC recording that is lost to time now, but I remember something about how they would have brought up a reunion between Zuko and his mother in the finale, but one of the two creators of Bryke (Micheal Dante DiMartino (the one who makes us believe that Aang is his insert character because they're both bald)) decided to not include that, which not only showcases that these are two individuals with different ideas for how things go, but makes me wish we got a book 4 for the original series instead of that terrible live action movie I ranted about in my video because why not.

I can't say much about the Kyoshi books since I at least want to read them first (on my TBR pile), but I have boycotted the Legend of Korra comics in a similar way that one of my favorite reviewers boycotts spider man comics (with exceptions to FCBD giveaways). Note that this is due to how I feel like they did LGBT rep badly and their attempt just weaken the impact of how Steven Universe did it which did it right and did it better.

I'm still willing to check out the next series to see if they realize any mistakes they've made but going through it with some salt. Because unlike a certain British author I don't want to talk about too much about, they haven't express qualities of being a terf or something that would justify people canceling them. *knocks on wood*

Not to plug my video for my reply, but I touched upon some of this stuff in my video.

[tui-la-la]

Zuko x f!Reader fic (cont’d)

Hey, do you ever feel like the comics royally screwed over sweet Zuko in The Love Department ™? Me, too. Here's a Zuko/female reader fic to dull the pain. This follows the comics pretty closely, just trying to weave in one extra Kyoshi Warrior (guess who), traveling to the Fire Nation with Suki, Ty Lee and the rest of the warriors to serve as Prince Zuko's personal guard. I think you can guess where this is going.

(Part I) / Part II

Warnings: None

Word Count: ~ 1300

This is part II of potentially something bigger, potentially not, depends on if Animal Crossing says I can do other activities or not. #augustupdateeeee

II. 

THE ROCKING OF THE SHIP made it difficult for Y/N to write as she attempted to scribble some sort of explanation to Haru as to why she wouldn’t be coming to see him any time soon. Already frustrated at her inability to write something… meaningful, she cursed herself for leaving this letter to the last minute. She ended the letter with a request for Haru to send her love to the people of her town, and set off sprinting to find a messenger hawk. Ty Lee had warned her that the ship was nearing the Capitol ages ago. There couldn’t be much time left before Suki would be calling them into formation. 

Y/N burst through the doors to the galley, skidding to a halt. She grabbed the nearest hawk and placed it on her arm. Surveying the various canisters, she snatched one with a black ribbon, and began stuffing the letter inside, crumpling it mercilessly. A voice from behind startled her.

“An urgent black ribbon for a message to your boyfriend, Y/N? Don’t you think that’s abusing the Fire Nation’s messenger hawk system?” Y/N whipped around to see Ty Lee grinning behind her. Y/N blushed as she intensified her violent attempts to stuff the note in the canister. 

“The letter is garbage, Ty Lee. It’s basically a bunch of excuses. ‘Hi Haru! Sorry! I’m running off to the Fire Nation to avoid figuring out what we are. P.S please tell everyone I miss them sooo much... but apparently not enough to visit’. At least the black ribbon shows that it’s important to me, even if the message doesn’t… get… that... across!” Y/N said with a grunt, as she finally managed to cap the canister. She secured the message to the hawk’s harness, and the two ran from the ship's interior to the sun-bathed deck, where the Kiyoshi Warriors had already assembled. Y/N signaled for the hawk to take flight, and she and Ty Lee skidded into formation, filling their spots in the front row as Suki gave direction.

“When we arrive, the first six of us will be going with Mai directly to the palace to begin tonight’s watch. The other six will be escorted to our quarters to rest up for tomorrow. For now, we watch in two shifts: Twelve hours on, twelve hours off.” 

She nodded to the group and fell into place next to Ty Lee. 

“Wow, I’ve never known you guys to be anything but early” Suki whispered playfully as they waited to disembark.

“You can thank Y/N for putting off writing to Haru to the last minute,” quipped Ty Lee.

A blush appeared on Y/N’s neck. 

“I just… didn’t know what to say”. Out of the corner of her eye, Y/N saw Suki shoot her a sad glance. “It also didn’t help that I spent the first few hours of our trip Chi blocked. You’re welcome, by the way, Ty Lee” she added lightheartedly.  

Their conversation was cut short by the sound of the ship’s hull lowering to reveal Fire Nation soil before them. Suki led the group off the ship and on to the docks. Suddenly, Ty Lee broke away from the group. 

“MAI!” she screamed, flinging themselves into her friend’s arms. 

The rest of the group approached Mai and bowed. Suki stepped forward. 

“Hey, Mai! It’s good to see you! How is he doing?” she asked, her tone betraying her concern. 

“I just got word that he’s back from Yu Dao. I haven’t seen him yet, but I know where he’ll be. Follow me”. The group quickly made their way to the Fire Nation Palace. Y/N’s eyes grew wide at the sights of the city. She had seen big cities before - Omashu, Ba Sing Se, but she had never been outside of the Earth Kingdom. While she was no stranger to the grandeur that characterized city life, she found herself in awe of the sheer beauty of Fire Nation culture, and her surroundings. The palace, an overwhelming sight to anyone, struck particular concern with the Warrior’s instinct in her: How were they supposed to keep someone safe in a place as massive as this?

The group came to a stop behind a curtained doorway. Mai turned to Suki.

“Give me a minute with him,” she said softly, stepping through the curtain. 

“So the Fire Lord has returned…”. Her voice trailed off. From the other room, the Warriors could hear the sounds of two stern voices. Suki and Ty Lee cast each other a knowing look. After a moment, they heard the sound of footsteps, and Mai’s voice once more: “You’re the Fire Lord, you need real security”. 

From the room emerged Mai and, who Y/N could only assume to be, the Fire Lord. “So I asked some friends to come help” finished Mai, smiling proudly. 

-

The group had left the throne room and retreated to Fire Lord Zuko’s office. Suki, Ty Lee, Mai, and the Fire Lord were gathered around his desk, hunched over plans and maps of the palace. The remaining warriors were posted at the door. From her post, Y/N listened to Suki's explanation. 

“...Twelve hour shifts, six warriors per shift. Two warriors by your side at all times, two patrolling the interior of the palace, and two warriors patrolling the grounds. Mai got me in touch with your head of security and...” 

Y/N’s focus waived from Suki’s words. She studied the Fire Lord, not sure of what to expect from him. Part of him seemed like any normal teenager; a little grumpy, a little angsty, and completely whipped for his girlfriend. There was something else about him, though, that caught her interest. Something in his eyes, and something about his presence made it abundantly clear he had been through more in his life than most people his age. Above all, he looked like he hadn’t slept in years. 

“... I figure tonight we’ll have Ty Lee work with both the patrol groups, helping them become acclimated with the palace and grounds. Y/N and I will be posted at your door all night. Does that sound like a plan?” At the mention of her name Y/N’s focus had snapped back to Suki’s words. “Yeah, that sounds great. Thank you so much... Suki, for arranging all of this...” said the Fire Lord. His exhaustion was apparent in his tone. “If we need to make adjustments, we can tomorrow, but I’m beat. Give me a moment with Mai. I’ll meet you outside”. The Kyoshi Warriors exited the room, received their assignments, and prepared for their first night on watch. 

[zutaralesbian]

I watched LoK when it was airing but I tuned out of Book 2 cuz I got bored (in hindsight I was correct!) I’m actually fearing there’s a chance Bryke will do a terrible, unnecessary Aang/Katara/Zuko love triangle in the live-action, I wouldn’t put it past them. I’m glad I got Korrasami but when I think abt it Bryke are actually misogynistic, like they did their female characters sooo dirty.

I watched LoK when it aired too and also stopped at S2 lmao

I don't think Bryke would ever willingly make Zutara canon in any remote way because they hate the ship that much. The thing I'm mostly afraid of is that they're going to ruin Zuko and Katara's canon friendship. THAT I could see their petty asses doing because it already kind of happened in the comics. The only way I think they'd do a triangle is if Netflix made them do it for whatever reason. But I wouldn't see that going well either.

I like Korrasami but I do still believe it was made endgame at the last minute. And I was a little bitter about the fact that unless everyone reads Bryke's tumblr posts about it or the lok comics, there's a good chance that a lot of people didn't even realize they were meant to be romantic because we didn't get an on-screen kiss 🙄 It has nothing on say Catradora, who actually did get an onscreen kiss, had the entire show largely focus on their relationship, and were hinted at romantically several times since S1. The key difference there is that Noelle Stevenson is a lesbian who worked tirelessly to make Catradora explicitly canon whereas Bryke are two straight men, but I digress lol. Still I guess Korrasami did kind of pave the way for better wlw rep in cartoons, so I'm thankful for that.

I don't know if I would go as far as say they're misogynistic, but it's very obvious sometimes that LOK (and even ATLA) are written by mostly men lmao. Outside of Katara/Toph and Korra/Asami, there are hardly any positive f/f dynamics that get a lot of focus, romantic or platonic. Katara became a shell of herself in LoK. And there's a very clear difference in how Aang was treated as a lead protagonist vs how Korra was treated as one. In the end Aang got everything he wanted and was always treated as the character who was in the right. Korra on the other hand, had to suffer in order to "be taught a lesson", all for daring to be a fierce woman. Idk. It's just very telling to me that Korra wasn't put on a pedestal in the same way Aang was 🤷‍♀️