#sorry for blabbering all over you dsjfgkdgf

[blu3berrydraws]

i love all your zukka content recently! since u sort of asked in the tags of that body type post, for what it’s worth, more visibly muscular/thicker body types are often a stereotype assigned to men of color, and giving zuko a slender body type sometimes contributes to the uwuification of his character by fandom that is commonly done to east asian characters. i say this because, as you said in your post, canonically sokka is smaller and skinnier than zuko; there are even a few jokes made about his lack of muscle, and zuko is drawn as more muscled and buff. to make a change to that canon material—whether because of well-thought through hcs about how their bodies change as they grow older, unintentional racial stereotyping, both, or some other reason—is a decision and so i think it’s worth considering other implications besides preference and headcanons as well. otherwise, i do personally <3 beanpole sokka and buff zuko, and i feel so blessed by all the wonderful zukka content you’ve been sharing recently! take care 😁

-- Yeah, I was actually also thinking about this, because the woobification of Zuko is something I've seen quite a bit of myself, and while I think he is allowed to also be gentle and sensitive and shy (and I personally additionally headcanon him as autistic) he is not an uwu sexless softboy, which is something I consistently see in asian characterisation (either that, or making characters overtly pervy). So, yes, you make absolutely hella valid points !

I think Sokka would (most likely) take after his dad. Hakoda is muscled, but he's lean.

Functional muscle of a sailor based warrior, but on a generally more slender frame. So while I don't think Sokka will stay beanpole sokka throughout his adulthood, he'll definitely stay more light on his feet.

Now Ozai, in contrast

Iroh, too, carries muscle in a similar way (when he cares to).

The fire nation has a super rigid training regime I'm sure, so all these men seem to keep up their muscular appearance whenever they actually are working out. Whereas I think the Southern watertribe, especially as ravaged by the war as it was, does not have the same emphasis on rigorous training. Sokka was the only 'man' in the tribe for a long time, and he had to do everything by himself, including exercise. Perhaps after the war he gets more guidance, or takes bits and pieces of everything hes seen/learned across the world, plus he's got his swordsmanship then, too.

So anyway, Not saying the boys would be the spitting images of their fathers, but genes do play a large part in the distribution of muscle and body composition in general. In the canon material we got, in their 20s, they really don't seem to differ much

But honestly, that may be a function of the clothes they're wearing, or even just the artists using a standard bodytype for both (Aang also has the exact same body) :' ). As a fanartist, you always want to diversify your interpretations of beloved characters and make them more your own (or complicit with fanon hah).

All of this not disregarding at ALL your point about racial stereotyping though, that is definitely something I try to guard for! And having written this all out, I think I am leaning more towards buffer Zuko and lean-muscled Sokka. But then again, I do love drawing Sokka very buff and grown up heheh so I can't say how consistent I will be in this (i just love drawing big muscles :') )

Thank you for your ask, you really made me think on this a bit more !!