#woodlaflababab

[woodlaflababab]

Iroh says Aang gives Zuko hope and like, 10/10, love that

But I feel like the mirror of this is overlooked alot, or at least I don't see a lot of talk abt it.

Zuko is Aang's hope.

Zuko is the representation of the enemy, but Aang knows he's also just a kid, or teenager, like Aang, and he's someone who reminds Aang of Kuzon, one of his best friends. To Aang, Zuko is everything the fire nation is to him, something familiar and dear to his heart that's been twisted almost beyond recognition.

If Aang can see good in Zuko, if Aang can bring the good out from Zuko, then there is hope for the rest of the firenation. In his day, the fire nation people were friends, and in the modern day, they are enemies. If he can be friends with Zuko, that means there's hope that he can have just a piece of his old world back, even if it looks a little different.

Aang can never go back. He can never get his old family back, he can't truely revive what was lost, only preserve it with hopes it can be revived in the future. He can't undo geological changes, he can't rewrite history, but there's one thing of his old world he hopes he can still have, and that is friendship that trancends borders and cultures.

Nobody represents that more than Zuko, the person who Aang wants to be friends with like the old days, but cannot because of the war. Being friends with Zuko, a blatent act of defiance against the war and all it has changed and damaged, is the biggest connection Aang gets to the world he once knew since he got frozen in the iceberg.

Aang gives Zuko hope, but Zuko is Aang's hope.

[woodlaflababab]

Anyone notices how their reactions to the dragons in these scenes match their reactions to eachother's first shows of real dangerous power? Aang faces the red dragon (Zuko's dragon) with a general "oh shit I am unprepared for this why is this a thing???" fear while Zuko faces the blue dragon (Aang's dragon) and has this face of surprise and awe and fear like he's unsure wtf he's supposed to be thinking rn

Even their movements match, in both scenes Aang is shaking/moving in a restless fear kind of way while in both scenes Zuko is frozen and uncomprehending.

@pscentral event 17: vibrance

[woodlaflababab]

Just going crazy over Zuko in The Western Temple saying smth along the lines of, "why arent you saying anything? You once said you thought we could be friends, you know I have good in me." Just makes me fucking rabid man. That small moment that Aang thought for sure meant nothing to Zuko and turns out Zuko still thinks about it, still turns to that memory with hope, that little moment that wormed it's way into Zuko's brain and never really left him. The desperate way that it is Aang's opinion specifically he seeks after. UGH. Zuko, come ON, BE FR RIGHT NOW. He's so obsessed.

[zukaangweek]

(prompts list also in image alt text)

Thank you to everyone who voted! The theme for Zukaang Week 2024 will be The Blue Spirit.

There are two prompts for each day, which you can follow as closely or loosely as you'd like. And while the theme inspired the prompts, fanworks do not have to be related to The Blue Spirit - they can be about anything, as long as it's Zukaang!

Before you get started, please read the Rules & FAQ

Remember to tag your posts with "zukaang week 2024" (you can also tag us with @zukaangweek)

Don't forget to add your fic to the AO3 collection

We're super excited for Zukaang Week this year, and we can't wait to see what everyone creates 💛❤️

- The Mods Mori (@convertedzukaang) | Graphics Ginger (@woodlaflababab) | Social Media Choco (@chocomd/@theavatarandthefirelord) | Logistics

[atla-confessions]

Ok chat, woodlaflababab's comment about AO3 being new and the Zutara Katara slave fics being much older got me to do more digging.

A03 was created in 2008 and went into beta in 2009. The last episode of ATLA aired in 2008 so it's a fair assumption that AO3 has captured a majority of the fandom's fics.

But let's go older.

FF.net was established in 1998 and is older than a good portion of this fandom. FF.net does not have a search function so I had to rely on google search results.

Searching Zutara slave fic I got two hits, one that was already on AO3 and was crossposted to FF.net and another Zuko slave fic.

Searching Katara slave fic, I got a star wars Katara, Ty Lee, Jaba crossover fic, an Azula enslaves Katara and is saved by Zuko a fic which I'll kind of count and an enslaved Katara Kataang fic 👀

So we're still at 3.5, maaaaybe 4 Zutara Katara slave fics only now it's out of 9000 or .0004%.

I also wanted to know who was making these claims about zk's creating so, so many of these disgusting enslaved Katara Zutara fics. So I did a general search of slave Katara on Tumblr and while I shouldn’t be surprised it is a bit disheartening to find that it's Kataang shippers who have grabbed what is - at .0004% - essentially a made up and false narrative and ran with it ☹️

After some of the things I've seen, I think we should be waaaay more worried about Zuko than Katara.

I ain’t even know FF.net was that old

[woodlaflababab]

I Object Your Honor

In "The Promise" Roku was 100% team kill Zuko just because he was questioning some things and that was AFTER Zuko helped win the war. At this point in the series he's nothing more than a murderous firelord in the making as far as anyone is concerned.

It wasn't Roku who chose to save Zuko

It was Avatar "Saved him from the cold and his own fucking nation TWICE" Aang

After watching Netflix Avatar I knew it was my parental duty to make sure my kids saw the REAL Avatar all the way through, or as my son calls it now, the "Real REAL Avatar." And I realized once again how much I adore the fire temple episode. For one express reason.

Everyone's all chained up, Zuko included, and they're all about to get their faces burnt off (One of these four knows exactly what that feels like and isn't thrilled about going through that again.)

But this terrifying being is coming straight at them.

Dude look at that thing! No one's walking out of this!

These guys sure as heck are gonna feel it.

But....

...team Avatar is fine. Not a scratch on them. The fire is hot enough to disintegrate their chains yet none of them get so much as an ember in their face.

And you know who else doesn't get hurt at all?

Zuko.

Zuko doesn't get hurt in the least. His chains disintegrate and he takes his less than graceful leave.

We know Aang doesn't like to hurt people, and Zhao doesn't get killed or anything. But the dude still gets fire in his face and as far as Aang is concerned, Zuko is no different than Zhao and should have received the same treatment. Except Aang isn't the one in charge and Roku knows exactly who Zuko is and who he's meant to be.

[asukas-numberone-defender]

in light of recent events for the zukaang community,,, (anyone who was in the server remember to join the new one @woodlaflababab made ^^)

[woodlaflababab]

Book three Aang, my beloved. 

Just thinking about the way he handled Zuko's return. The fact that he remains quiet while the other's talk bc he's thinking things through. The fact that he was never against Zuko or for Zuko, but rather making decisions as the Avatar based on actual thought and valuing the input of those he trusts. Like, literally, the fact that it zooms in on Aang's face as Zuko walks away and you can see the resigned conflict in him, the fact that he's STILL thinking it through, even as he accepts his friend's judgment for the time being.��

Then when they all talk about it, while Katara and Sokka both discuss how awful Zuko is, Aang pipes in in defense of Zuko, but still accepts their input. Then when Toph starts defending Zuko, Aang joins the others in their frustration because even as he sees Zuko's good, he sees his bad in equal measure and believes, ultimately, given what they've seen, trusting Zuko is the wrong choice.

Every time they talk about it, Aang is thinking. He's on the side of 'keep Zuko out' but he's never there out of feeling, he's there out of putting together pieces and determining what's best. He very rarely actually adds input and is most often just listening. 

As soon as Aang hears Zuko say "I don't want you hunting the Avatar anymore" to Combustion Man, he is Paying Attention. When Zuko comes to talk to them a second time, Sokka and Katara are still taking aggressive faces, but Aang is open. Not accepting, but open and hearing him out. Even with every reason Not to trust Zuko, Aang is still thinking, and allowing himself to consider the bigger picture as it changes. 

And then even when he says he thinks Zuko is supposed to be his firebending teacher and that, for all intents and purposes, he could've stuck to that and the others would just have to go with it (bc what are you gonna do, stop the avatar?), he still holds off and asks each member their opinions, allowing everyone a voice, taking in every angle. And you KNOW if Katara said no in that moment, Aang would have accepted it. He wouldn't have necessarily been happy about it, but he was well aware that Katara could say no and looked genuinely concerned about how she felt. 

Ugh, I love Aang in the episode so so much. Even him vs the Combustion Man I love watching, the casualty with which he pulls off feats of airbending, ugh

Aang may not have wanted it, but you can clearly see, Aang was built to be the Avatar.

[woodlaflababab]

As a multishipper I can and will read into any ship and make connections that aren't there and I stand by my right to pretend ship moments are more meaningful then they are. That being said, one of my favorite things is how the avatar team really went all in on the zukaang relationship and nobody stopped to think "... Is this too much? Is literally dancing together with symbolic dragons and rainbow fire too much?" Or if they did someone else out there went "no, it's not enough, have them both struck by lightning but in obvious symbolism to the way they are foils to each other and give them matching scars" and ig everyone agreed because someone was like "okay, just in case people still didn't pick up on this relationship, we have to make sure to mention in LoK that Zuko was the closest person to Aang."

Like, even outside of shipping, these two are tied together. You can't have one without the other and I love that so so much.

the best thing about zukaang is that the creators MADE IT as deep and meaningful and intentional as it seems

[woodlaflababab]

TIL Aang's face is on the money in LoK. You know Aang's not the one to do that. Someone made the decision to put Aang's face on every bill for a new nation.

Funny how the face looks suspiciously similar to the statue. You know, the one Zuko commisioned? Funny that.

[woodlaflababab]

Still on Kataang energy, and just, we see mentions of Aang "getting the girl" but like, honestly, Katara is the one who won the prize like, she scored the fucking avatar. What a flex. Oh yeah, master in my element at 14, singlehandedly brought southern waterbenders and airbenders back to life, and got the avatar. Yeah, he was hooked on me from the moment he saw me. I didn't even have to do shit, I'm just that good. God I love her.

[woodlaflababab]

Thinking about how, in the promise, Zuko says "That was like asking you to figure out right and wrong for me. I didn't just want you as my safety net. I wanted you as my escape hatch." and "I knew somehow that you wouldn't let me die." and "You're not the one who's flawed, Aang."

Zuko canonically thinks Aang is perfect. This boy has a problem istg

Like, the whole conflict of The Promise is just Zuko being so convinced that Aang can't possibly be wrong that he decides he's basically his dad now because he disagrees with Aang.

[woodlaflababab]

EXCEPT THAT LITERALLY THEY DO

LoK and the comics are all about how they were eachother's "closest friend" and how they "built a city together" like, catch the next avatar series calling them roomates at one point in their lives

what if we were narrative foils… and also stared yearningly at each other… haha, unless??

[woodlaflababab]

Aang's forgiveness @ Zuko always hits me so hard and I think it's because it's more than forgiveness. I think Aang truly understands where Zuko is coming from on an almost painful level.

I mean like, if someone told Aang there was a way he could go back home, that there was a way to bring back all the people he lost, how much would Aang be willing to do for that? How much of himself would he lose and sacrifice just for that chance?

Also, when Zuko comes to ask to join them the second time, he says "I've been through a lot in the past few years, and it's been hard. But I'm realizing that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honor, and that somehow my father could return it to me."

This sounds like the mash up of a few things Aang has said, from when he met baby Hope, "I've been going through a really hard time lately," (a hard time that has led to him doing things he regrets) and when he woke up after Ba Sing Se "I need to redeem myself. I need my honor back." (An idea that led to him making a bad decision) Aang knows that it has been the process of going through these struggles that have made him who he is.

And then to quote some tags from @theavatarandthefirelord from this post "#he's thinking about their relationship esp since their moments in The Storm/The Blue Spirit #also the way aang sees himself reflected in zuko as well #primarily with him burning katara but also moments like in The Desert #and losing control in the Avatar State"

Aang also relates to Zuko's anger issues. He intimately knows the mindset that leads someone to do bad things and, unlike the others (for example Katara) Aang also understand the guilt and regret that comes after it, the same guilt and regret Zuko shows in this scene.

Zuko doesn't just explain himself, he explains Aang as well.

I love the forgiveness trope that's so often featured in this ship, esp in fics, and part of why I love it is because it's not blind forgiveness, it's 'I've been there, and I could've gone down similar paths given different circumstances, to forgive you is to forgive myself'

And I just think that's so beautiful.

[woodlaflababab]

One of my favorite things abt shipping zukaang is the amount of people I see who are like "I don't ship it but I get it. This ship should be more popular." Like, if shipping is war, this is some good sportsmanship, I love it.

[woodlaflababab]

So something that I've kinda noticed is how ships tend to have themes, and since I multiship so hard in atla it's really interesting to see the different themes.

Like, zukaang is definitely guilt and forgiveness, with forbidden love probably being the second most popular theme.

Kataang is often centered around loyalty and being best friends.

Zutara seems very centered around mutual understanding.

Zukka is like "he cute :3c" from most of what I've seen jdndndndn

Sokkaang, small as it is, often as a theme of overcoming adversity.

Azulaang theme is 100% temptation.

Obviously, I have more experience with some of these ships than others, but these are the ones that, when I think about them, have these things come up as the binding point between the characters a lot.

Idk, it's interesting, if anyone has any other ideas or know what themes other ships have please feel free to share.