#sokka doesn’t

[comradekatara]

2 kinds of grad students (both massive nerds)

#id in alt text #avatar the last airbender #atla #sokka #zuko #zukka #<- seems like i may as well tag it. considering #sokkaxzuko #(secretly this is sokkaxsuki tho. just look at sokka’s hoodie) #modern au #art #mart #if you’re wondering why there’s only one pile of graded papers it’s because sokka saved that paper for last #bc the handwriting was so illegible #(and zuko is responding even tho sokka isn’t talking abt his work bc he’s touchy. bc he knows he isn’t ocean vuong) #also before anyone’s like ‘shouldn’t sokka be the one writing poetry?’ YES sokka also writes poetry but it’s like. #silly little rhyming poems #he would never do an mfa art is a hobby to him and he thinks getting a degree in it is a waste of time #but he doesn’t tell this to zuko bc zuko wasted so much time suffering in undergrad trying to pursue a ‘respectable’ degree #so sokka’s just like ‘okay. well he deserves this’

[luriuan]

Sokka and Zuko get SO much funnier when you remember this is both of their first times talking to another teenage boy in years. Sokka had all the other boys leave the tribe when he was little and Zuko just hasn’t talked to other teenage boys. They wanna be friends but have absolutely no clue how to talk to other teenagers. I love them so much.

#Sokka #Sokka Alta #atla sokka #atla #atla zuko #zuko #avatar the last airbender #it cracks me up #little lonely asses 💀 #zuko atla #Zuko and Sokka #Sokka and Zuko #zukka #i love them so much #they mean so much to me #you cannot convince me Sokka wasn’t ecstatic when he realized another teenager was joining the Gaang #Zuko trying to be nice #and Sokka desperately trying not to infodump so he doesn’t scare zuko away #Zuko was probably bummed Sokka was a little younger too #but still like “”Another teen boy who’s kinda chill how do I converse where is my uncle Help.

[fanfic-gremlin-ft-trauma]

Firelord hair care is so important to me (and Sokka, apparently)

#zukka #zuko x sokka #zukka fanart #atla #I have this hc that touching someone else’s hair is like a huge deal™️ in the fire nation #and Sokka just #does it #Zuko doesn’t have the heart to tell him that the rest of the nation thinks they’re engaged #(not because he’s in love with Sokka what haha that would be crazy)

[theotterpenguin]

the performative accusation that shipping zutara (and occasionally this criticism is levied at jinko/zukka) is colonialist apologism has been addressed in some excellent posts, explaining the inaccuracies and problematic implications of this logic far better than i ever could - like this post and this one and this one and this one and this one.

and i know this topic has been talked about to death, but if you could indulge my contribution for a moment, i just find it interesting how this sentiment results from the cognitive dissonance of atla fans being unable to reconcile with the idea of their favorite show's political beliefs not lining up with their own.

atla is a largely philosophical children's show that at its core deals with themes of love, redemption, and destiny vs. free-will. atla examines these themes through an anti-colonalist, anti-imperalist lens that deconstructs the idea of racial divisiveness and the idea that people of different ethnicities are inherently different. this is message is pretty explicitly stated by guru pathik:

Guru Pathik: "The greatest illusion of this world is the illusion of separation. Things you think are separate and different are actually one and the same." Aang: "Like the four nations?" Guru Pathik: "Yes. We are all one people. But we live as if divided."

and also by uncle iroh:

"It is important to draw wisdom from many different places. If you take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale. Understanding others, the other elements and the other nations will help you become whole."

this theme is developed across three full seasons, with the crux of this message culminating in zuko's friendships with the gaang - despite coming from different nationalities and different backgrounds, they have all had their own experiences being hurt by the fire nation and work together to take down the oppressive fire nation government. the question of destiny vs. free will is also explored through zuko's character - despite starting off as an antagonist, he develops into a symbolic representation of how the fire nation's oppression hurts its own citizens. he unlearns the fire nation's imperialist propaganda while simultaneously unlearning his father's abuse. rather than following misguided beliefs of what he thought his destiny was as the heir to the throne, instead he forges his own path.

thus, to claim that zuko can never form a deep and meaningful relationship with any of the gaang because of his nationality goes unequivocally against the themes of the show. and a major part of this is because these are fictional characters being used to analyze different theoretical questions within the show and in some cases, are used as symbolic representations of different philosophical ideas - their friendships and their character arcs serve a purpose within the text that cannot be easily transcribed onto real-life dynamics between people.

it's illogical to criticize fans who are choosing to understand atla at the level of the themes that are presented by the text - who are interested in exploring similar philosophical questions brought up by the show through the context of relationships.

if you don't like the themes of forgiveness and redemption that atla explores, your criticism should be aimed at the writing of the show itself rather than other fans. because you are giving far more thought to the "implications" of a close friendship or romantic relationship between someone from an imperalist nation and someone from an oppressed nation than the writers ever did. (and if you fall in this camp of people, i would hope you wouldn't be reblogging fanart of zuko and the gaang together while simultaneously claiming zuko could can never escape the sins of his ancestors and can never form a deep relationship based on trust and intimacy with katara or sokka or jin - because that would just be hypocritical).

and as a side note, people seem to apply this flawed logic to zutara far more than other ships solely because the show spends the most time exploring the complicated nature of fire nation imperalism in the interactions between zuko and katara in the latter half of b3. this is because they've been juxtapositioned against each other and paralleled with aang since the beginning of the show in ways that toph, sokka, and suki are not, who have mostly been used to examine different themes. there simply isn't enough time to explore these complicated themes with all the other characters, even if they theoretically exist in zuko’s dynamics with these characters, so the writers focus the most on zuko's relationships with katara and aang, and these relationships are given far more narrative weight, so have more content to criticize. but zuko and katara also canonically become friends by the end of the show. if you want to discount the existence of their friendship, claiming that it will always be tainted by the fire nation's oppression regardless of what is shown in the text, then you also have to discount zuko's friendships with aang, suki, toph, and sokka - because even if this isn't shown as a permanent barrier to their friendships in the show, it’s also not shown as a permanent barrier to his friendship with katara. if your logic is solely based on the idea that a person's identity in a relationship as a colonizer or a victim is fixed and unchanging regardless of character development, this would apply to zuko's friendships with everyone else as well.

#zuko #katara #zutara #i have seen people say that the zutara dynamic makes them personally uncomfortable and that's fine - to each their own! #but it's hypocritical to only dislike zuko's relationship with katara while simultaneously exalting his friendships w aang or toph or sokka #just because the show doesn’t take as much time to explore these issues with other characters doesn’t mean the same dynamic doesn’t apply #my post #my meta

[ambriel-angstwitch]

Sokka: You know what the problem is? You’re really cute and powerful, so no one ever told you to shut up.

Zuko: You think I'm cute?!

Sokka: SHUT UP!

#Sokka thought Zuko was being cocky with that question #Zuko was actually just genuinely confused #poor guy doesn’t know he’s cute #avatar the last airbender #sokka avatar the last airbender #zukka #sokka x zuko #zuko/sokka #atla zuko #zuko #sokka #sokka of the water tribe

[bisexuallsokka]

fascinated with my coworker who hasn’t seen atla in like fifteen years and yet i successfully converted her to zukka nation before realizing how much blind faith she had in me and i think i accidentally led her to believe that sokka and zuko canonically are izumi’s dads

#well! i’m not wrong! #she also cannot keep track of names for the life of her godbless. she keeps mixing up sokka and suki’s names. she called momo moomoo. etc. #hell she doesn’t even say my name before double checking my name tag #we literally talked about atla for two hours instead of working tonight. teehee

[spiterunsmylife]

It really would be the funniest thing in the world for Zutara to be live action endgame

#avatar the last airbender #atla #zutara #listen #things can be so much more enjoyable when you detach them from the original #like? lots of changes I hate when I know the animated one and all the beauty #but if I think of this as an AU? like oh this universe sokka doesn’t need his misogyny humbled in order to respect suki? #sure! the first earthbenders here are lesbians? AWESOME #and like if zutara happens? imagine what Korra is like in that universe man #this way both sides have their wins too

[newfangledsoul]

I think the thing with Sokka’s early sexism being removed is less about his character arc (tho that’s important from a character standpoint), and more about the audience seeing that character arc.

Of course Sokka says iffy and sexist things, he’s acting like an entitled teenage boy. Many entitled teenage boys exist. I’m sure many of them watched Avatar growing up. The point is that these boys see Sokka doing what they do, and that they see Sokka is wrong to do so.

The purpose of an arc like Sokka’s isn’t to create a character who is sexist and who the audience shouldn’t like, who says iffy things and needs to be censored now that we’re in a more “civilized” age, it’s to be a teaching tool to the young target audience of the show. To show little boys that acting like this is wrong, and that girls can be just as strong as boys (this is where the Kyoshi warriors come in). Sokka is a great character because he goes through a genuinely hopeful sort of growth; his arc is something we hope teenage boys with his attitude go through in their own lives.

Taking away this arc deprives the story of one of its core ideals: teaching children what’s good and what’s bad. If they never see Sokka behaving badly, if they never see him being proven wrong, if they never see their hero who acts like them growing and changing for the better, you deprive them of a phenomenal role model who they might genuinely be inclined to base their behavior off of.

Shows like Avatar were so great because they showed growth. Sokka learns to overcome his biases, Zuko learns to overcome his pride and comes to understand what honor truly is, Katara learns to channel her temper into drive and not let anger overtake her, and Aang learns to uphold his principles even in the face of more convenient—if morally questionable—methods.

I think nowadays people (Hollywood) tend to forget that shows for children are often meant to be teaching tools, and not just entertainment. They forget that people—even kids—are flawed and so characters must be too if the audience is to learn anything from watching them on screen. It’s not enough to take an animated show and make it pretty and expensive, you have to translate the substance of the show, too. Otherwise you lose any purpose or power it might have had.

#it took me a minute to figure out my thoughts on this #but this is what I landed on #I think people forget the audience of these shows should be CHILDREN #not adults with Controversial Opinions #anyway #Netflix is bad #they ruin things #also now I understand why the original creators left #it’s clear Netflix doesn’t understand nuance or emotional substance #they just see dollar signs #avatar the last airbender #atla #sokka #atla sokka #live action atla #live action avatar the last airbender #live action avatar

[sokkas-therapist]

Chat is it toxic to have thoughts of an arranged marriage au where Katara and Zuko are stuck in a strictly political arranged marriage and have agreed to do their own thing (ie: Zuko will stay in the Fire Nation and be Firelord while Katara stays in the water tribe as the active Chief), but Zuko has been having a secret affair with Sokka since before the arranged marriage? Sokka is an ambassador for the SWT in Caldera so they ended up getting really close (even though Sokka isn’t there 24/7 bc he travels a lot). And now things have gotten really messy and the palace staff has gotten too close to figuring things out and no one knows what to do…this is soap opera level drama but I’m kind of living for it 

#Katara and Aang are also having an affair in this so dw #everybody gets they juice #and Katara doesn’t care that they’re having an affair bc she never loved Zuko anyway #but if the public finds out…then they’re all in hot water #it would all be so entertaining but I don’t have the brainpower or time to write this rn #so if anyone else wants to write a fic based on this post then by all means feel free #zukka #not really z/tara but kind of?? #I mean they don’t love each other but they are married so does that count as z/tara lol #sokka x zuko #zuko x sokka

[tragedykery]

azula calls a lesbian couple a slur and they’re like hell yeah hi fellow [slur] and azula is left spluttering she wasn’t reclaiming it she was using it as a slur she is not a fucking [different slur]!!!!!

#(she is‚ in fact‚ a [slur]) #dykery #<- whatever this goes there #atla #azula #elli rambles #r #azula is so funny. gay and homophobic except she doesn’t even realise she’s gay #but anyone with a functioning gaydar can see she is #this does not include zuko because he does not in fact have a functioning gaydar. people it does include are ty lee sokka and suki #but when they see the homophobia & attitude most people (sensibly) conclude they’re not gonna touch That with a ten foot pole #I love her. homophobic dyke queen

[comradekatara]

> be zuko

> try desperately to ingratiate yourself within the avatar’s friend group (to no avail, of course, because you have terrible social skills, and previously tried to kill them, also)

> try to fight off the human wmd you previously hired to blow them all up

> fail miserably, because he is indestructible

> watch as sokka effortlessly kills him with a very precise boomerang throw to the brain

> suddenly recall every single time you got hit in the head by his boomerang

> feel immense gratitude for what you had previously dismissed as uncle’s obnoxiously stringent and paranoid over-emphasis on the importance of helmet safety

#zuko #sokka #combustion man #iroh #sokka could’ve taken down all of unanimity with his boomerang #he and yangchen would’ve been the fucking dream team fr #altho i guess jujinta also has rly precise aim so he basically fulfills that role #but like. sokka has precise aim AND everything else kavik has (except for waterbending but like. he doesn’t even need it) #anyway. these tags are not relevant to the post at all #also i think zuko would like the helmet bc a) they’re regulation so he feels more militaristic in them and b) they cover his scar #but for the purposes of this joke of he hates the way they compress on his skull and he also whines before iroh makes him put it on #honestly both are equally plausible to me #so let’s just say it’s a combination thereof

[luriuan]

Au where instead of hunting the gaang down, Zuko goes to them like “I will help train the Avatar in firebending.” And gives the (true) excuse that he has to wait until after he learns earth. So he’s there from book one, following the gaang and just getting to know them. He had originally planned to betray them, but… they’re so welcoming, and they get into so many shenanigans and save so many people and…well, he can wait a couple more weeks to betray them. (He never does)

#him slowly learning the truth about outside views of the fire nation #and maybe even gaining a crush on Sokka #because Sokka Goes against every non-bender #stereotype hes heard #au #Sokka #sokka alta #aang #atla aang #katara #katara atla #Zuko #zuko atla #Zukka #if someone doesn’t write this I will #avatar the last airbender #avatar #atla

[fanfic-gremlin-ft-trauma]

“You said you didn’t know how to dance, Sokka!”

#zukka #zuko x sokka #atla #zukka fanart #after the war is over firelord Zuko throws a multicultural ball #after standing on the sidelines for a while watching people dance Sokka comes over to him with a goofy grin #Zuko immediately expressed that he doesn’t know how to dance #Sokka says he doesn’t either but tells him to ignore everyone else #so he does #(this idea popped up and I immediately had to draw it) #I love fics where they dance #it’s just so intimate and cute

[longing-for-rain]

I think the funniest part about Aang stans talking about how “feminine” Aang is…is the fact that Aang canonically became extremely offended by that idea

#look he’s not feminine #he’s 12 #hot take but ironically despite his attitude i think sokka has the most stereotypical feminine traits #idk where to even put zuko because he literally doesn’t care #he’d probably look at you like you grew a second head if you asked him about that #sokka & Aang arguing about femininity while zuko is there like ‘whatever i just wanna grill’ #anti aang stans #atla

[zukosdualdao]

tbh in my headcanon conception of them zutara is not super pda-heavy. they like being near to each other, they can read each other’s expressions really well, they gravitate toward one another almost without thought (even before they get together), and they’re very much the “sit on the same side of the booth” couple and pretty much always know where each other is in a room at a given time.

but those intimate gestures—holding hands, kissing, gently cupping each other’s faces, comforting embraces—are something they largely like to keep private, something just for them.

#they ARE touchy feely but in a very vulnerable intimate way they don’t let others witness all that often #zutara #sukka can’t relate. they are literally always wrapped around each other given the opportunity. and good for them ❤️ #when zutara ARE that way in public #it’s like #‘zuko has a gentle hand on her waist because they’re in a crowded unfamiliar area and he doesn’t want to lose track of her’ #‘or katara pulls him to the side and touches a tender hand to his scar and murmurs so low that no one trying to spy (sokka) can hear’ #‘but she’s noticed he’s more solemn than usual and asking if it hurts because sometimes the pain flares up and she wants to help’

[kiki-strike]

whimsical thought of the day: castles have like secret passages for servants to go through, right? and secret compartments in the walls in case of assassination attempts? well i’m thinking about when zuko takes the throne he probably inherits the fire lords quarters and at least stays in them for security’s sake because it’s probably the most guarded part of the palace. he would probably start redecorating immediately by himself because Ew That’s My Dad’s Room. and then he would find hey what’s this weird tiny door behind this tapestry. cut to zuko and sokka sneaking around the palace inside the walls because he keeps being chased by advisors and generals trying to keep their jobs. zuko gains a reputation among the people that live/work in the palace for being able to show up out of nowhere and get places remarkably fast, and sometimes he just disappears. theories are: he made a deal with a spirit to teleport. he uses jet propulsion when nobody’s looking. that’s just how master piandao teaches his students. he’s a mythical being like the avatar.

only the servants know that he actually just runs around in the walls to fuck with people.

#he’s in the walls. he’s in the goddamn walls. #sokka would have a field day trying to piece together an accurate blueprint of the palace bc probably one doesn’t exist for security’s sake. #or they just wouldn’t give it to sokka lmao #atla #avatar the last airbender #zuko #avatar zuko #fire lord zuko #fire nation #if i’ve been thinking about this for days no i haven’t #plagued with thoughts of zuko coming out of a tiny hidden door like in a play