#THIS is the true zukka dynamic

[garfield-milk]

a dynamic I think we don’t talk about enough

#this is silly #im sorry #but like #THIS is the true zukka dynamic #it’s the CANON zukka dynamic (one of) #sokka is annoying and zuko can’t resist him #atla #avatar the last airbender #zukka #zuko #sokka

[uncle-sams-dirty-socks]

Jetko is the funniest fucking ship because like you have other ships like zutara or zukka and it’s like “blue/red dynamics enemy to friends to lovers” or something like that. Or you have other ships like kataang and sukka and they’re just pure true love couples. Meanwhile jetko is in the background with the two trash boys setting things on fire and actively making each other the worst versions of themselves and that’s just how it’s meant to be.

#jetko #I love them so much purely because of the comedic potential #jet #zuko #atla #avatar the last airbender

[comradekatara]

oh ur voltron essay is so incredibly true. it also provides some answers to the bafflement i have been experiencing when looking at zukka tags. like, i was THRILLED when zukka got popular bc i thought it would be freedom from the endless katara ship wars. but people have gotten so incredibly weird. the amount of racist mischaracterization in the tumblr zukka-sphere is out of control. i had accepted that the majority of zukka shippers do not understand the characters at all, and you have now made me realise: not only do they not understand the characters, they see them as. fucking keith and lance. this is horrifying i’m gonna have to sit and contemplate it for a long time

yeah no the katara ship wars are still waging on, people are also just racist about sokka now too. which is awesome. but yeah if not for the fact that i see people compare them to klants all the fucking time (even before zukka got popular, in fact) i would think that im somehow delusional and exaggerating these trends but i know im not because people are constantly admitting it. just saying it out loud. like i used to see people calling sokka and zuko “rivals” a lot and that is clearly a byproduct of klantsification because everyone knows that sokka and azula are rivals. sokka and zuko are simply not rivals in any way except for in the sense that they were trying to kill each other in book 1 i guess. but i’d hardly call that a “rivalry.”

its like. sokka hates zuko and wants him dead and then zuko comes to the western air temple and begs to be let into their group and sokka doesn’t trust him but aang says that he does and sokka knows that aang needs a firebending teacher so that he can defeat the firelord and win the war so sokka is like “okay if that’s what you want, aang” and then he still doesn’t really like or trust zuko at all (at one point he even tells him to go jump into a volcano, which is the TV Y-7 way of getting “kill yourself” through s&p) but he needs information on zuko if he’s going to rectify his mistake and then zuko insists on tagging along for his suicide mission and sokka doesn’t really care whether or not zuko lives or dies so he’s like “yeah fine whatever it’s your funeral” and then zuko demonstrates that he’s actually really earnest and sincere and charmingly awkward and willing to do anything to help sokka and always follows his lead so sokka is like “okay i like this guy now” and then they’re friends and that’s that. at no point does sokka view him as a rival.

as for zuko. zuko doesn’t really care about sokka because he’s hyperfocused on capturing aang and literally nothing else matters and then he decides that he would do anything to help the avatar defeat his father and then sokka kills the indestructible walking wmd of an assassin zuko had previously hired with just his boomerang and then zuko helps sokka infiltrate the boiling rock and proves that he would literally die for him for nothing in return except the reward of seeing him happy. so at no point does zuko consider sokka his rival because he just straight up knows that sokka is better than him in every possible way and he respects that (to an almost unhealthy degree) and just follows his lead unquestioningly. if anything zuko’s rival is also azula, because they were always competing for the same affections. (except azula considers sokka her rival, while zuko considers azula his rival.)

and ppl will frame ZUKO as being out of SOKKA’S league and it’s like. the whole POINT is that sokka is out of zuko’s league and zuko knows it the whole world knows it!!!! they’re not rivals, sokka isn’t a wacky flirty idiot, zuko genuinely terrorized him for months on end, their friendship is built on the intensity of zuko’s devotion genuinely outweighing his previous crimes. anyone who cannot see past the aesthetic similarities between what is a genuinely compelling dynamic between two very well-constructed, dimensional characters and personified shallow tropes written and shipped together in a cynical cash grab should not be engaging with zukka as a ship.

it was so much better in the beforetimes, when no one knew that gay people existed, and everyone who did even remotely ship them was like “awww I love their bromance. #brosforever” because at least then they actually kind of understood what their dynamic was even if they weren’t reading any sort of romantic subtext into it. but I do want to make myself clear. reading romantic subtext into sokka and zuko’s relationship is a genuinely coherent and informed reading of the text. it is not a “headcanon” or a “crackship,” it is a valid interpretation of what is depicted onscreen.

“the boiling rock” is truly the gay subtext episode of atla (and by that I also mean the azula mai ty lee love triangle, which was truly a life changing moment for me as a child) and while there are of course multiple valid readings of characters’ motivations and behaviors as grounded in and informed by the text, especially when it comes to unspoken romantic motivations, i really do think that it’s in no way a stretch to assume that due to factors such as — a) zuko knowing sokka and saying sokka’s name way more than he says any other gaang member’s name b) zuko risking his own life to blindly follow sokka on a suicide mission to an impenetrable supermax when he is literally wanted by the state for high treason, and trusting his lead unconditionally c) zuko just generally being so soft and docile around sokka when he’s normally a tightly wound ball of stress and rage who yells at anyone who so much as looks at him funny, and of course d) zuko literally flirting with sokka in the cooler??? because I don’t know how else to explain that scene that looks like it came straight out of a cheap porno — really do seem to indicate that zuko is down bad for sokka.

and seeing as a) reading zuko as gay is already such a logical way to read his entire character arc and the significance of his journey and b) pretty much everyone they meet is down bad for sokka (assuming they’re not already down bad for katara, that is), it’s really not an incoherent or fantastical ship. like, ymmv on whether sokka actually returns zuko’s feelings (I am mostly a proponent of one-sided zukka, but I also think that I could sort of see them getting together in their late 20s or smth. idk), it’s a genuinely compelling and coherent way to read their dynamic nonetheless. the problem is when people reduce their preexisting, compelling dynamic in service of conforming to narrow and often harmful (eg, racist) troping.

i am genuinely compelled by zuko’s uncharacteristic, almost hero-worship of sokka, his desperation to be his friend to the point of following him to the ends of the earth to prevent him from quite literally killing himself. and i think there’s something really lovely about the way these two teenage boys who have both struggled so much to conform to a harmful and militaristic masculinity could embrace their nerdier and more sensitive qualities (eg, zuko is canonically a theater kid who is apparently “quite the seamstress,” sokka is canonically a poet[ry appreciator] and likes to draw and carve) together.

i love the idea of a postcanon wherein sokka acts as zuko’s senior advisor and basically willingly puppets him and runs the fire nation from the shadows (while also doing the same in the earth kingdom simultaneously, because let’s be real, both zuko and kuei are out of their depths), and how that would also complicate their dynamic. but of course anyone who does subscribe to the “sokka works in the fire palace” hypothetical always makes sokka an “ambassador,” which is just stupid. sokka would not be satisfied merely doing ambassadorial busywork, he is literally an incorrigible control freak and he would be shadow running the fire nation, at zuko’s behest. and so on and so forth.

and yet, all the fanart of them is either wildly out of character, or sokka and zuko’s personalities have literally been reversed, which is somehow even worse. i won’t pinpoint exact examples, but im also pretty sure that if you took my hand and we went into the zukka tag together, i would just be like “nope. no. no. wrong. incorrect. wildly incorrect. egregiously wrong. no. incorrect.” and so on and so forth for every single post.

so yeah. the reason i don’t really discuss their dynamic anymore, despite still finding it compelling in its own right, is because the fans genuinely annoy me so much that they’ve turned me into a hater. it’s not even that it’s a bad ship, or that it’s not my personal cup of tea, or that’s it not grounded enough in canon for my liking. i think they’re fascinating to chew on as presented in the text. but what “fans” have done to “them” has warped whatever potential they actually have in the text into something that is both sinister and obnoxious. those aren’t sokka and zuko anymore. that’s lankka and keiko. and i don’t know those guys. they are total strangers to me. and they’re annoying and shallow and cliched and have i mentioned annoying. and i hate them.

#unhinged yet cogent zukka rant under the cut…….. #unreachedgalaxy #asks #sokka #zuko #sokkaxzuko #synthesis #hot takes #analysis #society if zukka shippers actually cared about the text and weren’t racist and obnoxious and corny and annoying and

[leantailean]

I really love Toko, but i feel like its often constrained, largely due to the age gap. Like stories will often either be set in post-canon, or the characters will be aged up. Do you feel like that holds true and if yes do you feel like there's a dynamic that i'm missing. And post-canon is fun to explore, but i feel like the most interesting story telling is generally set while the war is ongoing. Conversely i feel like aging up Zuko would be fairly disruptive to his journey. Not that i think those are bad things, i'm really liking Third Time's the Charm that plays with the latter, and arranged marriage which to feels like a very natural trope for them, and obviously i love your art. They say for a reason that constraints inspire creativity. I'm just curious about your thoughts about that.

Hi! Thanks for the ask and sorry for the late reply (sickness prevented me from replying)

I have a lot to say about this, so let’s begin (it’s a loooooong answer).

Age gap is the most common argument against toko I’ve heard. And, to be honest, I find it really strange. You see, Aang and Zuko have the same age gap, and almost the same have Sokka and Toph, and nevertheless Tokka and Zukaang are quite widespread and supported ships, and no one cares for the age gap. That’s why I don’t really see why people believe that age gap as an issue in Toko.

And this argument sounds strange also because If relationship, even romantic one that are originates from friendship are starting to built it doesn’t mean they immediately become sexual. Kataang is canon and beautiful, but in reality several years should pass for them before they step into that kind of relationship. I’m even uncomfortable to think about Maiko having sexual activity in the canon, when they both are around 16.

Besides, it is difficult to imagine Zuko anything but aro/ace to me.

 Toko's relationship originates from similar life experiences and mutual support for each other. This is not a love at first sight, but a gradually developing "friends-lovers" relationship. Which, by the way, completely similar with other canonical pairs, such as kataang.

Also I think that this argument originates from extremely wrong, primitive fanon interpretation of Zuko and Toph. Usually Zuko is depicted super mature and super experienced dude (all that dadko bullshit, omg), and they prefer to see Toph as some tomboy-ish brat (here in Russia people call such girls “the guy from the next yard”), rude, not serious and childish. Nothing can be farer from the truth.

In fact, Zuko is emotionally underdeveloped, traumatised and rather infantile due to the abuse he experienced. He Is a teenager with serious anger issues and bad social skills.

Toph is, otherwise, one of the most mature gaang members. She is able to understand and listen to other people , and she never demand anything back (“Yes, thank you Toph”. Indeed it woul be very nice of Sokka and Suki to thank her for saving their lives). Despite her guarding her boundaries carefully she is always open to other people and she is in good contact with her own emotions (which is what Zuko lacks). So in their relationship, at least that the very beginning Toph would be the most mature side (although it’s fair for every possible Zuko’s partner, such as Maiko, Zukka or Zukaang).

 So I don’t think that Toko is having any problems in that sense.

On the one hand, I agree that it’s the most interesting when the relationship somehow develops during canonical events, and not in the post-canon. But in this case, this applies to absolutely any couples, except of maiko, kataang and sukka, since they are the only ones developing during the war. Any possible other relationships, such as Tokka, or Zukka, or Zukaang, can exist only in  post-canon if canonical couples break up for some reason. Again, Toko is no exception in this case.

Zuko and Toph's relationship (doesn’t matter friendly or romantic) did not get the development  they deserve in the third season. In fact, their relationship was just thrown under the bus because of the sloppy writing of the entire third season (to give Zuko one episode with each member of gaang  just to check the box, like "mission accomplished" and give almost not developing of his relationship with each of them outside of these episodes. And Toph was robbed even of this). But despite this, toko still has more then any other fanon ships (although “Boiling Rock” is definitely a very Zukka episode). We see that Toph was the first one who believed Zuko, and not just believed - she actively defended him in front of the others and made an attempt to have a chat with him herself. It is important: the fact that Zuko's relationship with Toph is radically different from any other ones with the rest of the gaang member, since she was not with them when Zuko actively hunted the Avatar, and their first close interaction was after his redemption, when he became the best version of himself. Toph has no personal negative experience with him, and Zuko does not  feel guilty towards her, and with her he doesn’t need to make up for anything, and this is very important.

Strangely enough, but, one of the most Toko moments of the show is the moment in which Zuko and Toph do not interact personally: the meeting of Iroh and Toph. She is also the first from gaang who met and even, one might say, became friends with Iroh. Iroh, who has always been Zuko's father figure is talking to Toph about real Zuko. Not about the imperialist prince cruelly pursuing the last hope of the world - the way Sokka, Katara and Aang knew him - but about just a boy only Iroh, his closes person, knew. In addition, Iroh, who knows and loves Zuko, says how much he and Toph have in common (Iroh is the first and main Toko shipper, and I will die on this hill). Narratively and dramatically, this is an amazing moment, and I will fight with anyone who says that Toko has little canonical content: any other Zuko ships can only dream about such a moment.

It is also interesting that it is with Toph that Zuko has the most sincere conversation about his guilt towards his uncle. He talked about it with Sokka and with Katara, but it was Toph who was able to tell him the right words that really comforted him and make him smile (seriously, this is the best smile Zuko has ever seen, and it happens during his conversation with Toph!)

We see that they feel extremely comfortable and open with each other, even though they barely know each other.

Toph is the only girl in the canon made Zuko to blush, just a fact. And Toph, in her turn, openly talks to Zuko her feelings for him (I'm not saying that her feelings were already romantic at that time ). "This is how I show affection" is just the best moment.

We can talk about many other canonical points that are important for toko: the similarity of characters and life experience - both Zuko and Toph are from the upper class, both grew up in abusive families and both know what it is to feel unloved by their own parents. The Blue Spirit/Blind Bandit is one of the most interesting and direct parallels of Toph and Zuko - an alter ego that they needes to get away from theirs social roles (a prince and a young lady from an aristocratic families). This is the same direct parallel as the canonical pair has: The Painted Lady/Kuzon. Just as Aang and Katara need alter egos to help others people which is the core of their characters and unites them,Toph and Zuko need alter ego in order to satisfy their own desire for freedom, which they cannot satisfy in any other way.

They are both disabled, forced to deal with the fact that people judge them by their disability and appearance, forced to prove every day what they are more than their disability. Again: neither Zuko nor Toph share such an experience with anyone else, only with each other.

So canonically, toko has a lot of support - certainly no less than any other fanon ship.

After all, they look amazing together.

Also, I just love the moment with kissing doves. Seriously, ATLA rarely show us such a perspective, why they needed to place such a scene in the same shot with Toph and Zuko as if it were foreshadowing their future relationship? God, I love it!

I really like to explore the post-canon, especially since  I don’t consider comics and LOK to be canon, although it doesn't even matter - nothing in them contradicts the idea that Toph and Zuko could be together at least at some point in their lives.

To explore  alternative universes for toko, such as the arranged marriage plot, is also a very interesting, and it would be great to talk about it another time.

Thank you for the question, I think my thoughts turned out to be a little messy, but I hope it could be interesting to you.

________

Let's talk about TOKO!

#zuko #toph #toko #avatar the last airbender #kataang #i think? #atla #atla fandom discourse #long post #zutoph #ask #we need to talk about toko

[enbysiriusblack]

idk but dorlene and zukka remind of each other like similar dynamics

omg yes. so true.

sokka as marlene and zuko as dorcas!! like dorcas as very socially awkward and angsty and dramatic and also a huge fucking nerd. and marlene as also a huge fucking nerd and funny and outgoing and flirts a lot.

also like even early zukka would be dorlene during their rivals stage??? zuko kicking sokka in the face when they first meet?? so dorlene. sokka stealing zuko's rope?? so dorlene!!!

also like. my hc about marlene making things???

if i ever write an atla au i am so making marlene a nonbending warrior from southern water tribe and dorcas a firebender

#i never realised this. you have made my day. #beloved mutuals <33 #marauders era #marauders #dorlene #marlene mckinnon #dorcas meadowes

[paragonrobits]

anyway so a thing I've noticed is that if a character is popular enough and they wind up paired off with a specific other character (whether or not its shipping related, though it probably will be, but for the purpose of this thought the actual nature of the pairing is irrelevant), those characters and their specific dynamic are almost inevitably completely unrelated to canon and as such, any sufficiently popular characters get bounced around in fandom and take on new traits based solely on fandom interpretations without reference to canon at all, and as such are a kind of community-built OC

one example of this is the post-ATLA rennaisance depictions of Zuko and Sokka. Apart from being paired together to such an extent that Zukka is now one of THE big ships in the fandom, there are a lot of particular elements to their characterizations in fandom that have absolutely no basis in canon. Among other things the depiction of them as virtually being joined at the hip, them being a hyper competent duo who are very close and coordinate as world leaders, fluctating between that hyper competence and being comic relief dumbasses for fun and profit, often being depicted as the true motive force of the protagonist's collective (with Aang, if he's even considered at all, being a spiritual motivator at BEST), Sokka as a super intelligent technical genius and Zuko as a tremendously emotionally intelligent Soft Boy, and so on...

None of that has any actual basis in canon. Zuko and Sokka barely interact throughout the entire series, not even after Zuko joins the group. The excellent dynamic they have in the Boiling Rock double episodes is probably the source of this, for as good as it is, they really don't interact that much; the small interactions they have outside of it aren't substantial but DO present good starting points for fan works, but the point here is that its not actually represented in canon.

So they don't seem to be particularly close friends; they default to what Aang wants to do and trust in him as their guiding force; Sokka might be a creative person but he's not technically skilled enough to actually build any of the machines or devices the fandom credits him with, and Zuko's about as emotionally intelligent as a rock. Or given his association with turtle-ducks, perhaps some kind of snapping turtle-swan; even on his best days he's kind of a temperamental, hyper-aggressive dick that defaults to snapping at people at the slightest pretext (to the point that NOT exploding at mild teasing is a massive sign of character development for him at the end of The Firebending Masters).

But anyway this is some roundabout ways to make the actual point here; that looking at the particulars of fandom-specific characterizations and dynamics might be an excellent way to come up with solid character concepts for your OCs.

Those fandom specific characterizations functionally ARE OCs, with as little relevance as they have to canon; they are community-generated, so to speak, and might be a great source of character inspiration if you're lacking a more solid idea.

#queued

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

ZKs: We are so amazing at finding unique and beautiful symbolism, parallels, and metas for our ship. We are better at it than the ATLA writers! We understand the characters on a deeper level.

Also ZKs: Red and blue. Fire and water. Sun and moon. Dad and mom. Missing moms. Aang is an ugly r*pist. Katara needs to m*rder people and be yas queen girlboss firelady. Lather, rinse, repeat until the end of time.

Red and blue aren't even true color opposites. It's Red/Green and Blue/Orange.

Even ignoring the "true opposites" - Avatar is a show about the elements, and each one has a signature color, and red/blue imagery is EVERYWHERE, representing multiple things, and multiple dynamics between characters (See Aang and Zuko meeting the dragons, with the red one representing Aang while the blue one was for Zuko, even though red is usually representing the Fire Nation).

That kind of imagery has NEVER been exclusive to Zuko and Katara as characters, or even to their nations, and it has NEVER been exclusively about romance - hell, most of the time, it wasn't.

It's literally taking a cool aesthetic as "evidence/foreshadowing" and not realizing that with how vague it was, nearly every ship is supported by it. Zukaang (again, the dragons), Kataang (orange/yellow is the color the show picked for air, and obviously the water tribe is blue), Sokkla and Zukka both work for the sun/moon, fire/water thing, etc

For fuck's sake, I use the red/blue thing for my ZUCEST fics all the fucking time because the show itself went out of it's way to make it a thing to have these colors representing Zuko and AZULa - girl's name literally means blue.

Yet I get the feeling Zutarians wouldn't appreciate being told "See? The show is constantly hinting at Zucest, so you have to treat it as canon because there's red and blue everywhere in the series" - but for some reason, they expect me to take it seriously when they use it for their own ship, even though the 'argument' is just as weak. Funny how that works.

#anti zutara #pro kataang #zucest

[ssreeder]

HELLO

I didnt see that there was an update until now and i dont feel like discording and i just read the new chapter so here i am with my few main points bc i dont feel like doing a full live reaction👍👍🫶

Seeing Jeeto come into play in any capacity at all makes me feel like a proud parent watching their children grow. Its always wonderful like those are my emotional support middle aged fictional men. I watched them go from conspiracy to getting crumbs to now their "dates" and gossiping together. Youve gotta love it. Those are my children. Im so proud of them. But im also scared because you killed shen so obviously my feeligns mean nothing to you 🙄😒😒. (Im never going to get over that, im going to be 80 years old in some pst apocolypic enviroment with horrors all around me, but im going to be having nightmares about shen. Ill send you my therapy bill) (im going to get a tattoo in his memory istg)

Also its always really subtle but its funny to see your specific linguistical patterns in liab esp because i can never really explain it. Like ill read a random sentence and be like 'yeah that seems like sreeder wrote it' i just think its neat.

I also really loved zukka this chapter. But i always lovr zukka so its not a surprise. But espesially this chapter because its mostly soft zukka.

"Do you think we will stay together" NO Zukko divorce 🔫🔫. 🙅🏻🔥🔥🔥🙅🏾

The 'moving forward' ness of zukka in liab is so nicely written. Like ive been reading liab since (almost) the beginning and it has been a ride and its starting to feel more conclusive and that is SCARY but its also nice because you write it very well and i adore the way you write trauma and the healing of it and the ups and downs and the two steps forward two steps backness. Its very lovely.

I knew ara was going to have a suicide attempt (esque situation (idk if that counts)) i called it i win.

Idc what others say ara will always be amazing. I love her character SO MUCH

i feel like you can always tell the strengths of a writer in the way they write complicated characters and the way you write ara is very telling of that. Like the fragility and also harshness used for her is very realistic and i always enjoy her parts so much.

Like her deciding to move on independant of how zuko or sokka feel about it is and regardless of whether people thinks she 'deserves it' is immaculate.

And thats a good example on your specific strengths as the author of liab (being able to handle delicate situations well, and realistically and make them very thought out and not rushed, stuff like that).

But her 'i need to start getting along with other girls' is great because like,, RHATS SO TRUE. she is genuienlly one of my favorite characters of all time, i could write essays on why i love her. Exquisite.

REHO MENTION 🥳🥳💪💪💪💪

Thats my emotional support woobified early 20 something year old man. I adore him. If 30 people love reho i am one of them, if one person loves reho i am them if 0 people love reho i am dead (rip rehoes 😔) i will defend his (and aras) good names until i die.

Amazing chapter as always 10/10 *chefs kiss* im so excited for the series to finish and see what you do with everyone and the rest of the storylines and such.

Every time I think of Shen’s death I think of your utter devastation & how I wasn’t expecting you to be so distraught over it. I will say I had another commenter lately who was talking about how much they liked Shen & wanted an Iroh/Shen/Zuko dynamic and I kept thinking…. Damn it buddy, you’re going to be soooo mad at me in a few chapter haha…. oops.

ugh my linguistic patterns haunt me and I specifically ask my betas to check for them because I feel sooooo repetitive sometimes especially when there’s a lot of introspection lol. So it’s funny you mentioned that lol.

Omg I remember when I was still on RIA & someone in the server was like “dude I’m rooting for some jeeto.” & I was like oh no how do they know??? I created this fun divide between hakoda and bato just to push Bato into Jees arm!! Don’t spoil it haha, but whatever at least Dentys dead

Awwww thanks for the compliments it means a lot coming from you <3 but also yeah Ara is my delicate dumpster fire who says she going to make her existence everyone’s problem (most importantly sokka because damn girl could just LEAVE but she refuses lol) I love it. She’s fun, and any scene with her expect utter chaos haha.

every time I write Reho in a scene my mind says and the crowd goes wild,,, he’s annoying but I’m glad you like him.

thanks for this amazing ask you’re awesome

#Haha maxxxxx you’re so funny #I am forever a fan of Ara and her ability to harass sokka while constantly saying she’s not going to harass sokka #Zuko: “I just…. Never want to see you again” #Ara: got it ok so I’ll go make friends with sokkas sister and hangout with the water tribe healers and suki and - #No wonder sokka starts foaming at the mouth every time he sees her #I still don’t think zuko has nearly as big of a problem with Ara as sokka does #I truly think she’s just “that bitch from prison” #& sokkas got like 43 fake scenarios saved in his head of how things could have been different or how he would get his revenge #Anywayyyyyy I like Ara she’s fun #& Katara deserves to have some fun! #Thanks for the ask max sorry it took me so long to answer I’m a loser I have no excuses #LIAB #leaving it all behind #ITF #ask #Maaaxx

[erisenyo]

New post-canon multi-chaptered fic anyone? Featuring established Zukka, Azula's ambiguous maybe-redemption, Fire Nation sibling dynamics, cute fluff, supportive friends and partners, political intrigue and machinations, and figuring your life out while enduring the pressures of event planning.

[In rare moments of whimsy and indulgence—usually accompanied by cake—Azula would sometimes think of herself as one part of a triangle. Half of a paired dao. The northern point of a compass, even, always guiding straight and true. But she thinks, as she contemplates the single cowering candleflame and the stifling darkness, that perhaps she’s been a lone flame all along. No matter, though. Zuzu claims to have changed. Maybe Azula will change, too. Maybe she will forge herself into a spear, instead, striking straight and true. Or an arrow in the night. A knife in the dark. Her eyes flick up to where Zuko just disappeared from her sight, and she snaps, sharp, precise, and feels lightning-tinged fire arc off her fingertips. Or in the back.] Or, Six years after the war, Azula has finally reached her age of majority and is about to be crowned Zuko’s heir. If only Sokka could shake the feeling that she’s plotting something… If only Azula could keep Water Tribe from bumbling into her plots.

Chapter One is here!

#Guys this one got so self indulgent it's amazing #fic writing #my writing #atla fic #zukka fanfic #azula fic

[nopingitoutme]

I genuinely don't know why azutara isn't as popular as zukka???? like azutara to me is so compelling like the dynamics of being younger and a girl and stronger than who is traditionally supposed to strong? the older brother? daughters on others sides of the world living parallel lives. losing their mothers together. this loss determining who they became. desperately looking for family and holding so tightly to them it feels more like a shackle? azutara just has so much to it, more than I feel zukka personally. I really think azutara should be The Avatar ship. like I love zukka and everything but honestly? kinda bland compared to the true fucked up possiblities of azutara.

you know that shit like "daddy issues turn you into a people pleaser but mommy issues turn you into a sociopath?" literally azutara

I fucking hate fandom mysoginy

#still a zukka fan I swear #but you gotta admit #azutara has some spice

[marriedzukka]

Starting RETGMT today (on its anniversary, no less). Honestly you’re one of my favourite Zukka creators (I’ve read in the darkest shade of blue and wanna bet so many times, it’s definitely more than weekly). I don’t know why it took me this long to approach your big project, maybe it’s the grief aspects. But I can’t wait to get started and I look forward to feeling, obsessing over Zukka dads and Izumi and just crying and loving this incredible dynamic you created 💗 but seriously, dead Iroh is why it’s taking me months to start 😭😭😭😭

:') omg...this is so sweet sdkjghkdsjgh thank you so much...and true, retgmt is quite the journey!! I tried really hard to balance the sad stuff with plenty of tender zukka and of course zukka dads which are my favorite things in the world, so I think that helps. It's been cathartic for me to write and (I think- I hope!) cathartic for people to read.

anyway. THANK YOU again, I hope you have a lovely day and enjoy your reading<3

#when retgmt is done i have a follow up for darkest shade of blue planned...hopefully i can get to that this year lol thats the goal anyway #answered #tearsofaquartz #retgmt

[paintedlady-bluespirit]

Just saw z*kka fanart with sokka wearing hair loopies and I just—

#I’m about to fucking lose it #please stop #also cannot believe the amount of fanart I’ve seen with sokka either waterbending or dressed as a masked vigilante with a red colour scheme #zutara #anti zukka fandom #anti zukka #antizukka #I honestly wouldn’t mind the ship if not for the fandom trying so hard to be us lol #I mean it obviously doesn’t have anywhere near the same amount of textual evidence/build up as zk narratively speaking #(hence why the fandom clearly wants what we have lmao) #but it could have been a really cute ship had the fandom stayed true to the actual characters as they are in the show #like… you do know zuko and sokka had their own dynamic right??? #you don’t need to steal katara’s traits and superimpose them onto sokka for your ship to be valid?? #(it’s concerning how many people clearly want zk but just can’t bring themselves to ship it cause it’s m/f) #avatar: the last airbender #atla

[ducktollers]

bitches will see any interaction between two people and tag it zukka

#forgot i put this in the drafts last night #no memory of what prompted it #but its true and bitches are correct #every dynamic is zukka

[sokkastyles]

People seem to forget that the Fire Nation isn’t inherently evil and actually used to be a very peaceful country with its own unique culture until Sozin messed it up. Zuko is the one who’s going to set them down the right path. The Fire Nation isn’t Always and Forever Bad™️ and tbh suggesting that people from outside of the FN should never marry FN citizens even years after the war kind of rubs me the wrong way.

I didn't touch the colonization issue because it's incredibly complex, but I think there is a clear difference in how the SWT experienced FN oppression as opposed to the Earth Kingdom. As you say, there was no occupation of Water Tribe lands, and no exploitation of Water Tribe resources, like there was with the Earth Kingdom, but I think that is mostly because the location wasn't ideal for the Fire Nation. I think there's evidence that they might have tried to colonize the SWT. That wrecked FN ship we see at the beginning of the series shows how difficult it would have been for them to try and create settlements in that land. What the SWT experienced was a gradual genocide instead. Which isn't better so it doesn't really matter as a talking point. And Zuko (at the beginning of the series) and Azula both refer to the people of the SWT as "peasants" which says to me that they did consider them under their rule. The Northern Water Tribe was left alone because it was considered impenetrable - and probably not seen as worth the resources it would cost to take control of what they probably considered little more than a frozen wasteland - up until Zhao's siege.

However, that doesn't have anything to do with whether or not characters should be shipped together or whether Katara should marry Zuko. It does not. You can say "this makes me personally uncomfortable" or say that if you were in that situation you would never get into that kind of relationship, but you cannot say it is objectively wrong or that no one would, or even that Katara wouldn't because you don't actually know that, and I would say all the arguments to prove that it would be against her character are very easily disproven by what we know of her character, but that's not the point, either. The point is that you cannot say that someone's headcanon is morally incorrect.

And I agree, there isn't really a real-world parallel to be made because it's fantasy, and all the nations in atla are a mishmash of different nations. If there is a comparison to be made with the FN it is imperial Japan, but even then, the FN is a mix of influences from many different real world cultures. The SWT is mostly inuit inspired but plopped into an Asian world so their culture also has various Asian influences.

Also, there really isn't an example like the FN in our real world history where a conquering country was really defeated and demilitarized. The closest comparison I can make is Germany and Japan after World War II, who were in a position of huge disempowerment, at the mercy of occupying Allied forces. Other people have pointed out that if Katara married Zuko it might look like an attempt to seize power for the Water Tribes, which presents a whole new problem, but comparisons to colonizers exploiting people from colonized nations is just...not it. It doesn't have to do with "forgiveness," it has to do with the fact that the FN actually stopped doing these things as a nation with Zuko at its head.

I've seen people say that we shouldn't also talk about how the FN during the war were exploiting their own people or that atla should not have had episodes like "The Painted Lady," or that Zuko should not try to protect his own people in the comics because it makes the FN citizens "too sympathetic" which is a ridiculous argument. I'm sorry that you think that a nation is entirely comprised of soldiers and one-dimensional evil villains, but that's not how it works. I've even seen people say that Zuko was wrong to not want mixed nation families to be uprooted from their homes in the colonies because "not all of those families were formed from love." Excuse me,, but WHAT?!? That is a gross, racist argument. I think there is a difference between "not all x!" to avoid responsibility and acknowledging that people are still individuals.

And the fact that we only see these arguments with zutara (and occasionally zukka) means that it has nothing really to do with actual relationship dynamics. It's just people looking for an excuse to complain about something that's popular. In fact, many of the people who make these arguments ship zukaang! If there were really an impossible barrier between Zuko and Katara (which there isn't) preventing them from loving each other, that would be THE MOST TRUE for Aang. But it would also be true for almost every other character Zuko is shipped with. People don't argue that Toph or Jin would lose their culture by being married to Zuko, so maybe they should start asking why it is that they see the feminine brown girl as having less agency than less feminine light-skinned girls.

Actually, I did see a zukaang shipper recently say that Zuko and Aang could only have a relationship if Zuko "learned to respect the Air Nomads," which I agree with on principle because duh, but the post was claiming that didn't happen in the show like Zuko and Aang didn't call each other friend and embrace and stand side by side at the end of the series talking about peace and love.

#zutara #the discourse #zuko #katara #firelady katara

[raewritez]

hey babe, what are your ATLA opinions? like ships, characters, etc. i love your writing!

IM SO EXCITED TO BE ASKED THIS OML

ok deep breath

OK SO

my favorites ships include kataang, zukka, sukka, iroh x spirituality, ozai x prison, mailee, maiko, and azula x therapy

personally i don’t really ship zutara mainly because when i was watching ATLA it never occurred to me that there was any chemistry between katara and zuko

HOWEVER i do LOVE them as a brotp and i think their friendship is wonderfully complex and meaningful

kataang is so pure and lovely and friends to lovers is my achilles heel

i never really thought of zukka as a possibility but now that i’ve seen it i am obsessed. zuko is an awkward bby and sokka is a dork and their dynamic would be so great

SUKI MY QUEEN

i love suki and i think her and sokka are amazing together. what a power couple

my top 5 favorite characters (although i love all the characters dearly) are probably aang, zuko, toph, azula, and katara (pretty basic i know)

it’s killing me not to put sokka in there

ily sokka

i think aang is criminally underrated and a lot of the time i see him boxed up into a shallow character without a lot of depth or development

aang literally goes through SO MUCH and he’s only 12!! he’s seen so much pain and darkness and has the weight of the world on his back

not only that but he carries the guilt from the airbender genocide

aang stays true to his airbender heritage throughout the series, including in the finale in which he chooses to act not out of violence, but out of peace (I CANNOT EXPRESS MY LOVE FOR THAT SCENE ADGJFHSHSJ)

zuko is my fav for many reasons, the most obvious being his iconic redemption arc

i think the way his character is handled is so beautiful, the way his past is revealed in inklings and you gain so much sympathy for him, his relationship with iroh, his time in Ba Sing Se (also his long hair), his betrayal and his eventual friendship with the Gaang its just AHHHHH

he is arguably the most complex character in the show and his story is so glorious

baby

toph mainly bc she’s a badass

i love her so much

i also love her message of “i know who i am” and truly not caring what other people think of her and actively shaping her destiny

everyone would’ve died without her lol

ok AZULA

azula is SO SO COMPLICATED

we are introduced to her as this maniacal “perfect child” princess

total badass “me who’s still mulling it over”

hot

what?

anyway

but deep down she’s nothing more than a child left desperate for her parents affection, pitted against her brother from a young age with an innate need to be the best

her downfall is so amazingly profound, she crumbles as the people around her leave her just like her mother did, and mai even leaves her for zuko

she’s only 14, literally a child and all she wants in her last moments of sanity is her mom

her story also parallels katara’s

KATARA

NO KATARA HATE ALLOWED ISTG

what a badass bitch

EVERYONE would’ve died without her

such amazing development in terms of her character and her water bending

i truly don’t understand why people don’t like her bc she’s “annoying”, like she is a human being and was written to have flaws. no character is likable all the time but for some reason katara’s mistakes are used to define her character

JEICIAIWJDOODQOJWB

ok

the ending fight scene between her and azula is one of my favorite things ever, i get chills EVERYTIME

her relationship with sokka is everything

her experience with zuko and the friendship that blossoms is also so amazing

yeah she does hold a grudge against him for a while but i probably would too tbh

he was a stupid boi

IN CONCLUSION I LOVE EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER AND EVERY STORYLINE

this was long and probably very uninteresting but i had fun writing it, thanks so much anon

#avatar the last airbender #prince zuko #atla #fire lord zuko #legend of korra #avatar #avatar: tla #zuko x reader #sokka x reader #aang x reader

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

I keep seeing Zutara shippers say that the reason why people don’t want to explore Kataang from a fandom perspective is because of how “poorly written” it is, and Zutara is just the more compelling dynamic by default, and I just don’t agree with that. Sukka is considered the most well written ship among the canon couples (according to the general audience + fandom) yet it doesn’t get nearly as much content as Zukka or Zutara either. Hell, Sukka doesn’t even get as much content as Kataang. So the ship can be as “well written” as ever (personally I think Sukka is quite lacklustre when it comes to Kataang or Maiko - it has no narrative relevance) and still fail to be explored in the fandom.

"Zutara isn't as poorly written as Kataang!" is only true on the technicality of "For something to be good or bad writting it needs to be written at all"

Zutara isn't. It's literally just fans projecting their ideas of romance onto two characters that didn't even interact that much. Kataang has it's flaws, but it's far from being the worst thing ever - and it's good moments actually exist.

Zutarians trying to use any kind "canon" proof to back up their ship will NEVER work because it was always purely fanon - but since it's fanon they like, they pretend it was actually in the show.

#anti zutara #pro kataang