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taakitz · 5 days

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ATLA (zukka….) au where everything is mostly the same except that the phrase “friend of the Avatar” is a euphemism for being gay, a la the phrase friend of Dorothy

(the phrase started towards the start of the 100 year war because in this universe Avatar Roku was some flavor of gay, then Sozin canonically banned gay marriage after their situationship went downhill. so people had to be more subtle about communicating their identities, something something something, the phrase became semi-commonplace throughout the fire nation and later the earth kingdom. maybe it started even earlier because of bi queen kyoshi. who knows!)

miscommunication and self-discovery ensues throughout the events of ATLA:

early on into his banishment and search for the avatar, Zuko runs into someone who casually mentions that they’re a “friend of the Avatar” and he’s immediately like “THE AVATAR IS ALIVE? WHERE ARE THEY. TELL ME”

…he learns a new phrase that day! perhaps he didn’t even know gay people existed until that awkward encounter (bc sheltered fire nation royal.) maybe he does some self reflection at this point, or perhaps he puts off his sexuality crisis in favor of his avatar hunting mission. who’s to say?

(the next time he hears someone say they’re “a friend of the avatar” he asks if they’re gay or if they actually know the avatar. you know, just in case they actually do.

….and the next time after that, too.

but after that he catches on pretty quickly that, no, it’s REALLY just a turn of phrase, and he does not repeat the mistake again.)

+ early into the series events sokka runs into some confusion when he mentions to a stranger that he’s a friend of the avatar while aang isn’t around—

sokka: hey so uhh i’m actually a friend of the avatar… think i can get a discount for that??

kindly ally shopkeeper: oh! i love that for you!! you know, i have a cousin who’s gay, real swell guy. anyways about the discount—

book one sokka, canonically sexist and with perhaps a fragile masculinity: what wait a sec, IM NOT GAY??????

shopkeeper: oh that’s okay, you don’t have to explain yourself or put a label on it to me (:

(sokka does in fact get a discount.)

he walks back to katara who was waiting for him and overheard the whole conversation, and she says “you know, sokka, it’s fine if you like boys.” sokka responds as you’d expect he would at this time.

(some amount of time later, sokka comes up to katara and aang very nervously and says “hey guys. i think i might. um. be a friend of the Avatar.”

and aang, confused but enthusiastic, goes “aww buddy, we’re already friends!!!!”)

at some point they’re fighting Zuko and during a back-and-forth exchange, Sokka proclaims “i won’t let you hurt him, the Avatar is my friend!” or something to that effect

Zuko, who has learned from his past mistakes in misconstruing this phrase, says “love is love. but your sexuality will not stop me from capturing the Avatar”

#i have brainworms sorry.#zukka #atla #a:tla #avatar the last airbender #long post #god. sorry.#zuko as the edward elric meme: I See No Difference. Love Is Love #sorry if this makes light of the actual historical implication of the phrase #i am just here for a fun time

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innerwomen · 1 month

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girlyy I was thinking maybe a fic about how reader and zuko are like maybe 25/26 and they have a child already and basically their child got into some trouble and zuko basically scolded the child and the child ran away crying and zuko had these flashbacks of himself as a child and he basically was very disappointed in himself cause he swore he would NEVER be like his father (ozai) and like basically reader just reassures him and tells him its not his fault and so on yk..

I love this reuqest! Thank you, hon. This fic isn’t can only accurate (since they have a son not a daughter) but still, I hope you enjoy it! 💞💓💞

He was Zuko’s pride and joy; the whole Fire Nation celebrated the day your son was born. The beginning of a new, more peaceful, era for all the nations.

Though there was no doubt that both you and your husband loved your son more than anything in the world, parenthood had its troubles. And being royalty doesn’t relieve any of the pressure to have well behaved, ‘picture perfect’ families. To be Fire-lord, husband, and father? A person was bound to be broke pass there limit of patience.

He was in a general meeting when he heard the commotion, someone yelling out from the court yard. He was going to ignore the noise until he registered it as your voice; then quickly he stood up and opened the double doors. His son, Masako, was running right towards him, dripping wet; you running right behind him yelling while flaring around a towel.

Masako runs right into his middle core, distracted by the other parent calling from behind. When he looks up at see his father’s look of confusion and slight disapproval he stops his running.

“Masako, what are you doing soaking wet? You should be in your classes at this time.” Zuko said calmly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“But dad! Classes are so boring, so I decided to swim with the turtle ducks instead!” Zuko had to mentally remind himself repeatedly that his sons was only eight and didn’t know better.

“Why are you running away from your mother? Do you know how disrespectful your being. You have the right hand of the Fire Nation running around her own court with a towel. Chasing you.” Zuko usually handled punishments and confrontations with his son well, but when it came to any sort of disrespect, dishonor or just bad behavior towards you? He didn’t stand for that one bit.

“She wants to dry me off with that itchy towel! And I didn’t make her chase me, she chose to.” In an ironic manner, Zuko’s son also crosses his arms over his chest.

You had caught up to the duo, out of breath. But used the towel to dry off the young prince. “Masako. Stop making excuses, and listen to your father.” You say as you begin to pat his robes and skin dry.

“I am not making excuses! Why are you always following me and telling me what to do? Don’t you have other things to do?” Masako had picked up a new found attitude from some classmates in his classes and neither you nor Zuko liked the way he copied the disrespect.

Maybe it was the blazing pressure from the council men in the meeting, or the way his robes seemed to itch and suffocate him and most likely the disrespect from his son toward his own mother; his wife, you. But he popped. More than he ever had towards his son.

“First off, don’t you ever speak to your mother in that tone of voice again, you hear me!” Zuko’s gaze was fierce and unwavering. “Second of all, what in Roku’s good name are you doing avoiding your princely duties? I raised you better than someone who is lazy and takes the easy way out, you have to work hard for what you want! Not avoid it! If you aren’t back in the school house by the time your mother walks back to her quarters, be prepared.”

Masako was shook, never had he ever heard his father be so frustrated with him. Suddenly feeling ashamed and embarrassed for his actions Masako feels tears roll down his cheeks and suddenly he’s sprinting away. You were going to run after him but saw his governess follow him; and there was someone else who would need you more right now.

“Thanks for defending me, I appreciate it Zuko. You know he listens and looks up to you more than he does with me.” You say as you think back to how your son would always look up at his father with eyes of admiration. You look back at your husband and see his face become pale and his expression blank.

“I was too rough. Wasn’t I…?” He says raking his hands through his hair. Suddenly as he reflected on how he spoke to his son, the days that his father would yell and punished him flashed though his mind in horrible hellish memories. The last thing Zuko ever wanted was to anything remote close to his father. “I should have handle the situation with more patience towards him. He’s just a kid.”

You could see him spiral into some self doubt and worry, “We are both new at this to Zuko; your just human. Trust me, he wasn’t crying out of fear but because he felt bad for his actions. That’s how you raise a human to be humble and think about what they say and think.” Parenting was hard enough, now added parental issues? Jeez, you were proud of Zuko who could be so calm all the time. He was definitely better than you in that sense.

“You sure? All I could think about was how Ozai would make me cry when I failed him.” He says leaning against the pillar. “I promised I wouldn’t be anything like that bastard excuse of a father.”

You stroke his back, “your nothing like him. Makado will be back, happy and in school.” You bring his face close to yours and you give him a quick peck on the lips. “Your an amazing father and that kid is the luckiest in in the world to have you as his father.”

Hearing this reassured Zuko, “Thank you, Y/n. I appreciate it.” He brings you in by the waist, “Makado is lucky to have you as his mother. And I am blessed to have you as my wife.”

#zuko #zuko x reader #zuko imagine #prince zuko #prince zuko x reader #prince zuko imagine #atla #atla x reader #atla imagine #avatar the last airbender #request #zuko imagines #zuko x you #zuko fanfic #zuko x y/n #atla x you #atla imagines #atla fanfic

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yandere-avatar · 10 months

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I'm Not Jealous... Well, Maybe a Little

Summary: How do they act when jealous? [Damn, 3 posts in one day? Wow. Popped this out in like 20 mins.] Characters: Katara, Sokka, Aang, Suki, Azula and Zuko

Katara

She doesn't take jealousy well

She'll pretend she's not jealous and bury these feelings

But they'll end up bubbling inside her and it'll come up in a fit of rage

When your back is turned, she'll attack the person that was flirting with you

You'll be none the wiser to what she did

She'll smile at you and you'll probably be confused

The person won't even see Katara coming or even know what she did

She watches in fury though, while the person hits on you

It definitely irritates her more that you don't realize they're flirting with you

Sokka

He's like his sister, by burying his feelings deep inside

He'll probably know his feelings are bad, but he loves you and it feels so right

He might challenge them to a fight, just out of nowhere

You'll be confused, but the person won't take Sokka seriously

Sokka would make an absolute fool of himself, as long as it meant he had your attention back

He needs your confirmation that you still love him

He'd take your pity over your distaste any day

Aang

He's the most passive about his jealousy

He's very extroverted and will join the conversation, turning the vibe off [at least hopefully]

If they don't, he will get a little angry

He'll control the conversation and the flirter can't do anything about it, because Aang is so likeable

He makes sure the hint is thrown out there, that they need to leave you alone

If they don't? Well, let's just say their house blew down, so now they don't have time to hit on you

You'll feel bad, but Aang will come up with an excuse on why you and the gang need to leave

Suki

Ugh, she gets so huffy

She is very forward though and will enter the conversation

If the person tries to push her out, she will get aggressive

She's very straightforward and will confront them, even if you're there

You think they're just being friendly and the flirter will use that to their advantage

"You're just being paranoid, I was just telling them about the town"

Suki will glare, knowing it's bull, but she quickly realized she was cornered

She awkwardly smiled and turn towards you, "The gang needs our help, we should go now"

You won't think about it much and wave goodbye to the flirter

As you both walk away, Suki will turn around, smirking while waving bye to the person

Azula

Oh, you screwed up bad

When she gets jealous, she gets violent [Though she gets violent a lot]

But, she doesn't know how to healthily express her emotions, or really just express them at all, so she acts out

She hates this feeling because she's used to be confident and adored

She hates when you even waste a second of your time on someone that isn't her

She deserves all your attention, why are you wasting a second on them?

She's mad at them for talking to you, but she's also mad at you for encouraging them

You'll have to calm her down, or she's killing everyone

Her fits of rage cause a lot of casualties

She then blames you for everyone that got hurt

"Well, if you hadn't been flirting with them, this never would of happened"

Zuko

Him and sister have anger in common

He wants to burn them into the ground

Make them suffer for making him watch

He's very annoyed, but doesn't know how to express his jealousy

He won't act out like a child, but he was glare and fire emits from his fist

Anyone can tell he's angry

He'll walk up to you both and glare at the person, before wrapping an arm around you and forcing a smile

"What are you guys talking about?"

You weren't really into the conversation, so you'll say nothing, but Zuko takes it as you not wanting him to know

Did you hate him? Wait, were you talking about him? Why won't you tell him?

God the anxiety eats him alive

He then begins regretting approaching you both. But you just grab him, before pretending to hear your name and pull Zuko along, saying something like "I think I heard Sokka call us. Let's go"

He'll apologize, but you'll laugh, and lightly punch his shoulder, "I didn't want to talk to them. They were so cocky. I'm so glad you saved me. My hero"

You kiss his cheek and he blushes a dark red and you'll continue to walk as he freezes

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starlight-bread-blog · 8 days

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Why Katara's Lines Come Off As Rejecting In EIP

Like I said in a previous EIP meta, this will be a doylist meta and an isolated look into the scene and the second half of book 3. So first things first, what are Katara's lines and body language?

As soon as A\ang brings up the kiss, she turns away, and just says she doesn't know.

When he asks her why doesn't she know, she seems slightly irritutated for a second, gives him a perfectly reasonable explanation, but doesn't hold eye contect for too long before drifting off.

A\ang keeps pushing, so she puts an end to this. This time she stays faced to him to say she is confused, signifying she's more comftable now that his questioning has ended.

Now it is clear as day that A\ang violated her boundries and she is pissed off.

Her lines and body language tell us two things I wish to break down:

Katara is very uncomftable talking about the possibility of a future romance and can't commit to an answer.

The reason she gives is that she is because she's confused.

2. Katara States That She is Confused

Let's try to take her at face value here. She's genuinely confused about her relationship with A\ang. Do you know what is the first role of storytelling? Show don't tell. If the writers wanted to show us that Katara trurly is confused, we should be seeing Katara grapple with that.

It wouldn't break the "Will They Won't They" tension, if anything, it'd amplify it. We can see this in action all the way back in season one, where Katara also is confused and considers if A\ang is a possible partner.

So, is that what we see? Small moment/moments of Katara looking at A\ang, being confused and considering him as an option? No, we do not. Instead, what we get from Katara, is...

We are told that Katara is confused, but what we're shown is Katara completely ignoring the source of her supposed confusion. What we're shown is not confusion, it's denial.

This is a sharp contrast to how well the writers made sure to remind us that Katara is still angry at Zuko over the course of these very episodes. From her threatening him when he first joins, to a mean spirited comment (at 0:21), there was a clear effort to keep up the tension, to make sure you know that Katara hasn't forgiven Zuko yet, until said tension is resolved. Meanwhile with Katara and A\ang what we see is the show, and by extension Katara, in denial to the whole event.

1. Katara is Uncomftable and Unable to Commit

If she is in denial and A\ang is making her face reality, would her behavior in the scene be compatible with that? Would she keep on avoiding the topic? Could her words register that way based on who she is? To know that, we could ask: does she have a history of shielding A\ang from reality?

(If the scene was revealed to be her shielding him), this isn't to say that Katara would consciously shield him the way she does here, she could've genuinely thought she was confused. There would be many ways to interpret the scene. However, it is in character for her to want to keep the peace to protect him from being hurt. Therefore, her lines in EIP could easily register to be of a similar fashion.

The show continuously refused to show Katara being confused, showing us nothing but denial. When she is faced with the reality, she refuses to commit when having a history of trying to shield A\ang for as long as she can. And this is why Katara's lines in EIP come off as rejecting.

#anti kataang #anti kat@ang #anti k@taang #TAGGING FOR VISIBILITY->#zutara #zuko x katara #katara x zuko #zutara meta #pro zutara #anti anti zutara #zutara analysis #zutara evidence #zutara forever #zutara nation #zutara should have been canon #zutara supremacy #zutara was robbed #zutarian

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astra-kamari · 28 days

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Anything Aang or Sokka related!!

I need my fix I just want some Aang or Sokka fluff please and thank you(there is not enough💀)🙏🙏!

So real for that-there really is not enough.

Im going to make this place your home

Summary- After the war you have no where to go so Sokka takes you to the southern water tribe and tries to help you find your nee home

A/n-Was listening to home by philip philips and got inspired, kind of all over the place but here ya go.

The war was over. That was it-you had won. You still couldn’t believe it, Aang took away Ozai’s bending-Zuko was fire lord, all was right.

Except that it wasn’t. You had no where to go, nobody to go home to. All of your family was dead, and you didn’t have friends outside of the Gaang.

They were all so exited to go home, why wouldnt they be? They had something to go home to. You were happy for them, you really were. It just hurt that they wouldn’t need you anymore. You would all go your separate ways and you’d be alone again.

You were on a balcony at the fire nation palace, full, and with clean cloths for the first time in who knows how long. You looked out at the sky and sighed. It hurt knowing they would all leave, everyone had their own lives.

Aang was the literal avatar, leaving to help where he could.

Suki had gone back to the Kioshi warriors.

Zuko was a very busy fire lord, trying to rebuild in Ozais wake.

Katara and Sokka were going to rebuild the southern water tribe.

Thats what hurt the most, Sokka was going to leave you. You had seen it coming, nothing lasts forever. He had a life to get back to and he would leave you behind. You let a tear fall down your face, looking down at the ground.

“Y/n?” You hear from the room behind you. “Y/n!”

You turn to greet an ecstatic Sokka, quickly wiping away your tears.

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere! We are all going to go-“ he stoped as soon as he saw your face.

“Whats wrong?” He asks calmly grabbing your hand.

“Its nothing don’t worry about it” you say smiling up at him.

“Hey, no. No, dont you do that.”

“Do what” you ask innocently.

“That, pretending your feelings dont’t matter, pushing them aside. I’ll ask again. Whats wrong.”

You just look up at him, you weren’t ready to break, not yet. You rushed forward and hugged him, burying your face into his neck. Tears threatening to fall once more. You two stayed like that for what seemed like forever. You didn’t want to let go, you were scared he was going to leave you for good.

“You know the Gaang is waiting for us?” He says as you look up at him.

“Really? Why?”

“We are all going to take one last ride on Appa, before we separate for a few months.”

“Thats great! Lets go” you say putting your smile back on. At least you could pretend that your world wasn’t crashing down on you.

He pulls you back, “i know that theres something wrong, but we can talk later, when your ready.” He gives you a kiss then pulls you down stairs to the rest of the group.

➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖

This was it, the day you were dreading. Evryone was going to leave today. And you still weren’t sure where you would go. You didn’t want to go back to roaming the earth kingdom, but thats all you’d ever done. Town to town, what else were you supposed to do?

You were standing in the balcony once again, looking at the ships waiting on the beaches to take your friends away. You hear a door behind you. You turn and see Sokka, all his bags packed, either an unreadable expression on his face. You weren’t ready, you had been mentally preparing yourself for this moment, and you still weren’t ready.

“Y/n? Um, we need to talk” he said nervously. “Everyone leaves today, im going back to the south pole…”

“You dont need to say it”

“I dont?” He looks surprised.

“No, ive seen this coming. I knew you would have to break up with me and go back to your tribe.”

Now he just looked confused. “Break up? Wait you want to break up?”

“No! But i thought thats what you were going to do? Dont you have to go back to your people?”

“No! Well yes, but no! Thats not what I was doing.”

“Oh”

“Yeah…”

It was quiet for a minute.

“So” you pushed.

“Right, so um.” He took a deep breath. “You know how you dont have anywhere to go?”

“Yep, thanks for the reminder.”

“Thats nit what i ment- i just. Doyouwanttocometothesouthernwatertribeandstaywithme?” He rushed out in one sentence.

“What?” You laughed.

“Do you want to come and live in the southern water tribe with me?” He looked up nervously at you.

You were shocked. Was this really happening? You didn’t have to be alone! You must have been stuck in your head because he cleared his throat.

“You dont have to of course. I was just thinking-“

“Sokka-“

“That it would be fun and-“

“Sokka”

“And you didnt have anywhere else to go-“

“I-“

“And I’ve already checked with katara and my dad and they’d love to have you-“

Sokka!”

“There and it would be awesome so-“ you kissed him-the only way to get him to shut up.

You pulled back and looked up at him. “I love to”you smiled before pulling him in again.

➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖

After a week or two of sailing, you had finally reached the southern water tribe. To say you were exited would be an understatement, with all of the stories Sokka told you, you couldn’t wait.

Sokka walked up and hugged you from behind. “You exited?”

You turn your head and kiss him on the cheek. “Of course! What are we gonna do first!”

“Well first we need to unpack” he says laughing as you pout.

“Where am i gonna stay?” You asked, you’d thought about it a lot and didn’t want to overthink anymore.

“My hut..if thats alright? Of course we could have another one made for you, if you’d prefer?”

“Your hut sounds perfect.” You smiled, you were happy to finally have a home.

You and Sokka got all unpacked and went out for a walk. The ice was beautiful like you’d never seen.

“I was thinking, maybe we would go see the-.”You looked up to him. “Actually it’s going to be a surprise.”

“Sokkaaaaa.” You whined “you know i hate surprises!”

“This will be a good one i promise.”

➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖

You and Sokka left when it was dark and no one was around. You quietly tip toed out of the village towards huge glaciers.

It had been a while of hiking and you were starting to get tired. “Sokka how much farther?”

“Not far just trust me.”

You hiked in silence until he stopped looking up at the sky. “This should be good enough”

You looked at him puzzled. He laid down and pulled you down with him. You rested your head on his chest, happy with the surprise.

“Look up.” He whispered. You looked up and saw thousands of lights dancing through the sky. So many colors, alls different shapes and sizes. There were colors you had never dreamed of, it was breathtaking.

“Sokka it’s beautiful.” You whispered, captivated by the beauty. You both lay there for a while in a peaceful silence.

Until Sokka sat up, pulling you with him. You were so close your foreheads were touching. “I know you never felt like you’ve had a home.” He says as he gives you a kiss. “But im gonna make this place your home.”

And you never felt alone again.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #sokka #sokka x reader #toph #aang #katara #zuko #avatar aang #sokkax yn

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muffinlance · 1 year

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Prompt: Aang didn't know Zuko was raising a baby dragon

Aang tilts his head. He doesn’t lower his staff, because—because Zuko, but he doesn’t try hitting him again, either. At least, not anywhere near his chestplate, which the other boy is very suddenly defending like there’s a second Avatar inside.

“Do you… have something in there?” Aang asks.

“NO!” shouts Zuko, who definitely has something inside his armor. It makes a kind of scrabbly-paws-on-metal sound and then—

“Do you have a dragon in there?” Aang squeals.

And maybe in retrospect he should have thought more before bouncing towards the fiery teenager, but in Aang’s defense there is the cutest, tiniest, fluffiest little maned dragon head he’s ever seen trying to peek out of Zuko’s neckline. And anyway, the other boy is way too busy backpedaling and trying to push the dragon’s snout back inside to Capture the Avatar, so. So Aang absolutely shoves a hand at the dragon’s nose for it to smell him, because that’s how you greet them—

—Or is that praying mantis-dogs?—

And then there is a Fire Prince squawking and shoving him away, which is definitely not a bending move, but not before a little lizard tongue tickles Aang’s hand which is so cute.

“Uh,” says Sokka, lowering his club. “I. I am not actually sure how I’m supposed to be reacting, here.”

“We’re fighting,” snarls Zuko, who is cupping protective hands over the dragon, and definitely not fighting. The dragon has wormed one stubby little leg and an adorably oversized wing out, and seems enthusiastically set on more.

Which is the point where Zuko’s uncle finally catches up to them, at his usual leisurely pace. If he wasn’t with Zuko, Aang would maybe think that the older man wasn’t all that invested in catching him.

“Nephew, do you…” And then he catches sight of the dragon.

Zuko pales.

“Hello, Uncle Backup,” says Sokka, grabbing Aang and Katara’s arms. “And that’s our cue to go go go.”

Zuko chases them. Because he’s Zuko.

Zuko… gets ahead of them. Which is not very chase-y?

Zuko vaults into Appa’s saddle ahead of them and holds his hands up as Katara threatens him with a hovering stream of water. He… doesn’t seem to be leaving, or attacking, and his uncle is running after them way faster than Aang is used to, so. Yip-yip?

Katara and Sokka sit down, once Zuko’s uncle looks very small under them. Zuko keeps his hands up. The baby dragon is flapping its free wing appreciatively in the rushing air. And chirruping really cutely.

“So,” says Sokka, slowly. “You… needed a ride?”

“I don’t—” Zuko starts to shout, before lowering his volume, even if his tone is exactly the same. “I don’t need a ride.”

“Uh-huh,” says Sokka, even more slowly.

Zuko continues to keep his hands up. His dragon is trying to squirm the rest of the way free, and has decided that gnawing at his chest plate is the way to do this. It’s making pretty good progress against the black and red paint. The metal, not so much.

Aang keeps glancing back from Appa’s head. “You, um,” he says, suddenly realizing that You seemed scared will probably just lead to more shouting. And fire. Which there has been a really noticeable lack of, and Aang kind of wants to encourage that.

“Did your uncle not know about the dragon?” he asks, instead.

“Uncle is the Dragon of the West,” Zuko says, more quietly than Aang has ever heard him say anything. And also like it’s a full explanation. But judging by the equally confused looks on Katara and Sokka’s faces, this isn’t just another thing he’s missed during the past hundred years.

The baby dragon huffs at its lack of progress. And flops, like an over-cooked and very dejected noodle, against Zuko’s chest.

Zuko swallows. And stops glaring at any of them, because he’s no longer meeting their eyes. He lowers his hands, slowly, and works a shoulder strap free. It’s enough for the dragon to puddle limply down into his lap, where it curls into a very alert spring.

“Do you know how someone gets the title dragon?” Zuko says. “By killing a dragon. Uncle thought he killed the last two. And father was—he was so mad, not that uncle killed the last, but that he killed two. That he didn’t leave some glory for the rest of our family.”

Sokka clears his throat, after the obligatory awkward silence. “Your family is… kind of messed up, huh?”

“What was your first clue,” says the Fire Prince, his scarred face deadpan.

His very prominently scarred face.

Oh.

Katara crosses her arms. Which makes her look grumpier, but she’s not able to bend as quickly like that, so Aang knows she’s feeling less going-to-waterwhip-you grumpy and more prove-me-wrong grumpy.

“If killing it would be so glorious,” she asks, “why haven’t you?”

“It— She— She’s just a child. It wouldn’t be honorable,” Zuko says, straightening his back.

“Uh-huh,” says Sokka.

But Aang. Aang grins. “Hey! I’m a child, too!”

The Fire Prince groans, and drops his face into his knees. His dragon climbs up onto his head and, using his ponytail approximately like a tree branch, stretches both her wings out, and lifts her little nose to the wind.

(You can also read this and other prompts on AO3.)

#Sokka: no but really why are you in this saddle #what is the plan here #Zuko: groaning intensifies #the AU where Zuko joins the Gaang early because he needs to put his dragon into Avatar-protected daycare #also the AU where Uncle keeps trying to get close enough to explain but Zuko is Really Good at hustling the Gaang into the saddle #they make GREAT time to the North Pole #Uncle: I JUST WANT TO TALK #Toph: COME BACK WITH A WARRANT #did she join the Gaang early too?#who knows! not me!#Avatar The Last Airbender #atla #Zuko #Aang #Sokka #Katara #Iroh #ficlet

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azulasmommyissues · 23 days

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ATLA sexuality headcanons, part 1, Aang's era:

aang

-unlabelled or pansexual, also incredibly gnc. he/they methinks

-he never questioned it, he never thought about it. the air nomads were chill with everything, so he was too.

-he simply loves people, and he loves them deeply. he's the sort of person who says "i love you" very fast. and he doesn't have a specific type, either. he simply connects with people.

-he definitely had a bit of a thing for kuzon back in the day. kuzon taught him all the fire nation dances he knows, and bumi cheered them on.

-he also kinda digged teo, the mechanist's son, but by that point he already had his heart set on katara.

-as for girls, he DID like on-ji. in different circumstances, they would might have dated for a short while. but with katara it was love at first sight. the sort that makes you giddy and stupid.

-he's a lot worse at rizzing up katara because he is just THAT into her and he keeps fumbling

katara

-growing up, she never really questioned it. she knew she definitely liked boys and never had feelings for another girl.

-she's certainly fully cisgender. happily says “she/her/hers” when asked for her pronouns

-on the contrary, she was somewhat attracted to haru and jet both—and might've even considered zuko in different circumstances. like she definitely felt something akin to attraction in the crossroads of destiny.

-she fell in love with aang, because he gave her hope, he gave her joy, he gave her balance. she already felt SOMETHING in the cave of two lovers, but she was deeply confused and her feelings didn't clear until after the war.

-she always thought of herself as straight but said that, if she had the chance, she would be willing to kiss a girl—as an experiment. she just sort of always admired pretty girls, in the sense of "do i wanna BE her or DATE her,"

-and she's really passionate about feminism, obviously

-she always prefers getting compliments from other women because "they're worth mOre"

-eventually she meets jiang who's such a butch lesbian and questions EVERYTHING

-is that a girl? is that a boy? idk but why are they kinda...

-niyok and nutha both give homoerotic friendship vibes with her (all comic specific characters have the combined personality of one person hence why I'm including both)

-since she was dating aang she didn't explore her sexuality, but she discussed it with him and he supported her

-she considered identifying as bi but didn't feel like she qualified, since she'd never actually dated a girl. aang told her it's okay eifher way.

-at the end she decides to keep it all behind closed doors as per water tribe tradition. she's happy with aang, some girls are hot, it's nobody's business but her own.

-i also completely fw the reading of her as a straight cis girl, but you know

sokka

-bisexual, female lean, and maybe even poly.

-he fell for yue, he fell for suki. he definitely found like, ty lee attractive, but he didn't LIKE her. He was involved with suki, and they hadn't had any conversation about the exact status of their relationship so he wasn't about to fumble it.

-suki and him are both bi. and if yue were alive they'd BOTH be dating her. at the same time.

-zuko was sokka's bi awakening. seeing zuko and suki run around in the boiling rock absolutely changed his brain chemistry.

-he had a hard time accepting it, because of how the water tribes roll. he had a preconceived notion of manhood that he obviously had to challenge alongside his initial sexism.

-but then he realised that 1) his dad had been in a secret poly relationship with kya and bato, and then with bato and malina-- 2) his grandma had a fling with hama--3) master piandao and jeong jeongwere a thing--and 4) his girlfriend herself, suki, was bi. so bro had nothing to worry about.

-his identity became clear to him with suki's and his father's help. unlike katara, he was a bit more open and public with it. being poly, him and suki had many opportunities to explore it, always respecting each other's boundaries.

-sometimes suki does his makeup and he grows to enjoy it. he experiments with gender expression until he becomes totally chill with it.

-big part of his character is learning that he doesn't have to be a “man” in the way that patriarchy imposed on him his whole life

-so like, cisn't

toph

-toph has crushes on boys: sokka, zuko, the duke, satoru, sun, kanto. but i think non of them are really legit.

-toph would also flirt with girls, like, yaling

-had a 'not like other girls' phase

-she/they/he vibes, has a very complicated relationship with gender

-because she was made fun off by other girls as a child, it was harder for her to blend in and talk with them

-she was also raised sheltered within the walls of aristocracy which contributed to her not thinking about it

-she avoided commitment and serious relationships like the plague

-so she's unlabelled and perhaps in the aro spectrum. like, demisexual. but being both demi (aka needing to like someone as a person and getting to know them before feeling attracted to them) AND having commitment issues and a bunch of failed relationships is like, a DEADLY combo.

-i don't know. she is chaotic and not at all skilled with romance so she always fumbles it.

-but i also think she might just be 1000% aromantic whether or not she understands it fully

-i think that's very plausible

suki

-bisexual with a female lean and maybe poly

-big she/they vibes

-she's got endless autistic rizz like girl seduced sokka at light speed.

-in kyoshi island they called the bisexuals 'children of kyoshi' and the lesbians 'children of rangi'

-kyoshi island is basically lesbos if you didn't know /hj

-had her first kiss with mingxia before they decided that "ew, never again, i see you like a sister". she was super happy to meet meilin, mingxia's girlfriend

-DEFINITELY liked biyu and they might have been a thing in different circumstances. Aka if biyu hadn't betrayed her.

-would've dated both sokka and yue if yue was alive. like she would have loved yue. both of them having never left their respective homelands. both of them caring about community and having a duty to their people, a leadership position,,,

-but suki being so badass, liberated, free—and yue needing to sacrifice herself to BE free from her oppressive environment,,, like yue would also admire suki so much?? they would love exploring the world together and it'd put sokka out of a very awkward spot-

zuko

-demiromantic, bisexual. like this boy is SOMEWHERE im the ace spectrum but he's also bi. I'd say with a male lean.

-had internalised homophobia growing up, because, duh, fire nation

-he definitely thought that everyone feels like that when he was a child until his mother told him that this was very much NOT the case

-the gaang made him realise that it's totally okay and since they are all so queer he felt very safe with them

-made gay marriage legal in the fire nation

-made pride a thing in the fire nation inspired by the rainbow fire because i said so

-definitely felt attracted to both jet and sokka in the guy department.

-now, when it cames to girls, mai was his childhood crush.

-he definitely found song attractive but he was NOT in that headspace obviously

-same thing with jin although he was in a better headspace then. he introduced jin and song to each other post-war and they dated each other.

yue

-never got the chance to figure out how much girlypop liked women

-i could so easily claim she's a femme lesbian and that sokka was comphet, and I could even CONVINCE ya'll, because he is SO comphet coded, but I really love yue's storyline as it is and the lasting affect it has on sokka,,,,

-i can also imagine her on the ace spectrum

-she's so sapphic she's so queer bro is literally the moON?? what's more sapphic than the moon

-so, whatever, I'll say she's bi with a STRONG female lean. if she'd survived and joined the gaang she would have dated both sokka and suki and i truly believe that

-she would've loved suki and i just KNOW it

-love her so much let my girl be free of her arranged marriage

ty lee

-lesbian or pansexual. was ready to risk it all for mai. also completely down to be in a polycule

-she simply enjoyed male validation and attention due to her unmet childhood emotional needs. the dudes at the beach as well as sokka were giving massive comphet energy.

-i do also accept the possibility of her being pan, that'd be pretty great, but yknow, we do need more lesbians.

-despite being a fire nation citizen i think she'd be pretty open and liberated when it comes to her identity, at least wherever it's safe

-because her own ideology and philosophy is like. pseudo air nomad philosophy so i think she simply doesn't give a shit

-she is really into pride events. she LOVES the parade.

-i think she did have feelings for azula, at least as a child. then it all became really unhealthy,

-still, she felt sad about how things ended with azulw. she genuinely wishes it were different

mai

-she does also give comphet lesbian vibes BUT the "i love zuko more than I fear you" line SLAPS so I'm going to say bisexual with a female lean. she's also definitely asexual—and also demiromantic.

-ADORED ty lee, she just always assumed ty lee would choose azula

-it takes mai a long time to develop feelings for anyone, but when she falls she falls hard

-she's really not a big pride person, but she grows to enjoy it eventually. she goes with zuko and ty lee.

-she's not super vocal about her sexuality, but she also doesn't hide it. she doesn't give a shit. it's her business.

azula

-azula is a lesbian. not debatable like the others, to me.

-her feelings towards ty lee and mai are very reminiscent of sozin's feelings for roku i believe. like iykyk.

-she couldn't remember which of the boys was the one she was supposed to "like," but she remembered perfectly which bikini ty lee and mai were wearing. she picked chan like lesbians pick a random boy to crush on in middle school.

-and then she instesd remembered one of thr gusy who were flirting with either mai or ty lee. bestie was jealous.

-she had comphet, so much comphet. she wanted to be loved.

-so much internalised homophobia.

-she has a type, and it's brunette non benders of similar build. by which i mean ty lee and suki

-the ill will she holds towards mai in her comic for ruining their group over a stUpid BOY-

-it's comical,,

-i love her.

jet

-all the freedom fighters are queer

-jet is probably pansexual or bisexual. and also he/they

-he had a thing for katara but he sure as hell also had a thing for zuko

-he punches homophobes in the face

-i never liked jet when i was a kid because he was a jerk and i hated him with katara, but i grew to really enjoy his character and his arc

-this boy wants to eat the rich

-he doesn't want gay marriage, he wants to abolish marriage

smellerbee

-transfem ICON, she/her, though generally gender non conforming.

-and she's also also aromantic and asexual.

-queer platonic relationship with longshot, because of how deeply they love and understand and support each other

-if you misgender her on purpose the whole group will gang up on you and by the end of it you'll have four broken limbs and they'll be arrested for aggravated assault

longshot

-he's aromantic and asexual but he's got unmatched non-verbal autistic rizz

-as i said, QPR with smellerbee

-but all the freedom fighters plan to keep living together forever,, they're found family

-him and smellerbee just have a particularly special bond

the duke

-the duke is pansexual, i think

-i think he had a crush on toph

-also he/they

-and that's about all I've got

pipsqueak

-he/they/she

-pipsqueak's literally his chosen name, nothing cisgender about that,

-gay

sneers

-transmasc, he/they, potentially genderfluid

-dating kori who is bi

haru

-bisexual, female lean

-he/they, potentially genderfluid

teo

-gay, crush on aang

jin and song

-jin is pansexual, would definitely date song who is a lesbian

-zuko introduces them!!

uncle iroh

-straight ally. women are great! big womaniser back in his day.

-loves gay people

-huge support for zuko coming out

-that being said, he wasn't ALWAYS an ally. like he wasn't homophobic either, but he didn't support queer people before lu ten came out to him. then he accepted it, because he loved his son. finally, travelling the world and studying different philosophies led him to be a great ally.

-then he became the biggest ally ever amd a huge advocate for queer rights

-on a similar note, lu ten was gay. ozai was straight. zhao was straight and azulon was probably also straight. just getting them out of the wAy.

piandao

-gay gay gay. likes men.

-him and jeong jeong as a salty judgmental old couple is so real

-also everyone knows about it but nobody dares to give him shit for it

-he just glares and you immediately get off his back

-he could get himself a husband and nobody in the fire nation would do anything to stop him because they literally cannot arrest him

-he'll just shut the door on their face

jeong jeong

-also gay. big gay.

-tons of internalised homophobia, bless him

-tons of self hatred

-like, the way he sees his firebending as a curse of destruction and hatred and hates himself for it—instead of seeing all the colours of the dragons' rainbow fire, like zuko and aang, who symbolise the new generation

-it can work so well as a queer self-acceptance metaphor

-he definitely ends up with piandao, as i said before. begrudgingly in love.

hama

-lesbian. privately, as per water tribe tradition.

-nobody in the south gives her shit for it.

-she definitely had a relationship with kanna.

-when she lived in the fire nation, things were different. living as her authentic self was impossible—even secretly, it became near-impossible.

-hama's life is one big tragedy.

pakku

-straight. initially homophobic as per water tribe conservatism. the sort of, "just don't shove it in my face" homophobia

-but upon realising that like, both his friend group and his wife are incredibly queer, he gets over it

-iroh helps with educating him

-it's also canon that zuko gives the southern water tribe custody of hama after the war which i find incredibly sweet

-but since hama and kanna were... tight, I find myself incredibly entertained imagining possible interactions between pakku and hama

kanna (gran gran)

-kanna was bisexual.

-in the time she spent traveling from the north to the south she slept with a bunch of people

-fire nation pirates, sand bender bandits, earth kingdom soldiers... hakoda's father is a mystery. a mama mia situation.

-other flings include the herbalist, probably, (all old people know each other)

-even madame wu, why not?

-like it entertains me to think that kanna was unhinged the moment she left the Northern Water Tribe

-and being a non bender she used all tools at her disposal to reach the south if you know what i mean

-that being said, she also learned to fight a bit. probably. just to spite pakku.

-when she reached the south, she had a thing with hama. i say this because of the kataang parallel when hama was taken away.

hakoda and bato

-hakoda is bi, bato is gay

-hakoda loved kya, bato loved him secretly and never told him

-after kya died, bato was his only comfort, they fell in love

-once malina enters the situation too, it eventually ends up being a polycule

-note that i strongly dislike malina and those comics

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comradekatara · 28 days

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hey, so. people on twt (ugh, I need to delete that account) started to compare Zuko and Azula’s relationship to Sokka and Katara. So, I jump in like “they are not comparable in any way” then people are like “Sokka and Katara do have issues even though it’s not the same as Zuko and Azula” (even though the original tweet did imply that but, whatever). and I’m all like “sure, they both have trauma from their upbringing and they fight like siblings and that trauma probably has effected their relationship but it’s still no way like it’s being compared… they love and care for one another” and then they’re coming back like “it’s not the same but they still have issues” and citing the southern raiders (which I have my own opinions about and I feel like people totally miss read that scene) but all in all to say; I’m annoyed because I feel like people are being disingenuous and I feel like your thoughts would be interesting

okay yeah obviously I don’t know what the full arguments were (and I never will because I loathe twitter. I mean X sorry) but i can definitely talk about this more generally. I mean they are the central sibling pairs configured in a similar way for obvious reasons. they are definitely comparable.

sokka and zuko have superficial similarities as older brothers who feel undervalued, struggle to live up to a harmful patriarchal standard of gender (specifically masculinity/manhood) as shaped by imperialism/colonialism/war and the expectations their fathers placed on them to “be a real man” within a very limited framework, and ultimately find their worth via other avenues beyond the limited scope of patriarchal imperialist logic. azula and katara have superficial similarities as younger sisters who are placed on a pedestal by their culture community, are the best benders of their respective elements and outclass all the older more established (male) masters who dismiss and look down on them for being teenage girls, and who feel a deep sense of grief due to the loss of their mothers that informs everything they do and fundamentally who they are as people. and then obviously the REAL foils who are foiling are katara and zuko, and sokka and azula. these pairs are each very obvious mirrors, both in terms of their personalities (as developed differently by their respective environments) and their arcs. zuko is fire nation katara. azula is fire nation sokka. so obviously their relationships are similar in this way. they are narratively constructed as parallels.

that said, I think the key primary difference between these sets of siblings is that zuko and azula are directly opposed due to being pitted against each other by ozai’s abuse, whereas sokka and katara are extremely codependent, to the point that sokka’s entire identity is shaped by his role as katara’s brother and protector. so if you read zuko as a foil to sokka (which he certainly somewhat is, but is not the primary foil to sokka) you’ll get confused because he doesn’t live for others and he doesn’t look out for azula at all. but azula, like sokka, does define her identity through her loyalty and her ability to best serve others, so she does try to help zuko as best she can, which is obviously hindered by the incredibly limited of scope of what she considers “helpful” (much in the same way that sokka’s protection of katara is often limited by his own narrow worldview and unhealthy sense of duty as it corresponds to his identity). azula wants zuko to be a “perfect prince” in the way that she is a “perfect princess” because she refuses to acknowledge how specifically harmful that paradigm is to both of them until it is too late. so her intentions are actually good (don’t @ me), but she’s just deeply misguided and her level of cognitive dissonance is off the charts generally (again, much like sokka).

meanwhile katara and zuko, despite loving their families a lot and feeling defined by their families in many ways, are still very self-focused. which isn’t to say that’s a bad thing or that they’re selfish (they are both defined by an incredibly passionate and outspoken sense of justice for others, of course), but rather that they understand that what they want is to further their own interests for their own benefit even as they are seeking justice for the entire world. (in katara’s worlds: “me. me, personally!”) but like. if anything, the fact that azula and sokka never think in terms of the ego but only in terms of servitude to the point that they are actually detached from their own humanity is deeply unhealthy and awful, which is why so much of sokka’s arc is about getting him to understand his intrinsic worth as a human being and the value of accepting help, and azula’s tragedy and downfall is precipitated by her acknowledgement that she has been deliberately isolated her entire life and now she is alone and utterly helpless.

I do see katara and zuko as quite heroic, inspiring characters, to azula and sokka’s quite tragic, heartbreaking characters (especially azula of course, but like. I don’t think sokka’s deep-seated, copious issues have somehow been magically resolved just because “the boiling rock” is his apotheosis. you get it). but katara was always the “valued” sibling whereas azula began as the valued sibling and zuko rose above her by disrupting/transcending the paradigm that valued her only to end up in the position that she felt teleologically entitled to (not to say that she thought she would become fire lord, but that he does become the most powerful player in the fire nation, at least in name). and a large part of that is the fact that katara and sokka grew up in extremely different conditions than azula and zuko did, even if both their worldviews are informed by imperialism and patriarchy in some way. so katara was valued as a sort of cultural artefact who represents the last hope of a dying people, whereas azula was valued as the obedient daughter of a powerful abusive patriarch. it’s still a way of ascribing “value,” but the criteria are completely different in both cases. which is why I still think that azula and sokka are functionally more similar, because even if azula is valued, it is with the expectation that she function in the same way that sokka is expected to function, as a depersonalized vessel for the good of their people.

so there are similarities for sure, but also those similarities are constantly being complicated through locating their respective cultural contexts as they informed their upbringing, psychologies, and sibling relationships. I will say that it’s true that both of these relationships are unhealthy (to an extent), and both sets of siblings parallel each other in very significant ways, but the ways in which their relationships are in fact “unhealthy” are nonetheless almost diametrically opposed.

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transboysokka · 3 months

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“So… you’re really breaking up with me?” Zuko asked again.

“I mean, I guess. We don’t need this anymore, don’t you think?”

Zuko was more confused than upset. And wasn’t ‘we don’t need this anymore’ an odd thing to say about ending a relationship?

He looked back at Mai across the sofa they sat on, confusion still showing on his face. He could see a hint of exasperation beginning to make its way into her expression. They’d been having this conversation for a while already.

“I just… aren’t things going well?”

“Zuko,” Mai sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder, “You’re like my best friend.”

“Right, so..?”

“Not. A boyfriend?” She raised an eyebrow, hoping Zuko would be able to fill in the blanks.

Zuko knew his relationship with Mai wasn’t… typical. They didn’t kiss much anymore and had never even thought of doing anything beyond that, but it… worked… He valued their companionship.

“I just… why now?” He thought it was a fair question.

Mai huffed and stood up, turning to face him.

“Honestly, Zuko. I didn’t think this was going to be such a big deal. I just thought maybe we were both ready to move on. The world’s changed since you became Fire Lord, and I thought maybe it would be safe now for us to…”

Zuko blinked at her, still making it quite clear he had no idea what was going on.

“Look,” Mai sighed, sitting down to face Zuko on the sofa opposite his, “We aren’t in love, Zuko. We never have been.”

He sputtered, wanting desperately to protest, but finding he needed a moment to think about it. He did love Mai, definitely. He always would, just like he loved Azula. Being with Mai had always made sense…

“Zuko,” Mai pushed, “We’ve never been in love, right?”

“Maybe not…?” he admitted.

“It’s fine,” she waved her hand. “I don’t take it personally. I know you’re not interested in women.”

Zuko sputtered again. What? Of course he was… why wouldn’t he…?

“What?” he whispered. The truth was he’d never really thought about it.

“Zu. It’s fine. In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m not into guys either. That’s what I thought this whole relationship was about, actually.”

Zuko didn’t say anything. This was a lot to process.

Mai seemed to understand, sitting quietly until he was ready to talk.

“So…” he finally managed, “You’ve always…?”

“Yeah. It took me a while to figure it out, but definitely.”

“So you think if we break up now we could…?”

“No offense Zuko, but I’d much rather be with Ty Lee than stuck in whatever this is with you. I think we’re ready for it now. And you and Sokka—“

“WHAT?”

Mai sighed and put her head into her hands, staying like that for a moment while Zuko tried to figure out what the fuck was going on.

“Agni, Zuko. Sorry. I didn’t think any of this was new information to you,” she sat up and looked directly into Zuko’s eyes, “Yes, dumbass. The whole Nation knows at this point that boy is in love with you. He’s not exactly subtle about it. And everyone besides you seems to have the idea that you love him back.”

“But I’m not even…” Zuko was learning a lot about himself tonight, apparently. Could he be in love with Sokka?

He thought about it.

They were just friends, right?

Thought about the happiness that filled his heart every time he entered a room Sokka was in.

Good friends…

About the natural ease with which they spoke with and spent time together.

Close friends…

How he thought of his friendship with Sokka very similarly to how he thought of his relationship with Mai.

…Best… friends?

The desire that had crossed his mind on more than one occasion, which he’d tryed and failed to lock away completely, to grab, caress, kiss Sokka. But thoughts like that were normal every once in a while, right? Everyone had them. Except… he had them for Sokka more than he ever had with Mai…

“Oh shit…” he whispered, “I’m…”

“An idiot,” Mai finished for him.

That was not was Zuko was going to say, but he let it slide.

“I think we gotta break up,” he said instead.

#here’s another one. it’s canon to me #platonic maiko #gay Zuko #zukka #atla #mine #fic #headcanon #greatest hits #100

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evilprincesss · 30 days

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it would be really easy to claim that azula's fatal flaw is her inability to understand love, and the show definitely wants us to believe that given her breakdown, but i think it's a serious oversimplification of her relationship with love.

azula was not shown real, meaningful love as a child. i'm not saying no one loved her period; i very much believe ursa did love her, but she failed to make azula feel loved. my exact opinion on that is frankly quite complicated, but that failure means that azula has grown up not really knowing what it feels like to be loved. however, to say azula doesn't know what love looks like at all is a lie.

ursa was actually the one to show azula what love looked like through her love for zuko. this isn't something azula particularly understands since the only form of anything resembling love (conditional and twisted as it is) that she's ever experienced was from her father in exchange for her excellence, so zuko experiencing a much kinder love from their mother despite his failures is confusing to her. but despite the love conflicting with what azula has been taught in her personal experiences, she still knew that it was love. so to azula, love is not just what ursa felt for zuko, but what she did for him. that is to say, love is sacrifice.

ursa sacrificed herself for zuko. she saved his life at the cost of her own (even if we acknowledge the comics, ursa still gave up her life and memories as she knew them to save zuko). this is the ultimate act of love, and azula knows that. she resents it. mother liked zuko better. mother loved zuko and not her. that's how she sees it because that's how it looked.

but how does that prove that azula understands love? well, it doesn't!

still, azula does something similar to their mother in bringing zuko home with his honor restored. quickly, re the idea of her doing this with ulterior motives: not only is it insane and stupid to suggest that she somehow knew the avatar wasn't actually dead and zuko was aware of this; it also doesn't make sense for her to risk both her reputation/honor in the fire nation and her safety with her father (the man who taught her that fear was the only reliable way) by lying about something so serious when she could just take zuko home as a prisoner if she doesn't love her brother.

but what is azula sacrificing for zuko by bringing him home if it doesn't kill her? aside from the obvious thing she gives up to do this (her status as the heir apparent), azula is also sacrificing her status as their father's preferred child. this might not sound that huge a deal, but this is something zuko has spent his entire life chasing after and envying azula over, and given that their father is the only person who has ever shown azula anything resembling love and the person whose approval is the most important to her, this is massive. their father's approval is the thing azula has based her self-worth on. so much of her identity comes from her pursuit of it, and just like that, azula decides to not just share it with zuko but jeopardize his "love" for her entirely. even if ozai never finds out that zuko wasn't the one who killed the avatar, even if the avatar doesn't somehow come back, azula is directly disobeying his orders by bringing zuko home. he didn't want zuko home as his heir. he wanted zuko home in a prison cell. but azula loves her brother, so she did it anyway, and she goes out of her way to keep him there.

i don't think that azula misunderstands her own motivations in bringing zuko home. she includes him in her activities with her friends, she finds him to console him (to the best of her ability), she's worried that he's angry with her, she asks him to open up to her, she advises him not to do reckless things that could get him branded a traitor, she tries to get him to tell her if they need to be worried about the avatar, and she covers up his mistakes in front of their father. she's extremely rough around the edges, but she's trying. she wants him to keep being the crown prince. she wants him to become the fire lord when their father abdicates or dies. she wants him to be home. she knows that. she acts with that in mind.

so azula knows that even fear can fail. she knows that she herself is an example of someone who does something dangerous and irrational for the sake of someone she loves. she understands what it means to love someone.

here's the catch, though: azula understands love in the context of filial piety. she's rationalized her love for her brother making her behave irrationally because he is her older brother. she's supposed to love him. if you want to see my thoughts about this see this post, but azula expects people to act within the confines of the roles they are defined by within society. in her mind, these roles are those that compose the five cardinal relationships: ruler-subject, father-son, elder brother-younger brother, husband-wife, and friend-friend. while her love for her older brother makes her act in a way that directly conflicts with the first two roles expected of her (ruler and daughter), she justifies it to herself with the piety she owes her brother. she likely refuses to examine it any further than that because to admit that she's acted against filial piety would seriously conflict with everything she's been raised up to be.

so why does she overlook the friend-friend role with others? with mai and ty lee, specifically? it's not because she doesn't understand love at all; it's because she thinks that because zuko so brazenly opposed his role as subject, son, and elder brother that he has forfeited his right to any love or loyalty from any of them (though i highly doubt that she doesn't love him anymore at this point; love is not a switch to be flipped on or off after all), so for mai to betray azula, her friend and the crown princess, as well as their country is unfathomable to azula. and for ty lee to betray her for mai, who has just opposed filial piety the same way zuko did? it just doesn't make sense.

azula understands love, but she will only allow herself to understand it through the lens of duty.

#atla #azula #i won't even get into what this means for her relationship with her mom but it's painful

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the-badger-mole · 30 days

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So your post having reminded me of that awful comic again I decided out of curiosity to delve into the Kataang side of the fandom to see if any of them ever talked about this comic and Aang’s behavior. Apparently the consensus over is that it’s OOC of Aang. To quote:

“I find his behavior to be very odd, too rude, self-centered and outright aggressive, especially the part when he exploded the volcano on Katara's face nearly hurting her, he was angry about Katara refusing to talk about the kiss then directed that anger into firebending which it isn't right for Aang as an Air Nomad to use the aggressive emotions to bend fire, then despite his apology which feels hollow he dismissed he was even worried about her getting burned again.

While Aang has flaws and outbursts sometimes this behavior strikes me to be unreasonable and OOC.”

Which is pretty funny to me because he literally said he’d be in the avatar state if he could over the play shipping Zuko and Katara. If he didn’t have his chakra blocked he absolutely would have gone into the avatar state and had a destructive tantrum. I wonder do they think those moments in the canon show are OOC of Aang too?

Your Ozai and Aang parallels are sadly spot on. The fandom is just too blind to see it because the narrative tells us rather than shows us he’s the hero. I really want to see into Bryke’s mind because they continue to baffle me 20 years later.

Yeah, Aang in the comics tracks with who he was in the main series. He was always self righteous, disrespectful and emotionally unregulated, but he was cute and cheerful, so a lot of people tend to overlook that. Remember how disrespectful of SWT culture he was in Bato of the Water Tribe? Yeah...that's never walked back. Of course he would make sure his only airbending child had no connection to his SWT roots. Aang is prone to tantrums, and his emotional outbursts include bending. Like you pointed out, as has been pointed out so many other times, Aang saying that he would have gone into the Avatar State over that play suggesting Katara was interested in someone other than him is a massive red flag. That whole scene on the balcony comes after the Lava Fissure incident. With that context, Katara saying she was confused instead of outright refusing Aang takes on a really dark meaning.

But people are entitled to their takes. A lot of Aang fans want to ignore the comics as canon. That's fine. I can totally relate. I ignore the comics and LoK as canon, too 😏

Zutara fans 🤝 Aang fans

ignoring canon

#atla #anti aang #anti kataang #zutara

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sokkastyles · 1 year

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I was rewatching ATLA and it just occurred to me that Ozai's abuse of Zuko is largely implied rather than shown aside from the obvious abuse in the Agni Kai. When I watched it for the first time as a kid, my first impression in the earlier episodes was that Azula abused Zuko more than Ozai, and I think this is mostly because he was kept largely in shadow for most of the series while Azula had more direct interactions with Zuko. Of course, this is all learned behavior from Ozai, but it's not immediately obvious how exactly Ozai abused Zuko before that. It feels like this can lead one to believe that the Agni Kai was the only instance in which Ozai actually did anything to Zuko, which is unfortunately a take I've actually seen. So I'm just wondering how you feel it was shown in the series (comics excluded) that Ozai's abuse of Zuko was a pattern of behavior that's always been the case? Or just how he abused him in general? I see a lot of takes that suggest more physical violence but I feel like the Agni Kai is the first blatant act of physical violence. But what's your take?

I also think the agni kai was the first blatant act of physical violence. I go back and forth sometimes with my headcanons on it, but I think that if Ozai ever was physical with Zuko before it was subtle, like grabbing an arm (combined with an ability to create fire from one's fingertips, this can get very nasty, though). Mostly I agree, though, Ozai's violence is more psychological. I've also made the point that the agni kai itself is so effective because of the psychological violence of it, not just the physical violence. The way Ozai puts Zuko into an unwinnable situation before burning him is very calculated, the actual act of burning him is just the icing on top. He has to make Zuko believe he deserves to be burned first. And this is really common with a certain type of abuser that is all about control. The violence usually happens in a controlled escalation. This is also why I've said that although I don't think Ozai was physical with Zuko before, after the agni kai Zuko is physically not safe even if he's back in Ozai's good graces, because the violence has already escalated to the point where Ozai is likely to do it again or something worse. Perhaps even especially after Zuko is back under his control in book three. And the next time it happened, Zuko might not have survived it.

And yeah, early on a lot of our reference for what Ozai is like and how he treats Zuko is how Azula treats Zuko, but that's also part of how we know it's a pattern, and one that Azula and Zuko have both internalized. Azula would not have such power to hurt Zuko by saying their father thinks he's a failure if Ozai had not said those things to and about Zuko before.

As far as examples of Ozai's pattern of abusiveness with Zuko, I will point again to the agni kai and not just the violence, but how manipulative it is, because that's where the pattern is. Ozai manipulates Zuko even when he thinks Zuko has "redeemed" himself in book three, in ways that are more subtle but echo the psychological violence of the agni kai. Look at their first scene in book three, the way Ozai heaps Zuko with praise but circles him while Zuko is kneeling on the floor, clearly terrified. I am also convinced that Ozai intentionally sent Zuko to Ember Island to make him stew over not knowing what his father's intentions are and test his loyalty, and that he was doing the same thing by not letting Zuko know whether he was invited to the war meeting, but then telling him he was almost late at the last minute. He's playing mind games with his son's insecurity while claiming that Zuko now has a place of honor. It's a way to let him know that that place can be pulled out from under him at any second, that violence could happen at any time if Zuko says or does the wrong thing, which he will eventually do because Ozai is purposefully keeping him confused.

Just look at the Day of Black Sun. What was Zuko supposed to be doing there, while Ozai was hiding in his bunker and Azula was waiting for Aang and co. to arrive? If Zuko hadn't decided to join the Avatar, shouldn't he have had some role as Fire Nation prince to defend against the invasion? Yet Ozai acts surprised to see him, which tells me he was purposefully keeping Zuko confused and out of the loop yet again, or at the very least does not care where his son is while the palace is being invaded on the most vulnerable day for a firebender.

And when Zuko openly defies his father, and Ozai's attempts to manipulate Zuko by belittling him the way he always did or using his love for his mother against him, then the violence comes, and it's swift and sudden and deadly. Sure, Zuko's acts are outright treasonous now, but the way Ozai does not hesitate at all to act with lethal force towards his son once he realizes he can no longer control him definitely says something. I think for Ozai, the control is more preferable, and you can't control a dead person or someone who hates your guts, not in a way that feeds your ego, and Ozai definitely needs that. But if you've groomed someone to accept violence towards them as natural, it's like putting them in slowly boiling water. Ozai would have never gotten away with burning Zuko if he hadn't first convinced him he did something wrong, if he hadn't been using slow psychological violence to wear down Zuko's self esteem long before that.

#zuko #ozai #azula

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akiizayoi4869 · 6 months

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Azula In The Spirit Temple

So, I read the comic yesterday. And while I was confused about it at first, like I'm sure many people were, talking with some friends about it made me come to a conclusion. This comic was a reset button. That's why we didn't get anything new about Azula, and why what we actually did get was something that every Azula fan has known and has been saying for years now about her character. But this comic wasn't just for us. It was for the entire fandom as a whole. And as we all know, much of the fandom doesn't share our thoughts when it comes to her.

I'm not going to talk about the beginning of the comic since that part didn't interest me at all. What I want to talk about is when Azula is inside of the temple. A lot of interesting stuff happens there.

The first part being this. We see what happened when Azula firebended for the first time. We see how Ursa is afraid for Azula and not of her, because she knows what this means for Azula going forward. To Azula, however, she can't tell if Ursa was afraid for her or of her thanks to the fact that the relationship between them was never really good. Also, I need to make one thing clear before I move on: that turtle duck isn't real, it's a toy. I know that people are going to use and say that it proves that Azula is a psycho, but please use your brains for a minute. If it was actually real, do you really think the damn thing would be still? It would have been writhing around in pain and screeching to the high heavens. Not to mention that Ursa's reaction would have been very different. Heck, the entire scene would have played out differently.

Next up we have this part:

After so many years, the writers finally made what every Azula fan has been saying for years canon: that Azula was indeed abused by Ozai, Ursa's neglect hurt her deeply, and that both of these things played no small part in how she eventually turned out. We see Azula coming to terms with the fact that Ozai abused her, and that Ursa failed to protect her from him because she was so focused on Zuko that the way Ozai was with Azula seemed almost natural to Ursa. It didn't register that it was full on abuse. What really interested me about this scene was how Azula says that if Ursa has just allowed Zuko to be killed, she would have been able to stay and protect her. Is this fucked up? Yes. But it makes sense that Azula would think like that. In her pov, everyone left her for Zuko. Everyone wanted to protect him, but nobody felt like she needed protection too.

We get some scenes with Mai, Ty Lee, and Zuko as well:

These scenes show us how Azula feels about the betrayal at the Boiling Rock, as well as how she viewed her friendship with Mai and Ty Lee overall. It also shows us the harsh truths that Azula has internalized about herself: that her treatment of them wasn't ok, and that her overall attitude towards others in general is a problem. Ty Lee sort of says that to Azula, albeit in a kind way, which is reminiscent of how Ty Lee actually is. She tells Azula what she wants to hear. Mai, though? She straight up tells Azula the truth, very bluntly at that. Holds no punches at all. Mai tells Azula what she needs to hear, whether she likes it or not. Then the spirit takes the form of Zuko, who proceeds to tell her that everything that ever happened to Azula is her fault, and that nobody is responsible for her but herself. At first, this came across as victim blaming to me by the writers, which made me mad. But when I thought about it some more, I realized that that's not what this scene was. The spirit doesn't know anything about Azula. It's just showing her what she's thinking. It created a play of her innermost thoughts. So when you think about it like that, you come to one conclusion: Azula blames herself for her abuse, and how her life turned out. Which is actually common with abuse victims. They can acknowledge that they were abused, while at the same time simultaneously blaming themselves for it. Because the person who abused them loved them, right? So if they felt the need to harm them, obviously it's the victims fault for doing something wrong.

Then we get to the part where she's "offered" a chance at redemption:

Now, I know that there's going to be idiots who will look at this and go "See?! She had her chance at redemption but rejected it! Proof that she's evil!" but was it really "redemption"? Think about it. Like I said earlier, what the spirit was showing Azula was what she's been thinking for who knows how long. What it offered her was basically a false reality that it created where she could be happy. In other words, it wasn't real. Things would still be the same for her in the real world. And if you know that something is fake, are you going to take it? No. Not to mention, the damn thing tried to kill her😭. So is it really any wonder that she said "yeah no fuck you and your redemption offer" and blasted it full of lightning?

Azula escapes from the temple and eventually finds the rest of the Kemurikage in the end, but she ultimately decides to leave them alone, saying that they are unworthy of her leadership.

All in all, this comic wasn't bad and I actually like it. Now, as for why I say that it's a reset on her character? Because certain things from the previous comics that were centered around Azula aren't mentioned. One topic in particular, something that you would think would have been mentioned considering how much it hurt Azula in The Search.

Ursa choosing to forget about her and Zuko. Abandoning them to they're abuser.

When we see the spirit version of Ursa and Azula says what she does to her, nothing about that is ever mentioned. And if Azula was supposed to be unloading her grievances to Ursa, why wasn't this mentioned?

In the beginning, when they fight Ty Lee, Ty Lee says "Fire Lord Zuko is tired of your mischief, Azula!" which can honestly mean a number of things. The kidnapping incident from Smoke and Shadow doesn't get spoken about here either. Which brings me to my next point: Kiyi is nowhere to be found in this. Considering that Azula saw her as a replacement daughter for Ursa, we should have seen her at some point. Not to mention that Azula kidnapped her. And if the spirit was supposed to be showing her all of her past misdeeds and that she was wrong for them? I'm pretty sure that kidnapping a bunch of kids would have been pretty high on the list.

So going by all of that, I think it's pretty safe to say that the writers are trying to move away from Yang's writing, particularly with Azula, considering how much his portrayal of her is hated, especially in The Search. And in a time where more and more people are vocal about how things are shown in media, especially sensitive topics like mental health? It's no wonder that they would want to move away from that. And I mean really, this is what we've been asking them to do for a long time now. To retcon the Yang comics because he ruined every character, and if they want to redeem Azula, his writing of her would make it incredibly hard to do so. This comic I feel is a start to said retcons. With that being said though, I can understand why people are disappointed. The marketing for it made it seem like we were getting something else, and not this. For the Azula fans who've been waiting for 15 years basically for the writers to release some quality Azula content, I can see why this would be a let down.

#atla #azula #azula in the spirit temple #azula in the spirit temple meta

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