somebody on twitter brought up the fact that Johane Matte, a storyboard artist that worked on ATLA and LOK made storyboard art of adult gaang and omg this is the adult aang that we deserved instead of that white man 😭😭 side note: sokka looks so much like hakoda, tlok animators fumbled the bag

there is a serious lack of discussion about how mai is zuko’s safe space. we see this in their first appearance together (that’s not a flashback). when mai asks him a simple question, “aren’t you cold?” and zuko, who has a hard time opening up and expressing emotions that aren’t anger or angst, freely and openly starts to tell her his worries about going back to the fire nation. and while people love to chastise mai on her reply, “I just asked if you were cold, I didn’t ask for your whole life story”, I think they misunderstand her approach to this. zuko is worrying and overthinking about something he cannot change, something that will only drive him crazy and she tries to distract him with a joke. and it might fall flat, but she realises this and suddenly she is comforting him with her touch. her hand reaching out so casually towards scar like it’s not a big deal, because it’s not. they’ve known each other for a long time, they’ve grown up together and their relationship was a long time coming. and zuko leans into her hand, and her kiss, without thinking twice about it. because mai is familiar, and mai is comfort and that can be seen when you contrast it to song’s attempting at touch his scar, and how quickly he was to stop her. but it’s not only this moment that showcases mai as his safe space, but also when he’s back in the fire nation. when he’s stressed out and going through a tumultuous time, not knowing what’s right and wrong or what he should do next, it’s mai he goes to. we see this in “nightmares and daydreams” when he spends all day at her house, when he can’t stand being in the palace anymore, mai and her house and her bedroom is his safe space. and here we see her trying to comfort him, trying to say the war meeting is stupid, it would be be boring anyway, and shall we go for a ride around town? it’ll be fun… and even though he’s still sad, he goes back to her house on the day of the war meeting and she’s making him tea. and even when he does get invited to the all day war meeting, she goes to the palace with him and waits for him all day, to see if it went well and to comfort him if it didn’t. when he says that it was everything he thought wanted it to be, she’s immediately happy for him, reaching out to touch him with a smile on her face. mai is who zuko feels safe and comfortable around, even in his vulnerable moments and it’s something we should talk about.

I've been seeing this piece of art floating around recently, and I want to take a moment to talk about it!

This is an unofficial storyboard panel created by Johane Matte, aka rufftoon, storyboard artist for ATLA and LOK! This panel features the Gaang as adults, and was done purely for fun! Some quick fun facts;

This is part of a collection of fake storyboards created by Johane, and were presented during the New York Anime Festival. The scene shown above is a parody of the epilogue in Harry Potter.

Many think the child next to Zuko and Mai is their daughter, and possibly an early concept of Izumi, but it's not, it's actually their son! The son is unnamed, but Johane and fans jokingly decided to name him 'Prince Scorpius-Zhao Jet Yue Cabbage.'

The necklace Aang is wearing is similar to Monk Gyatso, and Johane notes that Aang would wear similar clothing to his old master.

Source!

Storyboard made years before LOK that showscase Kataang, Mai, Zuko and their young daughter :)

Also....the adult gaang we deserved

Azula's basic dream for the future seems to have been "My brother, myself, and my childhood best friends rule the world together." Girl is a romantic at hurt.

POV you're a third wheel in your best friend's relationship

ah yes i'm still reading nonsense in the atla tags

calling mai a “toxic” and “bad” girlfriend and aang "abusive/misogynist" but gushing over zuko tying katara to a tree and bargaining her dead mothers necklace.

interesting.

Romantic dinner 😌

>.<

Zuko and Azula in "The Beach"

Lately I think a lot about "The Beach" episode [x], especially about this small detail of great teamwork Zuko and Azula have during the game.

Zuko is looking ahead, directly facing their rivals (who had the control of the ball at this moment) but his body is clearly lowered to the ground, left hand most likely touching the ground, legs bent and widely spaced - a clear contrast to Mai standing near and how he stood before on two separate occasions

which is why I think Zuko willingly create an opportunity for Azula, so she could jump higher - something she definitely used to their team’s advantage. If Azula simply jumped on her brother’s back when he wasn’t expecting it or wasn’t ready, he would probably just fall face down from the impact but as the scene shows, he had no such problem nor was angry about it in the following scenes.

During the game sequences there was no dialogue shown between our protagonists, so it is hard to determine if Azula in advance called Zuko to give her a “lift” or Zuko offered on his own, or did they were that much in sync they just acted without thinking. Regardless I like this few seconds long interaction, because for me it implies how they trusted each other despite all the rivalry and bitterness from previous episodes. Like Zuko trusted Azula won’t use that moment to hurt/humiliate him by overuse of force, the same as Azula trusted in Zuko’s strength and that he won’t mess up by losing his balance. It is a small thing but no less sweet to see them working well together when fighting for the same goal - what reminds me a bit their teamwork from the previous season finale.

Interestingly, it was also the second time Zuko assisted Azula in scoring against their rivals while not scoring himself any point on screen. The first time happened almost right at the beggining of the game (second from total five sequences)

while each girl have the solo sequence of winning a point:

Azula's first attack,

later Ty Lee landing on the net

and Mai kicking the ball (and presumably scoring)

while Zuko’s two actions are shared only with his younger sister while there is no sense of competition between the siblings, something contrasting a lot with some previous and later episodes.

Azula is bossy and competitive through most of the episode and her brother lets her be that without a complaint. Azula and Zuko get along pretty well and A) do not argue (with the exception of the campfire scene and then they argue not even for the whole scene itself) and B) don't get on each nerves the way they do in the palace, with Ozai's presence looming in the back of their mind. I absolutely adore this episode, as it humanizes all our Fire Nation characters by showing them as teenagers outside the war zone but also giving us a bit of insight into what Azula and Zuko could be if Ozai didn't pit them against each other. And they could be a great team!

"You notice with Mai, when she's not fighting there's a sort of stillness to her that really conveys that air of boredom."

Thalia Tran as Mai (requested by anonymous)

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!

Cricket Leigh, the ORIGINAL Voice Actress for Mai, will be participating in Maiko Week 2024!

This marks the biggest shipping event for Mai and Zuko enjoyers! It’s coming May 1st-7th, more details will be available soon!

Portrait of the royal couple :>

Zukka arranged marriage AU, except Zuko is engaged to Mai.

I'm still figuring out how I want to colour comic panels... i'm kind of dubious on the muted style

You mainly like Maizula, but you are literally one of the blogs that uploads the most about Maizulee.

Thanks for questioning, Amor.

The thing is...I like and love Maizula, but it makes me very sad to put Ty Lee aside :'(

I can't see Ty Lee with anyone other than Azula, and I barely like Mailee, so yeah, that's why I upload more Maizulee than Maizula.

so what if i said im making a ddlc au of atla

specifically with: sokka, mai, zuko, ty lee, and azula

can you guess who is which character? the only one out of character (imo) is zuko. i just wanted him to be there. i needed one last character to fill sayoris spot... so i picked someone that wasn't supposed to be in the group. they're kind of out of pocket.

anyway it might but dumb but it's fine

im excited