zukosdualdao
"but i am ready to forgive you."
24, she/they, atla meta and edits
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honestly my pettiest hot take is that i think it’s Weird how many fics/popular headcanons depict zuko as being bad at making tea forever and i… Do Not like it. i mean, i will still read it if it’s otherwise a good fic, but trust that it has me considering clicking out.
we see zuko make bad tea one (1) time, when he makes it for iroh in bitter work after he wakes up from his unconscious state. and honestly, i think it’s the first time he’s ever tried making it on his own, since with servants at the palace, he wouldn’t have needed to. even on their ship, they had a cook who could’ve made tea, though realistically it was probably iroh more often than not. being bad at something the first time (and honestly, the first couple of times) you try it is par for the course. (and hey, the fact that he wanted to make tea, which he knows how greatly iroh values, for iroh to comfort him upon waking is still really sweet, even if it doesn’t go so great the first time.)
while we don’t see the day-to-day of their work in the tea shop in the lower ring in ba sing se, we know zuko is working there as a tea server every day, learning, and, hey, he keeps his job. (and yes, i know the argument could be made that the owner liked iroh so much that it wouldn’t have mattered, but i counter with this: there is absolutely a point at which your lack of skill outweighs any connections you have because it gets in the way, and if zuko is that terrible at it and shows no signs of growth or improvement, that would, in fact, be the point.)
later, we see zuko serve tea to the gaang and co, and while zuko says it won’t be as good as iroh’s (because he loves and misses him 😭), no one else has anything to say about it! the gaang is already lightly poking fun at him for his poor retelling of iroh’s joke, it wouldn’t have been hard to include. and if the show wanted to keep ‘zuko being bad at making tea’ as a gag, all they had to do was show a character or two making the same kind of face iroh makes in bitter work or trying to hand it off to someone else. but they didn’t! we even actually see teo take a sip with a mildly pleasant expression. and like, this isn’t even me saying i think he makes the best tea in the world, or even that it’s as good a iroh’s. i just don’t think he’s bad at it!
and we see him serving tea to his loved ones again in the earth kingdom in the finale and it’s the culmination of the part of his arc that’s about learning humility and to build healthier relationships and not self-isolate, to find peace and joy in little things. we see throughout the series that though iroh i’m sure loves tea for tea’s sake, he also uses it as a point of connection with people, and zuko is clearly trying to mimic that when he’s making an effort to bond with the gaang and later just to show love to his friends like! this is his way of trying to show love and affection in what comes to be maybe the clearest form of it he understands due to iroh’s influence. and the idea that he is bad at that makes me sad, but also, canon disagrees, so jot that down.
(also, if nothing else: iroh is there in that last scene. do we honestly think he’d let zuko make and serve the tea if it was bad?)
#of all the things in fanon to be upset about this is what’s getting to me rn 😭😭😭#honestly. and this is the part that is probably me reading into things a little too much#but there is. something of a fandom rhetoric of zuko being Bad At Everything#and i think a lot of it is obviously supposed to be teasing and not ill-meant#but like. being told that (and that he was a failure) was part of his abuse#disclaimer that zuko is ofc a fictional character and i’m Not saying people are horrible for saying it#but regardless i don’t Love how common that is#atla#zuko#long post //#this is absolutely the pettiest thing to write a multi paragraph post about. lmao#iroh & zuko#zuko & the gaang#tea in atla
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No in between. Reblog if you vote pleas
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"zk is an awful ship they'd be so horrible and toxic together" zutara is literally baby's first EtL ship who go from enemies to close friends in canon they're one of the most wholesome interations of the trope imaginable but also i want everyone to know i'd still ship it even if it was horrible and toxic <3 because they're 2d moving pixels and not fucking real <3
#‘babies first EtL ship’ shsjhshs so true#anti anti zutara#zutara#discourse#atla#but also yeah let them be toxic idc that can be interesting and fun
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the ache of nostalgia
#….#zuko#this is part of his story that absolutely shatters me tbh#when he finds the stone with his handpring on it and presses his now sixteen year old hand against it?#😭😭😭😭#commandered for atla#is the tag i am deciding on lmao#you can bite and scratch and beg bit you can never go back. yeah.
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title: snake on a hilltop
summary: After her defeat, as Azula awaits judgment, she remembers things.
Once, Azula lit a garden snake on fire.
word count: 1,523
content warnings: animal abuse/cruelty, animal death, implied/referenced child abuse this is also not an azula redemption story, and her mindset is still one of perpetuating harm and abuse, including in her interactions with zuko. if you don't like that, that's fine, but it's, y'know, probably not the fic for you.
#my fic#atla#azula#ask to tag //#this originally did start as me wondering if i could write a long rocky path to redemption azula story. instead this happened.
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A very quick modern version of Katara from Avatar the last airbender
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suki and the kyoshi warriors getting attacked and captured while protecting appa will always make me! sob!
#atla rewatch ‘24#also sukiii is so good at crisis management and knows how to take care of traumatized animals </33#suki#the kyoshi warriors#appa’s lost days
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Mal's Avatar: The Last Airbender rewatch: The Chase 2.08
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EMOJI CHARACTER CHALLENGE
@zoesaldana sent: 😩🌧
↳ Zuko (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
send me an emoji (or a set of emojis) and i’ll make a gifset of the character that reminds me the most of that emoji
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really hate the whole idea of “oh but we still see zuko angry at the end of the show, therefore he never actually learned anything” because not ever being angry was never the point.
there are things in this world worth being angry at! having an abusive family and the fact that that abusive family is now attempting to commit genocide spring to mind!
the issue with zuko’s anger before was never that it existed at all, but that he was wearing it as a mask for hurt, fear, and self-loathing, directing it in the wrong places, and hurting both other people and himself in the process. (note: me saying that it was a mask is not me saying he wasn’t genuinely angry. human emotions are more complicated than that, and it feels very clear to me that, for a long time, zuko was overindulging his anger so that he didn’t have to think about how hurt he really was.)
zuko learning from the dragons how not to fuel his firebending (and, indeed, all his decisions) with anger does not mean he will never be angry again, and it shouldn’t mean that, either. it’s about learning to manage anger in a healthier way, learning to direct it in the right places, and not allowing himself to be overtaken by it in a way that contradicts his core values.
#genocide //#abuse //#atla#zuko#zuko saying he doesn’t want tonbe FUELED by anger does not mean he will never be angry again and it shouldn’t mean that either!#the firebending masters
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Zuko literally tried to murder the Gaang by hiring a hit man
Yeah I know. I meant it was a last resort situation for him and that he didn't set out with the goal of trying to kill him. Zuko only turned to murder in desperation when he was at his lowest point, and that doesn't make it right, ofc. But Azula was all down for murder from moment one, even if it wasn't Aang specifically. I don't know if this is the same person, but if you're going to accuse Zuko of trying to murder the Gaang, don't downplay Azula's own desire to do the same by saying she was just trying to capture them, especially since she was way more gleeful about it than he ever was.
#it’s also one of the things he inherently feels the need to apologize for without anyone even bringing it up#like the whole ‘why did i tell them that’ scene is funny but really it’s because he knows it was wrong the fact that it didn’t ofcur to him#to lie in the moment#is actually indicative of how sincerely he’s trying to be good#also he then goes on to risk his life trying to stop the assasin after the gaang has already rejected him#which is what makes them willing to hear him out again#like. there is Context here#atla#anti azula stans#zuko#azula
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calling Azula “Zuko’s abuser’s” is actually very gross because its
Blantantly Not True and
It minimizes Ozai’s abuse of Zuko
isn’t Zuko getting scarred and abandoned by Ozai enough?
For one, Azula is very blatantly abusive to Zuko. She constantly takes advantage of his emotional weaknesses and his insecurities, she constantly puts him in dangerous situations to control him and give herself a higher ground over him, she manipulates and gaslights him, she makes him feel inferior and worthless and tries to put him down and destroy his self-worth all the time, she terrorizes him for her own amusement, she tries to kill him several times. She smiles when Ozai burns him. If you consider the comics, she is even comfortable with burning Zuko for telling on her.
And as for your second point, that's a strange way to view the situation. Admitting that Azula is also abusive and is very obviously responsible for a lot of Zuko's trauma and insecurities is not dismissing or downplaying the very real damage that Ozai did. That's the whole tragedy of Zuko and Azula. Two siblings who should have loved each other and been close were torn apart by their father, who taught one child to be like him and turned her into someone who would abuse her brother the way Ozai himself does. You're the one who's downplaying abuse by insisting that Azula is not abusive.
#abuse //#anti azua stans#fandom critical#atla#azula#zuko#zuko & azula#also do people just like. not think sibling abuse exists in real life? because. uh! it definitely does.#and it seems even more likely in a situation where there is an abusive parent already in yhe household who is. explicitly teaching that#child to mimick their behavior#which is the dynamic between#azula & ozai
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6, 7, 8, and 16 for the fandom asks!
6. My favorite character:
*nearly buzzing* hey have you guys heard of my good buddy zuko?
okay this is gonna be long and then i'll try to be normal shshhsghjh it's funny because the answer definitely used to be katara (and don't get me wrong, i still adore her and she is absolutely is a close second, she deserves everything tbh), but something about zuko on my last rewatch (before my current rewatch) (i am ridiculous) just... really stuck with me. i hadn't seen the show in years at that point, and while i'd always liked his story, this time around, i couldn't help but appreciate the nuance in it, as someone who is both a victim of abuse and a villain in the narrative, and how the show goes out of its way to show you why he's acting the way he is and doing the things he's doing in a way that allows you to sympathize with him (and that helps to sew the seeds of his redemption because his abuse cannot be disentangled from the fact that he was once a kid who valued kindness and things like not unnecessarily sacrificing new recruits on the front lines, and that he is now performing his father's ideals of cruelty to try to both conform and cope.)
but i also feel the show does a good job at showing this without ever falling into the trap of justifying what he's doing. and his story is really cathartic, as it's one of not just redemption but healing, and the idea that those two things go hand in hand? that the narrative didn't demand zuko hate himself to be redeemed (and, in fact, discouraged it, "pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source", after all) but instead, the actions he took toward changing his life and helping people made him a healthier, happier person??? it's just. it's so good. i could talk about zuko for hours, and i won't do that but. yeah i love this character a normal amount.
7. My least favorite character: (*i decided to interpret this as characters i don't like as people rather than characters i don't like the arcs of. that's a different, more complicated answer i don't feel like delving into at the moment.)
ozai is the boring answer, but i mean. c'mon. (he's not a BAD character, he's just the literal worst.) i don't feel like this one requires that much explanation.
also, though, i don't hear enough hate for my guy zhao. (again, good character! he does what he's supposed to in the narrative, which is overshadow zuko as a threat/villain and showcase viewing oneself as inherently superior as something that will ultimately lead to downfall, which foreshadows the defeat of both ozai and azula.) like.... i don't totally know why, but zhao actually really gets under my skin as a villain lmao. maybe it's because he's more tangible than ozai? like, ozai spends so long as this shadowy, untouchable figure, and so much about him is implied, but zhao is just right there throughout book one, being the worst. and i don't know how to explain it, because there are honestly a lot of similarities between them, but i feel like not everyone has met someone like ozai, but most people know someone like zhao. he has less power than ozai (not none, but less) but just as much ego and will rub whatever power he does have in your face and i just. yeah i hate him.
8. Is there anything I wish people would write more about in fics? (A dynamic, an exploration of an arc, just a character that doesn’t get much screentime, etc): honestly more of toph's dynamics with like, everyone in the gaang, because at a certain point, i do feel like toph gets shoved to the side a bit. (you're telling me TOPH BEIFONG of all people wouldn't have an opinion in the southern raiders?) the friendship moments we do get in the show are cute!!! she's never had friends before and now she does, let her have friends, let it be cute!
i do think some corners of the fandom try to remedy this but i just. i'm having a moment about toph pour one out for my my girl <33
16. Favorite inside joke the fandom has:
zuko, a man who cannot be killed!
#asks#chowmain-samosa#abuse //#atla#fandom ask games#zuko#toph beifong#ozai#zhao#me: i will try to be normal about this#me: failed step one#jsshsh thanks for the ask ! <3
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Fandom ask game!
Send a fandom and numbers in the ask box, and I’ll answer…
1. My favorite thing about the fandom
2. My favorite fic from the fandom that I’ve read
3. My favorite fic from the fandom that I’ve written myself
4. My favorite fanart from the fandom
5. My favorite fanart from the fandom that I’ve drawn myself
6. My favorite character
7. My least favorite character
8. Is there anything I wish people would write more about in fics? (A dynamic, an exploration of an arc, just a character that doesn’t get much screentime, etc)
9. Is there anything in general I wish more people in the fandom talked about?
10. A fic from the fandom I haven’t read yet, but I want to read
11. The first thing that comes to my mind when thinking about the fandom (note: It can be anything, even if it’s irrelevant - literally the first thing that comes to mind!)
12. How long I have been in the fandom
13. My first impression of the fandom
14. My current impression of the fandom
15. Is there something I wish someone would draw as a fanart?
16. Favorite inside joke the fandom has
17. A fandom take I didn’t think about until I saw it, and I fully agree with
18. A fandom take I don’t really agree with
19. Favorite headcanon
20. Least favorite headcanon
21. An event or a conversation within the fandom I remember vividly
22. How I would describe the fandom to someone who is not in it
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toph earthbending the mean and ableist girls making fun of her into the river below them hdhdhdhd good for her! as a treat!
katara “now THAT was funny”’ and waterbending them away also sidjdjjs get you a best friend like that for real! she is so ride or die god bless <3
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“as long as they don’t touch my feet!”
poor toph :( i, too, hate pedicures, for different reasons (i am very ticklish) but still, i relate to the Sensory Badness.
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