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[anonavatarfan]

Why I really hate (some) anyone (especially Hakoda) but Iroh adopts Zuko AUs

Rant Incoming:

Oh and then there was the post questioning if Uncle Iroh was such a good uncle why is it that when fanfiction (as in fan interpretation of Zuko) of Zuko having a different parental figure he gets redeemed faster...

Realistically if Hakoda met a angry Zuko, he wouldn't have lasted a week with the ill tempered prince. Not to mention Zuko is fire nation and literally trying to capture the world's last hope. He's not going to see a traumatized kid, he's going to see an enemy (and even if he did see a traumatized kid, he would realize that he didn't have what it takes to actually help Zuko.)

Also in Hakoda's case do they realize how absolutely livid Katara and Sokka would be if they learned that their dad abandoned them when they needed him to go be a parent to the enemy!?!? Who didn't even want him around!?

If these "better than Iroh" candidates can't handle Zuko at his worst (WHICH THEY CAN'T) then no they are not a better adoptive parent figure than Iroh. Yeah Hakoda might like him now but that's because Zuko's already chilled the fuck out.

And that's not even diving into how Zuko would react. Zuko would have zero respect for anyone trying to adopt him and would ditch them the moment he could. And if they tried adopting him at 16, no way is Zuko going to let anyone try to replace Iroh in his life. No one is going to replace or be equal to Iroh in Zuko's eyes except Ursa.

Yeah it took Iroh a long time, yes he was very passive but that was because he was walking a tight rope, push too far and he knows Zuko will turn against him and he needs Zuko's trust so he can guide him.

People really downplay the commitment and effort and patience it took for Iroh to guide Zuko.

[anonavatarfan]

Zuko is not Azula's parent. It isn't his fucking responsibility. Why do Azula stans keep thinking Zuko owes her the fucking world? Maybe the reason why he treats Kiyi better is because she didn't bully and taunt him? Azula situation is not comparable to Eleanor's. Zuko is only 2 years older than her.

[anonavatarfan]

There is so much wrong with this.

Azula's likely to be a dark empath then just empathetic. She understands why but she doesn't feel the pain

Zuko is opposite, feeling the emotion but perhaps not always understanding why.

[sokkastyles]

I take issue with the term dark empath because empathy is feeling other people's pain. Understanding something on an intellectual level but not actually feeling it IS a lack of empathy.

Although I agree that the definition the internet is giving me for the term is how I would describe Azula. She's able to analyze her friends very keenly but she does not feel their pain. She does not empathize with them. She does not try and make them feel better. Her response to Ty Lee voicing her trauma is a sarcastic "here we go." Her response to Zuko is to call him pathetic. Her response to Mai is "well, that's it then," followed by coldly analyzing her. Then she says "I don't have sob stories like all of you." She is not, in any way, sympathetic to her friends or her brother. She's rude and dismissive. And while she's pretty good at armchair analysis, she actually fails pretty strongly at the deep emotional stuff. That moment of her psychoanalyzing Mai is pretty strongly contrasted with Mai telling her later that she doesn't know people as well as she thinks she does, because Azula thinks she has Mai pegged. Azula assumes that Mai's fear of expressing herself will keep her loyal to her forever. Until it doesn't. She thinks that she can control Zuko by making him feel inferior. Until she can't. She thinks Ty Lee will go along with whatever she says and never stand up to her. Until she does.

Azula understands people on a surface level, but she doesn't really understand them. She certainly does not empathize with them.

Also, the reason she never attacks anyone is because that would contradict the veneer of being above it all that she cultivates in this episode. Of course, she's lying to herself, but that's why she suggests burning the house down. Not to make everyone feel better, but to make herself feel better and put everyone back on terms she is comfortable with. It's a way to take back control because everyone sharing their feelings means they're getting too close to realizing they don't need to be controlled by her anymore. Not to mention Azula wanting to avoid facing her own insecurities.

Zuko actually is highly empathic, but he's an empath who's been gaslit his whole life. That's why at the beginning of the series, he's an emotional mess. He's told that the things he feels are wrong, even when they're right. Once he learns to trust his own instincts, he's shockingly good at reading other people, which is why he's able to know exactly what each member of the gaang needs once he joins them. But even before that, his entire character wound is about being the only one who spoke out in defense of soldiers that were being sacrificed. He specifically tries to appeal to Azula's empathy as a child when she wishes death on Iroh by saying "how would you like it if Lu Ten wanted Dad to die?"

Which is also ironic because Zuko's dad actually wished death on him.

The other thing that's funny when people want to play this game is that Zuko felt more empathy for his sister while she was trying to murder him than she ever felt for him, to the point where he felt guilty for protecting himself from her. He tries to appeal to her empathy again when he is hurt that she lied to him, and what is her response? She laughs.

Zuko, baby, you're way too good for these people.

[anonavatarfan]

I know! Zuko is highly empathetic to everyone I don't know how this person got the idea he's not. Like has this person seen Azula? People go out of their way and assume what Azula feels and secretly feels but I feel like her personality and who she is is very clear to see.

[anonavatarfan]

There is so much wrong with this.

Azula's likely to be a dark empath then just empathetic. She understands why but she doesn't feel the pain

Zuko is opposite, feeling the emotion but perhaps not always understanding why.

[sabellart]

god bless iroh’s patience

[zukotheartist]

Atla live action spoilers

JUNE FLIRTS WITH IROH??? HELLO???

Og atla fans waiting for the show: oh man, I hope they get rid of how creepy Uncle Iroh was with women younger than him

Atla live action writers, ready to get rid of that but replacing it with a Male Fantasy 101: I got you fam😉😝🤭

The only reedemable part of this scene/quote is June mistaking Iroh for Zuko's dad, we do need more of that

[goldenvulpine]

I want to clear up a mistake people make with Azula and Ursa.

Ursa didn’t play favorites.

Ursa didn’t think Azula was a monster.

Ursa simply, unequivocally, just didn’t enable Azula’s worst traits like Ozai did.

Ozai’s favorite child was Azula, but Ursa still loved her more.

Because enabling isn’t love.

What did Ozai’s enabling do? It made Azula into the type of person to never have any loyal friends. It made the type of person that Mai and Tai Lee would betray at the risk of their own lives.

Ursa pushed Azula to be with her friends. To be with Zuko. Ozai pushed Ursa away, and both kids suffered for it. Azula became a sadist, enjoying seeing her brother get burned—while Zuko was pushed away because he cared for his people.

Azula thought her mom hated her because her mom was the only one who cared enough to tell her no.

[fairy-lilith]

people who keep downplaying aang's relationship with gyatso are unironically also downplaying zuko’s relationship with iroh

[katy-89]

No, Hakoda shouldn't adopt Zuko because Zuko already has a father: Iroh. Yes, Iroh. The man who love Zuko more than everyone else. The man who believed in him and protected him.

Sokka and Katara needs their father more, not Zuko.

Also....i'm glad Aang became an official citizen of the Water Tribe and was granted honorary status as the Son-in-law of the Chief. Aang lost everything and Hakoda did a beautiful thing :)

[petricorah]

all this drawing atla as cats made me think of this [ids in alt]

+bonus

[ididgettomeetyou]

people will talk about the iroh/zuko apolgism in the fandom but then proceed to act like azula/ozai are the misunderstood good guys of the show.. the fn apolgism in general is baffling..

[makiema]

you’re wrong.

[reversetimelord]

WHEN THEY SHOWED IROH HUGGING ZUKO FOR THE FATHER ONE. Yes, Iroh is Zuko’s real dad, fuck Ozai

[fand0mina]

Incorrect ATLA quotes

[read-between-the-phoelines-deac]

Art for my Avatar fanfic! https://archiveofourown.org/works/29690223/chapters/73008342

[geekinator]

Iroh never left his side. Ever.

[nocontextavatar]

[chaossmith2]

"What do you plan to do now that you found the Avatar's bison? Keep it locked in our new apartment??? Think Prince Zuko, think!"