RYU

ATLA My ships favorite: ZUTARA, Taang, Sukka (Sokka x Suki) Urzai unpopular opinions Atla critical: Zuko critical, Iroh critical, Aang critical, bryke critical

[frogpropaganda]

Hakoda's first introduction to Zuko was his son who he loves and respects vouching for him about how much he'd proven himself and how integral he was to breaking into the Boiling Rock for the sole purpose of breaking Hakoda out of prison, Hakoda then witnesses Zuko putting his life on the line numerous times for them all, saving Sokka's life, bringing him home to his kids, then throwing himself straight at danger again so the rest of them can escape, and then after getting separated from them he'd find out that not only did Zuko take Katara to face her mother's/his wife's murderer to mete out whatever justice she saw fit, but that he also sacrificed himself for her and chose her life over his own. He saved Hakoda's baby girl's life!!!! His little girl who he knows he gave abandonment issues to and feels terrible about it!!! He'd love the idea of them together because he'd have such faith in Zuko to take care of her and treat her heart tenderly and to never abandon her. He'd love having Zuko as a son-in-law, the faith he'd have for him to be an amazing husband and father would be astronomical. That is the man his little girl deserves!!!!

[rifari2037]

Bro confused about Zutara and canon, I guess! Or, it's just sarcasm for canon?

Talking about Katara's agency and personality wiped in Zutara, when canon don't care about her at all in The Legend of Korra!

Talking about Zuko's fault that he already fixed and he helped her facing her trauma and get over it, like Aang never did something wrong to her (the non-consensual kiss, the way he shouted at her when he frustrated) and never said sorry.

Talking about Zuko was already in love with Mai, when he literally let her get imprisoned because of him and didn't even think to release her after he got the throne.

Talking about how awkward they were when someone else shipped them, while not wondering why people in the show shipped them, it can't be out of nowhere, right?

Talking about chemistry and build-up, when Katara and Aang's dynamic is just like a babysitter and little brother (even Bryke said it themselves) Eww!!!

Talking about Zutara reducing Katara into a trophy when it was literally canon, like we never knew what made Katara go from confused to choosing him in the end, except because he saved the world. So, where is her agency?

[zjfc]

zuko就这么看着她……😭😭

[xxmilkandsugarxx]

I wanted to draw Zuko inbetween life and death after the Agni Kai, my poor boys going through it lol. I am trying to experiment a little more now that I am drawing more consistently! Zutara if you squint lol

[hirannethwrites]

So I guess its confirmed? Katara was originally gonna be pregnant in the Legend of Aang movie. And that means (if the script was the same) that Aang inadvertently would've killed his pregnant wife. 🫠

[stardust948]

I swear, every time they touch ATLA it gets worse

[ilyzsue]

Hi! I'm new to tumblr, and this is one of my first Zutara fanarts. Hope you like it! You can also find me on instagram and twitter if you'd like to see more of my art ❤️

[purplemountain]

netflix has succesfully zutara-baited me

i thought i had already moved on from my doomed childhood ship, the infamous firebender x waterbender zutara rabbit hole but netflix just had to keep uploading buzzy zutara clips and they just had to change the plot a little to make the painted lady and blue spirit have scenes together like... I AM JUST A FISH

i never planned on watching the live-action of ATLA at all but the s2 clips got me watching the whole thing (they knew zutara is marketable and they were right 😔)

and it doesn't help that the new avatar (leaked) movie had me fangirling over their new aged-up designs like I know they had zero interaction (it hurts I know) but this frame right here is enough to send me spiraling

LIKE WASTED CHEMISTRY WASTED POTENTIAL

ugh long-haired hotties

ALSO ALSO THIS SPECIFIC SCENE RIGHT HERE AAAAGHHHH like I just know someone in the writer's room has read an ao3 fanfic of zuko's blue spirit and katara's painted lady and they decided, yknow what? let's make it happen HELL YEAH

also the new added lines for the cave scene?? the "no matter how much you hate this face katara, I hate it more" THE WAY DALLAS LIU DELIVERED THAT LINE?! THE WAY KIAWENTIIO WAS GIVING KATE SHARMA EYES?? AARGHH

also this scene in s1 LIKE WAS IT NECESSARY OR WAS IT FOR US DERANGED SHIPPERS

this scene of zuko running towards katara (i think he was even mouthing her name) and the Dai Li guards literally separating them by a wall?? affsdadsjkfgbsd

like at this point I don't care if they make them canon or not (most likely not I fear) but as long as they keep feeding us zutara scenes WHO AM I TO COMPLAIN looking forward to season 3 scenes I hope they keep most (if not all) the great zutara moments we had in the animated series🥹

okay that's it for my fangirling they are currently my new (er recurring) hyperfixation and I'm now inspired to write a fanfic about them

*cue deranged mentally unstable laugh*

[lizanthium]

I missed them!!! Warming up sketches that I liked too much to leave them bare tbh 💜

ZK hugs will always be top tier <33 (ft, the ZK SWT AU)

[phoebester]

Giving me ‘Tolkien’ au vibes 😉

2nd pic is parallel to Eowyn and Faramir ❤️‍🔥

Oh! Zutara🥹

[sokkastyles]

Another thing that's funny is the attempt to paint Zuko attacking Aang in Sozin's Comet as traumatic for the gaang (even though they didn't see it that way) because earlier than that Zuko makes a tentative joke about chasing them around like old times and they all laugh (except Katara) and Zuko himself is treading carefully because he's unsure if it's too soon. So this idea that Zuko is somehow being insensitive is just...wrong.

Even Katara, who is upset by the joke and who does yell at Zuko initially before listening to what Zuko has to say, is the one to bring him back into the group hug after that scene and reassure him that he is part of their team.

And that's it, isn't it? These attempts to distance Zuko from the gaang and insist that he actually isn't redeemed enough mostly just exist because they're afraid he'll steal Katara away from Aang.

[frogpropaganda]

And the thing that's so weird about trying to frame Zuko freaking out and attacking Aang as being something that must've been soooooooo triggering to the gaang is that if anything, everyone's reaction in that scene is meant to illustrate just how far they've come with trusting Zuko and that he is a full-fledged member of the group. They don't doubt his loyalty for a second. They're confused and demanding an explanation for the erratic behavior, but they still assume his intentions aren't to hurt Aang, which they aren't. Like you watch it half-expecting them to go "oh no, he's switched on us again!!!" and the fact that they don't, that they never think that even for a second, that Sokka is more concerned with his terrible sand sculpture getting ruined, and that Miss "if you give me one reason to think you'll hurt Aang I'll kill you with hammers" has the reaction "What's wrong with you? You could've hurt Aang!" instead of immediately freezing him to the ground, is very much deliberate.

And then once he explains himself they all seem to collectively accept it as a valid crash out and are no longer mad because his erratic behavior makes sense to them and they understand why he reacted the way he did.

It was so asinine to take the explanation that "he was just mad that everyone was relaxing" like????? No he very clearly wasn't. He was crashing out over the fact he was sending an under-prepared child to fight his abuser, and that child seems to not appreciate the gravity of the situation. His goal is pretty clearly not to hurt Aang but to goad him into fighting back, since Aang's fighting style is very avoidant, defensive, and pacifistic, and those are things he can't be if he wants not to die when facing Ozai. When Aang threatens him to stop before he blows Zuko off the roof, Zuko says "Go ahead and do it!" because that is what he wants, he wants Aang to fight back because he thinks Aang is going to get himself killed via his reluctance to fight back. Zuko's father melted half of his face off just for embarrassing him, when Zuko was the same age as Aang. And now he's sending Aang to fight Ozai, and Aang seems to not grasp just how much danger he's in.

Even later on he doesn't seem to get just how at risk of dying he is when Zuko teaches him lightning redirection.

"Well not over over, I mean, there's always Katara and a little spirit water action, right?" And Katara's like "Uhhhhh no, I used it all up the first time. You're fucked."

To me it's a parallel to when Toph goads him into standing up to her because it will help him get in the earthbender mindset by deliberately doing things to upset him, using his staff to crack nuts and smacking it around on everything until he finally puts his foot down.

[sokkastyles]

Oh, yeah, absolutely. And it makes sense for Zuko to freak out about this, too, considering that he knows personally that being defensive and avoidant with Ozai is not going to work. Everything that Zuko keeps saying to Aang in the finale is trying to emphasize to him that Ozai will not show him mercy, and he needs to stop him or he will die.

And, you know what, that DOES almost happen. Aang does almost get killed because he wants to avoid fighting Ozai directly. The way Ozai corners Aang when Aang is being defensive and taunts him for it is very reminiscent of his agni kai with thirteen year old Zuko.

And unfortunately, whereas Zuko tries to impress upon Aang that he won't get an easy solution, the narrative provides Aang with one anyway. It's sooo frustrating, and criticizing Zuko for being right because Aang got his deus ex machina after all only highlights where the narrative fumbles.

[frogpropaganda]

And even if we ignore the poor writing they did by giving Aang the deus ex rockina and the lion turtle ex machina, Zuko was still right to act the way he did because he couldn't have possibly known that energy bending was an option. He was acting very understandably based on the information he had. He was harsh in how he spoke to Aang, but it was in a tough-love kind of way because he was legitimately concerned for Aang's life and would rather be a little mean and have Aang come back alive than to baby him and get him (and the rest of the Earth Kingdom) killed because of it.

"Maybe we can make big pots of glue and I can use gluebending to stick his arms and legs together so he can't bend anymore!"

"Yeah, and then you can show him his baby pictures and all those happy memories will turn him good again!"

"Do you really think that would work?"

"NO!"

The entire finale is just Zuko shaking Aang vigorously by the shoulders and slapping him back and forth while he screams "YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!!!!!!!!!" but its okay cause the universe will bend over backwards so that Aang never has to change or make hard decisions. Obviously it would've been tough to have him kill the Fire Lord cause its Nickelodeon but they could've gone the other previously set up route of him having to let go of his unhealthy attachment to Katara, and that could've been the key to him unlocking energy bending. That way they could get away with the energybending loophole and have it feel like it was actually earned and satisfying, and his character actually gets growth and development too instead of never having to change or give anything up.

[rifari2037]

Breaking News: The Fire Lord was minding his own business when his Queen, his Lady, the love of his life, distracted him and made him silly again.

[phoebester]

Just a thought…

When Aang gets into a provoked Avatar State, Katara the enabler has to calm him down in canon.

With Toph, she’d be tired of always placating his ass that she’d just say to the perp. “Oh boy, now you’ve done it. Get out of the way! He’s gonna blow!”

Toph is an enabler but in a different way

“Yeah, let him get his steam off..”

Then afterwards Aang will see the devastation he caused (no casualties, Toph would have moved the earth to keep everyone away from the blast of his anger) then Toph would just sit him down and say…

“See (ironically) what you’ve done? I’m not helping you clean that up.”

And Aang and the rest of the gaang and their allies—except Toph, would most likely clean it up.

Moments later, Aang would probably begrudge her for not helping out. But stubborn Toph wont let him get away with it.

“Listen up Bald Head, there’s a lesson you need to learn here.” Toph would say.

“I’m in no mood to listen to you, Toph!” Aang would reply.

Then Toph would bark back unapologetically “Since when do I care if you listen to me? I don't. But I'm still saying it, so deal with it.”

“You better check your emotions or one of these days, that anger is gonna make you do something you'll actually regret—like hurting someone, or worse.”

And with that, she storms off.

Aang would stew in that thought for a moment. He hates it… Hates it when she’s right on most things.

He'd probably apologize, and she’d just pat his bald head and tell him not to make a big deal out of it. She'd instantly pivot to telling him to spar with her to blow off steam, and he'd gladly oblige. Or, he'd take her out on the town for a treat—totally platonic, of course, just like the antis love to scream to dismiss the sheer potential of these two.

And so that would be (one of the many)the catalyst/s that would actually help Aang to control his emotions before going into the Avatar state next time.

Aang should have had a Book 4 Air in canon with all these growing up-coming of age - character developments that Aang should have gone through the way Zuko did in season 3.

Instead, he’s 25 and “not quite the adult Avatar that he needs to be yet,” like Bryke said about that nose controversial, same face syndrome, manga-washed movie their minions keep raving about 😒.

[ninsarchive]

Don't shy away from being vocal about wanting NATLA Zutara to happen.

I need to be very careful when wording this out 😅 I'm mainly writing this because I know there will always be ZKs or just anyone who will say "they'll never be canon" (anything along those lines). I fully understand that statement. I understand why ZKs say that, it's not something new, we have been hearing it for two decades now. ZKs can say that, we can say whatever we want. I'm not at all demonizing that statement or painting anyone as mean when saying that statement.

To the zutara fans who feel like they're going to commit a crime if they mention anything about wanting NATLA zutara to be canon...always going like "oh but yeah ik they'll never be canon" when sharing their sentiments...I just wanna say that you are allowed to be vocal about wanting them to happen. We are allowed to want them to happen. We are allowed to be vocal about it.

I have to be honest. I have been seeing a lot of posts about just yk fangirling over the NATLA zutara crumbs and they have captions like "WHY CAN'T IT BE THEM" "THEY HAVE TO HAPPEN" and nine times out of ten, their comment sections will always be flooded by "they'll never be canon". We get that, it has been engraved in our minds. BUT CMON NOW LET'S EMBRACE THE WHIMSY AND YEARN FOR THEM TO HAPPEN.

"But then what do we do if zutara doesn't happen?"

Then that's that. If you focus on just thinking you're an idiot when they don't happen or that we lost, then don't be surprised if that's just how you'll feel about it. REMEMBER antis are practically the ones losing their minds thinking that ZK will be canon, YOU ARE NOT AN OUTLIER HERE.

I personally at times get so pumped up with all the new ZK content we have. I just wanna keep posting about "oh I can just feel them happening in season 3" YK JUST HAVING FUN...but then the "they'll never be canon" looms over me and just ruins my fun. So I'm like "why the hell should I be apologetic about it?", I can just have fun with it. I love reading everyone's theories. I love reading about everyone's head cannons. I love reading everyone's predictions.

If you start thinking "but in this article they said that zutara won't happen" or "but in this interview they said that they're sticking to the OG cartoon" or "they'll probably just butcher zutara so bad if they do make them canon" anything along those lines...All I have to say is that you're still allowed to want them to happen and to be vocal about it:)

This isn't about being right or better, it's about having fun.

I don't mean at all to just ignore everything else. I don't mean for us to just be ignorant. I don't mean to just get into everyone's faces and tell them they're wrong if they say that they'll never be canon or to just attack anyone about it. Plus, this isn't to look down on or shame anyone who posted anything about why they think ZK won't happen or any of that sort 😅

[yourhighness6]

I was rewatching the Ember Island Players and I feel like it isn't an accident that Actress-Katara was portrayed as kind of "slutty". Like yes the play itself is a mockery of the character's fanon portrayals at the time to some degree, but the way it coincides with the non-con kataang kiss sits so weird with me. In the play we see that the fake Katara and Zuko have a thing in the Crystal Catacombs, which is played for laughs to make fun of shippers. But beyond that, Katara and Aang's relationship in the play is sibling like, as a way to rub salt in the wound to Katara's rejection of Aang. It's almost like the play is serving as a way to guilt trip Katara into wanting to be with Aang by implying that if she were to end up with Zuko, she would be exactly like Actress-Katara, and would therefore be a "slut", or a "tease" for not returning Aang's affections. Obviously there are other major differences to Actress-Katara and real Katara, but I just feel like it's interesting that the writers are basically saying "this character isn't a slut! ...But she would be if she ended up with that one character you all ship her with tho"

[hirannethwrites]

This comic is quite concerning to me.

It's framed as romantic. Aangsty.

I think it's anything but that.

Aang tries to pry an answer out of Katara about their kiss before the invasion. She avoids the topic, as she has done so before. Aang’s frustration produces a dangerous lava blast. Katara has to hide behind a pillar to avoid getting singed. Its dangerous. Its reckless. But Katara immediately redirects sympathy toward his fear of him being the one harmed.

Once again, it's Katara - despite nearly getting walloped - that reassures him. That she's 'fine'; even praising him. Her fright and the recklessness of what he did are barely acknowledged.

Now it's worth noting Aang doesn't deliberately try and hurt Katara, but its absolutely a point-blank showcase of Aang losing control and endangering Katara because he cannot consider her romantic boundaries.

Does he apologise? Yes. But in the end his actions are still framed as 'valid.'

That to me, is a little bit toxic. And what's more is that we see glimpses of this in the Atla movie - this is something that Aang has never grown from. Concerning.

[co2bender]

[sokkastyles]

I'm surprised I've seen no one talk about this, but didn't natla fix the timeline when Katara said something to Zuko like "your father and his father and all the little people up until Sozin." Implying that there were at least a few generations between Azulon and Sozin, instead of Sozin siring his heir at like, 80 years old.

[demaparbat-hp]

The first two of ten new AUs I have to share. Keep your eyes open for the rest!

Bloodbound AU:

The vampire isn't like others of his kind. He's strangely gentle, has the self-esteem of a squashed bug, and took care of her injury without succumbing to the temptation of her blood. But in spite of all his virtues, the Prince is still a vampire, and he still needs to feast.

Luckily for Zuko, Katara knows of a criminal or two whose blood begs to be bent (and consumed).

.

Republic AU:

Katara Tinik doesn't give up without a fight. Which is about as admirable as it is annoying, given that her latest endeavor is to ensure Zuko has no dignity left to uphold. As the Fire Nation Ambassador in Republic City, dignity is quite important, thank you very much.

Unfortunately, her team is in need of a firebender, and winning the pro-bending championship is more important to Katara than Zuko's low self-respect.