#zutarian

[lilarain]

Quick Zutara sketch with the new designs because they’re living rent-free in my head ❤️‍🔥🌊😭

[koral-primrose]

Happy Pride Month

bi4bi Zutara

(Version with Scar Below the Cut)

[callysta-starcrest]

BRO WHOEVER WROTE S2E4 HAS GOT TO BE A ZUTARA FAN. WE WERE SO FED. painted lady x blue spirit fighting side by side??? YES!!! YES!!! YES!!!

having SUKI encourage KATARA to learn hand-to-hand combat earlier in the season? YES!

[lorelei-3]

Taang and Zutara is the best combo let’s bfr. I’m on a big Zutara kick currently and was feeling inspired today.

Context of the photo here (may or may not do a fic idk) is after observing their recent behavior, Katara catches the tension between Aang and Toph. And it’s that kind of tension.

So after observing them for too long she brings up to Zuko one night who wants nothing to do with it because the two already cause enough trouble for him when they visit (he still loves them ofc).

But Katara wants to play matchmaker and drags Zuko into it though he’s very reluctant to. Down the long path of their plan it ends up with Aang and Toph meeting in the garden after Zuko and Katara said they wanted to meet each of them there without telling the other to bring them together.

Toph had just gotten done doing some training so that’s why her hairs out of its usual bun and eventually the two have to face what they’re not facing (in Katara’s words). And they do.

They end up actually sparring a little (much to Zuko’s dismay) and they end up on the ground physically very close and that leads to one thing and voila we have the results in the photo of the outcome.

And for more extra info with the drawing, I didn’t do color cause I was lazy and Katara’s Fire Lady (yes fire lady they’re married hehe) is a deep royal blue but she wears a red belt, and Zuko’s are his own color however his belt is a deep blue (they rep for each other babes)

Anyways I’m going to bed.

[lphoenixspiritl]

Zuko finds out Katara was parentified from the age of eight and was a single mom friend of three until he stumbled into the position of gaang dad friend. So when she visits the Fire Nation Zuko dotes on her, making sure her every need is anticipated and catered to. He even goes as far as - to the horror of his council - kneeling to remove her shoes.

Because of this she earns the nickname Lady Katara among the palace staff which she finds amusing but a little confusing. So one day over tea she asks Iroh why they call her that and he explains:

"They're just practicing."

"Why would you need to practice a nickname?"

"Well my dear, they expect that within a few years Fire will preceed it."

And that's about when Katara chokes on her tea.

[draxofoy]

i haven't posted anything here omg kinda nervous... but here's zutara in traditional javanese wedding attire 🙇🏻‍♀️ commissioned this from my friend she's amazing 😖❗️

some facts about the attire! ☺️😙

The headwear these babies are wearing are called Blangkon and Cunduk Mentul, Blangkon is a traditional headwear worn by men usually in Central Javanese and Yogyakarta (especially the one Zuko is wearing!) The word Blangkon itself is said to came from the word 'blanco' referring to the blank cloth used to make the headwear, tho there are soo many theories about the origin of both the headwear and the name itself cause sadly there aren't many records about it :(

The headwear is also used to represent wisdom and class because back then, these were used to differentiate the nobilities from the commoners (wr don't really do that anymore dw). The Javanese people believe that your hair, head, and face are the most important and treasured parts of your body, so these Blangkon are used to protect those parts. We also believe that Blangkon represent self-control, since Javanese men tend to keep their hair long back then and keep them loose when they're in a state of 'conflict' such as battles or war, representing uncontrollable flow of emotions so keeping their hair up and covered is seen as an act of self control.

As for the Cunduk Mentul, these pretty headpieces are typically worn by brides on their wedding day! They represent 'the sun that shines over the universe' and also... well, it depends on the number of the pieces they use, usually it's 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9, each representing a different value. 1 is used as a symbol of God's singularity, usually worn by muslim brides, 3 is for the Trimurti or the Trinity of Hindu Gods that deeply rooted in Javanese values, 5 is for the five pillars of Islam, 7 symbolizes 'help' or 'aid'- the Javanese believe that 7 is a lucky number since 7 is 'pitu' in Javanese, so, yeah, 'pitu' for 'pitulungan' or help and aid in Javanese language. 9 represent the Nine Saints/Wali Sanga, 9 saints that have a major impact on the growth of Islam in the island of Java.

Their clothing respectively are called Beskap and Kebaya 🤩 Beskap is more of a modern version of Javenese traditional clothing, for it was adopted from the modern suits worn by the Deutsch during the colonization era. The word Beskap came from the word 'beschaafd', meaning civilized (oh!)

Kebaya, on the other hand, has no specific area origin cause each region has their own styles and versions! The one Katara is wearing is a Central Java Kebaya tho, famous for the velvety fabric and dark colors along with the gold motifs. The history of 'modern' Kebaya itself started in the 15th century when Dutch first settled in Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia!) The clothing had taken inspirations from different cultures (like Chinese and Indian) along the way since Indonesia was (kinda still is!) One of the centers of trade routes for both Hindia and Pacific Oceans.

Damn I'm getting tired of writing this, but next 😭 is Kain Jarik! A piece of fabric with Batik motives wrapped around the legs :))) these babies have RANGE, like they could be used daily, for traditional dance attire, sacred rituals, weddings, even used in funerals 😀 they're usually 2 to 3 meters in length and more variations in width, easy to customize! They also usually have dark colors like dark brown and light brown motives, but i asked my friend to draw them with red and blue and gold motives cause why not 😝

Anyways I think i went a little overboard cause my fingers are hurting from typing this lol.

[sklives]

Zutara people, let's talk

So, I just finished avatar: the last air bender, rewatched the live action and the cartoon hahahaha. Well, I always watch it in dub, the dub version, majority, it's always better than the original and had all the nostalgia thing, but someone point out the difference in the last episode when Aang faced and speak with Ozai in the avatar state.

So this lead me to watch the full episode with the original dub to see this, but what really impact me, as a zutara fan, was the lighting scene, this specific part ↓

The fact that Dante Basco is an Zutara stan makes this 100% better. You can hear in his acting the love and gratitude Zuko felt for her... I mean, he is literally gazing at his savior in so many ways that he couldn't even imagine...

For real, love this couple so much that I can't explain.

The next time I rewatch the cartoon I will see with the original dub. It's really different tho.

Im really excited to see this in the live action, but also really scared hahah help

[vlvthorn]

NATLA and Zutarians

I'm tired of the drama in one of my fandoms, so now I'm distracting myself with the drama in another one. The kind of rest I ✨deserve✨ So I figured I'd throw my two cents in on the whole Netflix remake discourse.

For some reason, several of my social media feeds have started showing me posts from the other side of the fandom saying things like, "Zutarians should have fought evil instead of joining it!" in reference to the recently released NATLA Season 2. Along with, of course, even more insulting variations of the same sentiment about how terrible NATLA is and how people dare enjoy it for even a second.

Well... It actually got me thinking.

I really do see less criticism of NATLA coming from Zutara fans - or at least criticism that's more structured and measured - compared to the tidal wave of outrage coming from everywhere else. Why is that? Is it really just because we got some shipping bait? I honestly doubt it.

I think I finally realized why: Zutara fans simply don't treat the original animated series like some sacred, untouchable Holy Grail.

We've spent the last twenty years criticizing the original show, dissecting it piece by piece, acknowledging its flaws (and, occasionally, its strengths too, lol). We know how shallow and problematic some aspects of it were, and how Aang's characterization often fell into the cliché wish-fulfillment fantasy for young boys (personally, I'd say the entire series does this, but I know a lot of people don't share that opinion and genuinely like Aang as long as the conversation isn't about his relationship with Katara, so I'll be tactful.)

Meanwhile, the rest of the fandom still treats any discussion of those flaws as heresy.

Seriously, every now and then I stumble across posts from unfortunate people who wandered into, for example, the main subreddit and wanted to share some doubts or interesting observations, only to get torn apart for daring to criticize the show or any aspect of it (especially Aang. God help you if you say anything about Aang, because he was twelve!!!) And these people aren't even committing what the fandom considers the greatest sin imaginable - not shipping Zutara. They're simply daring to be even slightly critical of a twenty-year-old children's cartoon.

It's honestly wild that, after twenty years, the only socially acceptable criticism of ATLA is still "the lion turtle and the rock at the end were lazy writing."

That kind of conservatism is exactly why so many people were completely unprepared for any new interpretation of the canon or for changes that are inevitable in any remake.

Not that NATLA is beyond criticism - far from it. There are plenty of legitimate complaints to be made, and God forbid I'd ever tell people what they're allowed or not allowed to criticize. At the end of the day, it's a Netflix remake. Seriously, who expected perfection?

The problem is that so much of the criticism ultimately boils down to the fact that... it's not the cartoon. That, twenty years later, someone dared to look at these characters and events a little differently. Seriously, I've seen dozens, if not hundreds, of the most absurdly nitpicky complaints about this show, complaints I genuinely never expected to see, and it's honestly baffling.

Sometimes it feels like these people would've only been satisfied if the original cartoon had been recreated shot-for-shot with actors who looked exactly like the animated designs (seriously, have you seen the disgusting comments about the actress playing Mai?) and, naturally, with endless glorification of Aang as a character.

Meanwhile, we have the leaked animated movie from this year, which, in my opinion, treated its main cast (everyone except Aang, of course - Aang is Bryke's golden boy, he always gets special treatment) far worse, featured a questionable script and a highly unoriginal conflict. The only thing I genuinely wanted to praise was the visual style, though even that wasn't without its issues, since it completely erased what made some characters visually distinctive (yes, my poor Katara, I'm looking at you)

And yet it never received anything close to the level of hatred NATLA gets. People shrugged, called it mediocre, and moved on. NATLA, on the other hand, isn't afforded that luxury. Every single minute of it gets dissected, and every attempt to deviate from canon is treated like a crime.

So if you want Zutarians to join in that kind of criticism of NATLA...

No thanks. I'll pass.

P.S. If you think I don't particularly like Aang, you're right. I've grown so exhausted by the constant glorification and idealization of him that I judge him far more critically than I do the average shonen protagonist he reminds me of.

I'm not going to apologize for that.

Hopefully I attached the images correctly so the credits display properly🫰🏻