#blind zuko

[muffinlance]

Wait wait wait BLIND ZUKO?!?!?! Why is this the first time hearing about it??????????? This obviously a major error on my part…but I am little confused…what is a sensitivity reader? are they like a beta reader, but someone who belongs to the blind community(is even calling it a community OK I don’t know how else to refer to it😅)? someone to make sure that what your writing is accurate??? Please educate me!!!

Basically that, yep. Sensitivity readers are a reasonably common practice in Serious Face fiction (...among writers and publishers who care about getting things right), but definitely not common in fanfiction, so it's no surprise if you haven't heard the term before--they're people from whatever group who are good at helping writers spot and correct when they're using harmful tropes related to the group(s) they're a part of (and offering suggestions to make things read more authentically).

Since people tend to spin off AUs of my fics (which is awesome and continues up be encouraged), I am putting in an effort to not totally screw up the Blind Zuko rep. Of all fandoms, Avatar should absolutely be a place blind fans can find themselves represented in and welcomed by.

On a related note, insert PSA here encouraging all Avatar artists and rebloggers of Avatar art to write alt text/image IDs. They're quick to write and they mean the world to the people who need them. Do it for Toph.

#on an equally related note I only reblog art that has ids. so if you want to get reblogged you know what to do. #my sensitivity reader is on Tumblr and regularly posts excellent writing advice so I'm very excited to be working with them #but I haven't actually cleared with them whether they want their name publicly associated with this #So no name for now #Fingers crossed for nothing huge on the outline level #Though I'm fully expecting a million little issues on the chapter by chapter level #Blind Zuko #avatar the last airbender #atla

[kukya]

Blind Zuko AU! TW: Graphic depiction of a scar I've recently read a nice fanfic on this topic (I believe it is this one, but I've read a couple more so I'm not sure...) and felt urge to draw my boy with a bigger scar. And had some fun :^) I drew this lil palm to imagine how the burn would spread and ended up liking it a lot, so there it is

ID in the ALT of the last picture

#atla #zuko #avatar #art #zuko fanart #avatar the last airbender #scar #atla zuko #prince zuko #zuko scar #tw burns #kukyaart #blind zuko #atla au #blind zuko au

[dapperenby13]

Tw: eye pulling

I’ve been so bored recently, please send me sketch requests, I have nothing else to do

#my art #fanart #tts #tts varian #toh vee #Toh #atla #avatar zuko #blind zuko #mai avatar #monster high #valentine monster high #frankie stein #bsd #kunikida doppo #yosano akiko #pjo hoo toa #nico di angelo #hazel levesque #colored sketch #sketches #digital sketch #eye sketch #platonic maiko #atla maiko

[just-the-celestial-lights]

Zvtara shippers: GUYS LOOK AT ALL THE ZVTARA BAIT THEY’RE DROPPING!! IT’S DEFINITELY GONNA BE CANON THIS TIME!!!

Zukka in the corner:

#ITS A GREAT DAY IN ZUKKA NATION #like it was literally posted by the OFFICIAL NETFLIX TWT ACCT #zvtara warriors are so blind i almost feel bad for picking on them #even Toph would be able to see it #i don’t expect zukka to be canon #but if we’re going off bait alone #well… #natla #zukka #sokka #zuko #ian ousley #dallas liu

[theweeklydiscourse]

No, actually. It is not “shaming Katara’s femininity” or her “maternal traits” to critique the ways in which her character was relegated to a the passive role of the Avatar’s grieving widow and largely ignored by the narrative post-ATLA. Oh my god, we are not “degrading” Katara by pointing out the sexist implications of how her character was handled and to suggest such a thing is just so…infuriating and very revealing of the underlying sexism in the fandom.

No thoughts, just people endlessly glorifying Katara’s maternal tendencies without bothering to question or investigate the adverse effects of her parentification. Apparently anyone who criticizes the writing of Katara’s character is just denigrating “traditional femininity” and THEY are the true misogynists! Not the male writers or viewers who consistently minimize Katara’s significance to the narrative and mock fans who ship her with anyone other than Aang.

Not at all, really we should just accept the conditions of the narrative uncritically and never question the biases of the creators. How dare we criticize them and point out the underlying sexism in their writing?

#pro katara #atla discourse #it’s making me insane and you would not believe the fury a certain TikTok evoked from me #these people HATE HATE HATE to see any logic in the critiques provided by zutara fans because they are so blinded by their desire to consume #the show completely uncritically. #Good lord some of these fans are SO misogynistic and yet we’re the ones who get called *problematic* for shipping zutara #avatar the last airbender #avatar zuko #avatar #zutara #pro zutara #atla critical #atla #atla netflix

[comradekatara]

katara’s fatal flaw when it comes to politics and also just general communication is that she cannot fathom why anyone would wish to act in a cruel manner and knowingly harm others, whereas sokka’s is that he does not understand how people can be willfully ignorant or even just plain dumb. it’s why sokka is always having to point out to katara that someone is a malicious actor who is taking advantage of her compassion and idealism (jet, hama, aunt wu, etc) because he knows that not everyone has pure, altruistic intentions, but he also doesn’t understand that king kuei isn’t just sheltered, he is also straight up an idiot (or that hahn isn’t just arrogant, he is also incompetent, etc etc) until it’s too late.

#katara assumes that everyone knows they ought to conduct themselves compassionately #whereas sokka assumes that everyone knows they ought to conduct themselves rationally #like in their minds (respectively) that it what is in everyone’s best interest at all times #and sokka’s ‘rationality’ is compassionate in nature #but he also acknowledges that other people mind find it in their best interest to be selfish #and conduct themselves accordingly #while katara always just sees the best in people #and is pretty unforgiving if they ‘mess up’ despite herself not being a perfect beacon of compassion #(she can be selfish myopic etc) #same goes for sokka perceiving himself as rational but also just. having a huge blind spot when it comes to his self esteem & daddy issues #(family issues in general tbh) #which can cause him to act irrationally #and then zuko and azula have the same thing (where zuko believes in compassion and azula believes in reason) but also like. far more cynical #just because they were raised to believe in their natural superiority and it fucks with their perception of themselves and others #but zuko does have a very similar fundamental worldview to katara & azula to sokka #anyway. im off topic now #katara #sokka #katara&sokka #analysis #ish

[only-lonely-www]

So basically ATLA brain rot has hit me like a truck

#atla #avatar the last airbender #zuko #toph beifong #what happened was I was forced to watch the live action #which is actually pretty good if you get past the first few episodes #and if you don’t have someone in your ear telling you it’s awful the whole time #first episode is definitely the weakest and that’s 50% gran gran’s fault #aang and katara are also pretty flat but whatever #sokka’s good and zuko’s fantastic actually #they did goof on a few things but overall I think it’s a fun time #just don’t expect it to be as good as the cartoon and you’ll be okay #ANYWAY it got me missing toph #so i rewatched the blind bandit episode #and then wound up watching the entirety of books 2 & 3 in a few days #and now I’m brain rotted #which is especially weird considering when I first watched it I was like #yeah that was good! and then never thought about it again #i dunno what changed but i need help it’s taking over my life #wanted to draw Sokka too but he looks hard to draw #and i had enough trouble with these two #maybe someday #sorry for rambling in the tags goodbye

[kyoshi-lesbians]

aang when he says "the monks taught us" katara when she says "my grandmother used to tell me" sokka when he says "my dad" zuko when he says "my uncle" toph when. the badgermoles.

#like they all have heros & lineages that they are aiming to follow in tbe footsteps of #including when those footsteps are bucking against the lineage (iroh / zuko) #the tradgedy is that their world has been so devastated that these kids cant 'go back' #they are the masters of a new turning point #aang & katara carrying this burden the most #and then there's toph. who bucks against her family to assert her agency and establishes #a name(s) (blind bandit. the runaway) for herself . as disconcerted from her prominent lineage as she can be #in this way. her starting a metal bending school - creating a lineage of students - fits so well #i feel like if you asked older toph about where she came from #she'd tell you. a cave in a mountain with her teachers the badger moles. ykwim? #r.post

[ambriel-angstwitch]

Blue Spirit!Zuko: My hero

Kyoshi Warrior! Sokka: Would you mind giving your hero a name?

Zuko *playing dumb to avoid revealing himself*: Sure, I know lots of names. You don't have one?

Sokka: No, I do! It's Sokka! I just wanted to know yours.

Zuko: Um you can call me blue?

Sokka: That’s not what I meant and you know it

Zuko: *disappears into the rooftops*

#listen this specific brand of zukka is amazing #blue spirit x kyoshi warrior sokka #I love them #i’m obsessed #also they meet in ba sing se #i fall for it every time #zuko is kind of face blind #it wasn’t until that moment that he realized the kyoshi warrior he’d fallen for was part of the avatars group #obviously he can’t reveal himself now #sokka would hate him #atla zukka #zukka #zuko #prince zuko #sokka #sokka of the water tribe #sokka of the southern water tribe #blue spirit #kyoshi warrior sokka #blue spirit zuko #sokka avatar the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #atla zuko #atla sokka #zuko avatar #i need fics #atla #i want them to kiss #they’ve been stopping crime together #zuko just helped sokka out of a sticky situation

[bestepisode]

Vote on the second half of the season here!

Propaganda is encouraged!

Voting has closed on this round. Vote on the next poll here!

#atla #avatar the last airbender #aang #katara #sokka #zuko #toph beifong #the blind bandit #the boulder #secret tunnel #king bumi #swamp benders #azula #princess azula #atla mai #ty lee #ba sing se

[muffinlance]

After reading the tags on your latest post I was wondering if it would be possible for you to make a brief overview of the iffy tropes/details your sensitivity reader helped you pick up on? Of course it wouldn't replace doing research ourselves, but I'd love to hear about it regardless!

Have not run it by them yet because it is in no fit state for human consumption at this point; the tropes are just from reading their blog + others on Tumblr + general Internet research including the excellent "blind people walk you through normal activities from their perspective" videos on YouTube. But off the top of my head:

Face touching. Where the blind person gropes someone's face to see? Sighted people made that up. I rewrote a chapter in Towards the Sun when I realized that one. Which makes sense, because why would a blind person be any more inclined to run their hands all up in your facial juices. Eww.

Negating blindness with magic and pretty much ignoring the blindness henceforth. Which is why Zuko isn't going to learn to see with firebending. There are very interesting discussions on how Toph herself fits and doesn't fit into this trope; finding them is left as an exercise for the reader.

Token blind character, AKA only having one blind person in the narrative who represents All Blind People. Going to have a few blind NPCs running around, with various levels of sight and accommodations, to thoroughly negate this one.

Being Depressed and/or Overly Inspirational about the blindness. AKA character devotes a large chunk of the story to bemoaning their blindness, with bonus inspirational "overcoming" at the end. Think about how it would feel if the majority of characters like you spent vast word counts hating the thing that makes them like you. And then solving it, in a way you can't, so they don't have to have the tragic fate of Being Like You. ...So Zuko is not getting cured, and he's also not wasting much time wallowing in an angst puddle.

Etc.

Basically, I want this to be a story that low vision folks can read and go "that was fun and less offensive than 70% of actual media representations", and sighted people can go "that was fun and hopefully I internalized some positive things that will make me less likely to grab a blind person's arm and forcibly Help Them Cross The Road, Try To Pet Their Dog (and Get Huffy When Asked to Please Not), or Call People Out On Not Being Blind Because They Don't Fit The Stereotypes".

#I am never going to claim to be an expert on this topic #but I'm pretty sure I can do it better than 70% of writers actually getting paid to write a blind character #which says less about my research skills and more about how media favors sighted-friendly interpretations of blindness #worst story I've come across is the blind actor who didn't get a role playing a blind person #because they came off as too competent at navigating the set #surely no sighted person would believe that this actor was actually blind! #...yep #avatar the last airbender #atla #blind Zuko #no specification necessary Toph #actual low vision folks please feel free to correct anything in this post #or my stories in general #it was reader feedback that got me to fix that Towards the Sun chapter #and it is a far better chapter for it

[demaparbat-hp]

okay so, recently I was replaying a game (won't say the title since this is a minor spoiler!) and at one point a character loses an eye, and there's a section where it shows him struggling to get used to this new lack of depth perception. even though i had an OC of my own who'd lost an eye, I'd never taken something like that into consideration. and then it made me think of your Zuko – and ofc whatever other Zukos have been imagined with a blind eye (which tbh I wish they'd allowed in the show but, oh well) – and how he might have to relearn firebending to some degree in the time after he'd been wounded by Ozai.

I just woke up so I'm not sure if I even had a question lmao but it's been stuck in my head for a little bit but, I also just love fanon Zuko lore that tbh I wish had been canon??

Hello! Partially blind Zuko never ceases to amaze me whenever I see a fanart or read a fic that depicts him like that.

There's a lot to be said about the damage done to him by Ozai, and Agni knows I'm a sucker for visual metaphors. The burn leaving Zuko half blind and deaf works for me as yet another metaphor of his dual nature. A permanent consequence of his father's hand covering his face in an attempt to silence him. To keep him isolated, weak, with only half of himself able to see the world as it is. A Blue Dragon who offers him the chance to close his eyes and rest.

The new lack of depth perception and the Agni Kai flashbacks would have made firebending torture for him. Zuko was already a failure and a coward. What kind of bender is afraid of his own element? What kind of Fire Prince can't stand the sight of a flame?

Healing is a tiring process, and though he may never see or hear as fully as he once did, he now knows fire for what it truly is. Life and destruction—two halves of a whole.

#dema answers #atla #zuko #ozai #atla meta #zuko meta #partially blind zuko

[fanfic-gremlin-ft-trauma]

.

@zukki-week day four: blue spirit x Kyoshi warrior(s) shenanigans <333

#zukka #atla #zuko x sokka #zukka fanart #atla fanart #zukki #zukki fanart #sokka x zuko x suki #sukka fanart #sokka x suki #suki x zuko #zukki week 2023 #oooohhhh I was excited abt this one #I love Kyoshi warrior Sokka x blue spirit Zuko but adding suki…. literally dream come true #Ty for the zukki week op for opening my brains to the possibilities of which I was previously blind #anyway enjoy my humble delivery <3

[dapperenby13]

Just thinking about this kid

#my art #fanart #digital sketch #colored sketch #sketches #zuko #avatar zuko #Alta #half blind zuko #blind zuko #zuko fanart

[alleycatchitchat]

The new live-action ATLA looks amazing, incredible, already such an improvement over the movie. But I really hope they don't neglect the lighthearted atmosphere and comedic elements of the original show. I'm okay with a grittier, slightly darker tone because that's just natural for a live action adaptation, but LET ZUKO BE A DUMBASS and LET TOPH BE PETTY and LET AANG BE FUN-LOVING and LET SOKKA BE THE COMEDIC RELIEF

Like it's okay to aim for a different mood, just not to the point where everyone's grim and depressed and ooc

#they're kids! let them be kids! #oh yeah and momo looks horrifying #but that's ok so long as the writing is good #can't believe we live in an age with a real canon live-action zuko ponytail. truly we are blessed #atla #avatar the last airbender #avatar the last airbender live action #live action atla #atla live action #netflix atla #my zutara hopes for this series are sky-high #and lets face it. kataang looks unrealistic this time around #cant believe percy jackson and atla live action adaptions are both getting second chances that look good so far #my CHILDHOOD #really really frustrated about the whitewashing and zuko's scar. but that's a whole 'nother post #and if toph is not casted with a legally blind or AT LEAST vision-impaired actress then I will be flipping tables

[ask-ozai]

what do you think about mai and zuko being married

It would save the country. Since she left him Zuko has caused an Hyperinflation. I have always believed that being married to a woman smarter than him was the best way of straighten Zuko out. Pitifully no girl would be insane enough to marry him. But Azula told me Mai hit her head when she was a child, so maybe there's hope.

#Please someone needs to convince Zuko to fire the pre teen blind earthbender #She's the worst economy minister we have ever had #Just call Michi #ask ozai #Maiko #Mai #Zuko #ozai #atla #avatar the last airbender