#zukaang thoughts

[chocomd]

ATLA rewatch: The Storm

Holy crap the parallels between Aang and Zuko in this episode are really hitting deep!!

The episode starts out with beautiful weather and clear skies (not counting Aang's nightmare in the beginning), with no sign of a storm on the horizon. Just like how in the past, the events that would overturn Aang's and Zuko's lives would come suddenly and out of nowhere.

Then we get Aang fearful of the prospect of an impending storm and running away when the fisherman accuses him of abandoning the world, while Zuko wants to plow through and almost ends up dueling his own lieutenant over the issue of respect (until Iroh breaks them up).

When the flashbacks begin, Aang is playing with the other Air Nomad kids, and Zuko wants to join the meeting in the war room and Iroh lets him in. Both are in their usual, everyday settings and nothing seems out of place. Although there are hints that not everything is hunky dory, like Aang being the only master airbender among the kids and Zuko wanting to enter the war room without being explicitly permitted or expected to be there in the first place.

And then the events that lead to their emotional isolation. Aang being told that he's the Avatar, and being set apart by the monks as their savior and being left out from games by the other kids because he's now out of their league. Zuko watching in horror as a general proposes sacrificing an entire division to achieve a greater goal, and speaking out among the men leading the war with an objection that they do not share.

The consequences: The monks decide to send Aang away to make his isolation complete; the Fire Lord isolates Zuko even further by ordering him to fight an Agni Kai against (so Zuko believes) one of the very people in the group among whom he most wished to be accepted.

And what results afterwards is disastrous. Aang overhears the monks and runs away, only to be swallowed up by the storm and wake up one hundred years later in a world where his people no longer exist. Zuko discovers that he is to duel his own father, and submits to him in a sign of respect, which at this point Ozai deems to be the wrong response and burns his face and banishes Zuko until he finds the Avatar - a hopeless and impossible task.

Both Aang and Zuko have lost everything, and not only that - they place the blame on themselves, which gives rise to a deep sense of shame and also anger and intense emotional reactions whenever further loss is threatened (Aang with losing Katara and Appa; Zuko obsessed with regaining his honor through capturing the Avatar).

But when the literal storm worsens, both of them relive the events that led to their isolation in the first place. Aang goes out into the storm again, this time not to run away, but to save someone who needs him (the episode opens with a nightmare about his friends and his people saying "We need you, Aang," which is also repeated by Gyatso in a flashback). Zuko, who Lt. Jee accused of only caring about himself, climbs a ladder to rescue the helmsman from falling.

The storm slams Aang and his friends under the water, just like the time he ran away - but this time, he is able to save himself AND them. Zuko spots Aang flying over the ship, and he has the opportunity to go after him, but instead of risking the lives of his crew to achieve the greater goal of capturing the Avatar, he lets him go. And it's only after Aang and Zuko have redeemed or have vindicated their past actions in this way that they enter the eye of the storm, a place of calm that finally offers relief. And it's in this place where things are set right that Aang and Zuko exchange their first look that isn't one of hostility - they are seeing each other, really seeing each other for the first time.

#the storm gets its own post because it's so 🤌 #I wrote a meta I guess 😅 #and yes it's very zukaang #the storm #zukaang thoughts #zukaang #chocomd rewatches atla

[theavatarandthefirelord]

zukaang for the ask game

Thanks for the ask, anon! Also you made my day because I rbed the ask game (both here and on @chocomd) really really hoping that someone would ask me about Zukaang 😂

001 | send me a ship and I will tell you:

when I started shipping it if I did:

I'm pretty new to the Zukaang ship, but I've loved their relationship ever since I first watched ATLA in 2021. Then I got into fandom mostly for Kataang, but Zukaang always pulled at me. After a while I could see Aang and Zuko together romantically, but I never quite shipped them...until I started writing Zukaang into fic. The first time was in a Kataang fic, when they were so close (but still only friends) that people mistook them for a couple. And then last month I wrote a short fic, Nebulous Roads, that actually WAS romantic Zukaang...and yeah I became obsessed. It's like I've been peering over the edge at Zukaang for the longest time and someone finally pushed me in 😂

my thoughts:

Every enemies-to-lovers ship wants what Zukaang has!!! I'm not even talking about the infamous z.tara...I'm talking any ship, any fandom. Narrative foils who are uniquely isolated in their lonely destinies, connected to each other spiritually, antagonists even in their past lives, destined to meet again as enemies only to heal the world as friends, each one bearing scars that carry such emotional baggage, they give each other hope even while they're enemies, the way they are perfectly yin and yang...ugh I could go on.

So I find a lot of enemies-to-lovers ships not very compelling because the "enemies" part is either watered down or they hate each other so much that the ship isn't convincing (to me), plus I need more than chemistry to ship a pair. But Aang and Zuko were truly enemies and the animosity between them wasn't watered down (Zuko sincerely did try to harm or kill Aang lmao), but they grew to see each other as something more and were actually drawn to each other, and their path to becoming friends in canon is done so amazingly well. And while some of their romantic tension comes from their chemistry as antagonists, it's WAY more than just "argue/fight then kiss because I think you're hot." Anyway, enemies-to-lovers generally isn't my thing, but wow does it work for Zukaang!

What makes me happy about them:

The healing that Aang and Zuko find in each other. The rupture between them started with Roku and Sozin and with the Fire Nation wiping out the Air Nomads, and ends with Aang and Zuko finally closing that rift and bringing peace to the world together. Plus all of the trauma they both went through in their own lives mirrors the other like yin and yang mirror each other (and yet they each possess a piece of the other), and the way they find healing in each other makes my heart ache in the best way 🥺

What makes me sad about them:

That it's challenging for them to openly be together in the canon ATLA world (which I am very attached to since the canon story is what drew me into the fandom in the first place). Even if Kataang and Maiko didn't exist, there would be major political consequences if the post-war world found out that the Avatar and the Fire Lord were in a relationship. Plus there's the fact that Zuko needs to continue his family line, and Aang would need to find a way to bring back the airbenders (although I can see him giving up that particular task to the universe to figure out). I'm also very attached to Kataang, my other ATLA otp, and I don't love the idea of cheating in either relationship, so a world where both Kataang and Zukaang might exist would be very complicated...although I do have a solid idea for a fic that includes both ships (and it's not Zutaraang lol).

things done in fanfic that annoys me:

Not something that annoys me exactly, but a lot of fics seem to focus on Aang being there for Zuko's needs, and less so the other way around. And I get that, because Zuko is kind of a mess lmao. But Aang is human before he is anything else, and he has suffered both emotional isolation and unimaginable loss. Relationships aren't transactional, but I have a hard time seeing Aang in a romantic relationship with someone unless his own emotional needs are met as well - and I would love to see more of this in fic!

things I look for in fanfic:

I love fics that explore Aang and Zuko's connection in a way that pulls on the things that make Zukaang...Zukaang. I love their intensity, their tenderness, the history between them that stretches from the present and all the way back into the past one hundred years, how they can't stay away from each other even if they tried.

I also love fics that aren't afraid to explore the things that make their relationship complicated. What does it mean for the Avatar, the last airbender, to be in a relationship with the Fire Lord, the scion of the dynasty that committed the Air Nomad genocide and started a worldwide war? This would make for a lovely political and social mess, at the very least. And what about the fact that Zuko was indirectly involved in Aang's death in CoD and sent an assassin after him to make sure he stayed dead? There's so much to explore even with this point alone - how would the past haunt them while they're still figuring out their relationship? Or even when they've been together for years? (Btw I'm firmly in the camp that Zuko really was That Bad because his character needs that for his redemption and for the ATLA story to work.)

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: 

Aang with Katara; Zuko with Mai (or Jet, though it probably wouldn't last lol)

My happily ever after for them:

Hmmm...for those who know my taste in stories and fic, I am very ok with not having a happy ending and sometimes that's what I prefer. HOWEVER. My happy ending for Zukaang is that their relationship in the canon ATLA world would be complicated and they can't fully be together (because we're following canon here). But after they both die, they are reincarnated, and 1000 years later they find each other again - not as the Avatar and the Fire Lord, but as two people without such heavy expectations riding on their shoulders, who can freely share their lives together at last. (This is happy I guess? But sad before it gets happy? 😅)

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

They would take turns being the big spoon! I ship them when they're older, so Aang is a little taller and loves being the cuddler. Sometimes it's Zuko, especially when he just wants the reassurance of holding Aang in his arms 🥺

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

They would get into some silly shenanigans 😂 Like riding an air scooter together with their eyes covered or have dumb contests like "bet you can't do this without bending" lmaooo

send me an ask about a ship or character, or 5 characters you want me to rank!

#ask game #anon ask #chocomd answers #zukaang #I did not mean for this get so long lmao #too many thoughts I guess 😅 #zukaang thoughts

[woodlaflababab]

Iroh says Aang gives Zuko hope and like, 10/10, love that

But I feel like the mirror of this is overlooked alot, or at least I don't see a lot of talk abt it.

Zuko is Aang's hope.

Zuko is the representation of the enemy, but Aang knows he's also just a kid, or teenager, like Aang, and he's someone who reminds Aang of Kuzon, one of his best friends. To Aang, Zuko is everything the fire nation is to him, something familiar and dear to his heart that's been twisted almost beyond recognition.

If Aang can see good in Zuko, if Aang can bring the good out from Zuko, then there is hope for the rest of the firenation. In his day, the fire nation people were friends, and in the modern day, they are enemies. If he can be friends with Zuko, that means there's hope that he can have just a piece of his old world back, even if it looks a little different.

Aang can never go back. He can never get his old family back, he can't truely revive what was lost, only preserve it with hopes it can be revived in the future. He can't undo geological changes, he can't rewrite history, but there's one thing of his old world he hopes he can still have, and that is friendship that trancends borders and cultures.

Nobody represents that more than Zuko, the person who Aang wants to be friends with like the old days, but cannot because of the war. Being friends with Zuko, a blatent act of defiance against the war and all it has changed and damaged, is the biggest connection Aang gets to the world he once knew since he got frozen in the iceberg.

Aang gives Zuko hope, but Zuko is Aang's hope.

#this was supposed to be short #why am I incapable of having short zukaang thoughts #zukaang #but also platonically #atla #zukaang talks #talks #woodlaflababab

[hellixo-dev]

thinking about their push and pull...the yin and yang. zuko is battling his internal self and for most of the series, he has lost his way, yet he ended up there by doing a selfless act.

thinking about how Aang chooses to stop his journey and help those in need where he can, until tragedy stuck. he had begun to stray down the same path, but had Katara to pull him back in.

throughout the series, there is always a part of Zuko that we would assign to Aang, and there is always a part of Aang that is so close to pushing everyone out and recklessly trying to forge his own path like Zuko did.

#zuko and aang #atla #atla zuko #atla aang #atla thoughts #zukaang #is it gay to #not explicitly romantic but iykyk #zuko #aang #prince zuko #avatar show #avatar aang #avatar

[thethiefandtheairbender]

—Aang, The Blue Spirit

#a zukaang edit from me in 2024?? who would've thought #zukaang #atlaedit #my edits #zukaangedit #otp: kindred spirits #aanglove

[doodlaang]

A day full of annoying meetings :)

#aang #aanglove #zuko #zukaang #i didnt wanna shade anymore AND i tried a new brush THOUGHTS ON THE THIN LINE BRUSH???

[gotticalavera]

High School! Zukaang - Valentine's Day

Zuko decided to give him chocolates for the day, he's just coming to terms with his feelings for him, but... Aang's locker is full of candy and gifts.

Every time he gets a chance to give him the chocolates, someone interrupts them with a bigger and flashier gift for Aang. This makes him more and more upset.

At the end of the day, he hasn't given him the chocolates and Aang has bags full of gifts. Zuko no longer wants to give Aang the chocolates because he accidentally ruined them because he was upset.

When Zuko wants to go on his way, Aang stops him and hands him some homemade chocolates, he too has wanted to deliver him chocolates all this time. Surprised and excited, he also hands the chocolates to Aang and he eats them, realizing that they are the first chocolates Aang has eaten even though he has many.

After that, both of them promise what gift they will give to the other on the White Day.

#Of course this is another ZukAang school AU... #I like the idea that the two of them are outstanding students but in different ways... #This AU takes place in a traditional Fire Nation academy school... #why is Aang there?... It's a punishment #Obviously Zuko didn't like it... first week and he already had half the school eating out of his palm... #He thought Aang was an arrogant airhead... The classic idiotic popular guy... #But... he is a good boy... over time they become friends and then falling in love begins... #A slow burn with plenty of potential and cliché... #Of course Zuko also received chocolates from other people... #But Aang (from past experiences) always delivers his chocolates at departure time when no one is around... #Aang actually likes dark chocolate better and Zuko knows it. #And Zuko prefers milk chocolate and Aang knows it... #avatar the last airbender #avatar aang #fire lord zuko #zuko x aang #aang x zuko #zukaang #aang love #aanglove

[finn0cchio]

i made them a playlist.

god what am i doing with my life?

#zukaang #they consume my every waking thought #dont steal the caption of the playlist i thought very hard about that #you don't understand them like i do #yes i put thank you for the venom by mcr what about it.

[blackcathjp]

that one scene in book 2 where azula is chasing aang and zuko jumps out of nowhere and yells, "BACK OFF AZULA, HE'S MINE!"

despite giving up and being mia for a few months now, he's still obsessed about capturing the avatar... JEEZ the idea of being sooo possessive and staking a claim over someone in the predator vs. prey sense even after all this time. made me think of drarry ngl

fighting someone just to be the only one allowed to chase your prey... that is sooo drarry like only draco's allowed to harass and tease harry, only harry's allowed to stalk draco. reminds me of that one line in far from the tree where harry's like "you're so possessive... it’s like you want to be the only person who was ever cruel to me" LIKE!!

#LISTEN... #i like the zukaang dynamic and relationship development #predator-prey to “you saved me but we're still not friends” to reluctant teammates to besties who act like they've always been bros #idk about them in a romantic sense but i see the appeal #tho i love how aang is so touchy feely with zuko it's like “hey! mr. touch-deprived w/ no friends! be my friend!” #grumpy vs. sunshine.. so true #atla #zukaang #harry potter #drarry #thoughts

[shiraiza]

“I’m just very suspicious of giant glowing eggs sitting on pedestals!”

Bonus:

#atla #atlaedit #avataredit #avatar the last airbender #zuko #aang #zukaang #atla gifs #gifs #atla: book 3 #ch: gaang #r: aang and zuko #ch: fire royalty #you can actually see the lack of thought behind zukos eyes here

[nightowl1556]

I don't think some people realize how majestic and beautiful post-war Zukaang can be....

#just voicing out some thoughts #zukaang #zuko x aang #aang x zuko #avatar the last airbender #atla #atla aang #atla zuko

[chocomd]

This might be a stretch, but is it coincidence that by the end of The Swamp, Aang reaches a place of spiritual enlightenment (banyan tree) and gains a higher understanding of himself and the world, while Zuko dons the disguise of a malevolent spirit (Blue Spirit mask) and sinks to lower depths?

#chocomd rewatches atla #the swamp #zukaang thoughts #zukaang

[talesofwindandfire]

Springtime in the Fire Nation

hey y’all so I was going through my old documents last night and found this little zukaang ficlet written (funnily enough) from Ty Lee’s pov that I do NOT remember writing lol... anyways it’s kinda cute so I thought I’d share <3

***

The doors to the Fire Lord’s studio were pushed open, and Suki and Ty Lee entered breezily, as they did every morning. The sun shone in through the high arching windows, which had been flung open, the palace’s tall stone pillars casting long shadows across the floor. The warm buzz of nature wafted in through the spacious room, the fresh early morning smell of dew overwhelming Ty Lee’s senses. It was springtime in the Fire Nation, and the fire lilies growing just outside the Fire Lord’s office exploded forth with bloom, almost seeming to bend and grow in her direction, to greet her personally and bless her day.

Which is to say, all these things momentarily distracted Ty Lee from seeing the real scene of interest that was being played out in front of her.

Zuko was sitting behind his desk in his Fire Lord regalia, minus the armor and crown, idly shuffling through a stack of papers. When he noticed their entrance, he gave a slight smile and nod in their direction.

“Hello Suki, Ty Lee.”

“Good morning, Zuko,” Suki smiled back and gave a quick bow, nodding to the Avatar after, who was perched on the windowsill directly behind Zuko, slender fingers buried in the Fire Lord’s long hair. “And to you too, Aang.”

“Yes, good morning Zuko and Aang,” Ty Lee said, with a certain sort of emphasis on how good their morning looked from where she was standing. Zuko’s golden gaze lifted from his paperwork to meet her own, his expression mostly inscrutable. But after their brief moment of eye contact, a slight rosy color rose to Zuko’s cheeks, and he turned his attention back to his papers sheepishly. Ty Lee could’ve done a no-handed backflip with how happy she was to have caught Zuko out like this. She was like a mischievous child who had just caught her brother with his hand in the cookie jar. 

Aang was none the wiser, giving them both that huge bright grin of his. “Morning, Kyoshi Warriors! Beautiful day today, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is! Especially what you’re doing with Zuko’s hair. It’s really beautiful!” Ty Lee giggled with delight, which Suki quickly joined in on.

Zuko scowled halfheartedly at them, while Aang beamed with the praise of his hard work. The Avatar’s lemur crawled up onto his shoulder from some unseen place, chittering noisily while it dumped a handful of red and yellow flowers onto Zuko’s head, which Aang then began braiding into the silk curtain of black hair. A small red blossom floated gracefully down onto the paper Zuko was pretending to read, and he gave a long-suffering sigh.

“Aang, you do know I have an important meeting to attend today, right?”

“I know,” Aang grinned, finishing the braid he was working on and then carefully untangling Momo’s little hands from fistfuls of dark hair. “That’s why you have to look your best!” 

Zuko’s eyes met Ty Lee’s again, and she gave him her biggest, most cheeriest grin. She really was happy for him; after everything that had happened between him and Mai, it was nice to see him finally starting to move on. And who would’ve thought- to see the two of them like this! The Avatar and the Fire Lord, sneaking around the palace and making goo-goo eyes at each other like two lovesick pandapuppies, falling in love as they rebuilt the world they had saved together... Oh, how the serendipity touched her heart! Or maybe it was actually fate that brought them together- after all, the universe was always moving all of their lives in strange and mysterious ways!

And even with cosmic intervention aside, members of the Fire Nation royal family would never let just anyone touch their hair like this, which only she and Zuko were likely aware of. That was probably why Zuko was acting so cute and embarrassed now that she and Suki were in the room, but she couldn’t deny that his aura was positively glowing! Zuko’s expression slowly softened as they exchanged looks, and a fond, wordless sentiment passed between them, in which Ty Lee felt nothing but warmth and gratitude to the divine spirits of creation for bringing them all together in ways even she could have never imagined. 

“Aang’s right, Zuko,” Suki was saying, a playful teasing edge to her voice. “You want to make a good impression with the Earth Kingdom dignitaries, don’t you?”

“Ugh. Stop encouraging him, you two.” Zuko grumbled, but he was still smiling as his left hand came up to rest on Aang’s knee. “Seriously though, can you brief them for me? I have to finish going over these policy reforms before the Earth nobles arrive.”

“Of course,” Aang hummed as he took the gold flaming hairpiece Momo swiped from the desk and handed to him, securing it in Zuko’s topknot. Then he leapt from his spot on the windowsill, the gust of wind that he summoned to assist him ruffling Zuko’s hair and the edges of their green robes as Aang landed gently in front of them, with all the grace and agility of the last Airbender. “Let’s go, ladies!”

#short but sweet #i think this is the only writing of mine i've ever shared here lol #i just thought it was adorable #zukaang #zuko #aang #my post #fic

[woodlaflababab]

Thinking about Zuko's influence on the audience's perception of Aang, specifically in Book 1. I kinda touched on it in this post but that post is pure unsorted rambling in which I didn't get to delve as deep as I wanted. Anyway, the relevent part was:

"With this whole episode, it's just the fact that Zuko is the reason we first get to see just how fucking cool Aang is. It's so easy to be like the others in the show and see Aang for his childish antics and sweet nature, but Zuko is the one that consistently reminds us, “No, this is the Avatar. He's powerful, he's brave, he's fiercely protective, and he deserves respect and acknowledgment for that.”"

Like, I mean, the point is redundant, everyone knows they are foils, so I'm not saying anything ground breaking when I say Zuko is often the one who brings out the best in Aang and encourages him to embrace being the avatar and that a lot of Aang's strongest charater moments are because of Zuko, yada yada, okay, we know, zukaang meta 101, nobody wants to hear it

But also, Zuko's opinion of Aang is so interestingly different from everyone else's. We get a view of Aang from the pov of himself, in which we see his doubts and struggles, the pov of the gaang, through which we see his antics and improvement and flaws. We also understand the opinion of the Fire Nation abt Aang (pure threat that's weirdly small), and we get plenty on the different opinions of the rest of the world.

If you took out Zuko's reactions to Aang, you'd feel like you know pretty much all there is to know about Aang. But to Zuko, Aang is an ever present mystery. The gaang doesn't really question anything abt Aang except what he can do and the rest of their enemies don't care to know things about Aang

But Zuko does. To Zuko, Aang is a source of constant questions, and this is sometimes played as a joke (i.e. "He must be a master of evasive maneuvering." to "You have no idea where we're going, do you?") and sometimes it hits the very core of Zuko's being and changes the course of the plot, (i.e. The Blue Spirit)

Zuko is unique because, to everyone else, Aang is one of two things. A Hero, or An Threat. He is neither to Zuko.

Zuko has no desire to defeat Aang. Aang is not a Threat to him. Hell, as Iroh says, Aang actively gives Zuko hope. But Aang is also not a Hero or ally.

He is neither a protagonist or an antagonist in Zuko's story. He's a goal. And that's such a unique perspective that allows us to question who Aang is from a neutral standpoint. Who is this person who effortlessly escapes trouble while having no idea what he's doing? Who is this person who saves someone they defeated? Who is this person who looks at an enemy and says 'you remind me of my best friend'?

Who else makes us ask these questions?

Through Zuko we, or at least I, see Aang as more than a person, and more than a hero, but as this unconventional conundrum that defies expectation at every turn, baffling and beautiful. Aang is so much more than your conventional hero and nobody sees or shows us that more than Zuko.

My favorite way to look at Aang is through Zuko's eyes.

#zukaang #atla #you know what other stories have a character whos 'a goal' to the protagonist #romances #im just saying #zukaang talks #talks #just came off a long shift #so Im not entirely sure this makes sense #but I cant sleep with zukaang thoughts #woodlaflababab

[hellixo-dev]

trying not to get into actual shipping discourse but I am getting really really really really sick of people spamming “literally brothers” on everything related to Zuko and Aang.

for comparison, imagine if people said “wow they’re sisters” on the clip of Ty Lee teaching Azula how to flirt, or “wow brothers” about the (classic) scene with Zukka on the air balloon. I’m not critical of either ship, but I know that the shippers would (rightfully tbh) push back. Yet if Zukaangers push back on “LITERALLY BROTHERS” it’s a problem.

If you don’t like Zukaang, it makes you uncomfortable, or just like them platonically (all of which is great and fine!) , please please just call them best friends. That’s what they LITERALLY are in canon. Neither ATLA or Korra did a “no homo” zukaang by calling them “brothers”. why is the fandom doing it?

#I must stop thinking about this #shipping discourse #zukaang #atla #atla thoughts #we getting bold

[biconickyoshi]

My late submission for the Zukaang bingo from earlier this week!

My intention was to cover both the “Festival” and “Ceremony” prompts - I thought a lantern festival would be a good fit! I was inspired by that one Wangxian scene from The Untamed (for the MDZS fans out there) ☺️

This ended up turning into a much bigger project than I initially anticipated because I got super invested in it and wanted to try out different coloring styles lol. I’m quite happy with how it came out! The lantern lighting was a lot of fun to do.

#zukaangbingo2024 #zukaang #atla #aang #zuko #avatar the last airbender #aang x zuko #zuko x aang #avatar aang #fire lord zuko