Ficcer, fangirl, dork, ex-PHD student, vehement defender of transformative fandom and popular culture. And of gay hero/villain ships. Those, most of all.
The next two Avatars, from water and earth, live without ever knowing who they are.
Zuko still spoke out at the meeting, he still refused to fight his father in the Agni Kai.
Zuko was banished, and in his search to find the Avatar, earth bends.
He is the Avatar and doesn’t know what to do about it.
Okay but consider:
Zuko, punching the air: “I MUST FIND THE AVATAR!”
*rock goes flying*
Zuko, waving his arms for emphasis: “IT IS THE ONLY WAY”
*strong wind knocks over grunt in the background*
Zuko, stomping dramatically: “TO RESTORE MY HONOR!”
*deck behind zuko becomes covered in ice*
Iroh, stroking his beard: “…. hmmmmmm…”
And Iroh just decides to mess with him and just goes “Well, I suppose we should start searching” and Zuko doesn’t find out until later in the episode
Nah man, gimme a whole season of Zuko and Iroh’s hijinks as they search for the avatar and it’s Zuko the whole time. A whole season of Iroh waffling between goofy uncle and “here let me teach you about balance-” “I DON”T NEED BALANCE I NEED TO RESTORE MY HONOUR” “okay cool you do you kid i bet the avatar’s behind that rock please move it for me”
zuko saying he needs to find the avatar, when actually, he just needs to find himself is his original story arc
Ah, but you’re not thinking the two of them got exiled on their own from the Fire Nation, did you?
Prince Iroh and exiled Prince Zuko left with a contingent of sailors and military men. Said military personnel realize what is happening three days into their trip.
When wacky spirit shenanigans happen and Zuko solves it without knowing, the military lieutenant look at the commander like he’s in the office.
When Admiral Zhao takes Zuko’s ship and all his crew, and questions them, all of the crew say the same thing:
“No, Prince Zuko hasn’t found the Avatar yet.”
They say this with varying ability to keep a straight face. There’s one of them who just breaks down in helpless giggles.
“Nope,” he gets out between the giggles. “Not found. Definitely not found.”
Admiral Zhao’s men come to the conclusion that Zuko’s crew have cracked under the stress of being away from the Fire Nation so long, and especially on a mission that pretty much the whole Nation “knows” is impossible.
ATLA – Zuko & Iroh performing Kung Fu tea ceremony
This year’s first Avatar piece! In case you don’t know, Kung Fu tea (gongfu cha) with long-spouted teapots is a popular performance in many Chinese restaurants and teahouses. Thought it’d be cool to let Zuko and his uncle do this in Jasmine Dragon =)
He doesn’t manage to complete his own “mission” the way he wants. He doesn’t capture the Avatar.
But once he gets into a new group of friends, what’s the first thing he does?
HE HELPS EVERYONE ELSE COMPLETE THEIR OWN QUESTS.
He helps Aang learn fire bending. He helps Katara seek closure for her mothers death. He helps Sokka rescue his dad from prison.
Okay think about that. Zuko has a shit relationship with his own dad, but he isn’t jealous of sokka and hakoda, he doesn’t take that episode to mourn what he doesn’t have (at least not out loud). He just helps sokka out. Just
He is a bigger person than I am. mother fucking Zuko.
Zuko again! This time with three younger versions: teen, Firelord and adult look. The last piece is a doodle study for Zuko’s different looks throughout the series =)
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