#autistic!zuko

The Waterbending Master: The Sun Warriors aren't the only culture in ATLA drawing inspiration from the Mayans—the grandiose icy architecture of the NWT does too, described in the script as a blend between the Venice Canals and an ancient Mayan city.

Out of the mist, the NORTHERN WATER TRIBE is revealed. It is a giant ice city, several miles wide. Its architecture looks like a cross between an ancient Mayan city and the watery canals of Venice. Looming over the city are giant ICE CLIFFS from which the city was originally built. (STORYBOARD NOTE: The following sequence should visually pay off what the kids have been waiting to see all season.)

Tales of Ba Sing Se (A): Zuko telling Jin she has “quite the appetite for a girl” was . . . his attempt at cheering her up with a compliment. Very smooth.

Zuko instantly turns angry.

ZUKO (yelling): She is not my girlfriend!

The whole restaurant goes quiet. Everyone stares at Jin and Zuko's table. The waiter looks at Jin and rolls his eyes, then walks away. Zuko sees that Jin looks a little hurt so he tries to find something nice to say to make up for it.

ZUKO (cont'd): You have quite an appetite for a girl.

Tales of Ba Sing Se (B): The stage directions lend even more ambiguity on whether or not Jin truly knows how Zuko set off those fountain lights. She covers her eyes, “playfully peeks through her fingers”, then covers her eyes again? Does she peek again? Mysterious.

Jin leads Zuko towards a magnificent fountain, which sits on top of a hill overlooking the city. Zuko seems a bit more comfortable now that they are outside and alone.

JIN (cont'd): I can't believe it! They aren't lit.

Jin touches Zuko's arm. He can tell how disappointed she is, and for the first time all night he knows what he needs to do.

[some parts of the interaction I forgot to write down]

Jin covers her eyes but playfully peeks through her fingers.

She covers her eyes. Zuko quickly surveys the area to make sure that no one is around. Then he does a simple Firebending move and makes a sweeping motion. The lamps ignite sequentially like dominoes, creating the magical image Jin expected.

(Oh! Also, one more bonus; Zuko is more comfortable later on during his date with Jun specifically because they are outside and alone. The script also repeatedly describes Zuko as overwhelmed by his surroundings and the dating situation he is in. Autistic!Zuko headcanoners, make with that what you will.)

The Awakening: The script itself says Katara is triggered when Hakoda defends Aang's decision to leave.

HAKODA: Maybe that's his way of being brave.

This triggers something in Katara, and she BLOWS UP at her dad.

KATARA: It's not brave, it's selfish and stupid! We could be helping him. And I know the world needs him, but doesn't he know how much we need him too? How could he just leave us behind?!

A long beat as the meaning of this sinks in for Hakoda. He looks down… feeling a great burden of guilt.

The Boiling Rock, Part 1 (A):Suki canonically panics when Sokka attempts to kiss her donning the garb of a Fire Nation guard. Does this say she didn't expect this type of interaction with a CO, or did Sokka set off her pre-existing trigger? Either way—that poor girl.

SUKI: What is it? Did I do something wrong?

SOKKA: (coy) You mean, you don't recognize me?

SUKI: (shrugs) You people all look the same to me.

SOKKA: Oh? Then maybe you'll recognize this…

Reminiscent of 2.12, Sokka leans in for a kiss, but Suki panics and punches him in the gut. Sokka rolls to the ground and his helmet falls off.

The Boiling Rock, Part 1 (B): The touch of Avatar physics hilarity where Chit Sang is too dumb to understand heat conduction was only added during production. Here's how he gets caught red-handed in the original script:

Chit Sang picks up the window and dips it into the water with a loud “PLOP”.

We go dramatically close to a cobra-bat resting on a guard tower. We hear the “plop” echo as the cobra-bat's huge ears FLAP open. It opens its eyes and CAWS loudly. Various tower guards now turn and see the fugitives in the water.

The Fortuneteller: In the moment where Katara makes the connection between Madame Wu's prophecy and Aang being “a powerful bender”, her thought process is purposefully ambiguous—it's unclear what she makes of this.

SOKKA: Nothing. Just that Aang is one powerful bender.

KATARA: I suppose he is.

-not even related to his scar/abuse, sometimes he would just rather not be touched, sokka understands and they communicate when a day isn’t a good touch day.

-Zuko has stims he doesn’t even notice most of the times but Sokka always does. He pays close attention to if it’s just an absent minded stim like wanting to concentrate or one being brought on by bad emotions.

-I can definitely see Zuko shaking his hands and standing on his tiptoes when he’s excited.

-he has a special interest in theater and now that he’s surrounded with a loving family he can talk about it freely for how ever long he wants to. Sokka doesn’t really get it but will never decline listening to him ramble or going to see a play with him.

However, I keep thinking about the fact that Zuko grew up immersed in a toxic abusive environment, the same toxic environment that produced Ozai and Iroh and Azula, and yet he never learned the rules of that environment.

Ozai and Azula know the rules, accept the rules, and play by those rules. Iroh does not necessarily accept the rules of his environment and culture, especially as an older man, but he knows how to operate within those rules. He remains a respected figure for those around him- even as he cultivates knowledge of other cultures, hides the remaining dragons, forms relationships with the White Lotus, etc.

Zuko never learns the rules or social expectations, even though he has been exposed to them since birth. He speaks out and tries to show off for his grandfather, even when he should know that it will only win him the ire and irritation of the men in the room. He falls for Azula’s manipulations over and over. He never manages to learn how to impress his father. He speaks out in a war meeting, when anyone else might have been able to tell him the consequences. He begs for mercy from his father when it will only make him look worse. He goes on the Avatar hunt and takes it seriously, not realizing that his father never intends for him to return.

Zuko is traumatized, absolutely. But that doesn’t mean Zuko isn’t also autistic. And his failure to absorb the social rules of the culture around him is not only a big sign that he could be autistic, but it also likely contributed to the amount of abuse and trauma he experienced. Like too many autistics with PTSD, his autism would have caused him to be a prime candidate for victimization for the cruel people in his life.

happy stims: hand flapping, bouncing, rocking

passive stims: pacing, leg bouncing, hair twirling (which is why he likes to keep it long), tapping