WAR is OVER

but zuko is so awkward and he might be broody but i mean, wouldn't you be broody after the things he's gone through?

ZUTARA → Incorrect Quotes (3/∞)

Avatar: The Last Airbender

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1) The "I don't deserve it./ You will." exchange needs to haunt the majority of Zuko's character arc. Start when he's in the Fire Nation by having various characters bring up what Zuko 'deserves' in a flattering, indulgent way. I.e have Ozai tell Zuko he 'deserves' to be home for with all the privilages of being the Crown Prince. Then, after he joins Team Avatar, he asks Katara what he can do to earn her forgiveness only for her to reply that he doesn't deserve it. Zuko then decides to himself that, "I will." Finally, after the Southern Raiders' equivalent happens and Katara forgives Zuko, he thanks her, and she tells him he "deserves it."

2) While in the Fire Nation, Zuko should be having surreal, slightly nightmarish dreams about Katara. Have them start as memories (the Scarf Scene, their vigilante nights, the talk in the cell, and the betrayal in the catacombs) to turn into surreal and symbolic. I really liked the puppet show motiff of S2, so maybe do something like that here. I also think it should be slightly sensual. Every 16/17yo boy I've ever met has been caught in a pepetual state of either horniness or existential crisis. Let Zuko do both.

3) Since the show decided to taunt us with a hinted connection between the Painted Lady & the Blue Spirit, they need to elaborate on that. Maybe through Zuko going to see another play/puppet show? If they want to be REALLY mean, they'll have it so that the BS and the PL had a Courtly Love/Lady and her Knight type dynamic were the Blue Spirit loyally loved and protected the Painted Lady but she was always too devoted to her duty to properly love him back.

4) Have Zuko keep some painted lady flowers in his room in the palace.

5) I've got nothing much to say about Mai here (aside from that her poor actress deserves to stab her stylist with a seam ripper) since she and Ty Lee are one of the biggest sacrifices to the narrative reshuffling. A lot of the little subtleties that made them interesting side characters are lost. We know Mai likes Zuko, but there has so far been no indication of interest on Zuko's part since younger Mai isn't part of Zuko's memories. Considering it looks like the Day of Black Sun will be happening as early as episode 2, I don't think they'll have time to convince us of a Maiko relationship. At most, I think we'll see them try to go on a date and it fall flat. Still, I hope we still get Mai and Ty Lee betraying Azula, even under different circumstances, since it's a great scene and important to Azula's mental deterioration.

Now we get to the good stuff: Zuko joining Team Avatar.

6) Perhaps Zuko decides, in his awkward turtleduck brain, that it would be best to approach Katara while she's alone first. They have a history of working together, after all. It doesn't go well...

7) We're going to need some of Zutara doing a bit of mutual body admiring. I want full Kanthony vibes. And I think it should be done during bending practice. As in having Toph call out Zuko for staring while Katara practices waterbending, and have him cover it up by claiming she was only "studying her form". Then have Katara eat some eye candy while she watches Zuko (shirtless, if possible) train Aang. And it has to be early on so Katara can be angry with herself when she realizes what she is doing.

8) I think Toph should mutually bust their balls a bit. Like, have her drill Katara about what happened with Zuko in Ba Sing Se. Have her offer to drop a boulder on Zuko's head. Have her ask, at dinner, if Zuko was the guy she was sneaking out at night to see.

9) There should be some acknowledgments of the Painted Lady and the Blue Spirit team-ups, if only to clear up whether it was JUST those two times or if they teamed up more. Again, it would be fun if they had to explain this to the other members of the team. I would also like Zuko to refer to himself as Katara's sidekick. Also, somehow work in the line: "You know we work well together."

10) Zuko should try to help Katara with camp chores, only to be either brushed off or stuck with the worst chore. This could turn into a more serious, heated discussion or be used comedically.

11) I mentioned in an earlier post that I think they might combine The Puppetmaster and The Southern Raider, then set it after Zuko joins so I won't repeat it here. However, I think Zuko should get caught and bloodbended by Hama. Maybe she wants to make Zuko cut off his own head or something. Also, in the extremely unlikely chance they want to sneak in a kiss, this is a good place to do it.

- eclipses are weirdly central to the plot and thematics. Day of Black Sun, obviously, but in siege of the north, the fire nation killing the moon is stylized as a lunar eclipse.

- color symbolism is crucial in animation, especially ATLA. Fire and Water in the show exchange each other’s colors constantly. Azula’s blue firebending, Hama’s red blood bending. Needless to say, the existence of PaintedSpirit. Now that I think about it, Zuko wears blue and Katara wears red more than they need to …

- I’ve never seen it outright stated, but everyone knows this: Zuko is obviously associated with gold, but I swear Katara is canonically a silver girly. Gold / Silver aesthetic ships are such an underrated red / blue variation. I’ve forced this onto so many of my OCs

- Zuko is weirdly drawn to water. He’s a fantastic swimmer. He mimics waterbending techniques and can bend underwater. He’s even a sailor. The Sailor/Mermaid ZK trope exists for a reason.

Update Courtesy @Sruthi9018 :

I mean, it's points that OP brings up like how Zuko spends most of his exile on a ship surrounded by water, how the happiest memories of his childhood involve either the ocean or garden pond/s (feeding turtleducks and spending time with his mom), his swimming skills etc. like he is placed in conjunction with forms of water near consantly to serve his path to character growth and change (him yelling at the sky to strike him down in the rain during one of his most challenging periods of growth for ex)

- I’ll take “the healing potential of fire bending, and destructive potential of waterbending” and raise you “lightning bending and bloodbending both have the capacity to be used in medicine”

- Katara would become as much a theatre kid as Zuko if given the opportunity.

- Zuko is the only MC that matches Katara’s passion for humanitarian work and vigilante justice. He *canonically* reminds her of Jet.

Bonus Taang:

Katara’s dad being rescued, and Zuko’s mom being alive

Their other primary love interests. 830592413 parallels between Zuko and Jet, especially Zuko’s double blades and Jet’s double hooks. Zuko’s description of what he wants Mai to be more like is just Katara… Zuko and Aang probably have a literature degree thesis paper written on them somewhere…