#his firelordiness

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

I'm very curious to hear your take on Zuko as a disabled character? All of your analyses of disability in fiction have been very interesting to read so far, thank you for sharing your thoughts/expertise.

Thank you!  Follow-on from this post about Toph.

What I mean by saying Zuko is a disabled character: the social model of disability basically states that disability is any bodily difference that gets problematized and/or treated as abnormal by society.  This definition includes facial differences, AKA any scarring, skin marking, and so on that leads to staring by nondisabled society or other forms of stigma based on the person’s appearance.  Part of the reason for this inclusion is about complicating the disabled-nondisabled dichotomy; facial difference and facial scarring are identities within that framework.  Part of the reason comes from the U.S.’s history of Ugly Laws, which literally made it illegal for people with facial differences to appear in public in some cities as late as 1974.  Part of it is the huge overlap between ableism (giving more privileges to the nondisabled) and lookism (giving more privileges to the normatively beautiful).

Avatar: The Last Airbender has some high-quality anti-ableism in showing Zuko’s story, including how other characters respond to Zuko and how Zuko’s appearance informs but does not define his characterization.

One of the ways this comes out is by turning nondisabled characters’ gaze back on them:

In “The Serpent’s Pass,” Jet says to Zuko “You know, as soon as I saw your scar, I knew exactly who you were…” and then goes on to describe his almost hilariously wrong conclusion that Zuko’s a Freedom Fighter waiting to happen because Zuko’s village was presumably also destroyed by the Fire Nation.  We get to see Zuko’s moment of terror that he actually has been recognized turn into incredulity as he then gets invited to join a guerrilla force opposing everything he (currently) stands for.  Jet looks stupid for jumping to conclusions based on appearances.

In both “Zuko Alone” and “The Cave of Two Lovers,” that same jumping-to-conclusions works in Zuko’s favor, because both Song’s mother and Li’s parents assume that anyone with a burn scar must be a veteran of the fight against the Fire Nation.  Again, the emphasis is on the fact that the people judging Zuko based on his appearance are wrong.

In “The Chase,” Azula becomes the only person we ever see mock Zuko for his appearance, when she covers her own left eye to draw out the “family resemblance” for Aang.  The moment gets a horrified reaction out of Aang — Zuko’s his enemy, but Aang also realizes that this is a nasty thing to do — and helps to establish Azula as not just a villain, but a sadistic one.

In “The Beach,” Zuko blows up at Ty Lee for commenting that stress can cause breakouts.  His response is unnecessarily mean-spirited, but it also draws attention to the relative level of privilege (the biggest skin problem she has to worry about is acne) that informed her careless comment.

In “Crossroads of Destiny,” Zuko assumes that, when Katara calls him “the face of the enemy,” it’s a way of calling him frightening to look at — and it’s Katara who looks like a jerk for implying it, even accidentally.

The other big way that this comes out is clapping back at the implied treatment of disability as demanding explanation, or the “But why are you like this?” form of ableism:

The show makes it clear that Zuko does not owe anyone — not Song, not Li, not Jet, not his crew, not his friends — an explanation for why he looks the way he does.  None of the Gaang ever ask Zuko what happened, and the few characters who do (Li, Song, Lieutenant Jee) don’t end up looking good when they do so.

“The Cave of Two Lovers” clearly underlines the show’s theme of “my body, my business” in the scene where Song tries to touch Zuko’s face.  The tone (including literal musical tones) signals that Song is being inappropriate and invasive.  It’s understandable that she wants to make a connection, but it’s also emphatically not okay to touch body parts of strangers one has not received permission to touch.

To be clear, taking people’s ostrich-horses is also not okay, Zuko, but Baby’s First Grand Theft Auto helps drive home just how thoroughly Song has let her curiosity and rudeness sour a budding connection.  It also shows that, while she’s right that she and Zuko have some things in common, she has privileges he lacks because she doesn’t have to disclose her scars if she doesn’t feel like it.  Plus, that moment contrasts to Katara and Mai both touching Zuko’s cheek — Katara just after they’ve shared a moment of vulnerability, Mai just before they start smooching — because they’re both doing so in a way that’s respectful to Zuko himself.

When he wakes up from a dream of turning into Aang, the first thing Zuko does is touch his left eye to make sure he’s still himself.  It’s part of his identity, and the only time we see adolescent Zuko without it (earlier in the dream sequence) it’s a way of showing that Zuko isn’t truly himself.

Zuko grapples with the fact that he’s always going to bear evidence of having survived abuse, and a big part of his character journey is concluding that he’s free to make whatever meaning he chooses of that scar, regardless of what Ozai might’ve intended.

There are other elements of Zuko’s story the Avatar writers do well.  He bears a superficial resemblance to the thousands of villains (especially in SF) who become villainous because they incur facial scarring, but of course his story is infinitely more humanized and nuanced than “skin bleached in a vat of acid, might as well go rob banks now.”  His appearance incurs very different reactions depending on his current wealth and political power, emphasizing the intersections of disability and imperialism.  He discusses the possibility of a cure with Katara, but also goes on to live a long and fulfilling life without one.

Maybe there’s no clearer evidence that Zuko counts as disabled in the sense of “society treats your body as a problem that needs to be solved” than the way that adaptations of AtLA treat the scar.  They tend to minimize, hide, or otherwise avoid it.

[Image description: Sepia-toned image of the Gaang from a Legend of Korra promotional that appeared on the Nickelodeon website.  Zuko has his head turned and his hair swept forward in such a way that none of the left side of his face is visible.]

[Image description: Screenshot of Zuko from the 2010 adaptation The Last Airbender.  Dev Patel has a very subtle amount of makeup meant to convey minimal scarring around his left eye.]

Like I said: facial difference counts as a disability because society treats it like one.  In the social model, that’s what counts rather than, for instance, how much peripheral vision Zuko does or doesn’t have.

I’m not linking to any of many works of fan art that depict Zuko tilted to the right, occasionally even when other characters are presented facing directly ahead.  Nor am I going to link to any of the equally-plentiful works of fan fiction that keep most other elements of canon the same but specify that Zuko’s face is unscarred.  (A similar number, it’s worth noting, also make Toph sighted.)  This isn’t a callout.  It’s an explanation of how Avatar does an effective job of showing how Zuko’s facial difference informs his identity without making that difference the sum total of his identity.

[nocek]

so yeah... I meant first panel as a bonus doodle I meant to add to a reply to some wonderful asks in my inbox but than things escalated...

(and now I need to go back to my inbox and try really hard answering while not feeling bad for not answering earlier/with doodle/something >.< I’m so sorry! All those super nice messages are making my day. I’m just bad at idk? socializing and also estimating how much I can realistically doodle)

[chitsangenthusiast]

Blatant Zuko erasure in your tags (in Ash's art post) 😞 he is sad you didn't congratulate him on his firelordy hotness and ask him to move to look at Azula . Oh wait that's why he is doing this 😤

i- LKJSBFNFLS listen let's be honest it's not zuko that i would need to ask to move out of the way it would be azula's (mega hot) dismissive arrogance that i would have to navigate around just to gain even a CRUMB of her time. zuko would absolutely just pull a "lol good luck" and be useless here

(also this dude is the first hot AND normal fire lord that any of the nations have seen in awhile you cannot tell me that he doesn't have a slew of ppl, young all the way to very old, hitting on him at all times much to sokka's chagrin lmfaoooo)

[royaltealovingkookiness]

Thirty Days of Zutara - Day 15: Courting

She finds him at the turtle duck pond - because really where else would a sulking Fire Lord be sitting after losing his temper so badly at his ministers that the torches in the conference room all flared up at once?

AO3 link

 It’s not that he didn’t have a point - the former colonies need better schools to provide education to children of Fire Nation heritage so they remain connected to their roots. And most importantly, they need decent firebending teachers. The ministers as usual were reluctant to finance the plan - they saw healthcare, education and culture as useless extravagances the Fire Nation could not afford in the difficult post-war economy. But Zuko is convinced - and Katara agrees -  that it is the best investment for the future. Better than the new battleships the ministers want to develop.

She watches him for a while as he sits at the edge of the water only in a silk tunic, which is definitely not sufficient clothing for this time of the year. Winters in the Fire Nation are warmer than summer in the South Pole, but it’s still a cold season. Zuko is surrounded by turtleducks, some boldly pecking at his palm, which always has breadcrumbs for them.

Katara smiles. Zuko’s turtleduck obsession has earned him quite a bit of mocking, especially from Sokka and Toph, but Katara knows the truth. He told her that it used to be his mother’s favourite place. Katara knows the need all too well. When life becomes overwhelming, she touches her necklace, he feeds the ducks. Remembering that they are loved, connecting them back to that positive energy that still radiates in the universe.

“We started to make progress after you left in a huff,” she says playfully, as she moves to sit next to him. The ground feels cold under her even though she’s wearing a fur coat.

“I don’t huff.” huffs Zuko.

“Right. You are the picture of serenity.” He is not quite the angry jerk he used to be, but his outbursts, while less frequent in number are no less scary in intensity.

“At least I know when to step away before I drench people in icy cold water.” Zuko retorts, reminding Katara when she lost her temper at a slimy diplomat who dared to suggest that the Southern Water Tribe opens their water for whale hunts.

“If you refer to the incident with the Earth Kingdom envoy, he really deserved it,” she says smugly.

“No argument there,” shrugs Zuko, and turns his gaze back at the pond.

Katara wonders if he sees more than just birds randomly swimming around. “Are the turtleducks particularly fascinating today? Enough to freeze your butt off for?”

“I’m a firebender, I don’t get cold,” he says indignantly.

“Oh, that’s not what you said at your last visit when Sokka took you sled-racing.” Katara smiles at the memory. Zuko was tripping over himself trying to please everyone, probably to erase the memory of his first foray into the South Pole. Sokka made it his mission to give full cultural immersion to his friend, throwing everything at him from pickled sharkballs to ice dipping, topping it off with arctic spirits every night.

“Getting your butt frozen to a piece of wood as you go around in an icestorm for hours with a pounding headache is really a whole different level,” grins Zuko, then he motions at the pond. “It’s courtship season. The turtleducks are choosing their mates. You see - Ping there is trying to chase Lin -”

Katara snorts in disbelief. “Did you give names to the turtleducks?”

“Of course…” Zuko looks at her as one would at a really unreasonable person.

“Well, Lin doesn’t seem to like Ping very much… she bites him.” Katara notes dryly.

Zuko’s lips curl into a lopsided smile as he explains quietly, “These are more love bites - you can see that they are gentle - she’s shaking her tail-feathers…just teasing him really.”

The drake swims away and puffs out his colourful feathers a bit, bobbing his head rhythmically. “He’s trying to appeal to the female,” explains Zuko as he pulls the flame-shaped headpiece out of his hair, letting the silky strands fall loose on his face. He’s uncomfortable wearing the Fire Lord regalia when he’s with his friends or family - as if he abhorred the distance it creates. Katara watches him from the corner of her eye. She is fascinated with his shiny, slippery hair, so different from her own thick brown waves. She feels an overwhelming need to touch something, so she starts playing with her own hair, curling it around her fingers. Zuko brushes the black locks out of his eyes, his gaze drawn to her neckline.

“Does she like him?” Katara bites her lips as she watches the animals circle each other. She suddenly feels very invested in Lin and Ping - she wants them to have a happy ending.

“It’s hard to tell yet.” The drake cries out loudly. “That’s his song - all he can do is put it out there. But the choice is hers to make.” Zuko’s raspy voice sounds lower than usual, vibrating in her core. Lin stops and turns back to the drake calling out with a matching tone.

“I think she’s responding to him.” Katara says breathlessly, now completely engrossed in the turtleduck romance. The birds swim towards each other, their heads nodding to the rhythm of a melody only they can hear.

“You’re shivering,” Zuko notes and Katara realizes that her hands feel icy cold. He pulls her off from the ground and steps behind her, engulfing her in glorious firebender warmth and just a general Zukoness that she’s suddenly intensely aware of. It feels both like safety and danger and it makes her want to give in and run. It doesn’t make any sense, except it does.  “Is this better?” His breath tickles her earlobe in a way that makes her tingle down to her toes; her heart is beating in step with his.

“Much better,” murmurs Katara. Zuko rests his chin lightly on Katara’s head as they watch the ducks rubbing their heads together, forming a heart shape with their necks. They fit together perfectly. The turtleducks seem to revel in the moment, soaking up the last rays of the feeble winter sun as they float effortlessly together on the smooth surface of the pond. Katara feels suspended in the moment, wishing to stay here forever on the ledge between the comfortable and the unknown, but there is also an almost irresistible urge to take the next step.

The drake finally makes his move. He circles around his mate, then climbs atop her shell.

“What is he doing now?” she wonders out loud. Suddenly, the cozy warmth around her turns into intense heat hovering on the line between pleasant and overwhelming. Zuko takes an abrupt step back.

“Aah… that’s… the you know…” he stammers and his face turns the colour of his tunic. Katara  is about to make fun of him, but she feels her own face burning as the meaning of his words sink in. Oh.

He turns away embarrassed and fishes his headpiece out of his belt, tying his hair back into a topknot. He clears his throat. “Better go back and see if the good ministers have changed their minds.” He sighs and he’s all firelordy business again. “I’ll see you at dinner.”

Katara watches him go. She feels relieved about the distance, yet mourns the loss of his closeness. The past weeks they spent working together have stirred up something inside her. It feels like something has changed, and she wonders how long the dance of the lingering looks, hesitant touches can go on. She looks back at the ducks, still lost in their moment of ecstasy and she realizes, all he can do is sing his song; the choice is hers to make.