#maiko

[firenationgurl]

WAAAAA😭😭

[livrere-green]

Here, dear @bryverros just make me think too much about this lmao

So... Is Zuko Disney Princess coded? Let's see.

He's canonically part of a royal family, so the title is there, no marriage needed.

He has superpowers (firebending) and a particular ability his really good at (swordfighting), you know like Elsa with ice and Mérida with archery.

Another thing he has in common with Mérida is the fact he doesn't agree with his father about stuff and he doesn't know how to shut up about it (:

He got the evil parent AND the evil sister (at least Cinderella was adopted)

He talks to animals (yk the frog thing), animals trust him too (Appa), and he got a magical pet (Ruk).

He had an incredible glow up.

Let's say that Iroh is his fairy godmother, gives him good advice, helps him prepare for his dates and always reminds him that he is a prince even at his lowest.

He is fighting for his honor (I mean, if you told the guy he would get back his honor going to the matchmaker, he would've been first in line, doing way better than Mulan with the tea thing)

He would cry looking at his reflection while this verse sounds in the background "If I wear a mask, I can fool the world, but I cannot fool my heart".

Being Lee for a month show him that he was meant to fulfil his role as a part of the royal family (customer service/domestic work does that to people)

He got a love interest that fell for him with zero knowledge about who he was: his title or his past or real identity, so if you want to eat up the classic Disney princess romance. There you go.

He goes through the tantrums, emotional rollercoasters and "the world hates me" moments like a pro.

The change of heart moment happens to him as it happens to most disney princess, and it defines his destiny. So point checked.

He went into a life changing adventure with the first cute and friendly guy that stood in front of him (I'm not even explaining more about this).

He gets the throne at the end of the show (in this point we only got Elsa, and I'm sure Zuko also considered moving to the forest after being Fire Lord for a year, but his sister wasn't as reliable as Anna).

His canon love interest is a childhood love that ended up saving his life and that's so princess coded that there's no need to give an example, it just makes sense.

I think there are things I'm not addressing, but for now this is enough to conclude that... yeah, he is sooo princess coded.

[avatarshippingshowdown]

QUARTER FINALS, MATCH 4

Maiko previously defeated: Korroh, Mingzan, Zhurrick

Tyzula previously defeated: Borra, Tophuki, Maizula

[lilith-91]

"Firelady Katara" 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩

"Mai is a toxic girlfriend, Zuko deserves better" 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩

"Katara is an incubator and Aang's trophy wife" 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩

[bluespiritshonour]

Another thing I've been muling over: a complain I've seen about Maiko is that she keeps him from going on the right path—and... I agree.

For Mai, Zuko's well-being is her sole concern and the rest of the world could crash and burn and that's... Okay?

Realistically speaking, your support system should NOT be one person. One thing I love about ATLA is that (despite romance writing not being one of it's strong points) the lack of ships that follow the tropes.

Kataang is not an archetype. Neither is Sukka or Maiko.

Having your support system be just your romantic partner isn't healthy (for them or for you) or realistic. But most romances do that and until I watched ATLA it didn't occurred to me that that's not a good thing.

ATLA and Maiko are very realistic in that Zuko needs both the Gaang and Mai. He needs the Gaang to hold him accountable for every shitty little thing he did—and he needs Mai there to keep from spiraling and self-destruction.

Zuko and his uncle were de facto conquerors, so they had to do much more to redeem themselves than Mai and Ty Lee (mere soldiers, but NOT innocent) had to.

Zuko had to work hard to earn the Gaang's forgiveness (personal opinion: he should've grovelled more and he should've been called out on his racism against Aang) and Uncle Iroh reconquered Ba Sing Se in the name of it's people.

They both did reparations to the very people they hurt. And their crimes were much more direct and vicious compared to Mai and Ty Lee’s.

As someone not as responsible as them, Mai and Ty Lee's redeeming themselves was at the Boiling Rock.

And well, when Zuko is Firelord right after the war—he would be paying for the crimes of his ancestors. He needs the Gaang there to keep from acting like he did with Katara pre-Southern Raiders (everyone else seems to have forgiven me!) and he needs Mai to keep himself from actually spiralling into self-destruction and undeserved guilt (Sozin's and Ozai's faults aren't his even if he's paying for it and someone needs to remind him that)

So, yeah. He needs them both for different things.

As for Mai, her conflict was that she was never allowed to express herself. And loving Zuko made up for that—she finally stands up for something she believes in (not in the cause, but in Zuko) and Zuko didn't even have to do anything beside exist. He didn't “fix her.”

Although, again I do have the the complain that Mai has to do a lot of emotional labour for him and if you really are gonna shit on Maiko: it's Zuko who needs to step up, not Mai—well, Mai tried to “fix him” and she couldn't!

That's so important to me!—I’m tired of girl fixes boy narrative. And she couldn't fix him because only he could fix himself and Mai herself is used to making the best out of a situation and being selfish/passive/choosing the path of least resistance. She tried to do to Zuko what worked for her (or maybe didn't, considering she was coping)—and well—later when Zuko's Firelord it'll be Mai who keeps him from harming himself.

Zuko needs both to be balanced out.

He needs multiple people to act as support system and that's both healthy and realistic. Mai isn't everything and neither should she be.

I know what the comics did; don't bring them up here. It's not about the comics.

[andrewmena]

El sábado 13 de abril fue el día mundial del beso, y para celebrarlo (de forma atrasada) algunos besos de la franquicia de Avatar

[uwilguivre]

i got nostalgic

[sofiialyt]

I just needed some Maiko in my life 🤧

[imbalancesokka]

this is mainly a zukka stan account BUT we also love maiko and sukka 🫡❤️‍🔥

[kald-dal-art]

Got inspired to draw these two, been a while since I have done it

Fave ship from the show

[firenationgurl]

Can we appreciate comics Mai😌

[kataraslove]

so what and who do we have to sacrifice to see this concept happen….

[firemaition]

this is incredible

art by lisou_____ on instagram

[lilith-91]

"you miscalculated—i love Zuko more than i fear you” 🤝 "give me one reason to think you might hurt Aang, and you won't have to worry about your destiny anymore. Because I'll make sure your destiny ends, right then and there. Permanently."

[rei-is-hiding]

it's gonna be MAI (2023)

[strawberri-draws]

Maiko my loves