The further adventures of Zuko's hair

[lizbee]

I came home from work yesterday to find that a panel has leaked from the upcoming Avatar sequel comic, "The Promise".  Because the universe hates me, personally, an advance copy has fallen into the hands of a Zuko/Katara shipper, and the leaked picture has said characters engaged in a moment of violent threats, which of course is much healthier and sexier than a relationship between people who like and care for each other because of reasons.

Or, as one Tumblr commenter put it, "zzuko can break my dfuking arms any day he wants katarar shud condsdieer herself luky".  Words of wisdom for the ages, really.

But anyway, I was thinking about it this morning, and I think I've figured out what's going on. 

Obviously, Zuko is growing out his hair. He's aiming for something long and luscious, like his dad's only less evil. Classic Fire Lord hair, am I right?

Only now it's in that awkward in-between stage, where no matter what you do, you end up looking silly.  And Katara has had enough of this state of affairs, and wants to give him a haircut, because it's just REALLY FRUSTRATING to have to look at that stupid hair.  And Zuko is all, "NO!  JUST A FEW MORE MONTHS AND IT WILL BE WHERE I WANT IT!  AND THEN MAYBE I CAN GROW A BEARD TO GO WITH MY AMAZING NEW CHEEKBONES!" 

So that's what's happening there.

Can't explain the rest of Zuko's outfit, though; it looks like the archaic Fire Nation uniform that Sokka mocked in "The Siege of the North".  Look at those shoulders!  AND THE CAPE!  Last time Ozai looked that ridiculous, his next step was taking off his shirt and setting it on fire.  LET'S HOPE.

Comments

[recessional]

Zuko says LOOK, he has to pick his damn battles, and if wearing the silly regalia makes it easier for him to hammer through finance reform, he'll wear the silly damn regalia - YOU try ruling his country!

/dork

. . . I am deeply unsure whether I'm looking forward to or dreading Avatar-world becoming any kind of open canon again. I may just hide until Korra's over. That's only, like, three or four years, right?

[lizbee]

Zuko says LOOK, he has to pick his damn battles, and if wearing the silly regalia makes it easier for him to hammer through finance reform, he'll wear the silly damn regalia - YOU try ruling his country!

And also, you should see the official Fire Lord hats sometime!

. . . I am deeply unsure whether I'm looking forward to or dreading Avatar-world becoming any kind of open canon again. I may just hide until Korra's over. That's only, like, three or four years, right?

Seems reasonable to me! There are already shipping tensions between Korra/Bolin and Korra/Mako shippers. I'm trying REALLY, REALLY HARD to disengage.

[recessional]

He doesn't want to talk about hats. Did you know at one point someone tried to tell Mai she had to wear one of those hats? SOMEONE DID.

There are already shipping tensions between Korra/Bolin and Korra/Mako shippers.

. . . . ;-; *cries* Fandom why do you hate me so much. I will just hang out at white-lotus. . . . and if the Ridiculous and Stupid comes there, I will light fire to something. FIXES EVERYTHING.

Azula agrees 100%.

[yukinoomoni]

I love your suggestions. I would LOVE to see Zuko do that Ozai-striptease. That would be HILARIOUS.

[lizbee]

Did you know at one point someone tried to tell Mai she had to wear one of those hats? SOMEONE DID.

They're just lucky she stopped at pinning the hat to the wall.

Azula agrees 100%

Sometimes I ask myself, "What would Azula do?"

Then I don't do it, because I don't actually want to kill people, but it's nice to think about.

[lizbee]

I THINK WE ALL WOULD.

Only, I fear this is yet another case where Zuko simply cannot live up to his father's reputation. He'd get tangled in his clothes and set his underwear on fire.

[yukinoomoni]

See, that would still make me happy, just because of how silly it would be.

[wolfy_writing]

Or, as one Tumblr commenter put it, "zzuko can break my dfuking arms any day he wants katarar shud condsdieer herself luky".

Okay, we all have our strange little fantasies, and people can be into some truly nasty stuff in their imagination without meaning any actual harm, but when publicly sharing one's fantasy of having an abusive boyfriend, it is generally a good idea to clarify that one is aware of the difference between "In my imagination, having him hurt me like that is hot" and "It's awesome when hot guys beat up women!"

[lizbee]

Honestly, the spelling seems so outrageous that I wonder if it's maybe a joke or a troll.

But it says a lot that I can't tell.

In which I overthink the representation of disabled people

[terajk]

Your backstory for this picture is EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS.

I am slightly *sadface*/annoyed/I-don't-know about Zuko's hair. Because at the beginning of the series when he is more clearly a villain/antagonist, his hair is really short and you can see all of his scar. And then the more sympathetic/complex he gets, the longer his hair is, so it hides more and more of the scar. So, on the one hand, you get the subversion of "people with scars are evil," but yet it's visually played straight, in that: "We want you to like Zuko more now, so we will make the scar less visible." (Someone could probably write an essay about hair and representations of disability in ATLA, and if I am not careful that someone will be me.)

Which is a really long-winded way of saying I am disappointed that Fire Lord Zuko hasn't cut his hair. I like to think of it as Fire Lord Hair (tm) and will do so until proven otherwise. And even then.

[delphi]

Next panel: Both Zuko and Katara go for a nice haircut and maybe a mani/pedi and everyone gets along again.

[starlady]

I want you to know I nearly cracked up in lecture thanks to the text outside of the cut. XD

Because laughing at this sort of thing is the only way to deal with it, I find.

As much as I'm excited for Korra, I'm excited to see more of the Gaang.

[nam_jai]

My thoughts exactly. I would love Zuko all the more for it.

[unjapanologist]

Got linked to the pic out of context yesterday, and I thought it was an official release and they were trolling shippers again.

Shoulder pads and cape. He tries so hard *pinches his cheeks*

[infiniteviking]

..this is supposed to be canon now?

I just have to say that (1) I could get out of that hold, and (2) Zuko looks like he's wearing six extra layers. >___>