Line #29 HoYay/AvatarTheLastAirbender


1	[[quoteright:307:[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheFirebendingMasters https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Zukaang.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:307:Aang prefers the HandsOnApproach.]]
3
4	->'''Kevin Murphy''' [as Zuko]: I have no time to think about girls when I'm obsessing over a 12-year-old boy. Wait. ThatCameOutWrong.
5	-->--'''Podcast/{{Rifftrax}}''' of the live-action movie adaptation, lampshading what little of the show's spirit it kept.
6
7	HoYay in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''.
8	----
9	* Aang and Zuko displayed their fair share of FoeRomanceSubtext [[spoiler:back when they were enemies. But when Zuko [[HeelFaceTurn joins the group]]]], the series wasted absolutely no time just switching to regular HoYay.
10	-->'''Aang''': Zuko, get over here! I want you to dance with me!\
11	'''Zuko''': What?\
12	'''Aang:''' Just do it!
13	** That same episode had them [[spoiler:[[ItMakesSenseInContext dancing and standing back to back in the middle of a tornado of RAINBOW fire underneath two dragons forming a heart]]]]. Mike and Bryan either don't know the meaning of subtlety or don't care.
14	** "[[WhoWouldWantToWatchUs The Ember Island Players]]" proves this isn't all in the fans' heads and that the writers are actually conscious of how this comes off.
15	*** When the Gaang take their seats in the audience, Aang is dismayed when Zuko sits next to Katara. Zuko however doesn't seem to factor Katara into the equation at all and is annoyed since it seems like Aang doesn't want to sit by ''him''.
16	** In the episode where June helps Zuko find the Avatar, June asks him, "What happened? Your girlfriend run off on you?" Zuko replies, "It's not the girl I'm after; it's the bald monk she's traveling with."
17	** At the end of the FinalBattle, [[spoiler:the two embrace before promising to rebuild a new world together, making the coronation seem more like a wedding]]. Can you say SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments?
18	** Why was Zuko shirtless in Aang's nightmare right before the invasion? So far in the series, Aang has not seen Zuko shirtless, so he is dreaming about Zuko being shirtless.
19	*** Zuko also does a variant of this. He imagines himself as a shirtless Aang, without having seen Aang shirtless thus far either. Though to be fair Zuko himself was shirtless at the time.
20	** When Zuko first [[ReformedButRejected tries to join the gang]], Aang reveals how Zuko once rescued him as the Blue Spirit.
21	-->'''Aang:''' He risked his life to save me.
22	-->'''Katara:''' ''(his love interest, keep in mind)'' No, way! I'm sure he only did it so he could capture you himself!
23	-->'''Sokka:''' Yeah, face it, Aang -- you're nothing but a big prize to him.
24	** The picture features Aang trying to take some of Zuko's flame because his went out, and getting ''way'' too close to him in order to do so.
25	** Zuko says that Aang gives him a purpose in life and even makes his firebending more powerful. His "inner fire," as he says. Wow.
26	** In the Season 2 premier, Aang's struggling with whether or not it's a good idea to try to defeat the Fire Lord by using the Avatar State and having nightmares about how much the power scares him. It's not until ''right after'' he has a nightmare about attacking Zuko while in the Avatar State, however, that he decides it's too dangerous and wants to stop messing with it.
27	** In The Chase, Aang looks extremely concerned when he sees Zuko fall off the building, but not when Azula almost does.
28	** In the sequel series ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', some years after Aang has [[spoiler: died, with Korra as the next Avatar]] Katara tells Zuko that he [[spoiler: "knew Aang better than anyone else"]]. keep in mind that Katara is Aang's [[spoiler: wife/widow]].
29	** Try typing in 'Zuko is Gay' into Website/YouTube. Look at how many videos pop up...
30	* Jet and Zuko have their moments. It started out as HoYay, with Jet inviting a boy he knew nothing about to come "liberate" some food for the rest of the refugees, later inviting him to join his group... right up until Jet became convinced Zuko and his uncle were firebenders. Then it devolved into what could be easily interpreted as StalkerWithACrush behavior. Interestingly, during Jet's [[spoiler:full blown meltdown under Lake Logai]], one of the many things he thinks about while coming out of it is Zuko.
31	* Toph calls Katara such names as "sugar queen" and "sweetness", and their outing in "The Tales of Ba Sing Se" was basically a date, ending with Katara reassuring Toph that she's pretty. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen The male version of Toph]] was [[http://plus4chan.org/boards/a/res/58561.html#59100 supposed to be a major love interest for Katara]], so there's that.
32	** Waterbender + Earthbender = only a matter of time before they got to mudwrestling each other ("The Runaway").
33	* Azula generates subtext with ''everyone'', regardless of gender.
34	** Mai and Ty Lee were Azula's only friends, she crossed a continent to recruit them specifically, and trusts them enough to be relatively open about her concerns and plans around them. [[ConsummateLiar It's Azula]] so it's hard to know, but [[spoiler:her VillainousBreakdown being triggered by their betrayal]] and a line in the GrandFinale shows that she really did care about them.
35	--->[[spoiler:"You'll all leave, just like Mai and Ty Lee did..."]]
36	** Azula and Ty Lee [[BetaCouple act as a foil]] to Zuko and Mai in {{Lower Deck Episode}}s starring the villains, occasionally with quasi-romantic lines like Ty Lee reassuringly calling Azula "the smartest, prettiest, most perfect girl in the world". However, none of this stops Ty Lee from [[spoiler:[[HeelFaceTurn betraying Azula for Mai's sake]]]], which was the last straw to trigger the beginning of Azula's [[spoiler:VillainousBreakdown]]. Mai surprised her, but with Ty Lee Azula is first outright horrified then flat-out livid.
37	*** It's clear from the girls' expressions and the way the dialogue was delivered that [[spoiler:Azula was about to ''kill'' Mai before Ty Lee intervened -- it was only after Ty Lee joined Mai that she decided to be inexplicably merciful and have them imprisoned instead.]]
38	** [[https://iceeh.tumblr.com/post/9659498783 In the original storyboards]] for "Sozin’s Comet: Part 3", Azula remains composed while [[spoiler:her hallucination of Ursa]] mentions Mai, but once she brings up Ty Lee, Azula’s expression crumples.
39	** "The Beach":
40	*** Azula shows a warmth to Ty Lee that she never shows to anyone else in the series. She sincerely apologizes for calling Ty Lee a "tease" and when Ty Lee talks about why she ran away from her family, Azula looks genuinely sympathetic (though she [[{{Tsundere}} hides it]] when Ty Lee is looking).
41	*** When a boy starts [[FavorsForTheSexy helping Ty Lee unpack]], Azula gives the camera an irritated AsideGlance. Maybe it's just disapproval of Ty Lee being a "tease." Or maybe it's the look of a ClingyJealousGirl angry that her girlfriend is flirting with someone else.
42	*** To teach Azula how to attract guys, Ty Lee takes the role of a guy and starts flirting with her. She also gives her the advice to “laugh at everything he says even if it's not funny”, which is interesting, considering how Ty Lee never fails to laugh at and compliment Azula’s clever quips.
43	** Her infamous remark that Suki is her "[[PrisonRape favourite prisoner]]" (when the last time we saw Suki the two were fighting, before [[DressingAsTheEnemy Azula took her clothes]]), said in a tone of voice that makes it very difficult to interpret as anything other than this. She could easily be lying to make Sokka angry, but that means the implication was likely ''intentional'' either way.
44	** Azula in general has a not-at-all subtle tendency to surround herself with stunningly gorgeous handmaidens sporting bare midriffs.
45	** Worth noting is that Azula was originally meant to be a boy, so it's entirely possible that Ty Lee might have been intended as a "straight" love interest for the original male version of Azula. Whether that makes their dysfunctional bond more creepy or less creepy is up to the viewer.
46	* [[spoiler:Ty Lee]] mentioning that she bonded with the Kyoshi Warriors in prison sounds like a lesbians in prison movie, especially since she then grabs two of them for a hug and they all get humongous grins on their faces. 'Cept only [[spoiler:Ty Lee]]'s grin is unabashedly happy; the other two look worried, as if they're wondering if she'll let slip what happened in there... "We must never tell a ''soul''."
47	* Roku and Sozin. When Sozin finds out that Roku is leaving to become an Avatar, Sozin privately gives Roku his crown as a parting gift, hoping that Roku will [[TheLadysFavour at least be able to have that as a possession]] (because Avatars are supposed to not need material goods). Sozin "borrows" Roku during the latter's freaking ''wedding'' (and his wife does not seem too pleased about it). While they're sharing some alone time, Sozin starts trying to convince Roku that he's been doing some thinking, and wants Roku to ''[[WeCanRuleTogether stay by his side and rule the world with him]]''. Yes, he decides to do this the exact same day Roku is getting married, taking him away from his wife to tell him this privately, which... has some rather interesting implications. They hang out and spar with each other [[ShirtlessScene shirtless]] ([[JustifiedTrope Justified]] [[MakesSenseInContext in Context]], as they're firebenders and shirts are flammable), with Sozin having the habit of saving Roku from falling by pulling him to him. Sozin kept trying to get Roku to join him in taking over, only to get ''very'' angry after being refused so many times... along with how Sozin didn't get married until ''much'' later Sozin's last testament (the one Zuko reads) is ''all'' about his relationship with Roku. This also further incriminates Aang and Zuko, as Roku was Aang in a past life, and Sozin was Zuko's Great Grandfather, implying the two had been "connected" previously.
48	* June does a disproportionate amount of smirking over Katara. And then there's her reaction to meeting her:
49	-->"No wonder she left. She's ''way'' too pretty for you."
50	* The time Toph mistook Suki for Sokka and kissed her on the cheek. Suki didn't seem to mind.
51	** [[TheNicknamer Toph]]'s nickname for Suki is "honey".
52	* Sokka and Zuko don't interact much, but when they do they seem to get along more closely than just as friends. Which they managed to ''[[LampshadeHanging lampshade]]'' in the episode. Chit Sang said something to them along the lines of "If you two are done cuddling..."
53	** The famous moment in "The Southern Raiders" when Zuko enters Sokka's tent to find Sokka [[ReadyForLovemaking lying on his stomach with a rose in his mouth]]. Sokka greets him by saying "Well, heeeeelllllooooo..." [[ItMakesSenseInContext Sure, it was for Suki...]]
54	* Hakoda and Bato, to the point where some fans call them "Katara and Sokka's two daddies". The ship-happy fandom was pleased to hear in "Bato of the Water Tribe" that Hakoda carried Bato to the abbey when he was wounded, and then there are misleading screen shots where it looks like they're [[HeadbuttOfLove nuzzling foreheads.]]
55	* Ty Lee has a persistent habit of [[TheGlomp glomping]] Mai, which annoys the latter to no end. Later on in "The Boiling Rock, Part 2," Ty Lee choses to betray Azula immediately after Mai said she did so out of love.
56	* In some episodes, Zhao seems [[MemeticMolester a little too eager]] to keep up his rivalry with a sixteen year old boy.
57	* Rather far fetched, perhaps, but it turns out that [[http://atla-annotated.tumblr.com/post/16560336798/koizilla-the-ocean-spirit-is-a-girl-i-know the Ocean Spirit is female]], that is, embodies the Yin side of the relationship between the Moon and the Ocean. The Moon Spirit had been male until Zhao killed him. So now Yue and La are intertwined in eternal dance with romantic connotations around each other.

Context HoYay / AvatarTheLastAirbender