Atla Maiko - Tumblr Posts

this is a Maiko song. I shall not elaborate but just know that the lyrics remind me of them

Fanart for graphite and tea by @drowning-in-cacophony

It was one of the first maiko fics I ever read and I loved artist!Mai 😊

Do you ever think about how Zuko spent a significant amount of his teen years at sea chasing traces of the Avatar and eventually on the run as a fugitive when he should have been studying how to run a country—so being crowned Fire Lord at 16 would probably take him a bit of time to adjust?

Plus, he wears his heart on his sleeve, so the more subtle aspects of ruling, string-pulling, and political mind games might be lost on him at first.

But Mai, on the other hand, as a high-ranking noblewoman and a politician's daughter who grew up in court... 👀

Zuko's crew can't believe he has a “lady friend”

👩‍🍳new fic up!

a Mai character study as well as an exploration of the complicated maizulee friendship (because I wanted an excuse to use the royal fire academy for girls as a setting)

main pairing is mailee (my first foray into writing them!) + a generous serving of maiko

whipped up a mai sketch I pictured her waiting for Zuko. I love Maiko 🤭

Inspo pic:

also here some cute Maiko stuff bc they’re cute af:

whats a maiko moment you wish to see in the new zuko/avatar movie

honestly I'll take anything we can get because we've been starved of maiko moments for so long lol

BUT it would be nice to see canon confirmation that Mai is the Fire Lady and Izumi's mom... so maybe scenes of Maiko working together as rulers???

as much as i like zukka, i can't stop thinking how zuko was canonically so happily in love with mai and how those dummy comics really made her dump him with no evidence of them getting back together :/// let him be happy with characters we already love :////

okay since you’re giving me an opportunity to ship maiko on main- i think about this every single goddamn day and i’m always sad about it. 

mai and zuko somehow managed to make each other happy when the world was shit. literally, that scene in the boiling rock when zuko is talking about mai and he just looks up at the sky and smiles- just thinking about her is enough to put a smile on his face. mai and zuko didn’t have a perfect relationship but they made each other so happy and i’m sad :(

I'm in my Maiko feels today, and I gotta say: we don't talk enough about the fact that Mai is too shy to say she loves Zuko to his face.

On The Headband she says "I don't hate you." On The Beach she says "I care about you." In the finale she says "I actually... kind of like you." The ONE time she full on says the word LOVE, is at The Boiling Rock, when she's talking to Azula.

She can call him her boyfriend, act flirty, make out at any time, say he ripped her heart out with the break up letter and jokingly "threaten" him to never do it again... but she just can't say "I love you." She literally started blushing when she tried in the finale, and couldn't get the right words out.

It's such a cute little detail. She's not used to expressing how she feels, so she doesn't know how or when she should say it.

She'll 100% just let it slip someday, in some casual conversation. Zuko is gonna stare at her all wide-eyed and happy, and she's just gonna feel her very soul screaming in agony and embarrassement.

Been a maiko shipper since day one❤️

What are your personal headcanons for Maiko and/or Izumi?

I had to think really hard about this one and come up with some 😅

I actually kinda didn't have any until this point?

So, like, the comics don't happen maybe? That's my headcanon definitely, I don't see maiko breaking up again... Primarily because they pulled through the war, they'll pull through the rest of it. And Zuko's not the kind of person who goes “I didn't want to bother you” he would definitely bother both Iroh and Mai and they wouldn't have it any other way.

(the comics regressed his character so much I wanted to pick him up and toss him out a window. I never felt that way even towards season 1 Zuko and that's saying something)

About Izumi... I'd really like it if she were adopted and if Mai was the one who bonded with her first. Idk, something about thwarting the bloodline thing-y. But she's literally a carbon copy of Mai’s mother so yeah, she's definitely biological.

And uh, maiko are really clingy but I think they don't even think about sex for a long time after they get together. Like, they're both touch-starved of course and the other person feels like the only safe one so they're catching up. And they gross everyone out with their PDA but they just have so much going on they don't think about.

It's like, everyone who sees them individually doesn't expect them to be level 3 clingers, but they are—and then you get adjusted to the fact that they are and you think they must be very sexually active. And. They aren't. (Idk I just like contrast) But that's young maiko. Old maiko who's been together for years at any point, they definitely fuck like rabbits. They're in love like the Addamses.

(I also think maiko would be femdom. Like, really kinky. I don't take criticism).

Mai initiates most of the time.

Sokka and Zuko are high on cactus juice and obviously Sokka's spouting wisdom and he says something “you know a woman's into you when she initiates. And often at that.”

And Zuko just turns into mush.

They both wanted only one kid. Because Ozai ruined Azula and Zuko's relationship and Mai flat out refuses to believe that parents can love equally. So she just goes “there won't be a need for it.”

Mai initially doesn't participate in court politics, she's on the implementation/military side of things, like a good soldier. Then she takes a particular dislike to some politician and starts participating just to spite that person. And then she realises she's good at it; enjoys it even.

Old Mai as a queen mother is a riot. Her dry humour gets drier the older she gets. Izumi's so fucking proud of her mum. She's always showing off to everyone: “Ya won't believe my mama—[insert whatever]”

pspsps maiko artists.... I'd give my left lung if someone draws a maiko version of this meme

do you have any maiko headcanons? i love your artstyle btw <3

Thank you so much I'm glad you like it!

Here's some maiko headcanons

- Once everything is all settled (fire nation is stable, no threat to the throne) they can finally relax and be more open freely towards each other, that includes more kisses in hallways, laying near the pond and the occasional quick makeouts etc.

- They understand each other very well like the silent communication type. They also learn from their mistakes and get better at expressing their feelings as they grow older

- Zuko has the dopiest grin looking at Mai and she melts inside every time

- He’s the only one who knows that Mai is quite an affectionate person when they’re in private

- Mai reveals her pregnancy at the fountain (since izumi means fountain) and Zuko stops breathing and falls into it

- Even though they get better at communicating and expressing their emotions as they mature, their main love language is always touch

- Mai does Zuko’s hair in the mornings but sometimes Zuko offers to do her hair too and he’s pretty good at it!

- Mai is NOT am early riser. She also steals pillows

- And blankets

- Zuko loves cuddles. He would be very happy if Mai’s the one who initiates the cuddle (she’s the more timid of the two)

- Zuko thinks he got every sigh of her figured out but then he completely misread it, obliviously making things worse. Their relationship has bumps and it’s not always perfect, but they always make up for it

- Being firelord keeps Zuko up late at night, Mai lets him work until she thinks that he needs to rest that she forcefully drags him to bed

- Sometimes Mai falls back into her old habits and completely shuts off, but Zuko always gets through to her

- They’re the happiest with each other. She is his anchor and he is her world

- Shortly after Izumi was born, Zuko entertained the idea of having another kid. Mai gave him one look and Zuko went ‘Yep. 1 is enough.”

I like them in a specific way that's hard for me to describe into words but here's the light stuff! Sorry if these are cheesy, thanks for the ask!

I love my silly emo/goth bbies

Inspired by:

°•° dreams: at western air temple °•°

Commission Info | Ko-Fi

This is why I don’t draw other nations. Their clothes are so intricate. And this doesn’t have half the detail I wanted to add onto it.

Seashells, sentiments, and stupid teenagers.

Mai mentioning that she never liked the old ladies’ shell aesthetic in their summer house, Zuko apparently not paying attention as he randomly gave her a shell, and she thinking it’s a stupid gift is stuff of comedy, but of course zutara shippers insisting that’s Mai being a bad girlfriend, and not Zuko being a dense boyfriend.