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eponastory · 7 months ago

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I know you most likely already realized this, but I was just thinking about Aang as a father in LOK, and realized something. If Katara ended up with Zuko and eventually had children together, Zuko would likely end up being a better father than Aang. Aang never even met his parents, and only had instructors as parental figures. They're like parents but mostly just in the way that a school teacher would be. But Zuko understands what good parents and what bad parents look like because he knows what his own parents are like. His memories of Ursa and Iroh would be his guide to what you SHOULD do for a child, and Ozai is an example of what you should NOT do. Zuko doesn't have the pressure of repopulating firebenders because firebenders aren't virtually extinct, so there wouldn't be as much (if any) pressure to pay unfairly extra attention to one child over the other. Zuko knows what it's like to be neglected by a parent that's supposed to love because of something you can't control. Aang clearly doesn't, hence why he neglected Bumi and Kya II in the first place. Zuko also has experience with Azula, and would know to recognize any bad signs of sibling jealousy and/or hatred, and put an end to it because he knows what bad sibling dynamics look like.

I feel like he would also be a better husband to Katara. He's not as naive as Aang when it comes to marriage; Zuko has the experience of growing up with two married parents, and would know what not to do. Katara would relax better because the distribution over who watches the kids would be more fair, as Zuko would give them ALL attention. While Aang made Katara jealous from always being around the Air Acolytes (in the comics), I feel like Zuko would not give polite attention to women who are rude to Katara/flirting with him because in the show, Zuko knows exactly how hurtful it feels for a romantic partner to flirt with/give polite attention to people who are obviously pursuers. Imagine being in an alternate dimension where Zutara was the main endgame couple, and we get to see their parental dynamics in LoK. There would probably be a flashback of Katara getting worked up about one of their children, and Zuko would ease her into calming down because he sees a solution that she didn't.

Aang's issues are more than he doesn't know. He is selfish by nature. Selfish parents aren't good parents. I know this for a fact. It's an endless cycle of 'It's your fault' or 'what about how I feel' every time you try to say something. It's not fun, and it's damaging. I can totally see Aang using this behavior as a way to get what he wants. As far as him being naive... yes. He is very naive and doesn't take anything seriously.

Like the war, for instance. He was only there for the last year of it. He wasn't born into the war like Zuko, Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Suki. They aren't naive. They know what war is like. Toph is the same age as Aang, and she is much more mature than he is. He's got this idea that killing anyone is bad, but he is responsible for a lot of deaths. Honestly, he has a kill count from the Fire Nation attack on the NWT, and a lot of people overlook that for some reason. Actually, the show overlooks it because Aang is the Hero, and it's okay if he killed people. So, when all is said and done, all of the things that he does afterward is overlooked too. It's a huge writing flaw with the show. So how does this translate to him as a parent?

It makes him a hypocrite.

Plain and simple.

He's so focused on reviving the Air Nomads that he has little knowledge on what they actually believed. What we are given is a few Taoist, Hindu, and Buddhist proverbs to go off of. Then, it's completely disregarded (disrespected as well) for 'Love'. This 'Love' is actually deep infatuation fueled by jealousy and possessive behavior. Which is actually frowned upon by the three religions mentioned above. It is a 'poison' to the spirit. And disconnects you from being enlightened (I think that is what the proverbs/scriptures are eluding too, if I'm wrong, please do not hesitate to explain, I'm super interested in cultures and eastern religions) or granted a place in Heaven (or their version of it). Letting go of all earthly possessions is common place in most religions. Aang does not do this. But I digress.

So, while there is the Nature vs Nurture aspect of parenting... where Katara does most of the Nurturing because that is how her character is written post-war and LoK. Notice how is said Written. Written by two misogynistic men who stripped her of a lot of her characteristics from the original run of the show. This is the problem. And it's the same with Aang. I can't take him seriously because he doesn't take any of it seriously. Especially with his children. He's not a serious character. He acts like he's serious, but he never really left the 12 year old boy behind to mature. Probably because in his fictional relationship with Katara, she enables him to keep doing what he always does. Which is to not grow. Relationships grow sour when the two people in them do not grow. It's not really about who grew up with parents at that point because it's the current parents that are the ones that should be to blame.

Now on to Headcanon space...

Zutara is a Headcanon ship. Did it almost happen? Oh yes I believe it did because the writing supports it heavily and Bryke's actions post show also scream 'lairs'. Sorry, but I have a pretty good Bullshit metor and Bryke set it off big time by their immature behavior.

But I digress.

Zuko grew up with a Narcissistic Sociopath as a Father and a Mother who was caught in the middle of a choice she was essentially forced to make. Ursa was also forced to forget her own parents never existed after she married Ozai. This is all canon, by the way. Her life before her marriage was great, but then it was taken away so she had nothing left but her morals and beliefs. However, while she loved both of her children, her influence on Zuko is essentially what made him who he is. Ursa didn't get to influence Azula like she did Zuko. Why? Because of Ozai.

Ozai pit his children against each other. This was apparently a Fire Nation Royal Family tradition because it sounds like Azulon did this with Iroh and Ozai as well. This kind of parenting style is abusive to its core. What Ozai did to Zuko isn't neglect... it's straightforward abuse and control. How do you make a child do what you want? You hurt them, or you take something away from them. Ozai both hurt Zuko and took away his home by banishing him. If Zuko wants to go back home, he has to find and capture the Avatar. It's that simple, but at the same time, it's also near impossible.

Flash forward to Canon Zuko and we see he has one child and he is a very loving father. Actually, he's the best father in the show. His experiences with growing up as the not so favorite child has made his choice to have one child easy. Probably because he and his spouse had a less than perfect relationship. This also may have influenced him to be protective of Izumi (as we can see he's still protective over her even at 90 years old) because of the loveless relationship his parents had. It was enough to damage him deeply when it came to relationships. This is likely also why he had trouble with Mai as well.

Headcanon space now...

Zuko loving Katara is what makes the difference here. Love is giving your partner the freedom to make their own choices and support them. As long as there is good communication, trust, and honesty. Something Maiko does not have, by the way. So it stands to reason that even with Nature Vs Nurture in the way of parenting, both win here. I'll tell you why Zuko's relationship with his parents here have no effect on why he would choose to have more children with Katara.

Because if written well, it's a very good relationship between them. We already know they work well as a team. The show gives us this. We know that Zuko absolutely cares about Katara. The show also gives us that. We also know they become lifelong friends. So why do they make great parents?

Because they rely on each other.

It has nothing to do with how they were raised individually, but everything to do with how they support each other narritively. They trust each other to make good decisions together. They rely on being honest with each other. They also communicate with each other. This by itself is the building blocks for a healthy and stable relationship. With that in mind, parenting is easier. There is no need to be afraid of becoming a bad parent because they hold each other accountable. It's a deep relationship. Having multiple children is easier because it is a loving relationship. There's no conflict besides the silly little arguments over simple things that happen all the time. It's just an overall healthy dynamic.

And that is what appeals to Zutarians.

While it was almost canon, I'm glad it isn't because Bryke would definitely not get it right. They tried to make Korra and Mako happen out of spite because they believe Zutara is toxic. It's not. Their children would turn out absolutely fine because Zuko would not change a thing about Katara. It's in the show. He doesn't try to change her because that's not his job. His job in TSR is to let her find closure. He offers it to her because he cares about her. Bottom line.

Anyway, I probably forgot what you said at this point because I just tend to go on and on, but I tried my best to stay on topic... ADHD is both a blessing and a curse.

#parenting is not about the past as long as you have a good partner #a bad relationship will force a parent to make decisions to protect their child.#if Zuko was like his father his partner would be the one making the hard decisions to protect their child.#if mai is Zuko's wife then it was not a good relationship.#zutara #relationships #parenting #anti bryke #anti aang

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risingsoleil · 8 days ago

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can we get hc on teen parents (17-18) linzin and the gaang's reaction?

Lin feels like a failure and is terrified. She has no idea what Tenzin will say, but she knows that this child could be an airbender, so she should keep baby....

When she tells Tenzin, he's definitely shocked. But he asks very softly and innocently, "We're gonna be a family?" And something about that question makes Lin feel like she chose the right guy to have a kid with.

Telling Tenzin was fine, but now what about their family?

Immediately, Lin can feel the dread from the acolytes and the press.

Against her headstrong nature, Lin holds Tenzin's hand and says, "Let's go someplace else."

"Where?"

"Anywhere. But not here. I...I don't want anyone else to know. We could go to my grandparents."

Tenzin is a bt confused because they will be fine in RC. His parents are here, plus his mom is the best healer ever. So Lin would be in very safe hands. But Lin points at an acolyte walking by and Tenzin understands.

And so, Tenzin tells his family Lin wants to visit her grandparents and he'll go with her. They don't give much other explanation, besides they will leave in the next few days and will write/call when they can.

Katara and Aang dont see a problem with it, but find it a bit odd.

When they get to Gaoling, Poppy immediately senses something is up. It takes a couple weeks until Lin privately tells her about the pregnancy and that she doesn't want anyone knowing. Not even Toph right now. She wanted to have space from the city so that she, Tenzin, and baby aren't stressed.

Poppy is a bit disappointed and upset, she supports and loves Lin very much. at least Tenzin is showing that he wants to be part of their lives and will be there for them. Unlike the men Toph got involved with.

Everything goes great for Linzin. Lao almost wanted Tenzin murdered, but he's calmed down a bit after they had a man-to-man talk. Tenzin told him that he will marry Lin, but doesn't want to ask immediately bc Lin will think it's only bc of baby. He tells him that he has a betrothal necklace in the works and that he'll give it to Lin at the right time.

Lao and Poppy bring in the best healers in Gaoling to monitor Lin's pregnancy.

Baby is growing well and it's in the 6 month of pregnancy, that Katara, Aang, and Toph visit Gaoling.

They're in for a hella big surprise when they see pregnant Lin.

Kataang hounds Tenzin.

Toph interrogates and grills both of them.

"How long have you known?! How far along are you?!"

"...Just past 6 months..."

"Did you get knocked up here or before?"

"Before."

Katara and Aang go into some long lecture that Lin is not really listening to. Toph is going insane listening to them prattle on, so she just imprisons Tenzin's body with earth.

"Alright loverboy, since you got my kid knocked up, what are you gonna do about it? If you give the wrong answer, you get an early funeral and your parents go to jail."

Katara glares at her. "Why do we go to jail?"

"For offing your son. Then you try to kill me, but I beat both of your asses anyway. So you go to jail for being losers."

"That doesn't make any sense, Toph! And it's not ethical!"

"So what? Proves that I'm still better than you two."

Linzin is just trying to get out of this conversation. When everyone finally calms down, Lin is like "I wanted to leave because I didn't want to be around the press and acolytes. Gaoling felt safe for me and our baby. So I did what was best for us and Tenzin supported me. Sorry we didn't tell you the truth, but we wanted to face this on our own."

All's well, and they do try to come to terms that they'll become grandparents. They love that it's between Lin and Tenzin, but just so shocked at their ages. But they do support them as much as they can. Giving advice, Katara taking over to monitor Lin's pregnancy, Aang guiding Tenzin on fatherhood + air nation culture, etc. Toph and her parents clash a bit bc they think she parented poorly for Lin to be a teen mom.

The convo between Toph and her parents gives her some perspective on how she hasn't been present for both of her girls. Suyin has been acting up and Toph is learning that she needs to be more involved.

Aang can't stay all the time bc Avatar duties, but he does write and visit when he can. Kya and Bumi also come down at different times to bully Tenzin lol

"It was that good, huh?" Bumi jeered, slapping Tenzin on the back.

"Go awayyy."

Kya punches his arm next. "Now remember, you hurt Lin, we break your bones."

"Yeah I got it. Why would I ever hurt her?"

"Because no girl would take you. You should be thankful Lin has a heart and wants to be with you. So if you fuck it up with her, we fuck you up."

Tenzin is so annoyed with them and just huffs and pouts, while wind blows in their faces.

Sokka and Suki manage to visit them, and they;re not judgmental. But they do try to give solid life advice to Tenzin. They feel like Lin is gonna be okay mostly and she's got things handled. But I think they want Tenzin to be a good man to Lin and a good father to baby. Hakoda fought in the war, so never intentionally abandoned him and Katara, but being a present father is the idea that Sokka drives into Tenzin.

Aang grew up with a different concept of family, so his advice to Tenzin about parenting has different content from Sokka's messages.

Izumi comes down to visit too, and she brings all kinds of snacks and gifts for Lin and baby. Iroh is probably already born around this time? So she can bring him too for Linzin to practice lol

Suyin doesn't want to visit Lin during the pregnancy at all because her sister is taking up Toph's attention. And she's pissed about it. She doesn't meet her new niece until Linzin returns to RC.

Tenzin was with Lin during the birth because he couldn't stand not being there. Katara delivered her granddaughter, and the delivery went smoothly.

The whole family is there (minus Suyin, Sokka, and Suki) and everyone is absolutely enamored with the baby.

Lin feels like she has to wait 30 mins until she can hold her own baby for more than 10 mins.

Katara shoos them out so that Lin and Tenzin can rest with their baby. But she stays close by, along with a few other trusted servants, to assist Lin and baby.

Lin and Tenzin have no idea what they're doing, but they know everythin will be okay.

#linzin #lin beifong #tenzin #teen pregnancy #tlok

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mal3vol3nt · 6 months ago

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This is kinda a long read. But I wanna ask your opinion on this. I see this one post saying Zutara is a purely female fantasy and that’s why so many people hate it. Basically saying it was made for girls, by girls, it has everything a girl wants in a relationship and “When people attack the idea of Zutara, this is fundamentally what they're attacking-women and girls wanting better for themselves in a relationship.”

Now I am just a man. But I think this argument especially the latter part is such a reach and a cope. I don’t see how shipping a fanon ship is some big feminist thing. There are women I know who love Kataang (and if you ask me most of what they’re describing Zutara is actually Kataang in disguise) and there are some guys who like Zutara (which is perfectly fine as long as you don’t write a slave-fic about it like this one guy.

Call me insensitive, but it seems like this guy has some weird victim complex.

Here’s the link BTW:

https://www.tumblr.com/longing-for-rain/753424994905800704/this-isnt-a-question-about-whether-or-not-zutara?source=share

i agree with you anon. i think it’s very silly that these people think a fandom ship is the peak of activism/feminism. such a claim, dare i say, reeks of white feminism, especially when you take into account that the ship they’re claiming is “so feminist” is a relationship between a canonical colonizer and a victim of genocide

the things the op of that zutara post listed are all very westernized “issues” that they claim shipping zutara is supposedly fighting against while also praising western standards, such as saying that zutara is for the girls who want to be with a man they’re attracted to, directly saying that aang is unattractive because he doesn’t fit western beauty standards whereas zuko does. as well as saying zutara is for the girls who want passion in their relationships, directly saying that zuko’s hot-headedness and western masculine qualities are hotter than aang’s pacifism and him being a monk. this claim is also pretty on par with how zutaras sexualize the relationship between zuko and katara, which i don’t even want to get into for obvious reasons. needless to say, i think all of these claims are very very stupid and so obviously come from someone who gravitates towards the racism of the show. sorry not sorry

these claims also come from someone who twists aang’s character so that they feel more justified in hating him, and who twist katara and zuko’s characters so their ship works better. because at no point in the show does it ever feel like katara is changing herself to be with aang, as if she would ever do that (i can tell this is a southern raiders argument—i swear these people misread and latch onto everything). at no point in the show does it ever feel like katara is unattracted to aang, especially since she’s the one who initiates both the first and the last kiss between them, is constantly touching him, and gives him kisses on the cheek in a way she doesn’t do with any one else (she also audibly gasps when she first sees his tattoos in episode 1, which could be read as just her being shocked because she’s never seen airbender tattoos before, but considering the fact her crush on him develops quickly by the beginning of book 2 and she marries him, i wouldn’t be surprised if she also liked the way they looked). all claims that fall back on katara forcing herself to be with aang for whatever reason are projection because 1) katara would never do that. she is not the kind of girl to force herself into any position that doesn’t make her happy, and we see her actively set boundaries with aang in canon, so she is obviously comfortable making her wants known, and 2) katara clearly doesn’t see things through the same lens as her so-called fans. just because you had a crush on zuko doesn’t mean that katara should too, and just because aang isn’t your type doesn’t mean he can’t be her type. yall are projecting onto her

the whole “zutara is for the girls” and “kataang is the male gaze” is so stupid because no, that’s not how that shit works and is a take that is so very american/western that i fail to take it seriously. and yes, i know atla is a western-created show with a western-intended audience, but the characters in the show aren’t and i feel it’s important to acknowledge that

now, i’m a girl (or a woman i should say, 19 years old lmao). and i live in a very patriarchal society and have dealt with sexist standards being forced onto me from my latino culture and family my whole life. it didn’t, however, take long for me to realize that i was unhappy with that way of life and have actively detached myself from it, instead gravitating towards fighting for and recognizing my freedom to choose. this is a freedom i believe all women should have, and i have dedicated myself to learning of the injustices women go through all over the world and do my best to fight against them from where i live. i detest the patriarchy and all things created that demean women or force them into any one role. i am also a lesbian who hardly ever thinks of men lmao. yet miraculously, i am a kataang shipper. according to these zutara stans, im a misogynist who prioritizes male pleasure and happiness. yet from what i know of myself, that’s not at all true. i couldn’t give less of a fuck about patriarchal standards and actively avoid them in the media i consume as much as i can. but i think kataang is cute and i turn away from the thought of zutara, so either one of two things are true:

kataang is for the girls and zutara is the male-gaze

or fictional character shipping has fuck all to do with activism and the kind of person you are in real life

i’m gonna go out on a limb and say number 2 is correct. whether you’re a zutara shipper or a kataang shipper, i don’t think that’s an instant tell of the kind of person you are in your real life. it’s not an actual tell of what you value and yall look ridiculous trying to paint one ship as better than the other on an innate moral level

at the end of the day, this is fandom shipping. you can be a horrible person who engages in shipping content and still be a horrible person at the end of the day regardless of which ship suits your fancy. cause it doesn’t fucking matter. neither of the ships are morally superior to the other in any way that has importance in the real world. yall need to get offline i swear

now personally, i think kataang is an infinitely better ship than zutara for many reasons that i have discussed before, so yall will never catch me saying kataang and zutara are equal in any other context but this one lmao

also saying any colonizer x colonized ship is superior will never be taken seriously by me. you can enjoy those kind of ships all you want, but they’ll never be my cup of tea and that doesn’t make me or anyone else anti-feminist or whatever the fuck insult zks throw out. i just prefer my ships to be between people who haven’t wiped out the other person’s race

#atla #avatar the last airbender #aang #avatar aang #katara atla #kataang #anti zutara stans #anti zutara fandom #anti zutara

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blackbullet99 · 4 months ago

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Zutara’s Fake @$$ Feminism

Okay so @kidcaroline brought up this weird-@$$ take where this braindead dude says Zutara is a purely female fantasy and an expression of unapologetic female desire. And who’s the nutcase who said this.

Of course only someone as delusional as longing-for-rain could say something as stupid as this. Love or hate Zutara, it being a purely female fantasy is objectively wrong, there are a lot of men who actually like Zutara, one guy on YouTube made tons of videos about them, there were some writers in A:TLA who shipped it, Dante Basco the proclaimed Captain of Zutara ships it. One person who shipped Zutara actually argued that a lot of men ship it and the ship shouldn’t be limited to just women, so naturally longing-for-(acid)rain personally attacked them because they’re a man. Misandrist much?

Let’s look at the reasons why Zutara is such a profoundly feminist ship, shall we…

Okay, so skimming over the fact that Zutara literally started when Zuko captured Katara in “The Waterbending Scroll” and wanting better for Katara is wanting her to end with someone who relentlessly pursued her and attacked her for most of the show. Literally all of these points that supposedly support Zutara literally make no sense and many of which could easily apply to Kataang.

Katara never caved into Aang out of guilt, that’s never suggested at all in the narrative, she was never uncomfortable with Aang, the average ZK might be, but Katara wasn’t.

Where was the passion in Zuko and Katara’s relationship, seriously what passion are they talking about, does OP think constantly fighting each other is passion because “muh enemies to lovers”, do they Katara touching Zuko’s scar because she was going to heal him at one point is passion. How TF is that considered “passion”, it just comes across like you have a kink. You want passion…

THIS is passion.

Ignoring the fact that Zuko never had feelings for Katara. Aang literally loves Katara no matter what. If they’re referring to “The Southern Raiders” Aang never stopped loving Katara, he understood her pain, he was just concerned that killing a guy would take a strain on her mental state. But that obviously means he didn’t care about the “real” Katara, what a jerk, right guys.

When did Katara ever have to change for Aang? Y’all are aware that Katara would have to change quite significantly if she married into The Fire Nation, right?

Aang objectively did support Katara. That’s all there is to it really. He did throughout the whole show.

Katara was never Aang’s babysitter. Darn Bryce for mentioning weird romantic tropes that have nothing to do with Kataang and desperate ZKs taking them out of context. Aang was a kid just like Katara, the latter of whom was often the voice of reason, but she never had to actively take care of Aang. He’s 12, he’s not a baby.

Okay, but like, Katara is attracted to Aang. Not to get all weird on y’all but objectively speaking she is attracted to him (see “The Cave of Two Lovers” or the Kataang images above). Which makes sense because they’re only a couple of years apart. This comment, and really this whole post is just OP admitting that they’re self-inserting onto Katara, they don’t care about what she wants, so they twist the narrative of the show and act like Katara should be attracted to Zuko and not Aang because these 20-something women are attracted to Zuko and not Aang. They use Katara as a self-insert because 99% of the time these b!tches wanna f*ck Zuko and use Katara as vessel to live out their weird sexual desires. Ew.

This final comment, just screams, “White Tumblr So-Called Feminism”. OP seriously thinks saying “I like Zutara” is advocating for women’s rights. She cannot be this stupid and delusional, for real? There’s nothing wrong with Zutara as a ship, there’s nothing wrong with most of the women who ship Zutara. But at the end of the day it’s a fictional pairing between two fictional characters, people who don’t like the ship aren’t attacking women, people who don’t like Zutara just don’t like the ship for whatever reasons. I don’t like the ship because not only is Kataang superior, seeing as they start of a close friends who mutually trust, support and admire each other and gradually develop feelings for one another (slow-burn friends-to-lovers is peak), but also because Zuko and Katara were enemies throughout most of the show, they only become friends near the very end of the show, great friends who do support and value each other, but let’s be real, their relationship isn’t profoundly different from Katara’s other relationships with The Gaang, and going from friends for 5 episodes to making out in the last episode is just crazy-forced.

Additionally there are plenty of men who ship Zutara as a pointed out, but also plenty of women who ship Kataang because these women genuinely like their relationship and acknowledge the love and positive aspects in Aang and Katara’s relationship. But of course longing-for-(sh!t)rain dismisses and invalidates these women by calling them “BoyMoms” (whatever that means) because they don’t share the seem POV as OP. Which leads to the fact that longing-for-sh!tstain really doesn’t care about women and what they want, they’re going out of their way to make Kataang look problematic and Zutara the epitome of female desire, but the only people who would actually believe that are fanfic obsessed idiots who have never left their computer and have no understanding of any real-world issues, in other words dumb b!tches just saying “eXaCtLy” to each other. Really whining-for-rain only cares about what they themselves desire and think their opinion is the only one that matters, hence they attack anyone who even slightly disagree’s with them. Just check the original post and you’ll see.

The only “feminism” they care about is in their weird Wattpad middle-school ship. She don’t care about the real Katara or her feelings if it doesn’t fit her self-insert narrative.

She writes torture-porn r@pe fics about Katara.

She called an actually real-life indigenous women racist because said women hates the idea of Katara marrying into the nation the colonized her tribe, killed her mom and would make Ozai her father in-law, just so Katara, Sokka and Hakoda could essentially be trophies for Zuko. This @$$hole thinks supporting a crackship is supporting women’s rights, but will invalidate the feelings of a real-life indigenous women who doesn’t agree with said crackship.

In conclusion, f*ck you longing-for-fascist and f*ck your fake-@$$ feminist, you objectively don’t care about A:TLA, or Katara or even women, if anything you’re nothing but an insult to women.

#anti zutara #anti zutara stans #anti zutara shippers #katara #pro katara #katara deserved better #katara defense squad #pro kataang #a:tla #atla fandom critical #atla fandom problems #fake feminism

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sillyfudgemonkeys · 4 months ago

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Love Talk 5: Homewreckers

Follow up from

Wan: Holy shit, Kyoshi. You eviscerated Kuruk. Not even Father Glowworm could do that! Kyoshi: Skill issue. Aang: Why? Why would you do that to them? Kyoshi: It's not like I'm trying, Aang. I just have a knack for causing emotional damage on Yangchen and Kuruk. It's like it's second nature. Korra: I spiritbended him, he should be fine like Yangchen- Kyoshi: Korra, do you hate me? Is that why you keep breaking what I fix? Aang: I think you have that backwards Kyoshi. Wait, does that mean that was actually on purpo- Kyoshi: What's backwards is why is Wan here? You don't have anyone. Wan: ..........I just wanted to hang with the group. Korra: I mean, you had...have(?) Raava. Does she count? Kyoshi: If Raava counts, I'm adding Wan to the messy Avatar list. Wan: Wait, WHY?! Kyoshi: You broke up married couple, toxic married couple but still. And then fell for a kite. A giant spirit kite. And then merge with her. I'm a bit concerned for your mental well being tbh. Wan: Wait hold on- Roku: Kyoshi showing concerned about another's mental healt? Well, if that isn't the biggest red flag that I have ever seen........ Kyoshi: Roku, you let Sozin do whatever, I know for a fact you can't spot red flags to save your life. Roku: Kyoshi, I grew up in the Fire Nation. I was surrounded by red flags. You get desensitized. Kyoshi, remembering the nightmare that was the Szeto festival: Ok fair. Roku: Plus, the fact I can see this is a red flag, it def means something. Kyoshi: Alright alright. Aang: Did Roku just win an argument against Kyoshi? Korra: Shhhh don't say that too loud, someone might get murdered. Kyoshi, pretending not to hear them: So I guess that means we have two homewrecking Avatars?" Korra: Two? There was another? Kyoshi: Sweetie, I think we established your tendency of breaking up couples. Korra: I was 17! Kyoshi: A couple's a couple. Korra: I'm not a homewrecker! Kyoshi: Girl, you introduced yourself by literally wrecking a hole in your house and then fucking up your living room. Just own it. Korra: I think she's mad about my comment I made about her girl and her mother-in-law and Kuruk..... Aang: You think?

#rise of kyoshi #shadow of kyoshi #reckoning of roku #atla #avatar the last airbender #legend of korra #lok #wan #aang #kyoshi #roku #korra #is wan breaking the messy kurse? uwu #who knows kfldjsalkfjda

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daellauchiha · 4 months ago

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The time has come

Zuko × fem!reader

Warnings: Mention of sex.

Ignore the bad English, blame Google translate. Good reading. 💕

Masterlist

I don't really know how to do this. - I say to Katara and Suki during my wedding party. - I've seen it in some books and it seems too painful to bear.

Katara and Suki look at each other, with a strange expression.

Look… You don't need to be afraid. - Katara says. I believe she must know, since she married Aang 4 months ago and Suki married Sokka 2 months ago.

It does hurt! - Suki says and leaves me confused about what to think.

Wait… Does it hurt or not?

Look, it depends on how it's going to be.

I raise an eyebrow at Suki.

I don't understand. How should I be? Because according to what I saw in the books, he's literally going to enter me. How could it not hurt? It's basically a stab, but…

Look, it's not like that, the first time it might hurt more because you're scared. - Katara doesn't let me finish speaking and interrupts me, surprising me. - But it'll be fine later, I swear.

Okay. But can you give me some tips?

Just stay calm, Zuko will do the rest. The boys are talking. It's probably about that. - I look at the people looking for them and I find them. And Zuko is incredibly red. - But after you get used to it, squeeze and lick the tip. They like it. - Suki says and Katara agrees with a nod.

Squeeze what? Lick the tip of what?

Trust me. We know what we're talking about. - They finish talking and look behind me. - Your moment has come, Lady of Fire. - And they leave.

I take a deep breath and look back, knowing who I'm going to find and what I'm going to do. I'm face to face with Zuko, smiling and still a little red.

Hi. Let's go? - He says, giving me his right arm so I can give him my left.

Hi. Let's go - I say with my voice trembling because of what's going to happen now and I give him my spleen.

#zuko #fire lord zuko #zuko x reader #the last airbender #avatar the last airbender

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gardenlollipop · 9 months ago

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Why Ozai is not a bad character

This seems like an outrageous take but hear me out.

My first topic of discussion is how horrible ozai's childhood must have been. His father was Azulon and the way he treated Zuko and Azura was probably has a direct correlation to how his own childhood must have been. Like that scene where his dad slapped for spilling a cup of water. He also has burns all over his body from his father, you just don't see them in the show. Or the comics. Trust me. Because there's evidence that clearly points to this.

Second, about Zuko's whole scar. 13 year old Zuko is a known deceptive, manipulative, evil worm. Think about how quickly he switched sides from the "evil" side to team avatar (suspicious). Also, it's so obvious that his scar is fake and that he reapplies it every morning and night. You can even see cosmetics in the background, and there's one scene where it's not even on his face. like could they have made it any more obvious, yet all you LOVE manipulative and lying Zuko.

Next let's talk about URSA. OH MY GOD URSA. When firebird ozai threatened to mistreat Zuko to Ursa, he was just trying to defend himself from his evil manipulative child to his equally manipulative wife. She mistreated her children and him and escaped the second she saw the chance, without a second thought towards her family. Also, the thing that's most ignored by this ignorant fandom, is how she threatened his parents that she would release fire nation noble secrets unless she could marry their son, Ozai, who was terrified of her. Also, the way he proved his love by sacrificing his own parents for her in the comic "North and South".

For Azula, I think it goes without saying how insane Azula is, not to mention how ungrateful she is towards her father in the last episode after she's made firelord even though she's not even that talented, Ozai's words not mine. Ozai also had a good reason to mistreat Azula, seeing how much she mistreated the one he loved, Mai. Even in Azula's childhood she would lie to her parents, even her father even though he clearly cared about her and was a very good parent.

Not much can be said about Iron, considering we don't see much of their relationship. Consider how negligent and uncaring Iron was towards his brother after he lost his nephew, Lu Ten. Iron instead used this to bring attention to himself. He also betrayed Ozai, putting his manipulative nephew Zuko over his own brother.

Next is Mai, she lied to the firelord to get on his good side, and in the end just betrayed him to go with Zuko and avatar. Mai might be the worst character in the show, seeing as she betrayed not only one of her closest friends, but also Ozai, the man who truly loved her. Not to mention, the only reason she liked Zuko was because he joined the avatar and she believed his side would win in the end. Because all she ever cared about was making herself look good.

AANG!! Despite the fact that he had unresolved feelings for the firelord, he still took down his love and deep down should feel ultimately guilty.

Finally, Ozai is extremely attractive. Let's start with his lovely, clear skin and his high sculpted cheekbones and beautiful glossy olive skin. Not to mention his beautiful golden shining eyes, sculpted into the perfect almond shape. He was especially attractive in the New live action. Considering his beautiful ribbed abs, his long Lucious, black locks, and even in the final battle how he still looks put together and attractive and HOT.

We need to talk about one final point, how he just wanted his kingdom and his people to be the best it could possibly. All of his actions were just him looking out for his people. He mistreated some people but he could have been a lot worse. And he was a good king. He's just very patriotic in his love for Agni kai, his people, and the color red. and bonfires. and birds. He especially loved the beautiful sight of grey smoke falling over the beautiful, white, melting snow whenever he attacked the southern water tribe.

Also he is a good king.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk

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arcanarix · 7 months ago

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@coconutsaiyan || thanks for the suggestion! {EDITED}

“Alright! Who let katara near the fruity cactus juice?” sokka sighs in frustration. “you KNOW she cannot hold that well.”

“sorry sokka, you can’t stop the girl from drowning her anger in the stuff,” toph remarks. “she calls it her put up with aang lubricant because those two love turtle ducks got into another scuffle today.”

sokka perks an eyebrow as he observes aang’s and katara’s body language which definitely doesn’t read petty argument because they’re snuggling up to each other like they can’t bear to be away.

“a scuffle? I don’t know toph, looks like they’re getting too friendly there.” sokka does feel that protective brother polar dog coming out of him! Even if they are married!

“wow katara, i forgot how beautiful your eyes are up this close,” aang giggles like he’s that youthful kid he once was, with a smoldering expression reserved only for his lawfully wedded wife. “just kiddin’, i can never forget a beauty like my wife of course.”

katara whacks him playfully on the chest. “sheesh aang, if i hadn’t know much better i’d think this is your way of wooing me into bed.”

both sokka and toph are straight up gagging.

aang’s had a bit of that fruity cactus drink too, after all it is a sokka special. nobody can resist that stuff—but maybe aang or katara should back off from it because this is typically the end result. all handsy and disgusting, laying it on real thick and somehow aang becomes the suaviest of the sauve after a few.

and sokka KNOWS he’s had way more than a few.

“Well did it—hic—work! because there’s nothing i won’t do for you—or—hic—with you! My beautiful lady.”

“eugh,” zuko grimaces from afar. His expression matches that disgust. Aang and katara are in their own world at that moment though.

“should we leave?” toph asks sokka.

“Uh, absolutely,” sokka replies.

aang nearly trips over his feet but catches himself mid air getting close to his wife.

“So—what say you and i find a private room and—hic—get it going on as they say?”

“Oh my god.” Sokka gasps theatrically, with even more heart than those ember island actors. “yeah let’s give them some privacy. Let’s go far far FAR away.”

#atla #atla kataang #kataang #the gaang #kataang drabble #atla aang #atla katara #atla drabble #erixtales

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linnoya-writes · 1 year ago

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Aang actually *was* a Terrible Dad (and we should stop making excuses for him).

One thing I cannot get over is how people say that Aang actually wasn't that terrible of a father, and I keep hearing the same excuses to his behavior: he didn't grow up with conventional parents, he had to focus on bringing back his air-bending culture, Katara was already a natural parent and was totally okay being the housewife/mom who let Aang off the hook with most of the serious parenting duties... ugh....

Anyway, I have three points to give:

1) Aang may not have grown up with conventional family structure, but he certainly knew enough about the world (being a nomad his whole life pre-war) to understand what a healthy family dynamic looked like. He knew enough about Toph's dad and Zuko's dad to understand what a poor father figure looked like. Aang also spent time with Hakoda, in ATLA season 3, to see the characteristics of a good father -- and this doesn't even include the time he spent traveling with Sokka/Katara alone and noticing how their dad's absence was affecting them. I put a lot of emphasis on Katara, here, because she makes it very clear in Season 3 that her father leaving the family was devastating... and this girl would want a partner who understood those feelings and do absolutely everything to keep the family together. It's what she did throughout the entirety of ATLA-- Katara was the glue that kept everyone close -- and you would think Aang would pick up on those cues, rather than let history repeat itself after he had his family with Katara. Imagine how awful it must've been for Katara, watching the man she married ultimately go off with their air-bending son on these cultural excursions, and not even consider that their two other kids might want to learn about air bending culture anyway. They're a bi-cultural family, after all, right? Wouldn't that have been a prime example for the new world, showing a blended family being together and not separate? Just let that sink in for a moment.

2) Many people say that any misunderstood family dynamics between Kya, Bumi and Tenzin came to a peaceful conclusion in LOK season 2 with a happy family portrait. Here's the thing-- a posed, smiling family portrait doesn't necessarily indicate a healthy family unit. I'm also making note of LOK Season 3, when Bumi admits that he finally feels more connected to their father after he magically gets Airbending, and also that scene when Kya/Bumi arrive to the Northern Air Temple and the acolytes are shocked to hear that Avatar Aang had other children besides Tenzin. I mean... how much effort would it take, exactly, for Aang to just mention to the temple monks and acolytes that he had two other kids? Was he embarrassed to tell them they weren't air benders? Was he ashamed? In any case, he was the Avatar and he should've demonstrated pride for the children he had regardless of their bending ability or lack their-of. It goes without saying that, while Aang did grow up differently and had many priorities being the Avatar and the Last Airbender... he still made some conscious choices about how little of a "family man" he wanted to be. Aang clearly favored the air-bending life and didn't process that he was also raising a family that was part WaterTribe (perhaps because many of their customs clashed with his air-bending way of life... but that's another conversation.)

3) Yes, Bryke are notorious for writing examples of poor father figures (Ozai/Unalaq/BeiFong/Yakone/Hiroshi) and I'm also here to tell you that they're known for writing women who lose agency and turn devoted-doting-domestic-docile once they get with their man. Pema from LOK is a good example-- all we know about her is she literally gave her life to be an air-acolyte and carry Tenzin's children (the only backstory we get is Pema secretly pined for Tenzin until it became too much and she had to say something), and be the good housewife and mother to those air bending kids. We know nothing about this woman's individual wants or needs outside of motherhood. Another example is the backstory of Yakone and his unnamed wife who-- after giving this man two sons, completely disappears from the narrative and is not aware Yakone is abusing his kids. And she's still exists, because Amon refuses to go with Noatak so as to not abandon their mom. Their mother was so unnecessary as a character after she had the kids, she became this oblivious/silent character in the background who let her own kids get abused. Another example is Unalaq's wife-- again, about a father using his two kids like his henchmen and the mother isn't even in the picture. We know she exists because after Unalaq gets destroyed... Esna turns to Desca and says "what're we gonna tell Mother?" It may have been written as a subtle joke... but the underlying sentiment is still there.

I'd say my favorite example is the fate of Fire Lady Ursa-- a woman once determined to protect her children that she was willing to commit murder and treason -- ends up choosing to forget those same children and instead wipes all her memories of them entirely to start a quiet domestic life with her childhood sweetheart, a man who very much knows the life Ursa left behind and has the power to decide what truths he wants to tell her about the world and live like there wasn't even a bloody war happening. (Don't even get me started on how The Search disappointed me. Oy).

Perhaps Aang and Katara -- even without intent -- might have fallen into that formulaic pattern when Bryke wrote out the first two seasons of LOK, because that was during the time The Promise, The Search and The Rift comics got published, and Katara's character was definitely becoming that unquestionably-loyal/no fuss/devoted girlfriend to Aang where she would go with everything he decided and sadly sit in a corner while Aang got all the praise and attention and never considering her feelings. Bryke picked up on these mistakes, however, because in the later comics like North & South and Imbalance, you can see them giving Katara some leadership moments (particularly when Aang isn't around) and Aang more of a mature, considerate approach with Katara, saying things like "I'm sorry I just left you to fight alone like that!" and "You're always asking me if I'm okay. Now it's my turn-- are you okay?" The effort was definitely there to make Aang and Katara look somewhat more compatible than they let on. But things didn't really seem that promising in Legend of Korra... as Katara's character arc gets breadcrumbs of acknowledgement regarding what she did for the world outside of Aang's narrative.

It seems like Katara's badass individual characteristics were written second only to whatever she needed to be for Aang, including being the primary parent to his non-airbender kids while he focused on the air-bending culture.

In any case-- I'm almost certain Bryke will be bending over backwards to "fix" all of these flawed elements of Kataang and Aang as a father figure in the upcoming animated feature films, because if there's anything Bryke likes to do... it is "tell" us that Aang was a great guy and there absolutely was no other better person for Katara.

#avatar the last airbender #kataang critical #katara of the southern water tribe #katara deserved better #aang critical #atla #bryke critical #bryke projected their feelings about a woman's place pretty indiscreetly when they wrote their romances #katara

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tobitofunction · 2 years ago

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🐉 Part 1

Set after the events of the Last Airbender, Zuko is Firelord and over 18. The reader is a Targaryen, so silver hair and purple eyes but the character otherwise have any description of hair texture or skin tone

Long and has mentions of incest as game of thrones inspired characters

y/d- your dad (or any male name)

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 part5 part6 part 7 part 8 part 9

“So where we going, Uncle?” Zuko asked,” An Island which is nearly double the size of the amber island which is located near Crescent Island, where a family of silver-haired people lives, "he said lifting his cup to his lips,” Is this all we are getting?” Sokka asked,” You shouldn’t even be here, only Aang, me and uncle-“,” But where is the fun in that. You owe me a life-changing field trip flame boy” Toph said,” Well, it’s been said that they are closer to the gods than us. The fire nation families have been trying to marry into them for generations but they always decline” Iroh continued,” Can’t blame them, wouldn’t want to marry into that either” Katara said gaining a soft nudge from Aang,” The Targaryen family has some queer costumes anyway so I doubt we are getting anywhere anyway” Iroh shrugged,” Wait is this a trip to get Zuko a wife” Sokka said with a big smile,” Oooh this is going to gooood” Toph smirked while rubbing her fist. Zuko was about to open his mouth when a large gust of wind knocked him onto the floor of the ship,” What was-“ Zuko stopped mid-sentence when he saw the reason he was knocked on the floor, a large white dragon was flying across the sky towards the direction they were heading,” I thought dragons were mostly extinct beside the two with the sun warriors” Aang said with wonder in his voice,” The Targaryen are from the Valyrian race, dragon blood is run through them is what people say” Iroh said looking with awe at the dragon flying majestically through the orangy sky,” How come I never heard from the until now?”,” Because not many are left, my nephew. Only two families are left. That’s why they are often marrying…. Well within the family” Iroh sighed making everyone's eyes widen,” INCEST” Sokka gasped,” So Zuko, be less you. Having a Targaryen in our family would be very beneficial” Iroh said.

They soon arrived at the island, large and small dragons made of stone decorated the island, it looked similar enough to his own palace but unlike his, it carried a dark aura. “Fire Lord Zuko here, we are here to see your King” Iroh smiled at the guards who walked up to them,” Their armour looks so cool” Sokka fangirled at the dark armour, it was made up of multiple metal panels which were held together by dark red leather, from far away the armour gave the illusion of scales which fitted with the design of their helms, a dragons head.

“Fire Lord, it’s an honour to have you here,” an older man said, his hair like Iroh said was silver and went towards his shoulders, he carried a friendly smile which seemed genuine, and his voice was similar to his Uncle and carried a similar aura as well. His throne room was similar to his own, with open flames everywhere making the room nice and warm, the symbol of the house, a red three-headed dragon on black fabric was hanging behind the King’s seat. “An honour my Lord,” another man said, he also had white hair which went past his shoulder, and he seemed friendly enough but also more worn out, he, however, wore a different symbol, a silver seahorse on a sea green field. “ Iroh, or should I call The Dragon of the West?”,” Iroh is alright your majesty” Iroh smiled,” I am embarrassed to say my daughter isn't here yet. Riding that dragon of hers if I should guess. I forgot call me y/d” he smiled,” This Lord Coryls, he’s married to my cousin. He is part of the other Valyrian family which has survived the doom”,” The doom?” Aang asked curiously,” Avatar Aang, what a privilege to have you under our roof” y/d said bowing his head,” Thank you for having us,” Aang said politely,” If you want to hear more about the history of our people ask my daughter if she ever decided to show up”,” The Princess, is quite something I hope the Fire Lord can handle her, my son and she are good friends-”,” Lord Coryls is trying to forge a marriage between them”,” Well my majesty, not many of us are left, and blood purity-”,” Shh, he is the Fire Lord, he is the most important person in the fire nation. I might hold the title of King but that’s all it is, a title which only exists here. A marriage to Zuko would benefit both of us, isn't that right?” Zuko cheeks began to darken, he knew that he would be forced into a marriage to have heirs but it still is embarrassing to happen in front of all his friends, Zuko was about to open his mouth when Toph cut him off,” Someone is coming” she said turning towards the door where you soon stepped out, like your dad and Lord Coryls you had silver hair, which bounced with every step you took, the light of the open fires illuminated your hair making you seem even more out the world “I’m sorry” you said with a tide lipped smile and quickly passing Zuko, you gave him a quick glance revelling your lavender coloured eyes,” What’s that smell?” Toph said,” Dragon,” Lord Coryls said,” It was beautiful weather so I wouldn’t hold it against the Princess,” Zuko said scratching the back of his head,” This is my oldest y/n, my heir,” he said squeezing your hand,” Well, your wife is pregnant and if it’s a boy-”,” She still is heir to the throne” your dad cut Corlys off,” Y/N, show the fire Lord and his friends the dragon pit and the rest of the island. I want to talk to Iroh alone” you nodded.

“Sorry for knocking you on the floor earlier on,” you said with a grimace,” It’s fine but I thought only two dragons are left and they live on the crescent island?” Zuko and Aang asked simunatsly,” It’s complicated, before the doom of my race their were many more dragons but with the doom, the dragons died alongside my people. My family and Lord Coryls the Velyrion are the only ones left” you smiled,” We came not far from fire nation itself, well what the fire nation would become, our ancestors brought as many dragon eggs as possible but not many of them hatched. An adult dragon a pure white one, the oldest at the time, left, this was around the time-bending was bestowed to the people by”,” The Lion Turtles” Aang interrupted,” Yes, the dragon who left helped teach the people about their bending mostly the first Avatar Wan” you said,” What about the dragons with the sun warriors?”,”They are the dragons which came from the time of old. The sun warriors are the first people my ancestors met, the first people who learned from the dragons besides Wan of course. As the Valyrian never got the powers to bend we gifted them with our oldest dragons, so they teach people the true meaning of fire bending, with one condition. We get any eggs laid from them” you said stopping in front of a large cave where two men emerged, “Maghagon nyke ñuha zaldrīzes (Bring me my dragon)” you said making them nod,” How do you know all these facts?” Sokka asked making his friends sigh,” I read books and the story are being told for centuries within my family” you smiled as Sokka's cheeks redden in slight embarrassment at the question,” What did you say?” he said trying to change the topic,” I want to show you the dragon who knocked you out earlier, in the tongue of my ancestors” you smiled, soon the floor began to shake slightly, from the far distance Zuko could see something glitter in the dark,” Haku” you smiled at the dragon who emerged from the darkness. The gaang stepped back a bit, the dragon was slightly smaller than the dragons with the sun Warriors but larger than Appa,” This is Fire Lord Zuko and his friends so please don’t eat them” you whispered making them gulp,” They eat human flesh?” Katara asked as Sokka was trying to hide behind her,” So long it’s cooked” you shrugged,” Don’t worry, he won't hurt you.... so long you don’t try to hurt me. He’s quite protective of me” you said patting his white snout, his golden eyes didn't leave the group of friends,” Is he related to-”,” Ran and Shaw?” you cut off Aang who nodded,” Distantly, they didn't lay eggs for a century now but we have other dragons who do, not many have hatched even some of Ran and Shaw’s once are still unhatched” you shrugged, you walked towards Zuko and grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him towards the white beast who was now focusing on the young fire lord,” Stop being scared, he can sense that” you said as you felt him tremble slightly as the hot breath of the dragon hit his face,”sagon gentle (be gentle)” you commanded Haku would seem to relax at the statement, you placed Zuko’s hand on her snout. Zuko like Haku relaxed, the scaly skin underneath his palm was an unusual feeling but he got used to it quickly, he could feel the heat from underneath his skin as well,” It’s Valeryian, tradition to put a dragon egg inside a baby cradle if it hatches they are true blooded Valeryian” you explained as Zuko continued to gently stroke Haku’s nose,” You can touch him too, he seems to have noticed you aren't a threat” you said, Toph was the first to walk up and touch his side,” I can feel that he is huge” she smiled impressed,” He can grow bigger, it all depends on their life styles” you smiled as the other slowly made their way to Haku,” Also my dear fire lord, we have a gift for you” you said, just than the two men who brought the dragon out came towards the silver haired princess with a metal bowl carried on a metal pole, the bowl was rather large and had a dragon carved on it’s outside,” We have a good feeling with this one” you said lifting up the lid making steam erupt from it.

Zuko stepped closer, his eyes widening when making eye contact with the items covered in steam, a red scaley egg was sitting in the middle. You gently grabbed the egg from the container and handed it to Zuko,” Why? I can’t accept-“,” Yes you can, both Avatar Roku and Sozin had dragons, it’s in your blood” you shrugged taking the egg from him again and placing it back inside the heated bowl.” How do you know about Roku? My Uncle told me this only a while ago” Zuko said narrowing his eyes,” Why do you think my father finally accepted the fire nation's request for a marriage proposal?” you said with a lifted brow,” One more question?” Katara said moving away from Haku,” How did the fire nation not eliminate you and your dragons? Iroh lied about the once’s on Crescent Island but if the fire nation wanted a marriage they knew about this place-“,” I show you but be warned it’s not a pretty sight” you patted Haku’s neck,” I will be back soon” you smiled making him grunt.

You walked the Gaang to the other side of the island before stopping close to the cliff side,” Don’t fall” you warned as the group stepped closer to the side,” Wow” Sokka said softly seeing half-melted wrecks of Fire Nation ships at the bottom of the cliffs. Even with it being quite low you still see some shard remains of fire nation soldiers whose armour was melted to their remains,” Dragons once bound will defend their rider until death and some of the dragons' fires were so strong they could melt metal” you shrugged,” The dragon who did that is no longer with us”,” What happened to it?”,” Before the last fleet got destroyed they had a surprise attack on him, but they didn’t live to tell the tale so fire nation gave up on trying to conquer us, there were a couple survivors but after seeing what we have they changed sides and joined us” you said,” The dragon was the child of Ran and Shaw, one of their first and also their biggest at the time of his death he was bigger than them” you said,” My grandfather was his last rider” you said remembering the stories your parents told you about the large dragon. Zuko licked his lips,” Return to the palace, I want to speak to her alone”,” Marry her Zuko, she’s awesome” Sokka whispered-yelled as he walked past his friend.

“Thank you for the egg, my mom used to tell stories about dragons, positive stories on how majestic they are but my father ruined it by telling us about their murderous tendency, their love for human flesh,” Zuko said as the two of you began walking alongside the cliff,” They can be murderous but only if they feel in danger or if they are bounded if their rider is in danger. Also, dragons prefer sheep over humans” you smiled making Zuko chuckle,” Can I ask you a question Fire Lord?” you asked,” Do you want to get married or is it only duty you are seeking?” you asked,” Duty if I am being honest, not to offend you but I only recently got out of a relationship and I wasn’t eager to get back into one but my Uncle and the Council are pushing me into one. Uncle mostly because he’s afraid I will die alone as my personality isn’t something women crave” he said rubbing his neck,” I like your personality... the side I meet so far” you said making Zuko blush,” What about you?”,”As you heard my mother is pregnant and if it’s a boy people expect that my father will name him heir to whatever is left of the Valyrian race. My mother said woman’s battlefield is the birthing bed, something which I guess I have to get used to,” you shrugged,” I’m just doing what is expected of me, I can fight as hard as I want but they just marry me off anyway. If not to you then my cousin, my Uncle is already set to marry my other cousin” you played with your fingers licking your lips before looking to your left and seeing a small blue dragon dunk into the water and back out with a fish in its mouth, he threw the fish in the air and burned it with his fire before consuming it whole,” Dragon’s are so amazing, I can’t believe we nearly eradicated them all” Zuko said staring at the small dragon who was flying away,” Dragon’s are part of us, we came here together and I know we leave this planet together as well. Fire and Blood” you said continuing to walk,” I have more questions” Zuko said catching up with you,” Ask away, I am your tour guide, after all, I hope your friends find their way back to the palace in one piece” you mused,” They can protect themselves” Zuko said waving his hand dissmisvelly,” So you would be marrying your cousin if this doesn’t work out?” Zuko lifted a brow,” Yes, our blood and connection with the dragons have to do with magic, we tamed them through our magic and we believe the more we marry outside the family the more diluted our blood will come. That’s why my uncle and cousin are getting married, he actually.. never mind but we stopped using magic centuries ago, however so I guess we are clinging to the last bits of our culture” you said changing the topic of your Uncle quickly,” So being related to avatar and the fire nation family was enough to make your father think I am good enough to marry his only daughter. I’m honoured” Zuko chuckled ignoring your short quip about your Uncle,” And probably weirded out, incest isn't normal in other cultures,” you said knowing what Zuko wanted to say,” It be an honour to be your wife Zuko and to carry your children,” you said stopping and looking into Zuko’s golden eyes,” I will be honoured to have you as my wife and mother of my children,” he said looking into your purple eyes with a soft but unsure smile which mirrored yours.

“Oh, they have arrived. How was it?” Iroh asked, a long table with food had been set up. The gaang was there already sitting on the floor,” I have received a dragon egg Uncle” Zuko said happily and proudly while finding a seat beside his Uncle. You meanwhile sat beside your father who patted your head affectionally,” Where is mother?” you asked,” Tired, no need to worry though, she is a dragon” your father reassured,” Have two of you made peace with the idea of marriage?” Coryls asked, as you bit into your food,” We know our duties” you mused,” Where is your son anyway?” you hummed seeing the empty space between him and Katara, Coryls was about to say something when the door swung open revealing your cousin,” Sorry I’m late” he bowed his head, his blond locks falling off his shoulder slightly behind him entered his older sister,” Found him, he was near the Cannibals cave, saved him from being eaten” his sister said slapping the back of his head making him pout, both siblings found their seats,” My dear you know the rules” your aunt said to her youngest,” Who is the cannibal?” Toph asked,” A wild dragon, he like his name says likes to eat other dragons and humans who came near his cave. That’s why you won’t find any dragons near his cave” your father explained,” Cannibal just needs to have the right rider and we can use him if fire nation ever thinks of attacking again” the young Lord snarled making Zuko shift,” The Cannibal, dear cousin would eat you for breakfast and you have a dragon already,” you said with narrowed eyes,” Why can we only have one?”,” Y/N is right it was stupid of you to even try to claim him” Coryls snapped at his son,” Well this got awkward real quickly” Sokka said to his sister who nudged him in response. Your cousin didn’t respond to his father but just ate,” So about the marriage” your aunt smiled,” We talked and we are ready to perform our duty”,” That’s good to hear” she smiled in response,” My dear, as you know Lord Coryls wasn't happy with the decision but we came to a form of agreement which the fire lord needs to approve” Zuko lifted a brow and looked at Iroh who looked everywhere but his nephew’s direction,” Which is, as you know your Uncle is set to marry Leena?” you nodded slowly and looked at your cousin who looked confused at why her marriage is being brought up,” We thought your firstborn will be married to her firstborn” you licked your lips at the mention of your Uncles wedding, you took a deep breath and held your head up high before answering,” Did Uncle approve?”,”We have sent him a message but you know your Uncle, he is fine with that” Corlys said, you gave him a fake smile,” Are we sure? Uncle isn’t really fond of -”,” If it means we can continue to have a sense of blood purity he will agree” your father said with narrowed eyes,” Isn’t that still incest?” Sokka mumbled to Katara with a weirded-out face but again only received a nudge from her but her facial expression he could tell she felt the same.” It’s fine... I guess, y/n told me it’s part of your tradition how can I say something about that” Zuko said simply, he wasn’t really happy about the idea, not because of the incest even though it was a part of it, it was more the part of taking his future’s son ability to fall in love away from him. Yes, he is in an arranged marriage, but unlike his son, Zuko was able to see other people before that and hoped you did too. Zuko gave you a look and he noticed your demeanour shifting, you looked slightly upset,” Father, I'm not hungry can I go to my room?” you asked,” Y/n, the servants put a lot of work into the food and we have guest” your dad slightly scolded,” I’m sorry” you mumbled bowing your head before walking out the room.

“y/n, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at dinner?” your mom asked trying to sit up in her bed but her giant belly made it difficult for her,” Wasn’t hungry” you mumbled crawling onto her bed,” Is something wrong?” she asked you concerned,” Father just married off my non-existing child to Uncle’s non-existing child” you pouted,” Do you at least like the fire Lord?” she asked,” Zuko is sweet, he be a good husband but he agreed to marry off our child” your mother sighed,” He probably thought it is the right thing to do, it’s still to soon to think about that my child. Just be happy that Zuko isn’t a horrible person, but I have a feeling there is more to it than your unborn child being married off. You don’t like the idea of your Uncle getting married” she said nudging your knee,” I have my duty mother and so does he” she gave you a firm look,” He might be family but he’s nothing but trouble, get him out of your head my dear” you nodded and looked your mother up and down, her skin was clammy and duller” Will I look this bad once I'm pregnant?”, your mother rolled her eyes at you,” Charming, and yes at least I hope so” she joked making you smile,” Stay strong mom” you smiled,” I will don’t worry”.

You left your mother's bedroom and walked outside to ride Haku when you heard Zuko call your name,” Did I upset you?” he asked directly,” You only agreed to a marriage pact for our unborn child, I thought with us it can be different, our children can choose who they marry” you shrugged making Zuko sigh,” I wanted that too but it was the only option, I don’t want to make a rift between your family y/n” he said honestly as the two of you walked towards the dragon pit.” I understand, I hope we don’t have a son then” you said making Zuko look at you,” I hope we do, and I hope he will fall in love with his wife like I hope I will fall in love with you, even though I think I’m already falling” he said making your cheeks heat up,” We only know each other for a few hours” you chuckled rubbing your arms,” I know, it’s crazy, I love hearing the tales of your ancestors, how excited you look when explaining it to us” he said licking his lips,” Also you didn’t speak of my scar yet which is a bonus in my book” you chuckled,” I assumed it was something traumatic and I we don’t know each other well enough to trauma dump on each other yet” you shrugged,” I appreciate it”. You stayed silent for a while once you arrived at the Dragonpit,” Want to ride Haku with me? He’s big enough for two” Zuko's eyes widen,” Are you serious? I will be honoured” you giggled at his excitement.

“Just hold on tight, it can be quite bumpy,” you said settling into Haku’s saddle,” Also it’s Haku’s first time carrying two people, so don’t move around much,” you said feeling Zuko’s arms wrap around your waist tightly,” Issi ao sȳz Haku? sōvegon (Are you good Haku? Fly)” you said patting his neck, Haku began to trot before taking off into the air. Your hair was flying into Zuko’s face tickling him slightly,” How are you doing?” you asked, your voice slightly raised due to the altitude,” This is amazing, it’s so different to Appa” he said looking around, he couldn’t explain but flying on a dragon back is such a different feeling than flying on a sky bison or a hot air balloon. He felt like he belonged, free of any responsibility,” How resistant are you to heat?” you asked looking back slightly,” Tolerable” he said into your hair,” Then get closer to me” you said, Zuko didn't question it and pulled himself closer to you as much as he can,” Dracarys” you shouted, Zuko peaked from behind his shoulder as Haku blasted fire and flew through it, Zuko gasped slightly and hid his face from the flames but he could barely feel them on his body.” It was scary cool” he said into your ear,” Let’s land on Crescent Island, don’t want to make Haku to tired” you said,”tegun (land)” you said.

“So how was it” you smiled as Zuko slipped down on the floor,” Undesrcibel, I hope the dragon hatches and I can do the same,” he said,” They grow faster than one can imagine. Mostly if they live outside,” you said rubbing Haiku’s neck,” Was the fire too much?” you asked,” I could just feel you hide away a bit when it happens,” you said,” No it wasn’t too much but... the scar on my face happened due to an Agni Kai against my father,” he said touching it gently,” You fought against your own father? And he scared you like this?” you asked with wide eyes,” He never loved me, I want to be different to him, I want to be more like my mother who always showed me kindness and was full of love,” he said with a soft smile,” She sounds amazing”,” She is, she vanished when I was young, many believed she is dead but I know she’s out there and my father is the reason she went missing” he scoffed and laughed, you furrowed your brows at that ” I’m trauma dumping... sorry too soon maybe?” he said awkwardly,” It’s fine, we be married sooner or later, it’s nice to know my husband a bit better” he smiled softly,” And you stink of dragon” you added making him laugh,”Can say the same thing about you” he said pushing you gently. Haku meanwhile had his head lying on the ground, slightly exhausted from carrying people.”Princess y/n?” a male voice said, it was the Chief of the Sun Warriors,” Sorry for the intrusion Chief, I just wanted Haku to rest, he carried to people for the first time” you said with a bow of your head,” It’s fine, it’s always good to see the dragons. Someone fetch Haku some food” he said making one of the warrior's nod and walk off,” I remember you boy, the crown Prince of the fire nation has returned” he said looking Zuko up and down with a smirk,” Actually he’s the fire lord now and we are set to marry” you said making the Chief eyes widen slightly,” I hope you be wedded by the tradition of your house” he said,” I hope so too” you smiled,” Than it’s settled we marry in the tradition of your house, whatever it is” he smiled,” It involves the masters and a little bit of blood” you said,” Blood, that’s lovely”,” Squeamish?” he shook his head while you try suppress a smile,”The wedding tradition of the Valyrian race is a wonderful ceremony we will be happy to host Princess like we did her family for thousand of years” he said.

Haku feasted on his food while you and Zuko were having a casual conversation,” Did you have any relationship?” Zuko asked, you licked your lips and leaned back into Haku,” In a way yes” you said,” In a way?” Zuko said,” It wasn’t anything serious my Father made sure of it. You don’t need to worry,” you said making Zuko confused,” Worried about what?” you laughed at his confused face,” My virtue is still intact,” you said seeing Zuko’s face get redder,” Your family is very traditional in a way,” he said rubbing his face, you smiled. Suddenly you felt Haku move behind you, his head lifted up in the sky looking into the direction of your home,” What is it, boy?” you asked standing up, you squinted your eyes and looked in the direction Haku was looking,” Is that another dragon?” Zuko asked with excitement in his voice,” It’s Carax, my Uncle’s dragon” you whispered making Zuko nod, you mentioned him a couple of times making Zuko curious enough about him. Soon a large red and black dragon landed, which was slightly bigger than Haku and more threatening to look than all the dragons he saw so far. A tall and bulky male with shoulder-length silver hair climbed down off the dragon, he patted the neck of the dragon before walking towards the two young adults. Zuko noticed that he was slightly younger than your father but was less friendly looking, his scar which dragged from his forehead through his left eye and down his chin didn’t help either.” Uncle” you greeted folding your hands behind your back, Zuko stepping closer to you,” Princess, I was surprised to see you here” he smiled not sparing a look to Zuko yet,” I wanted to show my future husband the area” you said looking at Zuko who waved awkwardly,” Fire Lord Zuko, my brother has sent me a message about your arranged marriage between our children” he said pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket,” Yes, I hope it’s okay with you” he said carefully,” I just don’t understand if the marriage between our future children is happening to keep our blood strong why marry my niece of to someone outside the family” he said looking down at Zuko with a lifted brow,” He’s related to the Avatar, Roku was the grandfather of his mother” you answered for Zuko,” Ahh, the Avatar who disappeared and let the fire nation hunt dragons like they are deer” your Uncle snarked,” I will try my best to revive the dragon population and make sure that no harm will come to the remaining ones” Zuko said, your Uncle didn’t say anything but just turned to you,” I have something for you, see it as an early wedding gift” he said making you lift a brow, he reached inside his pocket and pulled out a necklace,” Valyrian steel ” he said holding it in front of your face,” I heard about it” Zuko mumbled,” Really?” you smiled making your Uncle sigh,” Sokka said it’s one of the rarest metal on this planet, no one knows how to forge it or know’s it’s origins” he said,” It came from old Valyria, it was forge with the help of dragon fire but with the doom most of the steel got destroyed” your Uncle explained with neutral tone,”How did you get your hands on these?” you asked curious touching the necklace slightly,”Anything for my beautiful niece, turn around” he said, you gave Zuko a brief look before turning around and moving your hair so your Uncle came place the necklace around your neck. His fingers grazed your collarbone making you shiver slightly,” How does it look?” you asked Zuko,” It suits you well, I wish I brought something for you, mostly because you gifted me an egg” he said,” You gifted him an egg?” your Uncle asked annoyed,” He be part of the family soon, it would only make sense for him to have one and his ancestors had dragons as well” you defended making your Uncle roll his eyes,” His ancestor also destroyed most of the dragons”,” Zuko is different Uncle. Come on Zuko let’s go” you said climbing onto Haku.

“I’m sorry because of my Uncle,” you said with a grimace as you landed in front of the Dragon Pit,” It’s alright, I understand his hostility,” he said as the dragon keepers led Haku back into the pit. “I really enjoyed your stay” you smiled,” I enjoyed it to and I do not hate the idea of having an arranged marriage anymore,” he said,” I can say the same thing”,” You're leaving tomorrow right?” Zuko nodded,” Then I will recommend getting some sleep, it be a long way” back.

You and Zuko parted ways,Zuko watched you disappear into your room before beginning to walk towards his. He walked past the throne room when he heard a loud discussion happening which made him curious, he looked around to see if anyone can catch his ears dropping but when he saw no one close by he leaned his ear against the door,” What do you want brother?”,” I want Y/N, you promised me anything I want when you made Coryls your advisor instead of. Give me your daughter, I don’t trust that boy, his descendants to the throne split the realm in half, marriage to him will put y/n life in danger and he can’t protect her the way I do” Zuko frowned, he knew that half of his nation didn’t like the idea of him being Fire Lord but putting you in danger isn’t something he thought off and thanks to Mai, he was able to put a group of Ozai supporters in jail.” She can protect herself and he’s Fire Lord, he can afford the best guards the four-nation has and he’s a fire bender who the master trusted enough to tell the true meaning behind fire bending” your father defended Zuko but his brother just scoffed,” Zuko is the right match for my daughter, they’re the same age and seemed to get along quite well. That’s the end of the discussion brother, y/ will marry the fire lord and you marry Leena. Your children will be married once they are of age” he said with a tone which didn't leave room for any more discussion. Zuko heard heavy footsteps coming towards the door which made the young lord panic and run off towards his room.

“So where did the two of you go after dinner?” Sokka said wiggling his brows with a cheeky smile,” She took me on a flight on dragon back, it was truly amazing, nothing can beat that feeling” Zuko said with a fond smile,” Also I met her Uncle, he doesn’t seem to like me. I overheard a discussion between him and her father” Zuko said leaning against the railing of the boat,” He thinks I will bring her in danger as my reign split the realm in half” Zuko said,” But we have the Kyoshi warriors and they won’t let anything happen to you or your family and you have us as well” Aang said trying to lighten the mood,” Aang is right, y/n father would have thought that risk through, don’t worry too much Zuko” Katara said patting Zuko’s shoulder. Zuko nodded and looked at his friends with a thankful smile,” I hope I’m not disturbing?” you asked making Zuko turn,” No, we are just discussing some things. What are you doing here?” Zuko asked,” My father and Iroh thought it would be nice for me to look at the Palace, to get used to it already. I hope that’s okay with you” Zuko nodded,”Of course, what about Haku?”,” He be staying, my Uncle advised against it, he doesn’t want people who still support your father to know about their existence yet” you said with a tight-lipped smile,” That’s understandable, I just wanted to say I will protect you, my father’s support’s will not lay a hand on you. I promise you that” he said firmly,” I know”.

#atla zuko #avatar zuko #zuko x reader #zuko x you #zuko x y/n #zuko x fem!reader #a #atla x reader #avatar the last airbender #alta zuko x reader

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oneatlatime · 1 year ago

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The Waterbending Master

Finally! Only took the whole season to find one.

This one apparently also has commentary. I'll leave it off for now.

After countless episodes without, we finally have another hybrid animal. Behold:

A koala Sea-otter? That makes noises like a Raven. Alright.

Sokka saying "I'm not one to complain" is a) pretty damning evidence of his amount of self-awareness b) self-deprecating sarcasm c) a funny line that I'm reading too deeply into

Why is Appa flying so low anyway?

Subtle signs that these guys are way too used to relying on bending: -no railings -no alternate propulsion source (seriously, not even an oar?) -no emergency supplies in case a trip runs long (I don't even see an emergency sandwich, and come on guys, it's not like waterbending controls the weather)

Random pinball bumper style ice stabbies does seem like a good defense though.

Not so subtle exposition dump from Zhao the asshole. Avatar writers are usually better at integrating catch-up dialogue. Looks like Aang will be arriving just in time to defend the Water tribe from the invasion that, ironically, he summoned. Talk about self-inflicted problems. Do you think if Aang had found a waterbending teacher somewhere else, the Fire Nation would have left the water tribe alone for another hundred years? Aang's been learning on the run; they could have picked up a single waterbender and hightailed it back to some cave in the earth kingdom to learn there. Or the water tribe could have sent a waterbender out to find the gaang as soon as rumours of the avatar reached them. See? This was avoidable.

Always love me some sea-bison.

They have bending doors like Omashu. Actually is this a door or a lock? I think the water level is changing.

Is this a hybrid animal? The yak thing, not the two legger.

Last time you got a hero's welcome, Suki's village burnt down. Foreshadowing?

How often does this lady see sea-bisons? She just passed by one and didn't even bat an eye. Is there a secret sea-bison colony that's spent the last 100 years hiding from the fire nation in the north pole?

Music Night! Need a better lyricist.

What's going on here? Did they roast a giant turtle thing and now they're cooling it to serve by dunking it in water? Did they feel the need for a steam effect for the guy's speech so they heated up a giant thingy and dunked it in water? Is it a weird boat thing? It looks like it has a face. I bet it's a ritual object.

Are these pot stacks the water tribe version of Totem Poles?

Oh nuh uh. Nope. 16 is way too young to marry.

This girl is so into him I can feel it through the screen, the dvd player, and the 15+ years since this aired.

Even the head guy's like "yeah, he's an asshole, What can you do?" Let's put this asshole and Zhao the asshole in a room together. They can out-asshole each other. Should be fun.

Remember back in episode three when I said that Zuko needed to learn how to lie? This is why.

Nevermind, we don't need to put Zhao and Paku in a room together to out-asshole each other. Paku wins. As far as I've seen, bending is not gender specific, either in who gets it or how it's taught/used. What kind of idiot would tell someone born with the ability to wield an incredible weapon that, actually, they aren't allowed to? How did this attitude get instilled in the first place? Why didn't the first guy who ever said this get slashed to death by ice stabbies thrown by the ten nearest female benders? Are these northern water tribe people so unbothered by the war that they can afford to sideline 50% of their forces? More than sideline, render incapable of defending themselves or others? Obviously this tribe is far too privileged if they can afford this attitude. And also far too bored. I guess hiding behind that giant ice wall for 100 years left them so understimulated that they turned on themselves.

Bad attitude? Fucking bad attitude!?! There's only one guy in this episode with a bad attitude and it isn't Katara. Zhao looks downright pleasant compared to this Paku guy.

Question for Paku: why would the Northern Water Tribe's rules apply to a Southern Water Tribe member?

My god these two are so cute. Sokka could propose they disembowel whale carcasses for their activity and the princess would say yes.

So the parrot lizard did survive the fall over the waterfall.

They're little tiny children. Katara, who has spent her whole life wanting to learn to bend to fight, has literally been shoved back into the igloo with a bunch of babies to learn lady-bending (no offence to the babies). How how HOW is she so calm right now? If I were in her situation, I think I'd be so angry I'd be ugly crying. And also plotting how to murder that Paku guy.

WHAT.

Paku the asshole is apparently a proponent of the tell don't show philosophy of teaching. The Tell-while-doing-unspeakable-things-to-my-lunch don't show philosophy.

Unexpected backstory. This lady must have been pretty close to Gran Gran if she recognises a carving she presumably wore for maybe a few months about 50 years ago or more. Also this lady is shockingly dumb if she can't see why Gran Gran left this misogynistic hellhole, but I guess it can be hard to see it while you're in it.

Nitpick time: How does the teacher recognise this? Isn't this just the water tribe symbol? Probably the most common symbol in the whole north pole?

Nosferatu Zuko. Nosferzuko. Zukoratu? Iroh's pause here was so long that I checked in case I had muted by accident. And how does your crew being taken by Zhao the asshole make your crew traitors Zuko? Orders are orders.

So we're adding asassinating royals to our list of reasons Zhao is an asshole. I think he's won the title back from Paku.

Fuck this port I guess.

Zuko's dead. Huh. Bye then. Gotta say I don't get why he's so big in the fandom.

This princess sure does send some mixed messages. At least she didn't ghost him.

"Master Poophead." My God. It's perfect. Why didn't I think of that?

Aang passing on what he learns to Katara. Why didn't I think of that either? My plan was to get Katara to launch unprovoked attacks on Paku's students and study how they defend themselves until she can copy / surpass them. Mostly so I could watch Katara beat the crap out of sexists.

Die mad about it you troglodyte. Disrespect? How nice it must be to have enough of your culture left that it can be disrespected. And you're going to deny the avatar training, thus dooming the whole world to death via fire nation, because you're butthurt? Freakin manbaby.

YES! YES! BEAT HIS ASS! PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE!!!!!!

"I know. I don't care." + "I'm not doing it for you." = I'm officially in love with Katara. I took a while to warm up to her, I admit the first few episodes were a little rough, but this seals the deal.

This screenshot sparks joy. Last episode Aang bitchslapped a fire nation guy with air. This episode it's Katara's turn with water. The Firelord Uber-Bitchslapped Zuko with fire a few years ago. All I need is an earth bitchslap and my collection will be complete. Avatar: master of all four bitchslaps. Also this wouldn't have worked to goad Paku into fighting if he was half as mature as he thinks he is. Although he gets points for being harder to goad than Zhao in the Deserter.

In an episode where the A plot is Katara, the B plot is Aang, the C plot is Zuko, and the D plot is Sokka's love life, the writers still manage to fulfill the Beat up Sokka quota. Good job guys.

If only she'd aimed a couple of inches to the left. This show already includes a kid getting his face burned off. Surely a Poophead being separated from his nose is ok?

That's twice now she's lost her necklace. If the carving has lasted 50+ years, surely it's earned a metal chain rather than a hair ribbon?

Gran Gran! Bullet dodged! Excellent call!

That's a lot less beat up than I was expecting. And Iroh has never once given the impression that he isn't quietly ride or die for Zuko, so why would Zuko not expect Iroh to help him? Because Zuko isn't terribly perceptive? Because the writers needed a way to deliver yet more exposition?

I did notice that the healing lady specified that Gran gran was in an arranged marriage but Poophead was talking about love. Again, why was Gran Gran leaving a mystery?

Underrated moment of wisdom from Aang here. He gets why the princess is upset and he's twelve! But I'd bet good money that the idiot on the right has no clue what's going on.

Princess ran so far away that it's night time now. This episode is not subtle anywhere, so I figured that the princess being engaged was the cause of this whole blowing hot and cold thing. Despite being 16 and fictional, Sokka handles mixed signals and rejection with 10000% more maturity and kindness than many unfortunately non-fictional grown men I've met. Kudos to Sokka for being honest and respectful.

Even redeemed, Poophead is still an asshole.

Well that's a problem.

Fire Nation ships would be a lot more intimidating if they didn't look like shoes.

Final Thoughts

This episode was a lot of exposition, a lot of set up, and even some catch up. And it was not done as gracefully as this show usually does it. More than once the dialogue between characters felt like two actors lecturing the audience rather than the characters we know.

This episode also had twice the concentration of assholes. A Zhao episode I can deal with. An episode with a one shot asshole where Zhao doesn't appear? I could also deal with. But TWO grade A assholes in ONE episode? No. Too much.

My whole-hearted congratulations to Gran Gran for seeing Poophead for what he was, and refusing to put up with it. Leaving his ass didn't make him get the message. 50+ years alone didn't make him get the message. The granddaughter that ought to have been his being so disgusted by his conduct that she attempts to cut his face off didn't make him get the message. There was no way that this idiot was going to change. So congrats to Gran Gran for making an excellent call, leaving his ass to freeze, and getting two most excellent grandchildren instead.

I also have to applaud Sokka and Katara for not being bitter about the Northern Water Tribe. I can't help but notice the spectacular architecture, complete with embellishments and unnecessary non-structural doodads. Let's do a quick comparison (ignore the ship):

Left has one waterbender. Right has all the waterbenders. We know that Northerners can travel south thanks to Gran Gran. The North couldn't have sent one sneaky waterbender to at least make the south a ship-proof wall? That chief guy has some audacity calling Katara and Sokka their brother and sister or whatever when they've evidently left the south to rot for a century. And I know the Fire Nation, the War, bla bla, but you guys are so bored behind your walls that you're cannibalising your own capabilities based on gender just for fun.

RANT INCOMING

Since I'm on the topic, can we talk about how STOOOPID it is to separate your combatants from your medics? Here's a secret about combat medics: they're both. They learn the basics of combat, and they learn the basics of emergency medicine (And a LOT of other stuff besides). Basic training includes basic first aid for EVERYONE.

Because here's the thing. People who get hurt beating the shit out of other people are usually hurt in an environment where beating the shit out of people occurs. If they are injured enough that they can't get themselves out of the 'beating the shit out of other people' zone, then unless they can treat themselves on the spot or their fellow soldiers can administer first aid or get them out, they die.

Alternatively, if they can't get themselves out of the 'beating the shit out of other people' zone, then medics have to be sent in. A medic who doesn't know how to fight who gets sent into the zone will - guess what? - get the shit beaten out of them. Now you're two men down at present, and who knows how many more you're going to lose over the next few days because you're down a medic. So unless every single waterbending fighter in the Northern water tribe is going to go into combat with a waterbending healer literally attached to them, there will be mountains of unnecessary losses and avoidable injuries.

Now let's look at this from the other angle. What happens if the enemy breaches your defences (because all your defenders are merrily bleeding out from wounds their bending could heal if only they'd learned how) and then makes their way to your combat hospitals? Which are full of soldiers who are too injured to fight and healers who don't know how to defend themselves? Apart from the whole living surrounded by their element thing, waterbenders' greatest advantage in a fight appears (to me) be to be their miraculous healing powers. Katara completely healed her burnt hands to the point where there wasn't even scar tissue and she had no training at all. A skill that can erase burns (the thing firebenders give you) negates the fire nation's greatest weapon - their fire. Any fire nation general who's not an idiot would therefore target waterbending healers, maybe even over waterbending fighters. So any fire nation commander would absolutely put 'capture field hospitals' as one of their top priorities. This is a kids' cartoon, so let's ignore historical precedent as to what happens to nurses caught in field hospitals behind enemy lines and say that the fire nation would defeat the waterbending healers.

Let's paint a quick picture here: in the background, a field full of waterbending fighters sidelined by treatable injury. In the middle ground, an inexorably advancing wall of firebenders. In the foreground, a field hospital full of defenseless waterbending healers. Just peachy isn't it?

How fucking UNSTOPPABLE would a bender able to shrug off a fireball to the face then turn around and take out a firebending platoon be? Get one hundred - no fifty - benders who can both heal and fight, have them advance in two rows: Front row fights, switches with back row when they're injured, gets healed up, rotates back up to front row as a replacement. Functionally unstoppable barring the need to eat and sleep (so long as they bring their own water). The Northern Water Tribe had decades to develop that. Unlike the south, they had the time, the resources, and apparently so little going on that they took up sexism to pass the time. The wasted opportunity here burns. See kids? Sexism hurts the sexists too.

This northern attitude is just dumb. It's illogical. It's stupid. I'd call it a ham-fisted unsubtle after school special of a plotline if it weren't a fictionalised version of something that's literally baked into to many cultures worldwide, past and present.

RANT CONCLUDED

What else can I say about this episode? Aang and Sokka had like three lines each, but they were very in character. Sokka and the princess are cute together. Zuko and Iroh had a good dynamic when they weren't acting in service to exposition. This whole episode really feels like part one of a two parter.

I think something might have been off with the narrative weighting of this episode. There was an honest to god assassination attempt and I forgot.

While the shot of Paku looking put out that the ice disk landed so close to his face was funny, I would have preferred it if Katara had gotten in one hit beyond her bitchslap. Just one. His ego needed the beating which it got via the necklace thing, but I would have liked to see actual beating too.

If I had seen this episode as a child I absolutely would have lost my mind over Katara getting to beat up a sexist. I'd bet good money that this episode did lots of good for the self-esteem of little girls who saw it.

Katara's plot line is like the plot of the Waterbending Scroll episode, but in a positive light. In that episode her selfishness regarding bending got them in trouble; in this one it helped. Seen in that light, the fact that it's the necklace rather than Katara's skill that gets through to Paku is a bit undermining, but if "magical girl has such impressive skills that the sexist dinosaur throws away decades of sexism for the chance to be her teacher" had been the plot instead, I'd probably be complaining about cliches instead.

All in all, a bit clunky, a lot of set up, and too many assholes and frustrating idiocy for it to go on my rewatch list. Feminist beat downs are good for the soul, but I'm not sure they outweigh Poopheads.

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #the waterbending master #avatar the last airbender

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