#and who Katara ends up with does not define her

[dreamchasernina]

“Katara deserved better”

And then it’s Katara ending up with the boy who worships the ground she walks on, thinks she can do no wrong, gave up God mode for her, helped her commit environmental terrorism, cheered her on when she was beating misogyny out of an old man, was ready to take her to the other side of the world to find her a teacher when he’d just met her, constantly says he believes in her, that she’s amazing, that she inspires people and he’s proud of her.

But yeah, Katara deserved better.

[starlight-bread-blog]

Three Books, Two Characters, One Story

An essay on Zuko and Katara's characters and character arcs

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Zuko and Katara, fire and water, red and blue, one rises with the sun, the other rises with the moon. And yet, they are similar, tied together and grew closer than they could have imagined. In this essay I will discuss Zuko and Katara's characters in Avatar: The Last Airbender. I intend to touch on their shared traits and backgrounds, on their development and on their points of convergence in their over overarching story. Now, without further ado, let's begin.

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The Common Ground

Zuko and Katara share their core traits and core events in their respective lives. Firstly, their loss of their mothers. Zuko lost his mother, Ursa; and Katara lost her mother, Kya. But if you ask me, it goes deeper than that. For Zuko, the loss was a loss of shelter from the cruelty of his father and the bliss of being a child. In Zuko Alone, we see how Ursa took care of Zuko, played with him, and gave him a proper childhood.

With that gone, he remained almost completely unprotected. But more importantly, he lost his childhood. (It is true that he still had Iroh, but Iroh can help to an extent. He can’t be at the dinner table when Ozai tells Zuko he was lucky to be born).

Similarly, when Katara’s mother died, something in her internalized it. As Sokka says in The Runaway:

We see Katara help fill the void many times in A:TLA. Namely in The Desert, where she takes care of the Gaang in ways ranging from giving her bending water to endangering herself to pull A\ang out of the Avatar State. Katara doesn’t like to be viewed as someone who lost her childhood, as her reaction to Sokka’s speech was to join Toph and go scamming. However, Kya’s death is an integral part of who she became. She wants to cling to her childhood, and she partly succeeds,but that speech was made for a reason. A part of it was gone with Kya.

Another parallel between their similar grief is sacrifice. Zuko’s mother left to save his life from Fire Lord Azulon’s ruthless order. Katara’s mother died when pretending to be the last waterbender of the South Pole when a Fire Nation raid came looking for her. Both of their mothers left because they protected them, saving their lives from the cruelty of the Fire Nation. In these parallel narratives, the themes of sacrifice against them are intertwined.

But beyond their grief, I believe that at their center, they are very similar. Zuko and Katara are filled with righteous anger and empathy even towards strangers. Although clearly everyone in the Gaang is a good person, doing their part in ending the war, it’s not a defining trait as it is for Zuko and Katara. In The Painted Lady, Katara insists on helping a Fire Nation village while Sokka pressures that they’ll leave to make it to the invasion, while Toph and A\ang remain natural. Her compassion clashes with the Gaang. When Sokka scolds her for being impulsive with her attempts to aid the village, Katara angrily responds with this:

Similarly, the thing that kicked off Zuko’s arc was this righteous anger. In The Storm, we learn that Zuko’s scar came from him standing up to a general who suggested sacrificing a division of rookies for an operation.

You can't sacrifice an entire division like that! Those soldiers love and defend our nation! How can you betray them?

It is their shared compassion and anger at the injustices around them that makes them and the way they interact with the world so similar. Iroh described Zuko as “an idealist with a pure heart with unquestionable honor”. How well does this describe Katara?

Moreover, it is not only their anger. They are both incredibly strong willed with how they act on their anger. In The Waterbending Master, when Katara found out master Pakku won’t teach her because she’s a girl, she didn’t give up. She challenged him, a master, to a fight to prove that she can do everything a boy can do. And Zuko’s strong will is almost over talked about. When A\ang escaped his ship, he jumped on his airbender staff. In Zuko Alone, Ursa said to him “That’s who you are, Zuko. Someone who keeps fighting even though it’s hard”.

To sum up, Zuko and Katara’s foundational events and personality traits are parallels to one another. They both lost their mother when they sacrificed themselves for them, and it marked the end of an era for them. They are both driven by compassion and righteous anger and have a strong willed personality. They are guided by their morals first and foremost. They are parallels to one another.

The Development

Zuko and Katara’s character arcs serve as parallels to each other, and bring them closer together. Zuko’s redemption arc is, to put it simply, about unlearning Fire Nation propaganda and coming to realize the horror his country inflicted on the world. In book 2 Zuko sees the harm they caused first hand, and in The Day of Black Sun he fully rejects the Fire Nation.

Zuko: Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history. And somehow, the War was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was.

He rejects the lie that the Fire Nation is somehow helping the world - that it’s inherently good. His arc was about unlearning Fire Nation supremacy.

Katara’s arc is not as easy to pin down, but it’s nevertheless there. Her arc is about idealism, hope and a change in perspective. Katara started her journey as an idealist, the literal voice of hope in the opening, and with a black and white view of the world - the Fire Nation is evil, and everyone else is good. Throughout the show, Katara encounters both good people from the Fire Nation, and bad people from around the world of Avatar, such as Long Feng, Jet and Hama. In The Puppetmaster in particular she learns that waterbending can be just as destructive as firebending, if not more so. Her arc is about unlearning naivety and Fire Nation inferiority.

The symmetry comes from them learning to lean on the other’s view across the seasons. In book 1, they are rigid in their view. Zuko is still working a full time job tracking the Avatar, while Katara still clings to her black and white view of the world, such as when she had a conversation with a Firebender who told her firebending is inherently destructive. In book 2, Zuko becomes a fugitive and sees the Fire Nation’s horrors for himself, while Katara sees that the one safe haven from the Fire Nation can be evil too. In book 3, Zuko goes back to the Fire Nation to see that it’s not what he’d imagined at all, while Katara goes to the Fire Nation to find people just like her.

Not only are their arcs symmetrical, but they are what allows their bond to flourish. Katara can only forgive Zuko after she’d let go of her ideals, and Zuko can only seek to redeem himself in her eyes after he’d let go of his idealization of the Fire Nation. Their bond is a true testament to their arcs.

The Encounters

Zuko and Katara’s relationship carries a lot of narrative weight. Their journeys are intertwined on many occasions. For Katara, it’s significant that after Katara masters waterbending, it is Zuko whom she has to defend herself to. It’s significant that she sees humanity in Zuko, despite him being the face of the Fire Nation. It’s meaningful that she goes to find her mother’s killer with Zuko, and even bloodbends before him. And finally, it’s meaningful that she spends the 4 part finale with him.

For Zuko, it’s significant that when he truly connects with someone other than his uncle, it’s with Katara. It’s significant that he learns through Katara that revenge doesn’t always help. It’s significant that Katara is the last member he has to earn forgiveness from. And it’s meaningful that jumping in front of a lightning bolt to save Katara is his last act of redemption.

While Sokka and Zuko for instance never interact in book 1 besides some one liners, Katara and Zuko had a subplot around Katara’s necklace. Although their stories do diverge, such as most of book 2, they always return to spend the season’s finales together. They don’t drive each other’s characters forward as much as they represent milestones in each other’s stories. You cannot remove their scenes together and have the rest of the show make sense.

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In conclusion, Zuko and Katara’s characters follow a story of mutual suffering, personal development, and deep friendship. They have a common experience of sacrifice, sorrow, and unflinching compassion. These experiences have narrative weight because they act as development, redemption, and forgiveness catalysts, creating a connection that ultimately serves as a reminder of how far they’ve come.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Princess Azula

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

This is one of those characters I should’ve done a long time ago, but just never got around to because I felt it was just way too obvious. I mean, come on, Avatar: The Last Airbender is considered one of the greatest works of western animation. Everyone and their mother has talked about this show at some point, so what could I even add?

Well, as it turns out, the way people talk about Azula is exactly what inspired me to write this! I have never seen a character so completely and critically misunderstood! Hell, this is a character that people like to disregard the core themes of the story to talk about! Discussion of her online made me so genuinely angry that I decided fuck it, it’s Azulain’ time! So here we go, my 200% anger-fueled analysis and review of the mentally-unstable Fire Nation princess who terrorized the Gaang!

Motivation/Goals: Azula has basically made it her life’s mission to be the ultimate tool of the Fire Nation, and specifically her father Fire Lord Ozai. To that end, she does basically whatveer he tells her to do? Kill the Avatar, conquer Ba Sing Se, take out her brother and uncle… So long as what she does has a net benefit for the imperialistic goals of her country, she’s down for it, and doubly so if she thinks it will get her even a little crumb of daddy’s attention.

Performance: Superstar voice actress Grey DeLisle of Literally Every Fucking Cartoon Ever Made fame lends her voice to the crown princess of the Fire Nation, and her smug, condescending delivery really sells Azula as a manipulative schemer who is constantly playing 4D chess to outmaneuver her opponents. I think I might even go so far as to call this one of DeLisle’s finest performances ever, for reasons pertaining to her delivery of lines in certain parts of the story that will be described below.

Final Fate: Azula’s fate is a perfect example of the show’s excellent writing because it robs us of catharsis in an extremely narratively satisfying way.

Throughout the finale, we watch as Azula’s mental health rapidly declines as literally everything in her life spirals out of her control for the first time. This is a girl who has defined herself as always being two steps ahead, always having everything firmly in her grasp, and yet her brother has run off with the heroes, her two best friends “betrayed” her, her father gives her the throne but only because he is crowning himself the Ultra Super Cool King Deluxe, and she is constantly grappling with feeling as if her mother viewed her as a monster while also subconsciously knowing that Ursa did truly love her. Keep in mind, all of this is happening to a teenage girl, so is it any wonder she completely and totally snaps?

Her final Agni Kai with Zuko during the height of Sozin’s Comet is epic, but it’s the conclusion where she is defeated by Katara and left as a sobbing, flailing mess that really knocks Azula’s character arc out of the park and cements her as the ultimate antithesis of Zuko. He had the guidance of a good, kind father figure, while she was stuck with Fire Hitler; he had a group of friends to love and support him, while she only had companions who put up with her out of fear and turned on her when they finally had enough; he was able to come to terms with his past traumas and grow to be better because of his numerous support systems, while all she had were toxic influences that led to her essentially collapsing under the weight of her internal conflict. She is what Zuko could have been if no one lent him a helping hand… and it is soul-crushingly tragic. The last we see her, she is a broken mess of a person, someone who has literally lost everything in their life, had the sole purpose of their existence stripped from them, and has just been reminded that she lost because she is a lonely, miserable, pathetic individual without any friends.

After her being on top for almost the entire show, this should feel like a triumph! But it’s not. It’s sad. It’s tragic. There’s no joy to be found. And boy oh boy, is it fucking powerful.

I’m just going to ignore what happens to her in the comics. It’s better that way.

Evilness: So here’s where things get really interesting, because while Azula does some truly evil things throughout the show, there is a tendency to exaggerate just how awful she is because most of her evil actions are just things she says she wants to do/has done. Combined with her smug, arrogant demeanor and it’s easy to believe she would do these things, but we don’t actually witness them. To wit, while she taunts Sokka about torturing Suki to the breaking point, when he finally reunites with her she sure doesn’t seem as cripplingly broken as Azula implied. I think it’s important to note that, as Azula is a massive liar, if we don’t actually see her do something (even something she’s threatening to do), it’s not really a mark against her. She’s a cunning manipulator, after all, conquering an entire city without lifting a finger.

On that note, though, she does have plenty of wicked moments under her belt. She conquered Ba Sing Se for the Fire Nation, she constantly tried to kill Aang and her brother while they were on the run in the Earth Kingdom, she had her friends locked up for defying her… Like she’s one messed up daddy’s girl. Even taking into account the inherent tragedy of her character and the fact she’s a teenage girl, she still kind of steps up to crossing the moral event horizon. She’s very much the product of grooming in an environment meant to espouse the joys of fascism and imperialism, and since she never had a strong guide like Iroh her moral compass is busted.

With all that being said, I think she’s a solid 5/10. She does some really nasty things, but at the same time a lot of what colors the perception of her is stuff she only implies. Also I’m not considering any of her pre-breakdown fights with Zuko as truly evil; this is just how siblings are. You bet your ass sibling squabbles would look just like that if they could shoot fireballs from their hands.

Best Episode: For all her badass moments, awesome schemes, incredible fights, and powerful moments… “The Beach” might be her best episode. This might sound crazy, but I stand by it; I think showing us an awkward, human side of her really helps to sell that Azula isn’t actually some unstoppable force. She’s just a teenager who has no social skills and can’t exist outside of the confines of being a royal or a warrior without looking like an absolute weirdo.

Best Quote: After outmaneuvering season 2’s arc villain Long Feng, who concedes to he rand says she’s beaten him at his own game, she flippantly replies, “Don't flatter yourself. You were never even a player.” I don’t think even Jet got so brutally murdered. It’s the sickest burn in the series aside from Zuko’s scar.

Final Thoughts & Score: The whole reason I even wrote this Psycho Analysis is because the constant and critical misunderstandings of Azula I see online constantly piss me the fuck off.

There is a subset of Avatar fans who completely and steadfastly believe that Azula is in fact an irredeemable monster, a complete sociopath with no redeeming qualities who needs to suffer and die. They reject any attempts at assessing the character in a more nuanced light, because “why can’t villains just be evil?” They treat her as if she’s some sort of pure evil being instead of an emotionally stunted child.“She’s crazy and she needs to go down” might as well be the mantra of these media illeterate Avatar fans, parroting opinions that mirror the words of Iroh after Azula almost killed him but ignoring that crucial context as well as Iroh’s entire character. Like, do these people actually pay attention to the core themes of the entire show? You know, mercy, redemption, humanity, the importance of all life? Did they miss the part of the finale where these core themes were cemented by Aang removing Ozai’s firebending with energybending, or were they too busy bitching about it being a deus ex machina to realize it’s thematically appropriate?

Like they want Azula to just be this evil, unredeemable cartoonish villain in a show that explicitly says no one is like this. There’s even a point in the final episodes where it’s pointed out that genocidal colonizer tyrant Ozai was once a sweet, cute little baby, and didn’t just spring forth as a fully formed Red-Hot Hitler. Azula is a person groomed by an unrepentantly evil father to be the Fire Nation ubermensch, the ideal tool for the conquest of the rest of the world. She was never allowed to have a normal childhood, as evident by her awkward behavior and social ineptitude when she’s actually allowed to cut loose and be around people her own age in a relaxed setting. Everything that she is—a liar, a manipulator, an attempted murderer, an egomaniac—are all the result of Ozai’s upbringing, being entrenched in the propaganda of her nation, and a lack of authority figures with a moral compass in her life. She didn’t have an Iroh to guide her, all she had was Ozai. In this sense, Azula is as much a victim as she is a victimizer.

But she is a victimizer. She is still consciously making bad decisions, she is still doing evil and sometimes appearing to enjoy it. There’s no reason to believe she couldn’t turn things around if given a helping hand like her brother was (though there would need to be a lot more effort due to her being in Ozai’s company unimpeded for way longer than Zuko), but she’s not some innocent little bean who’s being persecuted by others. Azula is still a villain, and viewing her as just a mere victim is a disservice to the character just as much as painting her as an inhuman monster. She is a very nuanced character, but she never gets the sort of POV work Zuko does to fully flesh out what’s on her mind and let us see the world through her eyes so the work done for her is more subtle, at least until her final breakdown. At that point, the show is literally beating you over the head with the fact she is an incredibly tragic character whose entire existence is pitiful and broken, and who lives as a mirror to Zuko, showing him a dark path he could have walked down if he didn’t receive love, support, and compassion.

Ultimately, Iroh wasn’t wrong when he said “She’s crazy and she needs to go down,” but I take it with emphasis on and. Azula is, in fact, crazy. She is incredibly mentally disturbed, her mind warped and molded by her father to the point she breaks if she starts to lose control even a tiny bit. And, as an antagonistic force working against the heroes, she does indeed need to go down. I’m sure he wasn’t too happy with his near-death experience, but you will not convince me that the sweet old Iroh, who himself changed and redeemed himself after being a fucking war criminal who nearly conquered Ba Sing Se, could not see the nuance in the Azula situation and genuinely saw his niece as some beast to be slaughtered.

But that’s enough with the ranting, let’s get to the actual final thoughts and score for Azula. She is one of the most engaging and magnificent villains in animation, a real firebrand (heh) whose numerous schemes are gripping to watch, building her up as someone you want to see finally get defeated only for the writers to pull the rug out from under you and remind you just what Azula really is. Avatar had no shortage of brilliant and subversive writing, but I think Azula’s ultimate arc is an unsung masterpiece among it. The character is so mired in discourse these days it’s easy to forget it, but she genuinely is a grand character.

For her score, I’m gonna say she gets a 9/10. She’s easily the best villain on the show, far outshining her rather generic father, the deliciously hammy but ultimately rather shallow Zhao, and the scheming but relatively minor Long Feng (to say nothing of the numerous minor villains that range in quality from wastes of time like Combustion Man to genuinely amazing and horrifying like Hama). I think the only thing holding her back from a perfect score is that sometimes it feels like things fall into place a little too perfectly for her, and she doesn’t face setbacks too much until the very end, but considering the immensely powerful culmination it’s nothing that ruins her. Azula is a character just as rich and deep as anyone else from the show, and I really wish more people looked at her with nuance.

I also wish the fucking comics didn’t exist. Maybe I’m asking for too much.

[natlacentral]

The Actress Who Waited a Lifetime to Become Katara

Kiawentiio talks joining the cast of Avatar: The Last Airbender and playing a character that means so much to so many

The 17-year-old actress Kiawentiio (pronounced gya-wuhn-dee-yo) can’t remember a time when Avatar: The Last Airbenderwasn’t part of her childhood in some way. Growing up on the Akwesasne Mohawk reservation in Ontario known as Kawehno:ke (or Cornwall Island), Kiawentiio—who was born in 2006, a full year after the beloved animated series debuted on Nickelodeon—recalls having older siblings who would have the cartoon regularly playing in the background of their house. Years later, when all three seasons began streaming on Netflix, she revisited the series and developed a newfound appreciation for its narrative ambition.

So, when Netflix first announced that it was developing a live-action adaptation of Avatar in 2018, Kiawentiio told her team to get her an audition for Katara, the 14-year-old girl who is trying to fulfill her potential as the last Waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe after her mother was killed by the ruthless Fire Nation.

“By the time they actually did start casting, I got the call from my manager that was like, ‘Don't freak out, but we think we have the Avataraudition.’ And obviously, I freaked out,” Kiawentiio tells Harper’s Bazaarwith a laugh in a recent phone interview. Of all the roles she had auditioned for, this one was at the top of her bucket list, because she knew that it could have the same impact on the next generation of Indigenous children that it had on her. “Katara was one of the only people that I could really see myself in. With the role model that she is for young Indigenous women, it's hard not to be drawn to her, especially when the representation is so scarce.”

Kiawentiio got her wish in the spring of 2021. After undergoing an intensive audition process, complete with a seemingly never-ending number of Zooms and chemistry reads, she got the news that would change her life. “They sat me down for another Zoom call, and I was expecting them to tell me it might take a while, but [creator and showrunner] Albert Kim ended up telling me what the project was, who I was auditioning for, and then I landed the role, and I was crying,” she recalls.

Every diehard Avatar fan can recite the basic premise by heart: Long ago, the four nations—Water, Earth, Fire, Air—once lived in harmony, with the Avatar, the master of all four elements, keeping the peace between them. But everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked and wiped out the Air Nomads. A century later, Aang (Gordon Cormier), a 12-year-old Air Nomad who has been frozen and suspended in time in an iceberg, reawakens to take his place as the next Avatar. Feeling responsible for the destruction he was unable to prevent, Aang sets out on a quest with his newfound friends, Katara and her Water Tribe leader brother Sokka (Ian Ousley), to save the world from the onslaught of the power-hungry Fire Lord Ozai (Daniel Dae Kim), who is determined to place all the nations under his authoritarian rule.

Katara, as Kiawentiio puts it, is the heart of the Avatar crew tasked with using their bending powers to restore peace in the divided world. “I think the core factors that make Katara [who she is] are her hopefulness and her optimism, and she's the person in the group that can keep them moving forward in a positive direction, and I think without that, team Avatar wouldn't be able to see the light,” she says.

Below, Kiawentiio reflects on the defining moments of Katara’s arc in the first season (which was shot two years ago in Vancouver), how she has grown alongside her character, and why she feels a new day has come for Indigenous representation in Hollywood.

A lot of the dramatic tension of the first season boils down to Aang’s internal conflict: Does the Avatar need to act alone, or can they afford to have people who help them along the way? In Aang’s case, he doesn’t just want people in his life; he needsthem to help save the world. Why do you think Katara is immediately drawn to Aang and his mission? How do you think that relationship evolves over the course of the season?

I think the reason that she was drawn to him in the first place was this energy of bender to bender, honestly, and I feel like that type of energy [bonds them] not only physically, but just spiritually. It's really intertwined in who they are because Aang plays a huge part in Katara's growth physically with her bending, and I feel like it was just this calling of fate and where you're supposed to be. But in terms of how the relationship has grown, I think it really is just blossoming into a family. Team Avatar is a family in our show. They're not going to leave each other's side; they're always there for each other.

Midway through the season, Koh, the face stealer of the spirit world, temporarily imprisons Katara and her brother Sokka and traps them with some of their darkest memories, which allows us to see, rather than hear about, their backstories. In Katara’s case, she is forced to relive the day she lost her mother. How do you think that loss has affected her in the present day?

It's just painful and that is the point of Koh, right? It is to weaken his prey with their own pain and their own memories. The way I see it is she probably feels helpless. She can't do anything, and that's really what has held her back. What has stuck in her mind is the fact that she couldn't do anything [to save her mom], and to be stuck in that painful loop definitely puts a damper on her confidence that she's been working up this entire season.

That memory of the loss that she went through is a roadblock, and that's something that she has to try and overcome as we go through the series because it really is the main reason that she can't get to that next level [of waterbending]. In the episode with Jett, after he shifted her perspective on how she was thinking and how her memories were acting up, she really unlocks that good energy that her mom was trying to leave her with.

It's impressive how together Katara actually is, especially in our season, because the flashbacks and her memories are so brutal that it's like, "Wow, I can't believe you are still normal." [Laughs.] But that goes to show how resilient she is and how strong she is. I think that was one of the things I took away from her while playing her. I tried to implement her message in my life more to be more optimistic and to have that hope and strength.

When she arrives in the Northern Water Tribe, Katara realizes that the women of this tribe aren’t allowed to fight, which comes as a bit of a culture shock for her. But it’s moving to see how she is able to mobilize the women of all ages when the tribe is under siege by the Fire Nation. At the end of the day, they are the ones who helped defeat the enemy.

Arriving at the Northern Water Tribe was something that she was looking forward to all season, and I think in her mind she had this image of like, "I'm going to get there. I'm going to meet a master, and he's going to teach me everything I need to know, and I’ll finally be able to reach that next step [as a Waterbender]." And getting there and being told basically all your work is not going to be paid off [because you’re a woman] was, in my opinion, devastating. That devastation leads straight into anger, which I relate to. I feel like I get the same waves of emotions, and then that leads to wanting to prove them wrong, wanting to change things [like Katara does]. Honestly, that scene with the women [Waterbenders] is just so beautiful, and it was one of my favorites to film. But I think in her mind, she was just reality checking Master Paku: "We are literally in a war. We are not going to make it. Just use your resources." And not only was that the realistic thing that needed to happen, but the change that she's been fighting for [all season].

I read that you trained for six months ahead of production to commit Katara’s waterbending motions to muscle memory. You spent that time going over forms of tai chi and getting strong enough to handle the action sequences.

Boot camp was intense for me personally, just because I'd never really gone through that before and I don't have as much or any experience outside of the show with martial arts. But it was really helpful to be in the same boat as my character, training-wise. At the start of the show, she really doesn't know that much about bending. As we go along through the episodes, we could see her get more comfortable and more confident in her bending. As we watch Katara gain her confidence, I feel like off-screen I was also gaining confidence with those movements, getting stronger as we go and just getting more comfortable in general.

With the critical success of many Indigenous projects in recent years—Reservation Dogs, Rutherford Falls, Killers of the Flower Moon, The English, Dark Winds—it feels like we have reached an inflection point when it comes to accurate depictions of Native American communities. As someone who is part of this growing movement, what is your take on the state of diversity and inclusion for Indigenous communities? And what do you think is the next step that needs to be taken to move the needle even further?

I think we are making huge steps in the industry. I love being able to look around more and more and see more of our faces, and I do think that there's places that we could improve on for sure. But thinking of how far we've come, even from when I was younger, Katara was one of the only brown people that I saw on my TV, so it's really special to be a part of this generation that's being able to do these things.

I think the next step could be just normalizing things, like it doesn't always have to be an Indigenous story to have Indigenous actors, writers or directors. I think that's one of the things that can get touchy in this industry because we want to include everybody of course, but it doesn't have to be so specific. Why does the doctor have to be [only] the Indigenous doctor that came from [this tribe]? Why can't he just be a doctor that happens to be Indigenous?

Indigenous people or actors can be the main character. Obviously, our culture is always a part of who we are, but it doesn't have to be that the reason we are in this role is because we are Indigenous. We can tell our story as a person and still value and venerate our culture without that being the only reason that we're in the story to begin with.

With big blockbusters, I feel like it ends up being like, "Oh, the lead is white, the other lead is white, and then everybody else is a person of color." I feel like that's a theme that we end up seeing a lot. But another really good way to improve [on that] is supporting Indigenous storytellers. We have so many stories, and [telling them] is one of the things that is keeping our cultures alive, and there are so many stories that could be told from our perspective.

[eponastory]

Below is a screenshot of a silly argument.

I wouldn't say delusional... just observant.

So, I'm also a Dramoine fan and have been since I read the books way back when they came out. Now there is a little bit of me that is kinda not interested in Harry Potter because of all the contention with JK Rowling and her... opinions.

But besides all that...

There really is no comparison between the ships on an individual level. I say this because it's kinda like comparing Sephiroth and Vergil (Devil May Cry) from different universes and power scaling in those universes. It just doesn't work. Bad example, but you get what I'm saying.

Dramoine is a great pairing when you get towards the end of the series (Half-Blood Prince and onwards) it works because that is when Draco is battling himself over following Voldemort and his own morals. This is when Narcissa makes a deal with Severus as well. But we get the understanding that Draco does, in fact, have morals. He is just a kid being asked to do something he doesn't really agree with and can't bring himself to do. He is also a coward and a bully. Let's not forget that. I'd also say Classist since he is raised to think that Mudbloods are beneath Pure Bloods. He belittled Hermoine every chance he got, but also found out she could stand up for herself. This is a great enemies to lovers ship... there is no question on that.

Now on to Zuko... who is similar in some ways to Draco, but the similarities are minor. Zuko always had morals, and he always had good in him. He did bad things out of desperation because he was troubled. His frustration is out of trying to prove himself to his narcissistic sociopath of a father and getting the chance to regain everything that Ozai seemingly took from him. Getting to Katara here, it's clear that they were enemies at the start. But how can you do enemies to lovers when enemies to friends IS IN THE SHOW!

So I don't know what to tell you.

By the end of Book 3, Zuko and Katara are friends. It's written in there for everyone to see so I don't really get why going one step towards romance is such a big deal?

The only defining line between romance and friendship is how far you are willing to go with intimacy.

As far as Katara not wanting to marry into the Fire Lord's family... I don't see how that is a factor when you care about the person you marry more than where they came from or their origins. Not all relationships are like that, but it can be that way. But yeah, Katara and Zuko are friends by the end of the show. So, that argument is silly.

It's just another cherry pick with no thought behind it.

[akiizayoi4869]

Azula and Zuko in the Crystal Catacombs

"You are free to choose". This line that Azula said to Zuko in this scene really stood out to me, and I think that ultimately, it's part of the reason why Zuko sides with her in the end. Because she let him make the choice for himself, with no further prodding on her part. Azula says her piece and leaves. Takes the Dai Li with her. Leaves Zuko alone with Iroh, a manipulator in his own right. And Iroh more than likely said whatever he could to persuade Zuko not to join Azula. But it doesn't work in the end. Because Zuko wants to go home. It's what he's wanted for 3 years, and now he finally has a chance to do just that. And Iroh was trying to stop him. He was trying to choose for Zuko, which is something that Iroh has done a lot up to this point. He was the one who would always make the tough decisions for Zuko, who in the end would reluctantly agree. But it wasn't something that Zuko would have chose on his own if he was given the opportunity. Which is why I find when Azula says "You are free to choose" such an interesting and defining moment. Because up until now, Zuko was letting others choose for him. Ozai and Iroh. Zuko would just follow whatever these two wanted him to do, without ever really stopping to think about what he wanted. They never gave him the opportunity to choose for himself. So when someone finally does give him that chance, what does he do? He takes it. Azula says what she does here:

And then she takes the Dai Li and leaves to go fight Katara and Aang. During this time, Iroh likely said whatever he could to Zuko. Zuko could have chosen to break Iroh out of his mini prison and side with Aang and Katara. But he doesn't. He makes his choice of his own free will and joins Azula. The fact that he does this shows how much Azula still knew her brother even after being apart for 3 years, and how much Iroh didn't know Zuko like he thought he did. And he was with Zuko for those 3 years. Had Iroh slowly began to convince Zuko that Ozai wasn't worth it once Azula showed up with the sole purpose to hunt them down and capture them on Ozai's orders, maybe Zuko would have sided with him in the end. But he didn't. And that choice came back to eventually bite him in the ass.

[djemsostylist]

Toph and Zuko, Headcanon

Generally, I don't ship noncanon ships, but in this case, I'd say this is less of a case of noncanon and more a case of after canon. After all, ignoring LOK (which I'm rather more than happy to do tbh) the last we see of these two they are still children--we don't know what their future holds.

But I want to work within the bounds of canon as much as possible--leaving ATLA as is, and working off character established in canon but working forward.

I talked in another post about the idea that Zuko and Toph would work well together as a adults for a few reasons. Firstly, personally I like the idea of the core six (that is, Aang, Katara, Sokka, Suki, Toph and Zuko) being paired off. I think they went through an experience together that is so singularly unique, it would be hard to ever find another person who could understand it quite the same way. I also think that given a lot of their issues, trust would be hard to achieve.

(More under the cut bc I'm just rambling now lol)

Now, I know in canon Zuko has Mei, but he's 16 and she's familiar. I got the feeling that Mei and Zuko were more of a "it's what you do" couple than one with any sort of lasting power. I'm not saying they didn't love each other--I think they certainly did, but I also think they were very young and they were both going through sort of a big life change. When Zuko gets together with Mei, he's teetering on the edge of trying to find out who he is and what he wants for his life. Mei is very much a person that old Zuko would have been with--she makes sense for him in that life. And I think there is genuine affection between them--but I also think a lot of it is tied up with other feelings. Her best friend's older brother she maybe always had a little crush on, the rebel son, etc. That she does eventually support his choices to change is a good thing, but I don't know that I see their relationship lasting into the future. Zuko still has a long way to go and a lot to handle when he becomes Fire Lord at 16--I think he probably isn't exactly going to be focused on a relationship all that much in the beginning, and frankly, I think Mei needs to to figure out who she is without the context of Zuko and his sister, since her entire life seems to revolve around their family. I could see their relationship sort of slowly backing off until they eventually end things mutually, no hard feelings, just a natural sort of ending to a childhood romance.

For Zuko, I imagine he would then spend most of the rest of his time not in a relationship. He's dealing with a lot with his country and his family and dealing with forgiving and understanding himself--again, I doubt a relationship is the priority. He probably maintains close contact with most of the Gaang--Aang in particular probably makes it a point to come see him, and I can see him and Sokka still having pretty close contact, especially with Sokka stepping up as the future leader of the Southern Water tribe and etc.

Toph, I think, would be dealing with a lot of similar issues to Zuko. Both of them are trying to define what home means--Zuko in the place he grew up that he both recognizes and doesn't, and Toph unable to go back because she isn't sure what she'll find. I imagine Toph spends some time with Aang, Katara, and Sokka, but it's not like she would particularly be comfortable at the poles in ice and snow, and I also think she'd want the chance to explore, to see the world, to find out who she is and what she wants from life. So around a yearish after the end of the world she sort of goes out on her own into the world and starts a sort of long, wandering slow journey. She stops along the way to do various things: sometimes she works, sometimes she helps others, sometimes she just sight sees, sort of goes where whim takes her. She sees most of the Gaang often enough, with how much the others travel, but I'd imagine she hardly ever sees Zuko (as he is busy running a kingdom).

Now we get into deep headcanon territory. I had seen it posited that Sokka invents a version of braille (in a fanfiction I believe, though I'm not sure if the idea started somewhere else, and I honestly can't recall the fanfic), and I like this idea, both because it makes sense for Sokka to do something like this, and also because it gives Toph a way to continue a bit of a relationship with Zuko whilst traveling. So basically for about the next 6 years or so, Toph and Zuko exchange letters while she travels around. They have a lot they can relate on, and talk about family and belonging and guilt and love and etc, as best they can. But they don't see each other much--maybe once or thrice throughout the intervening years, as they both grow up.

Then, when Toph is about 18/19 (making Zuko 22/23) he gets word from Toph that she's in jail and needs a bail out. At this point, he's tired, a little overwhelmed, and he's been a little lonely lately (Aang and Katara are married and still sort of in the honeymoon phase, Sokka is super busy with building a city in the south and all his various projects, Suki is the leader of his secret police so he sees her often but she's also often abroad) and so he basically decides to go get Toph himself. He hasn't seen her in a while, he misses his friend, and he's also more than a little curious as to why she's in jail in the middle of a nowhere town at the ass-end of the Fire Nation.

Toph, for her part, had written both because she hadn't wanted to bug the others and also because Zuko still owes her a Life Changing Field Trip and she's ready to collect. And also because she misses him maybe a little and also she knows he could maybe use a break.

So Zuko shows up and Toph is A Woman now and his poor little brain is like, trying desperately to square this information in his mind because of course he knew she wasn't 12 any more but also he wasn't expecting her to look Like That and also Toph can sense you know, everything, and she's trying to be chill also because it's just Zuko only Zuko spent the past 6 years stress working out and also somewhere along the way became A Man but this is fine and everything is fine and they are still friends right?

So Toph convinces him to play hooky for a while and come with her to track down some asshole (working on those details--some person scamming refugees maybe or something with disappearing kids? and she's trying to get to the boss) and Zuko is tired and overwhelmed and also maybe a little bit smitten and he agrees and then they go on the Life Changing Field Trip only this one is the one where they fall in love.

And it's the easiest thing they've ever done and the hardest thing all at once. Because they understand each other and they are determined to be more than their parents and together they heal.

I have so many little headcanons and one shots and larger story arcs bouncing around in my head with all this, and bless @bonesingerofyme-loc for thinking them all through with me.

I have actually written some ficlets, but they are currently pretty rough and disjointed (it's been a while since I've written) and I'm not entirely sure if I want to save them to write into a cohesive story, or tell their story in parts as I am inspired. I sort of have some scene ideas and others being build off prompt lists. I might share disjointed here and then wait to publish on AO3 until I decide what I what to do, but I'm not sure.

I will, however, share the very silly headcanons that Leo and I came up with. My Toko/Zutoph tag will be otp: it's me if you want more of my dumbass thoughts on these two lol. (Like what Toph did to end up in jail and how Sokka got Zuko's wedding invite and wasn't sure who the bride could possibly be and how Aang knew from the beginning but never said bc it wasn't polite or how Toph refuses to let Zuko ask for her parent's permission and he's like, dying slowly over the propriety of it all or how he courts her Properly™ once they are back in the capital and Toph is secretly thrilled or or or. Also Leo may have maybe made some AI adult Toko pics I can share that killed us both lol. )

[laoih]

Some thoughts on Netflix's Avatar The Last Airbender

I love the original animated series, and have loved it for many years. I know that many fans are upset about the adaptation, and that's their prerogative. I know how that feels, that's basically me as a fan of Tolkien's work with Amazon's terrible The Rings of Power series.

However, when it comes to Avatar The Last Airbender, I can say that I genuinely like the live action adaptation. It is flawed for sure, and I have my criticisms, but I still think it's enjoyable and has a lot of heart. I do want to see more of it.

A quick (lie) list of the highs and lows in my opinion (spoiler warning):

Let's start with the shortcomings:

The dialogues: Throughout the whole show they are probably the biggest issue. Too often they are used for exposition, or to tell the viewers what they could deduce by themselves. It's often on-the-nose and missing subtlety. Although I have to admit that it seems for some people who don't know the animated series, it seems to help for understanding the show better, and therefore may be justified at least in parts.

Aang's woe-is-me attitude: It makes sense that Aang is suffering due to his trauma of being the last of his kind, of losing his family, and because being the Avatar is a huge burden. However, towards the end his attitude of "everything is my fault" started to get annoying. He doesn't have to feel responsible for everything. I hope he can quickly move past this in s2. I'd like to see other sides of Aang as well.

Aang's water bending: I think it's weird that Aang never really gave water bending a try. They never even give a reason why he didn't try, and that just makes that change confusing.

Aang's & Katara's relationship: I understand why they didn't include Aang's crush on Katara, but with them bonding over water bending being removed as well means that two major parts of their relationship don't exist, and the show has failed to really build up their relationship in a meaningful way otherwise.

Katara's character: In general she stays a bit underdeveloped, and the actress is lacking a bit of Katara's edge and energy in my opinion.

Azula: I don't like how they have written her, and I don't think the actress fits the character either. It's very difficult, because Azula in the animation does not act her age at all. Her entire demeanor is difficult to portray for a teenager, but it's also very memorable. Itd be hard for any actress to do her justice.

Mai & Ty Lee: They have nothing to do in that season & now they can't get the great character-defining introductions that they had in the original series. They were included to give Azula someone to talk to, but it's to the detriment of these two characters – they're just bland background now.

The Spirit World: Episode 5 just didn't work for me because there was too much crammed into it. There was no reason to include Wan Shi Tong nor did it make sense to include Hei Bai and then basically completely skip his story. With Koh being the actual culprit, the abduction of the villagers stands in no relation to the burnt forest in that episode. It would have been better to tell

Avatar Roku: I feel there was wasted potential there. Based on interviews I suppose there was simply no time & money left, so I hope they'll do him more justice in later seasons.

Now for the highlights:

The Bending: I think for most of the series it looks very powerful and impressive. It's not perfect throughout, but in general they did a really good job with it.

Zuko: Dallas Liu's portrayal is wonderful and I have zero complaints and only praise.

Aang's & Zuko's relationship: I think they build a solid foundation for these two characters, and I think some of Gordon's best acting is opposite to Dallas Liu.

Suki: Loved the actress' performance and how they have written her.

Ozai: I think Ozai is a case where the live action character is more interesting and impressive than the animated character. I really like what they are doing with him and Daniel Dae Kim is perfect in that role.

Jet & the Mechanist: I think putting these two plots together is a very interesting and fitting idea, and contrasting them in the same episode made me think about them in relation as I hadn't done before. It's fascinating how these two characters, who should actually fight for the same goal, have gone down two very different paths.

Kioshi's avatar state: It basically replaces Rokku's version in the animated version, and it's just cool.

Bumi: Maybe it's an unpopular opinion, but I think within the context of this more serious show this version of Bumi makes much more sense. Animated-Bumi with his challenges for Aang to realise how to take different approaches to find a solution wouldn't have worked with the changed tone of the story.

Sokka: Within the context of the show, Sokka also works well. He still is funny at times, but he is a bit more mature and responsible than animated-Sokka, which is more realistic in this show. Otherwise, one would have wondered why Hakoda didn't live an actual adult man in the village for protection.

The 41st division: I know, one of the points in the original was also that Zuko's defense of the new recruits seem to have been useless, but I love that his crew was given such an impactful background. It does not lessen the tragedy of Zuko's situation.

Hahn: I kind of like that he's not just a complete idiot, but actually a likable guy that I felt sorry for when he died.

The impact of war: I liked the exploration of what war does to people and especially children. It includes a variety of examples and stories, and I like that we get different kind of sides to this.

The locations: the sets are good, and the CGI backgrounds as well.

Appa, Mom and other fantastical animals: I understand that it's difficult to include them for large amounts of time, but I think whenever they are used they are convincingly animated.

The music is as good as expected.

... I'm sure I have forgotten many things I wanted to mention, but this has to do for now.

[bracketsoffear]

Diana Christensen (Network) "Diana Christensen is, without a doubt, one of THE girlbosses of all time. She is the young vice president of programming for the fictional television network UBS and the way she got there is through cold-hearted ambition and ruthlessness. She has one drive and that is ratings. Throughout the film, she manipulates and exploits whoever and whatever she can, from the rage of the discontent American vox populi to a leftist militia to Howard Beale, the film’s protagonist, an unstable aging news anchor. When he threatens to kill himself on air, she sees a possibility for a rating spike. The population has gone cynical, they want anger, they want blood, they want someone who will tell them that the world is awful, and she knows that he’s her man. She exploits his breakdown for profit, his rantings raking in more and more viewers. She turns his show into a spectacle, getting it moved from the news division to her division: entertainment. Because that’s all it is now, entertainment. The circus in bread and circuses.

She is credited with restoring the network, winning awards, and being the decorated guest at industry galas, but she stays impersonal no matter her charm. She marketed Howard to the higher-ups as “a latter-day prophet, a magnificent messianic figure”, yet she doesn’t seem to believe what he says. To her, his worth is limited to that as defined by HUT and Nielsen.

But she knows audiences believe it. She doesn’t care about how this man is cracking, how his directionless angry, cynical message could affect the viewers, feeding into the country’s already unstable climate. No, it’s about the numbers. UBS is the only thing that exists in her world.

When planning for next season’s offerings, she sees potential in a communist guerilla group (think the Weather Underground meets the Symbionese Liberation Army) as an asset, a way to harness the leftist counterculture for capitalist gains. And she succeeds. She offers the group the ability to air their message for profit, tempting them into becoming just another of her capitalist puppets, and by the end of the meeting, they’re pouring over paperwork and ratings, and arguing distribution costs and audience shares with the network representatives. Just like that, the once-Marxist militia became another cog in the capitalist media machine, another asset for Diana to sell.

And when Howard’s show finally loses its novelty and the ratings slip, she decides to seize the moment to debut this new show with one sentence: “Let’s kill the son of a bitch.”

And finally, I leave you with a quote from Max Schumacher  (Howard’s best friend, her short-lived paramour, and the president of the news division whose job she rendered useless)  about her:

“I'm not sure she's capable of any real feelings. She's the television generation. She learned life from Bugs Bunny. The only reality she knows is what comes over her teevee set. She has devised a variety of scenarios for us all to play, as if it were a Movie of the Week. And, my God!, look at us, Louise. Here we are going through the obligatory middle-of-Act-Two scorned wife throws peccant husband out scene. But, no fear, I'll come back home in the end. All her plot outlines have me leaving her and returning to you because the audience won't buy a rejection of the happy American family. She does have one script in which I kill myself, an adapted for television version of Anna Karenina in which she's Count Vronsky and I'm Anna.”

This description has been edited for length. Here is the link to Diana's full description"

Hama (Avatar: The Last Airbender) "The episode she's introduced in is literally titled 'The Puppetmaster'. She describes bloodbending, the power she developed, as "controlling water in another body; enforcing your own will over theirs', and that anyone who perfects bloodbending can "control anything or anyone". Before her fight with Katara, she suggests that bloodbending is not a choice to be seeked, but something already existing. She also enforces her teachings on Katara, wanting her to be a successor even if it goes against Katara's morals"

[sokkastyles]

Hi,

Hope you are doing well. Thank you for the response on my query regarding Azula.

Now, I am back with a few questions regarding The Southern Raiders. I was thinking, was Katara struck with guilt specifically because her mother died for her, which Sokka or even Aang did bot understand, but Zuko who feels that his mother disappeared because of him did?

Also, I was thinking did Katara really think of revenge when she wanted to Yon Rah, or did Aang end up pushing that thought into her head, because he thought that? Just a bit confused on this one.

Would like your thoughts on this.

I definitely think that Katara and Zuko both experiencing the loss of their mothers specifically because they tried to protect them is a huge part of why they connect on that specific thing, yeah. We know that Katara feels guilt over this because she refers to how she's "not that helpless little girl anymore." The confrontation with Yon Rha is largely about confronting that guilt and reframing her own story, in which she gets to be an actor and not just a helpless bystander. I think Zuko feels the same way because he also does the same thing when he confronts Ozai, both times, about what happened to his mother, contrasting with when he tried to confront Ozai about it as a child and got no response.

Sokka and Azula also share the parallel of not dealing with the loss of their mother in such a direct way, and thus not carrying the guilt of it in the same way. Both of them have distanced themselves from their mother's disappearance in order to cope with what happened, which also makes them unable and even hostile towards their siblings for wanting to directly confront it. See Sokka telling Zuko that he doesn't like to think about it and being against Katara confronting Kya's killer, and Azula dismissing the loss of her mother as "she liked Zuko more than me anyway" and pretending she doesn't care, telling Zuko not to dwell on the past when Zuko can't not dwell on it.

On the topic of whether Katara was thinking of revenge or whether Aang accused her of that incorrectly, I know this is hotly debated in the fandom. But I'll ask you to look back at the dialogue in that part of the episode.

Zuko: She needs this, Aang. This is about getting closure and justice.

Aang: I don't think so. I think it's about getting revenge.

Katara: [Angrily.] Fine, maybe it is! Maybe that's what I need! Maybe that's what he deserves!

I'd say it's not so much that revenge was never in her thought process, because come on, we all know she's not going there to have a peaceful conversation. She and Zuko initially think that Yon Rha is still the active commander of the Southern Raiders and intercept the ship while it's active. They knew there was going to be some kind of confrontation happening.

But for me, it's Aang's attempts to define the situation and not listen to what Katara is saying about her own feelings that feels dismissive. Katara admits that maybe it is about revenge, and maybe that is what she needs, but she's still not making limiting statements the way Aang is. Katara needed to figure out what she needed, and she couldn't do that with Aang telling her that if she does x, then y will happen, therefore she should do z which is what he wants her to do. Remember that Aang was initially against her confronting Yon Rha at all, and only conceded that she needed to go when she wouldn't give in to him telling her she shouldn't. It's after he realizes that he can't stop her that he tells her "not to choose revenge." His initially belief was that going at all constituted a violent act of revenge and that it was immoral.

I appreciate that the show has him change his stance, but there should have been some continued followup when Katara came back and it turned out that she did not choose either forgiveness or revenge, which Aang had presented as the only options. Even after he is directly confronted by Katara telling him he is wrong, there is no admission from Aang that it's not a black and white dichotomy. This is especially glaring since the episode already showed us once that Aang is capable of changing his stance when he concedes, reluctantly, that Katara has to take this journey, although even then it feels more like he's saying it so he can still feel like he's in the right because he's realized he can't stop her. He does the same thing when Katara comes back. He never admits that he was wrong even when Katara directly tells him so. He only engages with the argument when Zuko tells him he was right. This isn't so much wisdom as it is ignoring everything that doesn't make you look in the right. That's why I get frustrated with people acting like Aang stopped Katara from going on a murderous rampage in this episode. Aang both assumed it was about revenge AND assumed that Katara wasn't capable of making the choice not to do something horrible on her own, and when proven wrong, never admits it, but does take credit when Zuko credits him with "knowing what Katara needed."

Meanwhile, Katara was able to concede that maybe it was about revenge, but she was still able to make the right choice in the end, without the need to try and define someone else's experience and label their feelings and moralize about it. Katara is the one that shows true wisdom in this episode, because she's wise enough to understand that sometimes we can't truly define a situation or know our true feelings, much less the feelings of others.

So like, was it about revenge? I'm with Katara. Maybe it was, at first, but what's important is the choice Katara made and that she was able to make it, not how Aang feels about it. And I think Katara's choice in the end was much closer to how Zuko defined it - closure and justice - than it was about revenge, in the end, and she would not have gotten that opportunity if she had listened to Aang from the get go and not confronted Yon Rha at all, because he was so afraid that her feelings of revenge (which may have possibly been present) would override her sense of morality and justice.

[the-messenger-hawk]

I like, rarely see your stuff on my dash for some reason. What are some AUs you have for certain fandoms? Be as specific and detailed as humanly possible.

Oh my god. This is...a lot...

I'm gonna, try to get down as much as I can that I still think about....

ATLA AUs:

Dragon and the Phoenix: Mirrorverse–Ozai & Iroh. The eldest child of Fire Lord Azulon is the one who fails to escape his influence, and the youngest found himself overseas.

Drought: Avatar Zuko. Galvanized by having an Avatar of their own, the Fire Nation launches a full invasion on the South, in which Sokka and Katara are the only survivors. 

One Less Betrayal: It’s essentially a villain siblings AU (because there’s not nearly enough of those tbh) wherein the defining change is that Zuko’s final betrayal of the series (his betrayal of the Fire Nation in Book 3) doesn’t happen. However, the effect his newfound loyalty has on his mental health is damning; while he forms a strong bond with Azula, Zuko’s relationships with others (particularly Mai and Ty Lee) suffers greatly. He regresses dangerously, becoming more aggressive and unstable (Azula never has a breakdown in this AU, because she has her brother with her, but he kinda does, albeit not in the same way). Eventually the siblings both become convinced that their father intends to steal all the glory behind the war and leave them with nothing. Working together, the two of them are able to overthrow him, and plan to rule the world together as two crowns, Zuko succeeding Ozai as Fire Lord and Azula becoming the Earth Kingdom’s first Serpent Queen. The two of them are now the resistance’s worst enemy.

Icarus: Modern AU. (posted here~) Jetka. Past-Zukka. Zuko-centric. Zuko finally moves back home to pick up the pieces of his past life, only to realize that some things can’t be fixed. 

Ice King: (posted here!) Sokka is alone after losing his mother, the disappearance of his sister, the departure of his father, and the distance of his grandmother. Soon after Hakoda leaves, the boy crashes his kayak into a iceberg, and uncovers the Avatar, but he has little hope that this will change anything for him or anyone. miserable, depressing.

Innocence: Ozai-centric. Aang’s gift from the Lionturtle doesn’t take Ozai’s bending. Instead, it de-ages him to a small child and wipes his memory. a lot of focus on the fire fam’s past and Iroh

Into the Maw: The Fire Nation conquered the world during the siege on Ba Sing Se. To put the rebellious SWT in its place, the Chieftain’s daughter is arranged to the Fire Nation. Furious and protective, Sokka disguises himself and is sent to the Fire Nation in her place. includes: attempted assassination, cross-dressing. 

The Fire Nation’s Catastrophic Failure: At the end of Sozin’s Comet, Ozai gets turned into a harmless, talking housecat, funny ensues. bonus: Ursa is a bona fide cat lady.

Tuurngaq: Imagine the time period right after Kya is murdered, and the entire family is just completely broken down and grieving because of her loss. But kid Sokka, unable to help his drifting father in any way, or do anything to make his sister’s tears and upset stop, feels some kind of twisted, guilty responsibility to fix everything. So he sneaks into the wilderness and encounters a powerful spirit, which he begs to bring their mother back. And it says it will, with the condition that he offers his own life to the spirit in exchange. Sokka agrees.

Wei: Nonbender Ozai AU. gray morals. Azulon tosses out his second son, and Ozai is declared dead. Ozai becomes an underground prize-fighter to earn money, going by the name of Wei. His desire to be the strongest fighter is only matched by his hatred of the royal family. probably urzai. 

Well He’s no Robinhood: jetka AU. Jet kidnaps the son of the Southern Chief to earn money, and is drawn to how brilliant and challenging he is. 

=========================

KH AUs:

I have a tag for the Guiding Wind AU

A Kinder Shade of Black: Sora and Vanitas are marooned on an unknown world together. Separated from their allies and stuck, they really have no option but to work together in a hostile land. During the interim, Vanitas finds himself tentatively amused that the Lights’ precious golden boy isn’t quite the utterly pure-of-heart champion that others have raised him up to be. A little bit of Darkness goes a long way, especially when everything’s out to get you; it also makes for some rather entertaining company. But he isn’t really expecting for Sora’s influence to distract him in the way that it does, or for the two of them to bridge a gap that was never meant to be crossed. trope: enemy mine/vanso

=========================

Tower of God AUs:

Gladiator AU: I've wrote a bit about this one already, but it's still the best.

Error Code 422: canon divergent au where Wangnan and Miseng stick together and are active in the Hidden Floor arc (and hunted by their glitched out Sworn Enemies). Many secrets are exposed to the main characters/Wangnan outs himself early.

Yet so Far: the one where Wangnan is pining over Bam throughout S2. Nothing unrequited here, he's just dumb and can't spit it out. literally everyone is aware this is going on but Bam.

Rogue Princesses: AU where Team Sweet & Sour are identified as allies of Jue Viole Grace and attacked, leaving most of the team in critical condition. Out of desperation, Wangnan uses the Sword to perform a blood transfusion to save them...with dramatic side effects. -In other words, all of his female teammates basically become bootleg Princesses. (Assumes he reunited with Ehwa, as I'm not leaving her out of this :> )

Sun on the Horizon: Fantasy/kingdom AU. On a diplomatic visit to the capital, Khun is hired to track down the King's missing son. It's not as serious a situation as it seems. Khun has a secret agenda to track down a lost friend, but there's something inspiring about this prince that didn't meet any of his expectations. this is a khunwang au.

Regret: a time-travel au where a very depressed Wangnan gets a chance to go back and undo a moment in time to save his friends. Bam finds out he's about to make a terrible mistake and rushes to stop him, but ends up trapped in the body of his past self, unable to act until history is altered.

slayer prince au: the one where Karaka finds Wangnan on the 20th a decade or so previously, and more or less inducts him as a secret candidate. When Bam arrives on the 20th floor, Jinsung hires Wangnan to keep an eye on his student, and make him a new team. As usual, he goes a little off-script.

[kxjostarr]

what type of bender are you?

Waterbender

Like I said at the beginning of the quiz, the elements speak greatly to how you approach conflict, inner turmoil, etc, so now how do we define what your element actually says about you? Waterbenders, as a whole, are incredibly emotional beings. Perhaps the most emotional of all four elements. What they say, the decisions they make—it’s all based on what they feel in that moment. This isn’t to say that Waterbenders are incapable of thinking through their problems. They absolutely are, but only after they’ve calmed down. Waterbenders have to work through their emotions internally before they can reach a level-headed decision.

We see this most frequently in none other than Katara. As compassionate as she is, Katara has a temper that throughout Book 1 initiates her most powerful bending (at least at the beginning of her training). Throughout the show, especially when her and Toph have their arguments, she is shown reacting like a harsh sudden wave, not considering her words as she typically does. Waterbenders also place an incredible amount of value in their community. They want to take care of the people around them. Now this doesn’t mean that other benders don’t or can’t feel the same; it’s just especially important for Waterbenders. They protect their own first. This is shown across every water tribe.

From the Northerners to the Southerners to the Swamp People, they all focus on their own before considering others around them, doing whatever they can to protect the people they care about. Huu crafts a seaweed monster to keep outsiders away. Katara, as Sokka and Aang are being forced to attack each other, sacrifices her own morals in order to protect them and bloodbends Hama. This is what makes Waterbenders stand out. It’s their need to do whatever it takes to protect the ones they love. Other elements can imitate this need, but there are unique factors to each one that could interrupt such a desire.

Nothing interrupts a Waterbender. Now, as Earthbenders are progressive, Waterbenders are adaptive. They evolve and change with their surroundings, preferring to go with the flow rather than combat it. It’s important however to note that Waterbenders aren’t always pacifists in this respect. While they willfully respond to change, they’re also incredibly capable of enacting it. Avatar Kuruk even confirms the value of this as his parting advice to Aang is to be attentive and active. However, it is possible for Waterbenders to remain stagnant without a trigger that elicits any form of change.

This is seen in the Northern Water Tribe. For generations, they followed the same rules, separating the men from the women, training one side as warriors and the other as healers. It’s only when Katara arrives that this changes. She challenges the system, going so far as to fight Pakku herself, but still this isn’t enough. Not until Pakku picks up the betrothal necklace. This ties back to the loyalty of a Waterbender. Only when Pakku has a personal connection to Katara through her grandmother, does he begin to legitimately consider Katara’s stance.

So what happens to Waterbenders without a community, who’ve shut themselves off emotionally? I like to call them Frigid Waterbenders. These are Waterbenders who crave a community, who are inherently emotional, but for one reason or another, they’ve shut themselves off. The community they may have had once is gone or lost, and now it feels like caring for anyone only leads to heartache. A good example of this type of bender can be seen with The End of the F*cking World.

James is a traumatized boy who convinces himself that he’s a literal psychopath, that the emptiness he feels is something intrinsic to him. This is until he meets Alyssa. Alyssa quickly becomes his community and he’ll do anything to protect her including getting shot in order to secure her safety. If you believe yourself to be this type of bender, try to open yourself up. Closing yourself off isn’t the solution to your problems. You’ll find your people one day. Water is unpredictable and overall, Waterbenders are emotional beings, approaching conflict with what they feel and this can change. Storms can be weathered and above everything else, the ocean will always be there. It will change currents and so will you, but you will always be there for the people you care about.

[rms10]

A huge part of the beauty of Kataang is how both characters are so strongly, and well defined through their writing, drawing, and voice acting. Their love languages are on display throughout and consistent. Katara's is very clearly touch - she constantly touches Aang, and often is far more touchy than is necessary in the situation. Those who deny her feelings are either ignoring this characterization or simply aren't able to read social cues. This is also why I push back on the concept of needing to hear her vocalize her feelings. Why? That would undercut her established characterization.

Similarly, I read complaints about Katara not smiling on the sub after the kiss. How out of place would that be? They both just talked about how their entire relationship would be different after that day - assuming they'd end the war on that day - and put it all out there. Then he kisses her and flies off to fight the Fire Lord. Her pensive concerned look fits the situation perfectly.

From a narrative and character development, the kiss on the balcony in EIP is important. When they come together an episode (or four, depending on you count) later, he will be the clearly hero of the story. This scene firmly displays that Katara has no problem shutting him down and leave if she isn't comfortable with what he does. The entire scene puts it front and center that she will never be with him just because he's the "hero of the story" or because she gives into his interests (some of the dumber takes on them that I've read), but instead when they get together it's on her own terms. This scene sets up that fact for them.

Yes, it's uncomfortable (it's supposed to be), and yes Aang is in the wrong in the scene. He's trying to communicate something there and completely misjudges the situation, but at least he takes immediate responsivity for his actions. People make mistakes in relationships, and they recover from it all the time. People miscommunicate in relationships and they work through it all the time.

When asked why I like kataang so much, the shortest answer is that they simply feel authentic. The above is a lot of why they come off that way to me. They feel like an actual couple working through all the outside issues that keep them apart and put stress on them. The reason they're so good is that they work through those issues. They fight and struggle through issues, but continue to be open with each other in communication. We see them always take time to listen to the other, and even when they disagree, they both express appreciation that the other hears them out.

Really, to me, most of the complaints about the development of the kataang relationship in canon appear to come from takes that ignore Katara's very clear characterization. (Like everyone else, I have things I'd change it, if you left it up to me, but I don't think I'd ever have invested in it if it wasn't well done in the show too.)

never gonna understand the argument that Katara didn’t love Aang or something.

Katara was 100% more physically affectionate toward Aang. She almost always initiated their physical contact.

She also expresses clear jealousy over him as early as ep4 at Kyoshi Island lol. Aang was literally right when he said “you know what I think? I think you don’t wanna come because you’re jealous” 😂 SHE WAS

Katara was hesitant to start a romantic relationship with Aang because of the war, not because she lacked romantic interest in him. I mean, she quite literally says this on screen.

This is another thing that confuses tf out of me. How can anyone actually watch that scene in Ember Island Players and think it translates to “Katara doesn’t like Aang and is gently rejecting him” ?????

Katara 1) denies viewing Aang platonically and 2) straight up says her reasoning for not pursuing a romantic relationship with him after they kissed during the invasion is because the war is still going on and 3) she then continues by saying she is confused about WHEN they can be together if ever.

Both of these characters expected the war to already BE over. That was why Aang kissed her at the invasion, at least partly. Also partly because, yknow, he could’ve died and never gotten the chance. Which also brings up another thing, the argument that she rejected him kissing her then?

This isn’t true. Katara very much did kiss him back. But once it was over, and once he was going to leave her and face what could’ve easily been certain death, she looks upset. Not really difficult to understand why she looks that way, considering Aang did just tell her “what if I don’t come back” right before said kiss. Katara has already witnessed him die right before her eyes. This is a difficult topic in their relationship. And that fear of losing Aang continues to keep her away from their romantic relationship until she finally feels safe to express it at the end of the show.

Aang’s actions are also not difficult to understand at all. He confronted Katara during that play after she sought him out. He never asked her to follow him. And the only reason he confronted her was bc he was feeling 1) super insecure bc of the play’s depiction of everyone in their group and 2) bc he’s about to face the world’s greatest military force and their leader on the anniversary of his entire people and culture’s genocide completely ALONE and could very easily be killed.

Aang shouldn’t have kissed her at the play. No one says he should’ve and he reprimands himself afterwards. With that being said, though, it’s totally understandable as to why he does kiss her, that being that he’s afraid he is going to die again and he wants to express that he loves her before it happens. Also, the fact that Aang wasn’t there for his own people is surely a driving factor in how he expresses love to others afterwards, that being that he feels the need to “be there” so to speak. And “being there” in this moment is showing Katara that he does love her, and the only way he rlly knows how to is to kiss her bc words did not work.

Like… idc if ppl like the writing or not. Acting like it’s some huge mystery or impossible to comprehend is you essentially saying you’re dumber than the 6 year olds that watched ATLA 😭 like how could I at 11 completely understand this whole thing yet these grown ass adult women can’t wrap their minds around it for even a second? Like it’s actually sad lol

[lykegenia]

Legend of Korra rewrite

So what happens when you cross caffeine-induced insomnia with a brain willing to fixate on the most random shit imaginable? Apparently a remainder that I’m still salty about all the ways Nickelodeon fucked over Legend of Korra by not letting it have a multiple season arc greenlit from the beginning. What’s there is already good considering the parameters Bryke had to work with, but only getting one season ordered at a time with studio execs prodding at various plot elements means a lot of potential was squandered.

My 3am brain decided to fix it.

This isn’t a comprehensive beat-beat-by-beat rewrite, I don’t have time for that. It also might not be entirely coherent because, again, 3am brain. I’ll only be focusing on the main characters since they’re the ones doing the most to drive the plot forward.

Before we begin, let’s talk themes. If we’re going to have an overarching, coherent narrative, we’re going to need to give it themes, for flavour. I really like the way LOK used each season to explore the flaws of different political frameworks (e.g. populism, anarchism) but there’s nothing to tie it all together, and the story becomes less about Korra and more about the world she inhabits. In this rewrite, Korra’s journey will come back into focus, and will (like TLA) explore a theme of balance. Specific to yin-yang, there are a bunch of oppositions that relate to each other – chaos/order, tradition/change, altruism/selfishness, freedom/boundaries – none of which are inherently bad, and neither side better than the other. There is no good and evil, only balance and the lack of it. For Korra as well, there will be the theme of legacy, of forging your own path instead of being defined by people’s expectations, of letting go of self-image, and of finding strength in community.

Here we go.

SEASON 1

·        For the most part, unchanged. It’s pretty solid. Could maybe do without the weird double love triangle that was going on for most of it so we could dedicate more time to Korra finding community, and establishing what role the avatar might play in a world that’s seemingly in balance.

·        HOWEVER. I would add at least one extra episode to the ending, and change it just a bit. We’re also going to set up season 2.

·        By the end of the season, Korra does not get back the elements Amon took from her. At least not yet. Instead of being useless, Katara, whose character is not completely betrayed in this version, does manage to undo the damage Amon did, because she mastered bloodbending at 14 and is the world’s best healer according to everyone in the room. So what’s the problem? Korra won’t wake up. She’s trapped in the spirit world, either because of her guilt at being such a failure (in her mind) or because something is keeping her there, but there’s no way to tell which it is.

·        Korra, in the spirit world, is lost. She hears someone behind her, turns with a fire kick ready to defend herself, and… it’s Aang. He points out that bending doesn’t work in the spirit world, he found that out the hard way when he had to walk through an entire forest instead of using his glider. He tells her to follow him.

·        In the real world, it’s early morning, the fire’s low, everyone’s asleep. Someone (Mako? Asami?) wakes up and starts shouting because Korra’s gone. There’s a search party. Naga’s still in her pen, but there are footprints leading to a cliff and then… nothing. We’ve circumvented the execs worry about depicting suicidal ideation by making it clear first that Korra is off doing spirity things, and Katara, who is wise, tells everyone that they need to trust in the avatar.

·        Repercussions: Unalaq turns up with troops from the North ostensibly to rescue Korra. When it’s pointed out that she’s in the spirit world, he asks how they can know for sure. After all, someone tried to kidnap her once before (“And you couldn’t protect her then, either – could you brother? Someone else had to do it”). Name drop the Red Lotus, but they won’t be important until later.

·        This is just a ruse to start the occupation. Aside from Unalaq having shady evil plans, the South has lost its way, they lost the avatar, and they owe the North for all the rebuilding they did after the 100 Years War (sarcastic huzzah for colonialism!) The last shot of the season is a mass of Northern ships advancing on the South in a direct parallel to the shot in the opening of TLA. (This also removes the contrivance of Korra being naïve enough to believe a word of anything her obviously evil uncle says.)

SEASON 2

·        Korra washes up on a Fire Nation beach and is found by the priestess lady who in this version is definitely Azula btw. She’s chill after 70 years. The opening of this season is the two-parter where we learn the origins of the avatar because a) it interrupts the story less to put it here and b) it’s a far more organic way for her to relearn how to connect with all her elements that ties into her character growth instead of being another Lion Turtle-ex-machina. She also learns that harmonic convergence is coming, but not quite yet (it won’t be the S2 finale but more on that later) and that she needs to find out where Vaatu’s prison is so that she can keep him there.

·        Meanwhile, in the South: Civil war. Katara is among the first to stand up to the occupation and fights back (the South knows how to fight, it spent 100 years fighting while the North cowered behind its high walls and did nothing) because her character is not completely betrayed in this version of events. She will not let her people be subjugated again. The others want to stay and help, but the Southern benders are holding their own for now what they really need is outside help to get the North to back down (and we haven’t seen this much politics in kids media since the Star Wars prequels). Tenzin and family head to the Fire Nation to get help from Zuko/Izumi. Lin, who has her bending back thanks to Katara, goes back to Republic City to garner support from the United Forces. Asami and Mako go with her – Asami to sort out Future Industries, Mako because it sucks being a firebender at the south pole in winter, and because he wants to help Lin. He has to let go of his need overprotectiveness because Bolin stays and joins the rebellion. There is not a weird abusive romantic subplot between him and Eska.

·        Korra finally gets back from the spirit world. Hears about trouble in the South from Azula, and her first instinct is to rush off to the south pole, but harmonic convergence is a bigger threat to everyone. Like Aang, she has to choose between her duties to the world and her attachment to her people. She’s persuaded to find Tenzin/Jinora instead, and gets given a sky bison.

·        Tonraq gets captured, but not before learning why his brother REALLY wants to get to the portal in the spirit trees. Nobody else finds out. For dramatic irony. And so the audience can get a bit of exposition without it seeming clunky. He’s been weakening the boundary between the spirit world and the waking world in preparation for letting Vaatu out, and that’s why there are spirits running amok everywhere. Fighting is getting worse.

·        All the events in Republic City still happen, maybe with tweaks but not enough to change the direction of the plot.

·        Korra finds Jinora, and together they set off for the spirit world. Yes Korra still gets lost. Last time she had Aang as a guide but a) without him she doesn’t know how to navigate b) she’s still new to this whole spirituality thing c) since she was last in the spirit world Unalaq’s destabilisation of the boundary means things are a lot more chaotic anyway. Yes we still see Iroh, and he helps her, and we get a showdown in front of Vaatu’s tree. He mocks Raava for being too late to stop him. But at least now they know how to get to him from the real world. Jinora still gets kidnapped.

·        The S2 finale is mostly the same, except Unalaq does not join with Vaatu. Vaatu promised that’s what would happen but Vaatu is a spirit of chaos and discord, he is inherently selfish, so instead feeds on Unalaq to free himself. There is no giant battle between spirit Korra and spirit Unalaq, we are not in Pacific Rim. Also, the battle between Raava and Vaatu is not good/evil, but they are in opposition.

·        Most importantly, the good guys lose the finale. The big final battle happens to stop Unalaq getting to the Tree of Time, and they’re too late. Vaatu is freed and his prison, the Tree of Time, is destroyed in the process. Chaos ensues. (This is what brings the airbenders back but we don’t know this yet.) Harmonic convergence is looming, Team Avatar’s job now is to find a way to beat him now that the tree of time has been destroyed.

SEASON 3

·        Spirits of chaos have unleashed airbenders. Oops, that includes Zaheer. They’re here to fuck shit up.

·        Season 3 is generally pretty good and well-paced, and the finale is banger, so most things will be kept the same except the chaos the Red Lotus creates in the Earth Kingdom is directly feeding Vaatu, making him stronger. Korra’s trip to the spirit world to learn the origins of the Red Lotus is slightly different. Instead of Zaheer, she connects with her previous lives. She and Kyoshi get on like a house on fire. Kyoshi explains the Red Lotu’s origin, but Zaheer has been waiting for her, attuned to Raava’s energy. They have a fight, shows Korra is improving in her spirituality by how she can manipulate the world (better resolution for that arc, consistency between seasons is nice), but she’s no match for Zaheer. Tries to warn him about Vaatu but he argues that by fusing with Raava the avatar disrupted the balance of the universe and that he’s helping put it back. The people who are going to die because of this will simply be redressing the balance. This fight is what keeps Korra distracted while the rest of the Red Lotus attacks.

·        Finale is banger, keep it as it is.

SEASON 4

·        Kuvira’s motivation now isn’t just trying to restore order in the Earth Kingdom power vacuum, she also knows harmonic convergence is coming and wants to impose order to stop Vaatu winning since the avatar is AWOL/not recovered. During the early part of S3 world leaders were warned about harmonic convergence but since it’s traditionally the avatar’s job to deal with spirits, nothing was really done.

·        She’s actually making the problem worse.

·        Team Avatar and the airbenders etc all fall on different sides of the ‘how to stop 10,000 years of darkness’ discussion, and without the avatar as a unifying voice, it’s making the problem worse.

·        Most of the plot beats stay the same, but there is no giant robot shooting spirit plant lasers at things, because. Well. We’re not in Pacific Rim. Kuvira can still be forcing Varrick to build her superweapons, though, as a treat.

·        The big finale finale is harmonic convergence. Vaatu manifests, stronger than last time because he’s been feeding on the chaos of the human world, and now there’s no Tree of Time to imprison him. What will Korra do next?

·        The avatar cycle is broken. Kora wins, but at the cost of her connection with Raava, because Raava is the only one who can really control him in the end. Their struggle is eternal. Think Ed vs Truth at the end of FMA:B. All the experience of the past avatars feeds into Raava’s power and it counterbalances Vaatu, Korra lets go, and the two “destroy” each other locked together. The explosion of spirit energy brings about a new spiritual age. Maybe Korra keeps her waterbending, maybe she loses her bending entirely (which would be a nice bit of symmetry with the concerns of S1) but she still steps into the spirit portal with Asami at the end.

[sokkastyles]

I saw a post claiming that people who prefer zutara to Zuko and Mai’s canon relationship are ignoring the scene where Katara threatens Zuko - which is pretty ridiculous, anyway, because zutara is all about the development from enemies to friends to lovers, the initial trust and the betrayal, and that scene where Katara threatens Zuko makes their eventual bond all the stronger because it’s part of the build up to the eventual catharsis of that bond - but then I realized there IS a comparison/contrast to be made between the aforementioned scene between Zuko and Katara and a scene between Mai and Zuko.

Here we have two different points in Zuko’s development, two different points where Zuko is feeling positive after a victory (the first one is being accepted into the gaang, the second one is after defeating Azula.) In both scenes there is a sense of a new day dawning on Zuko’s newfound realization that he can create his own destiny. He is looking away from the camera’s focus, which is behind him, while sunlight streams in, a symbol of his newfound positivity. But then the camera, which is still fixed on some point he isn’t looking at, pans to reveal its focus.

“And there she was, standing in the doorway. I couldn’t see her expression, but she was the kind of dame who’d kill ya as soon as look at ya. And I’d broken her heart. More than once.”

...or at least, that’s what ATLA would be like if it were a film noir.

Anyway, the point is to emphasize that Zuko has history with these two people, and in both scenes he’s happy to see Katara/Mai, but his expression falters because his relationship with both of them is temperamental to say the least.

Here’s where the two scenes differ. The scene with Katara does not happen in a romantic context, and she makes it clear very quickly that she’s not on good terms with Zuko.

In contrast, the scene with Mai quickly becomes a happy reunion, but it seems like Mai and Zuko still don’t really know where they stand with each other.

They don’t really acknowledge the things that broke them up in the first place. Instead, Zuko asks Mai if she doesn’t hate him, she says she “actually kind of likes” him, and then tells him never to break up with her again.

I’ve seen a lot of people try and use Katara threatening Zuko as a point against shipping them, but then what is this?

Obviously we’re not supposed to take Mai’s threat seriously, but in my view, that’s another point against that relationship. Any romantic relationship where you have to resort to threats (especially ones you don’t actually mean) and belittling to get the other person to pay attention to you isn’t really a good relationship. Telling someone you’re in a relationship with never to break up with you shows a lack of respect for and trust in that person which characterized Mai’s relationship with Zuko from beginning to end.

While the zutara scene exists to make the eventual resolution of their arc all the sweeter, the scene between Mai and Zuko is the last time we ever see them, and is characteristic of the emotional dishonesty and turbulence that defined their relationship from start to finish.

Katara is completely honest with Zuko even at her most hostile to him and holds him to high standards, but they aren’t standards which he can’t meet, and this motivates him to become a better person. Which is what a healthy relationship should do.

[shewhotellsstories]

i really dont wanna annoy you but you post about racism in fandom sometimes so i thought you'd be the right person to ask. i hope this doesnt come off as expecting u to be my teacher. yesterday someone said they didnt trust white zk shippers and i thought it was mean but then people started sending the them all these nasty messages and i started to worry maybe op was right. honestly a lot of this stuff is pretty new for me. i think our fandom is inclusive & unlike the rest of the atla fandom we actually like katara. but i'm trying to learn.

why would it be a problem that a lot of zk fics have katara looking after zuko? i always just felt like he needed it more bc he was abused and kataras better at dealing with feelings and she's good at taking care of people. is fire lady katara still ok? is there racism in our fandom? there are a lot of woc zks and i've seen them get hate for it. but the messages op got were pretty bad too. i know i'm asking a lot of questions i just hate the thinking that we might be as bad as the z*kka stans have been saying all year.

This is gonna get long so I’m just gonna jump right in. When I listened to fansplaining’s episode on fandom racism one of the guests said white fans who can acknowledge that fandom racism exists tend to frame it as “just a few bad apples” and get caught up in worrying about not looking like a “bad apple” instead of making fandoms spaces that aren’t hostile for BIPOC. Jag offs hiding behind anon to tell women of color who ship zutara that we have a creepy fetish for imperialism and colonialism suck, but your biggest concern really shouldn’t be the optics or if you can claim superiority over zukka stans.

Yeah the “katara’s a homophobe” nonsense didn’t come from our end of the fandom, but it feels naive at best or dishonest at worst to act like the zutara fandom is uniquely immune to fandom racism. A creator I follow made the excellent point that allyship conditional upon if a poc talks "nicely" about racism is still white supremacy. I believe poc need to be allowed to vent and be salty or angry without being tone-policed. I definitely have my days where I’m like “ugh white people,” or "why must white fans be like this," so I get where the OP was coming from. Ironically the folks that sent them anon hate proved their point. You can always count on hit dogs to hollar.

Fandom is only escapist for some people. It doesn’t exist in a vacuum so you’ll find racism in fandom because there’s racism in the world. Navigating that gets exhausting. There are certain things I enjoy, but for the sake of my sanity I'll only talk about it with friends in real life or only follow fans of color. Before I follow white fans I need to see first that they’re not the kind of person who inspires posts about fandom racism. A good friend of mine loves Star Wars, Kpop, and gaming but after years of attempts at calling in she decided that she’d only interact with woc in those spaces. Again, you get tired.

ATLA wasn’t on my radar until last year so I definitely haven’t read every zutara fic out there but I have noticed a lot of fics do tend to have Katara being the one comforting and supporting Zuko. It’s not inherently wrong of course, it’s just in the grand scheme of things in fiction woc are often cast as eternal caretakers and confidants in fiction:

“How characters of color are portrayed in fanworks, especially fanfiction, is worse than the actual films. They are portrayed as supportive, almost invisible understudies. Any characteristics which they possess in the [MCU] films are stripped and given to other white characters. It is not only erasure. It’s a theft of identity.

Characters of color are positioned within storylines to support the main, white characters. Even within the slash biracial pairings, the character of color is underdeveloped and in a position of servitude within the relationship.”

TheNavyLanguage, Fansplaining

As the quote above points out this honestly happens in a lot of fandoms. I’ve read fanfic for books, movies, tv shows, and comics and I can’t help but notice that in fics the writers often have the non-white character or-- if neither character is white--the darker skinned character being the care-taker, the bodyguard, or the person who is performing all the emotional labor. It’s not inherently wrong to have a character of color have a nurturing personality, you just have to remember that since Black and brown folks have been saddled with narrative after narrative where we exist to serve leaning into dynamics where the non-white or darker skinned character is providing all the emotional support and getting very little in return has some unfortunate implications.

It’s not better if instead of being defined as the avatar’s girl, Katara’s the fire lord’s girl. Part of the appeal of zutara for me is the idea that Katara could lay down some of her burdens and get some much needed support. I always imagine she’d have some major issues after the war.

"i always just felt like he needed it more bc he was abused and kataras better at dealing with feelings and she's good at taking care of people."

I’m going to push back against that statement. Yes, Katara didn't grow up in an abusive household but she has pain and trauma of her own. In fact I’d argue that her believing it’s her job to take care of everyone is rooted in her trauma. Katara needs support and care just as much as anyone else does.

Having read a lot of fics revolving around abuse victims in different fandoms I’ve observed that if fans feel a character’s trauma wasn’t properly addressed in canon, they’ll give them a lot of TLC in fics. But again, reducing the non-white or darker-skinned character to a glorified therapist has some implications.

I feel like the Fire Lady Katara headcanon's been talked to death so long-story short, it’s not inherently racist but it can problematic if it's not clear that Katara is Katara of the Water Tribe wherever she lives. Fics and art where her crown has a crescent moon, she wears blue, or Zuko wears blue when she's in red are the executions I'm fondest of.

When in doubt just listen when poc talk about uncomfortable trends in the fandom. Give fansplaining’s episodes on fandom racism a listen here, here, and here. And very loosely quoting my favorite professor just remember that if a marginalized person says they’re distrustful of a group of people or institution it usually happens after a lot of bad experiences. Don’t center your own comfort and hurt feelings.

“If we truly believe in fandom’s progressive credentials, then perhaps it is necessary for us to listen to critiques that make us uncomfortable rather than those that keep arguing that the status quo is perfectly acceptable—even as there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. Perhaps then we will be able to come at these, yes, these very complex and nuanced discussions with the type of openness and good faith that is required for them to succeed, rather than approaching them with hostility.”

-Rukmini Pande, Fansplaining