#katara is not trying to say her experience is worse

[sidsinning]

I will always stand by the fact that, despite Katara being wrong in saying "Then you didn't love her like I did" to Sokka, her words hold a fragment of truth, and her anger has very justified and understandable reasons to exist in ways Sokka could not understand.

Her experiences after her mother died and what that meant to her were a lot more personal than just her mother passing tragically. She literally had to become a mother to Sokka because of the empty void her mother's death left in the family, and her mother died specifically to protect HER. She looked her mother's killer dead in the eye right before he killed her.

Sokka had Katara to comfort him after their mother's passing, but no one comforted Katara. There was no closure for Katara in any capacity leading her deep hatred for the fire nation and the man who killed her mother to fester in her for years under her maternal personality.

Ultimately, Katara's good heart shown through in the end because she didn't kill the man despite having every reason to. She just needed closure, not forgiveness.

[melzula]

Ok hear me out. Reader and Zuko go on a run for supplies .Reader makes a mistakes and almost gets seriously hurt/ near death experience. Zuko gets pissed at reader, maybe yells at her. Reader laughs it off and acts like she doesn’t gaf. Zuko later finds reader all shaken up and crying by herself. Love if you don’t, love if you do!

a/n: ty for requesting and hope you enjoy anon !

summary: zuko apologizes and receives something in return

What was meant to be a simple trip into town for supplies had quickly turned into a disaster, and Zuko believed it was your recklessness to blame.

You’d been too preoccupied in admiring a local merchant’s vast collection of sea shells to notice the Fire Nation soldier creeping up behind you, and if not for Zuko shoving you out of the way to take on the man himself you surely would have been burnt alive. Your failure to stay aware of your surroundings and lackadaisical attitude had almost gotten you killed, and the Prince made sure to point this out to you afterward.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?!” He scolds you after dragging you out of the marketplace by the arm and back towards camp.

“I was looking at shells, actually, before you so rudely interrupted,” you correct with an impatient roll of your eyes, but the act only seems to annoy him further.

“This isn’t a game, y/n! We didn’t come here to mess around, we came to quickly get more food and go, and we couldn’t even do that because you were too busy looking at stupid shells to notice your surroundings! You could have been hurt or worse!”

“Relax, ‘your highness,’” you dismiss him defensively, harshly yanking your arm away from his grasp. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not dead. I���m fine. You need to stop overreacting and leave me alone!”

Zuko watches with a scowl as you stomp away from him and towards your tent, ignoring the quizzical looks your friends send your way as you shut the flaps closed.

“What’s her problem?” Toph asks with a raised brow from her spot beside the campfire.

“What did you do?” Katara snaps at the boy with an accusatory glare.

“I didn’t do anything!” Zuko exclaims defensively. “As a matter of fact, I just saved her life and now she’s mad at me!”

“Saved her life? What happened out there?” Aang questions with a worried frown. “Was anyone hurt?”

“A Fire Nation soldier snuck up on her while she was distracted and was about to strike before I pushed y/n out of the way and fought him myself.”

“So… what you’re saying is you guys didn’t get any food?” Sokka notes dejectedly only to receive a scolding smack upside the head from his sister.

“If you saved her life, then why is she so upset?”

“I may have been a bit harsh with her after,” Zuko admits reluctantly, awkwardly grasping at the back of his neck. “I didn’t mean to snap at her, but I was just frustrated that she wasn’t taking her own safety seriously.”

“Look, that’s just how y/n is sometimes. She’s too trusting of her surroundings sometimes, but you have to gently remind her to be careful,” Sokka explains to his friend. “Maybe if you hadn’t yelled at her she would have taken you seriously.”

“Just give her some time to cool off and apologize later,” Katara advises the fire bender. “She just needs her space.”

Frustrated, Zuko lets out a long sigh before ultimately relenting. Katara is right. He just needs to give you some space to process before bothering you again.

By nightfall the moon has risen in the sky and the rest of your group has called it a day, retreating to their tents to sleep and rest for whatever tomorrow may bring. You still haven’t set foot out of yours since Zuko yelled at you, and the Prince has spent the better half of his day groveling outside waiting for you to emerge. He’s beginning to grow impatient, but he’s also extremely worried. You missed dinner, and no one has been able to get you to come out.

Deciding enough is enough, Zuko takes it upon himself to barge into your tent and check on you. Better you be mad at him for invading your space without permission than for something to be wrong with you without anyone knowing.

When he enters your tent the last thing he expects to find is your figure curled up in your sleeping bag crying. Your body trembles under the blankets and your quiet sniffles are the only sound in the space. If you notice his presence you don’t acknowledge it, and Zuko hesitates before carefully sitting himself beside you.

“Y/n?” He calls out softly, gently pulling the covers back to get a look at your face. Water marks line across your cheeks from tears that had managed to dry off your skin, and it takes you a moment to finally meet his gaze.

“I’m sorry for making you mad,” you whisper meekly, voice cracking with effort after hours of minimal use.

“No, you don’t have to apologize. I should be apologizing for how I acted,” he assures you sincerely, carefully wiping away your remaining tears. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I was just worried about your safety- I’m not sure what I would have done if something bad had happened to you.”

“You really mean that?” You sniffle, looking up at him with doubt clear in your eyes.

“Of course I do. I know it probably didn’t seem that way when I was yelling at you, but I’ve come to care a lot for you, and I’d hate to see you get hurt.”

“I didn’t know…” you murmur quietly as you carefully sit up from your sleeping bag to reach eye level with the Prince. “I always figured you just saw me as some annoying girl you had to babysit.”

“Well, maybe at first,” he admits with a sheepish chuckle only to immediately stop when he catches your unamused glare, “but now I look forward to being sent to the market with you. I enjoy your company even if it means having to be more vigilant of our surroundings on your behalf. Can you just promise me that next time you’ll be a little more careful?”

“I promise,” you nod earnestly and, much to Zuko’s surprise, pull him in for a tight hug. He stiffens at first, unsure how to react to the close contact, but eventually he’s able to allow himself a chance to enjoy your warmth and reciprocate your embrace.

Only you could have the grumpy Prince wrapped so tightly around your finger.

| zuko tags: @ilovespideyyy @yiyibetch @eridanuswave @lammello @a-monsters-love @taeeemin @livelaughlovekuni @lovialy

[sokkastyles]

Zutara Month Day 30: Time Loop

The night after Zuko takes them to Ember Island, Katara wakes up in the middle of the night, and decides to take a walk on the dock. While she is there, a spirit speaks to her from the water, a small, silvery fish with a long, serpentine tail, whispering in the moonlight.

The spirit tells her that it overheard her earlier, saying she didn't know whether she was strong or weak for not killing Yon Rah. It also heard quite a bit more of the conversation, and tells her that it has an offer for her.

"You are wondering whether that boy," it says, inclining its scaled head towards the beach house, and for just a moment she thinks it's talking about Zuko, until the spirit continues. "The current Avatar, you wonder whether he would forgive you if you had made a different choice."

The spirit offers Katara the chance to find out her true strength, and the truth of how Aang feels about her. The next day, she finds herself waking to an endless loop, repeating the day she and Zuko went after Yon Rah.

It ends when she realizes that Aang will judge her no matter what choice she makes. Even in the loops where she chooses forgiveness, or not to seek out the Southern Raiders at all, she feels herself diminished in Aang's eyes, somehow, even as she gives him what he wants.

It's worse when she makes herself kill, when she has to experience her own death, only to wake up again at the beginning as if it had never happened. She watches Zuko die for her, trying to save her. Every single time, she comes back to Aang's judgement, feeling no more certain about the strength of her own choices than she was the first time.

It's coming back on Appa without Zuko that makes her realize what it is she's truly meant to learn. She knows the route by now to his family's vacation home on Ember Island, even though he would never take her there in this timeline. She sits alone on the dock, and weeps. Below her, a silvery fish with a long tail watches her closely.

She wakes up, restored to her true timeline. She goes with the gaang to see a terrible play, and watches as Zuko dies again onstage.

The next morning, when the rest of them are having fun in the sun, she feels again that pang of absence, and knows now what it is that makes her strong. She goes back up to the house and asks him to come down to the beach with her.

[leantailean]

Ain't no way you're paying victim. You called Zuko a supremacist colonizer when his whole arc was about rejecting the Fire Nation's nationality and colonialism. You defended Aang prioritizing his culture over Katara's trauma. You can't get mad at Zuko for brushing off Aang using his culture to project his self-righteousness and not at Aang for dictating Katara's grief by implying culture is the only right way. In no way was that user being racist.

(Especially because Aang has made fun of cultural Water Tribe food and touched Water Tribe artifacts like they were toys)

YOU started the confrontation with her, then got mad that she rightfully replied (twice). You're butthurt because you were proven wrong. Grow up.

Hello anon, may I draw your attention to the fact that my interaction with the person you obviously mean here was limited to one post in which I disagreed with her opinion and dared to express my point of view, in which I was so polite, that I even apologized for the fact that the post turned out to be long and praised her art (yes, I bought that, mistaking this AI for real watercolours. Only after the last post did I look more closely and noticed all these countless artefacts, sixth fingers and meaningless shadows lying on the wrong sides of the form). I wrote my opinion and forgot about it because, you know, I have a life. But it seems that my post really hurt you and this person much and you felt so insulted and offended that you have not been able to calm down for several months: that person wrote gigantic (but rather meaningless) “responses” a few months later, you all bombarded my mailbox with anonymous hatred, and took ridiculous attempts to slander my art.

And, anon, can I ask: do you even read what you are responding to? I didn't call Zuko a supremacist colonizer; I called him the great-grandson of a colonizer (which is literally who he is in the story). And yes, Zuko's role in history is worse than it could have been for a conventional great-grandson of a supremacist colonizer, because Zuko personally took part in his great-grandfather's war, attacking the Southern Water Tribe, threatening the elderly and children, and using physical force against them

burning down the Kyoshi village and trying to capture the avatar, the world's last hope, even after he began to realize that this was not right (that scene from the book one where he turned away from the fire nation banner).

Just because Zuko repented and self-improved doesn't suddenly erase these facts from his story. I think that remorse and deep pain for his actions will haunt Zuko throughout his life because he truly became a good person, unlike you, who are just ready to pretend that none of this ever happened and are not worth remembering.

Aang is a genocide survivor. His beliefs are hard-won experience. Because he knows what it's like to lose your culture, your people and find the passed away parent (their direct parallel with the Katara). His philosophy of forgiveness is not something he was taught in school, nor is he the affluent 21st century suburban boy as he's so carefully portrayed by you. This is his experience. And he shares this experience with his friend, who is also a genocide survivor. He and Katara share this experience and Aang has every right to tell her his opinion. It is Katara's choice to agree or not, and she makes her choice, but Aang had every right to express his opinion.

And I wonder, anon, what can you say about Sokka? He is just as much a victim in this situation as Katara. Sokka is not a pacifist or an air nomad. Kya was also Sokka's mother. And he is also against Katara committing a murder. This is not the first time I have seen how, while attacking Aang, haters pass by Sokka in deathly silence, and past Zuko who also agreed with Aang in the end.

I will not specifically address your point about Aang being a racist for not liking traditional Katara’s food or for putting a hat on without knowing what kind of hat it was. I don't believe you are stupid enough to actually make such arguments seriously, it must be trolling. It’s clear that you have nothing to complain about Aang at all, because these arguments look desperate. 

It's impressive how much the opinion of a stranger on the Internet can hurt you. Are you so offended that someone dared to respond to your baseless accusations against fictional cartoon characters? Or maybe you're so offended by the fact that I can criticize a character and keep liking him (Zuko is literally one of my three favorite characters, along with Toph and Aang). If you look at my blog, you'll get a pretty clear impression of how much I love Zuko and what a giant amount of time and effort I spend on art dedicated to him. Because I see all of Zuko's flaws and still continue to love him—unlike you, who only love the emasculated "ideal" version of him. As very well said here, your treatment of Zuko is very similar to how Ozai treated Azula: "be absolutely perfect, otherwise you're a good for nothing waste of space". This is very noticeable from the posts of the person you are defending here.

So yes, the advice to grow up is very good, but you should turn it on yourself, who, for some reason, writes your complaints anonymously, like a coward, or on those people whom you are defending. This is the Internet, and if you're not ready that not everyone agrees with your opinion and that someone can actually respond to your takes, maybe you should just get offline.

(I see that you want to start a drama, but you are in the wrong place. Any anonymous letters like this one will be deleted.😎)

[misrepresentedmorallygrey]

PROPAGANDA

Rose Quartz Propaganda

"We saw her character arc in reverse!! We first saw all the good she did and then learned of her terrible actions in the past. If her story was told the other way around, it would have been a great redemption arc. Yes, she did some terrible things, but she had no choice. She did everything she could to stop the colonization of earth peacefully buy nothing worked. Blue and yellow diamond just didn't listen to her and when they did, THEY were the ones who made the zoo and shit. Rose wanted to free them but couldn't get to them after the war! And with the corruption, there's no way she could have known that'd happen. There's so many things she wanted to do but just couldn't. And with spinel, yes it was shitty to leave her alone for so long, but again, between running her court, running the rebellion, dealing with earth, she likely wasn't a very high priority and like with the zoo, there was no way to get to her after the war since the galaxy warp was destroyed. And don't forget, she was practically a child around this time. You're saying you didn't do any stupid, selfish, or harmful things as a kid? She learned from her experiences and grew, we just saw that growth in reverse, leaving us as viewers with a poor perception of her."

"Rose Quartz is Steven Universe’s dead mom. Initially, she’s set up as sort of an ethereal perfect figure who everyone misses and compares him to. Later we get to see more of her backstory and discover that she’s actually like, a person, with flaws, who has done some bad things, but she did those bad things largely in the course of trying to escape an abusive home life and save the people and planet that she fell in love with. It’s very clear that despite her flaws she was trying to do the right thing and that she deeply cared about others. Unfortunately, a woman who was not a Perfect Martyr was way too much for the Steven Universe fandom to handle. She pretty much set off the wave of SU crit blogs because these people were furious either that she had taken violent measures to solve her problems, that she hadn’t taken violent enough measures to solve her problems, or both somehow. Lots of “Why didn’t she just murder her abusive parental figures?” Lots of “She was evil for having a baby even though she knew she’d die in childbirth!” Lots of “She should’ve been able to protect everyone from a magic nuclear weapon with the power of love somehow.” Lots of “She shouldn’t have rebelled (even though not rebelling would’ve meant the destruction of Earth) because her abusers retaliated and that’s her fault.” LOTS of people drawing her as stick thin even though she was fat in the show. People treated her like she was on the same level or even worse than her abusive parental figures who were also the main villains of the show. It was unbearable to witness."

Katara Propaganda

"She's smart. She's powerful. She an eco-terrorist. She's got the ability to grow as a person. She's a victim of misogynistic fans who codify her as an annoying bitch (sadly not affectionate) cause she's the "mom character." And that's all she will ever be is "The mom character." She bested Azula and could blood bend your ass but won't cause she's chosen not to be a monster! But she's the annoying mom instead."

"if i have to hear ONE MORE *touches necklace* joke i’m gonna mcfreaking lose it"

"despite being one of the most well-written feminist characters of children’s TV, the fandom decides to define her based on her very realistic 14-year-old girl flaws. Ignoring her complex independent arcs and motivations, people love justifying their hatred towards her based on her one line directed at Sokka that he didn’t love his mother as much as she did. Which, if we’re being nitpicky, isn’t so harsh given that it was Katara who shouldered most of the burden of her death, as well as Sokka’s admittance that he doesn’t even remember his mother. Not to mention that ALL the characters make selfish mistakes given the fact that they’re all aged 12-15??? (Aang hiding Katara and Sokka’s father’s letter, anyone???) She really is an elegant breakthrough of the typical female character molds of “girl who is badass” and “girl with a crush on the mc who sits on the sidelines” and it’s so frustrating to see her get the most hate out of the Gaang"

Mabel Pines Propaganda

"[insert "i am 12 years old" comic]"

"You probably already know about this but back when the series was airing people were really pissed at Mabel because she was supposedly selfish. Yeah ok guys asking for a fucking megaphone to help a merman find his family was TOTALLY unreasonable. Dipper giving up one (1) "date" with a girl way older than him to save Mabel's pet was SO not worth it. (This is sarcasm btw. Side note a lot of these have to do with Dipper's crush on Wendy which is a whole other discussion.) And then there's the big one. Mabel causing Weirdmageddon. What people fail to realize with this is that 1) she was extremely stressed when she handed Bill the rift 2) she was tricked by Bill, a being that is A MASTER AT TRICKING PEOPLE, into thinking that she was being handed a magic solution to what felt like the end of the world to her, and 3) she was TWELVE. Not to pull out the "she is literally neurodivergent and a minor" card but do you really expect a 12 year old who's just been told that she's gonna have to face a big and difficult transition WITHOUT her brother who's been there for her all her life to make a rational decision? Y'all seriously fell for Bill's empty words in Sock Opera. Absolute bufoons. You would not survive Weirdmageddon."

"Oh wow, a preteen girl under extreme distress acts like a preteen girl under extreme distress. Whoda thunk?"

[drpoisonoaky]

Who let them drink?

As soon as she entered what was supposed to be a party at which she nicely declined the invitation, the explanations from Aang weren't necessary anymore.

“LOOK, EVERYONE! THAT’S MY GIRLFRIEND! LOOK AT HER. ARE YOU LOOKING?! LOOK. AT. HER,” yelled Katara as she climbed her like she was a tree. Having your drunked girlfriend shouting next to your ear isn’t a pleasant experience, but she has had a lot of worse experiences.

“How much has she drunk?”

“I lost the count a while ago.” Aang was trying to catch Sokka who was on the chandelier. Having in mind that they’re still in the royal palace and how high it was, Azula was kind of impressed.

"NO! MY GIRLFRIEND IS PRETTIER AND WAY NICER. LOOK AT HER," he exclaimed, pointing at a very drunk Suki sleeping on the floor.

“Good grief.”

“NO! MY GIRLFRIEND IS THE BEST. SHE ALWAYS HAS SOME KNIVES WITH HER. ALWAYS. YOU KNOW HOW USEFUL THAT IS” Looking at the scene Azula had forgotten about Mai’s knives. The last time Mai got drunk, Ty Lee almost lost an eye.

“They decided to mix something with something and it seems it was easy to drink but pretty strong”

As soon as Aang said that, Mai began to throw up through the window. “Well, at least we don’t need to worry about someone being hurt by her” Azula thought.

“Are you the only one who hasn’t had a drink?” As she pronounced that last word a very drunk Ty Lee revived from the floor next to Suki.

“WELL YOU ALL HAVE GORGEOUS GIRLFRIENDS BUT GUESS WHAT I MADE OUT WITH ALL OF THEM AT SOME POINT SO VICTORY IS ON ME.”

“Wait Katara too?” Azula did not want to be that person, but there’s something uncomfortable about your ex-girlfriend making out with your current girlfriend. “Maybe if I wasn’t dating either a good couple could have been born. I’m pretty sure someday someone would be in that situation.”

“I don’t know where Toph is, but yeah.” If, at that moment, you looked into his eyes you would see how those people right now were taking away years of his life.

“Azzzulaaa, why aren’t you paying attention to me?!” said Katara with her face buried in Azula’s neck.

“That’s a lot of Z’s and A’s for a single word.” said Azula while bringing back her attention to Katara “How much did this woman drink.”

“Don’t cry.” Katara unburied her face from Azula’s neck “How am I not going to cry like in your face?!”

“What about my face?”

Katara began to sob while she said “IT IS PERFECT. HOW ARE YOU EVEN REAL.”

“So I guess emotional drunk Katara is here.”

Suddenly Azula felt how someone had climbed up her body to perch on her shoulders. “Shhh. You also are perfect.” said Ty lee trying to not to fall having 0 balance.

But with that Katara’s change her demeanor and pretends to be serious and sober, only for a second.

“I am not making out with you so you can say you made out with every girl in this room Ty lee.”

“So Katara didn’t do it after all” though Azula with a little bit of relief that she never ever would recognize.

“I girl have to try.” As she said that Ty Lee was down on her feet and Katara face was back on Azula’s neck.

“Zzzzulaaaa she’s trying to get into my pants. But I don’t want her. I only want you into my pants because you are really good in-“ Without letting her end that sentence she decided it was enough.

“Avatar, I'm taking her and I’m sending some servants to help you because Ty Lee is 30 seconds away from throwing up. And then Zuzu will do it after her.”

Aang gave her a confused look but 30 seconds after there was a gross noise coming from Ty Lee

“Whao, do you know their vomit schedule?”

“I usually don’t drink either. And they don’t know how to drink. So I have to develop a plan to proceed every time they say “I have this bottle.””.

The first time she began planning, she was holding Zuko and Ty Lee at the same time while they emptied their stomachs. Also, she developed a sweet revenge plan to enact when they woke up hungover. It changed depending on what instrument was available in the palace. Or if she wanted to be extra evil, she-

“‘Zzzulaa”

“It seems we lost some z's and a's,” Azula said while she dropped her gaze to Katara’s.

“I love you.”

“Wait when did they reach drunk loveliness Katara…Oh shit.”

“WAIT THE BATHROOM IS NEA-“

Too late, it was Katara's turn. “The fucking vomit schedule.”

As Katara kept throwing up a victory shout resonates in the room. “I WON I WAS THE LAST PERSON STANDI-“ Sokka shouted. Then he pass out.

So everyone, except the former princess of the Fire Nation and the last airbender, was down. Thank Agni the Avatar state it's pretty useful to clean vomit.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

https://www.tumblr.com/goldenfoot/730129219314663424/i-was-considering-recently-how-kataras-necklace thoughts ??

*sighs* Okay, let's do this.

"Katara didn't go into detail about her grief during her bonding moments with the other guys"

1 - The reason Katara brought up her mom during these moments was because she could relate to the pain, say, Aang and Haru were feeling, and wanted to comfort THEM. When you're trying to help someone, you can bring up your experiences, but you don't make it all about you.

2 - Katara first started talking to Zuko about her mom in Ba Sing Se because she felt he was trying to diminish the suffering the war his nation/family started. She literally starts with a "How dare you?" And in the Southern Raiders, she only chose to talk to Zuko about it after a long time of them traveling on a mission specifically to hunt down Kya's killer. Of course it came up and felt like the right moment to discuss it a bit more in depth.

3 - The Southern Raiders was part of Zuko's life-changing field trips with his new friends, with them bonding - it would not make sense to NOT have him bond with them in ways that were different with how they all had bonded with each other before because it'd get boring to watch.

4 - Talking about traumatic events can be VERY difficult. Sokka didn't really discuss his trauma about his mom dying until book 3 - it's not that weird that Katara did the same.

5 - I'd argue that her talk with Haru WAS pretty in depth. It was only focusing more on the bond she had with her mom BEFORE the tragedy, not the tragedy itself.

"Zuko is the only one that 'wore' the necklace as well, symbolizing his in depth understanding of Katara's pain"

Zuko didn't have the necklace in his pocket, but rather on his wrist, because this is a TV series, and the whole point is that we should SEE things that will be significant in the episode.

Zuko had that necklace in the first place because HE STOLE IT. She did not trust him with it, did not allow him to touch, and show frames him getting it as NEGATIVE thing. It could NEVER be a symbol of any kind of trust or friendship (let alone romance) between him and Katara, because it was a way to show HOW ZUKO COULD AND WOULD HURT HER! Him stealing it, taunting her with it is literally another cruel reminder to Katara that even after taking away her mom, the Fire Nation STILL could take away even the little things that gave Katara comfort after all of that - see Zuko trying to capture/kill the boy Katara explicitly called FAMILY.

Even worse, while he did do a good thing by helping Katara confront the man that killed Kya, Zuko did it for all the wrong reasons. He came up with some bullshit theory of how Katara was TOTALLY not mad at him for essentially handing the victory to the Fire Nation and nearly killing Aang in the process, but was in fact "unfairly" shifting blame for her mom's death onto him (like "I lost my mom" wasn't exactly what they were bonding about before he stabbed her in the back).

Sure, by the end he was genuinely thinking of what he thought was justice, but that doesn't change the fact that at start he literally used her trauma to get her forgiveness because he thought he deserved it already (not to mention, having Zuko, the boy who was banished for trying to DEFEND the soldiers of his nation, suddenly be okay with killing one of them because of past horrible actions, like he was not doing the same thing two weeks before, is one of the WORST aspects of an otherwise pretty good episode).

"Zuko is the only one to wear the symbol of Katara's trauma, like she's the only one to touch his scar, showing their connection"

*Dies laughing* My guy, Mai was nuzzling said scar every other episode, which Zuko seemed to like quite a lot. Stop lying.

Also, Katara touched it to try to heal it - after Zuko had just told her he no longer resented it being there as he no longer felt that scar defined him as a person. While Katara's intention was sweet, that kinda shows how, even during a bonding moment, she and Zuko are NOT on the same page.

"Why was Zuko mentioned during the flirty Kataang moment?"

This is what people call a "joke." The show is making fun of the idea of Zuko giving Katara that necklace back and getting a kiss in return because the writers considered the thought that absurd. Hence the sarcastic tone, and hence Katara kissing AANG. The guy that actually gave her the necklace back with good intentions.

(Seriously, IMAGINE using "Sure, the show is actively making fun of the idea of Zuko and Katara bonding because of that necklace, and showing us how she's into Aang, but this is TOTALLY secretly proving how great Zutara is, trust me" as an argument).

[coffee-with-mint-syrup]

@phoebester I hope you don't mind me replying to you like that, I kinda have a lot to say and I'm not good with conciseness to do that in comment section.

Just look what that damned netflix did to me:

This is what I'm doing with my time now.

So the guy in the video actually talks a lot about that specific quote you cited and the thing is - it's so condescending and vague and quite applicable to every single ship there is in the world. It just confirms that creators haven't really think about Zutara OR Kataang all that seriously. I don't know, maybe they just weren't that interested in any romance cause the only couple that actually works more or less is Sokka and Suki (in my personal opinion). The thing between Kataang and Zutara isn't just that one ship is canon and the other is not and some shippers got angry, it's that it was a series of misdirections the writing of the show took (specifically bryke and dimartino) and

and instead of acknowledge it or trying to fix it in, let's say, comics or at least respect fans that ship zutara - they openly mock them. I don't know if you know this - I learned it just today - there was a "joke video", made by bryke and dimartino, called "avatar book 4: air" about "forbidden love" between zuko and katara, showing how they wouldn't work as a pair and designed specifically to mock zutara fans (don't go there, it's really bad). Like - what type of creators would do that? What the actual hell?

That was news to me, so I'm kinda still enraged by it and almost lose all the respect I had for these guys (it's terrifying how one shitty joke crosses out all the actually great work they've done).

Point being they showed on multiple occasions how short their creative vision is when it comes to their own original endgame pairing.

They underdeveloped their endgame couple and they shipbaited Zutara so much that it accidentally made much more sense than canon and got mad at fans for it.

And there is just 3 options for netflix version to handle it - they can either fix Kataang so it wouldn't have same issues they had in the original or risk it and go in the completely opposite direction. And of course to abandon all ships at once. I don't think they know themselves what they're gonna do. I just hope they won't do something "just because it was in the original" cause contrary to the popular opinion - the original show is great but it is not perfect. Well, they kinda showed that they are able to male some bold changes - I think they were bold changes - for better or worse...

Back to the point, I've also noticed "the looks"TM but I actually didn't think of them that much. Aang and Katara always shared a special bond which is much more complex than being just romantic. She also calls him a family in the ocean godzilla scene so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. It wasn't filmed any more dramatically than any similar inspiring/"please consider your actions" speech from any other movie, series or even anime. Scene at the dinner too - no weird angles, slow motions, score changes, just a little bit prolonged sequence meant to establish the bond, I think. Unlike the certain scarf scene ;D

(I've been clowned by too many ships at this point to pay much attention to "the looks"TM)

I don't know why I'm keep doing it - it's like I'm deliberately setting my hopes high. The pure clownery I'll experience after it will turn out they were just shipbaiting will be devastating but here I am. Writing essays on how zutara still stands a chance and convincing myself and some innocent zutarians. To cite one zutara fan that reblogged my previous post: It's delulu time!

I agree with you that it was never Katara for Aang, It should have never been Katara. That's one of the biggest arguments that drew me to Zutara initially - that it made so much sense for Aang to let go of his feelings towards her like Guru said. Aang's not ending up with Katara would make as much sense as finishing Zuko and Katara's intertwined arcs as "yin and yang", "the moon and the sun" couple.

It's sucks that creators got too blinded with the initial idea they came up with and weren't able neither to let go of it nor to develope it properly. And that was the reason Katara and Aang got together - because they were just supposed to from the very start. Writers should be able to see their creation critically and unbiassedly to see the mistakes they're about to make and Bryke and DiMartino certainly failed to do that.

I thought the events of past, idk, 10 years taught us something about creators and writers being wrong about their own creations - but apparently that's not the case for those people.

But what do I - the delulu Zutara fan - know?

The case of live-action atla zutara.

First of all, the scarf scene. I won't be repeating myself, here are some main points - there was absolutely no reason for Zuko to act the way he did and for the scene to be shot this dramatically. Even if they did the shipbaiting in this scene - it means there's a ship which is much more than live-action kataang has at this point. Also I don't really think these guys are shipbaiting type but that's just the impression I got.

Then - the second obvious one - Oma and Shu's visuals. We have star-crossed lovers from two towns at war, basically the local equivalent of Romeo and Juliet (as in legendary lovers who are known above all for their love) wearing coincidentally colors that are primarily associated with two of our characters (who shared this dramatically shot scene in the previous episode).

And I know, it may seem so insignificant - but but but but! - you have to think about this. Of course there are creators, writers and showrunners that are unaware of some non-canon ships or don't care about them. But it's not the case for atla. No, creators of atla were so aware of zutara - they wrote a parody scene in a in-world trashy play to mock this fan pairing and it still proved absolutely nothing and just gave zutara more content. The creators and writers of this adaptation clearly had the discussion "what we should do with kataang" - because there is no trace of kataang in the 1st season. So it was a conscious decision to omit that - but where would the romantic subplot go? Well, I don't know, but they are showrunners, they most certainly discussed options. They are clearly very, very, very much aware of zutara. And they still do this? They still show us Oma and Shu wearing red and blue? All they had to do is to give at least one of them any different color. Any. But they didn't. (for fuck sake, it is the Earth Kingdom - yellow and green would do it)

There were zero, no, nada Kataang interactions, implications or those scenes that are filmed just a little bit too dramatically like the scarf one. I don't know, there's still a chance that they will wait for season 3 to make Aang's crush on Katara happen. I'm also not so sure what will happen to Aang failing to open seventh chakra, I mean - his love for Katara has a huge purpose in series, so it still doesn't look very good. But you can't even imagine how glad I am that they didn't do this secret tunnel thing. It was very uncomfortable.

So it was the more fact-based part of my case, let's get to the irrational, almost delusional part, tin foil hat probably needed.

Almost all the scenes Zuko and Katara shared in the first season kept reminding me of another famous enemies-to-lovers ship that actually became canon in the infamous final episode - Reylo, the way it was filmed in The Force Awakens. I mean - the first fight in the woods where she looses, the intensity of him staring at her, the final fight in snowy location where she kicks his ass and shows her mastering this superpower, him trying to talk to her during this fight and mentioning her learning/having to learn...Zuko calling Katara a peasant reminded me of this "Rey is no one" discourse. I don't know man, I haven't thought about The Force Awakens reylo for a very long time and it just kept popping in my head.

All of this - it's like a blueprint for enemies to lovers.

Also I actually think that the look they shared in the 2nd episode was also shot kinda weirdly and dramatically. It's not to the extent of the scarf scene but I do remember thinking that "why did they film it they way? it's too intense".

In the conclusion I'd like to say that as much as I like all the season 1 zutara stuff they left out in the adaptation - necklace subplot and implications, pirates and the famous "You rise with the moon, I rise with the sun" - I think I actually prefer the scarf scene. Yes, it would be so great to see those things in adaptation but in the end of the day they would still be just the things they kept from the original and probably noting more. Like the cabbages or the secret tunnel song or anything else, just things from the source material that implicate nothing. While the scarf scene, the Oma and Shu's clothes - it means they made a conscious decision to make it that way. It means they put some thought into that and some meaning. And this gives me hope there's a chance for Zutara in this adaptation.

P.S. I told about this my sister who hasn't watch the series yet and she said "I think people who made this show are just shipping zutara in secret". I do not necessarily imply she might be right - but creators of animated series (the very same people that made kataang canon, not zutara) DID leave because of some creative differences and because they couldn't control creative decision. Might as well be THAT kind of decision.

[timur-pannonicus]

Zuko and Azula had no reference for what a normal or healthy sibling relationship is like

To address the always present argument about whether their relationship was abusive and who abused who. People point out that being mean and competitive, sometimes to the point of being hurtful, is not unusual for siblings.

I agree. But my point here is that Zuko and Azula don't know that.

Neither is either of them in their early to mid adulthood where the majority of people who had siblings they never got along with start understanding and forgiving.

Azula and Zuko most likely think that their rivalry is NOT a common thing. They lack examples from others in their lives.

I know bringing up the comics is justifiably frowned upon but in the Search, Zuko is absolutely bewildered by Sokka's and Katara's behavior towards each other, which was nothing more than fun bickering. But let's look what can be concluded or assumed from the show.

Iroh and Ozai were both well into adulthood when Zuko and Azula were born and they sadly did not reconcile their differences. They most likely behaved very icy to one another but the demands of court probably required them to act in a very civil and respectful seeming way. In Zuko Alone we can conclude Ozai didn't say anything nice, warm or funny about Iroh to Azula as seen by her attitude to her uncle and Iroh likely didn't tell any fun anecdotes either due to either being away at war or because he didn't want to risk a fight with his brother.

Ursa might have had siblings and cousins but nothing in the show confirms that and the comics clearly say she did not.

Mai didn't get a brother until she was 14.

Ty Lee has six sisters but it's quite possible that each of them had a "pair" in their matched set and Ty Lee was the only one left out, made worse by the fact that her parents seemed to barely acknowledge her. It's possible that only her friendship with Azula made her stand out at all, which likely contributed to her desire for uniqueness and independence too. In any case she likely didn't have much interaction with her biological sisters.

There seems to have been no other kids in the palace with whom Azula and Zuko could interact, limiting their scope of experience and insight.

Zuko not realizing that little siblings tend to be annoying and mean and do pranks has been discussed in detail by others and I don't think I have to add anything.

But, AZULA did not realize some things about older siblings either. They can be entitled, patronizing, attention hogging, dismissive, rude and even cold. Countless older siblings have told the younger ones that they were adopted or found in the trash or said and done even worse things.

One way to simplify the rivalry between Zuko and Azula is to say each was jealous of the attention the other was receiving from a parent.

However, sadly for them their parent's relationship was strained either from the start or after a while, to put it lightly.

Add the fact that they were sheltered and secluded royalty and what they learned about what siblings should be like most likely comes from official ceremonies and rituals, state approved stories and plays, idealized versions that don't correspond with reality.

Plus due to the Fire Nation being a blend of East Asian cultures it's likely they have some form of Confucian ethics. According to those the younger sibling owes obedience to the older and the older is bound to protect the younger. I think it's not too much of a stretch to believe both Zuko and Azula felt wronged in that regard by the other but both were too stubborn to give.

I can't blame Zuko too much for not realizing Azula was trying to help him a few times. Boy was brought up to believe that little sisters SHOULD be very kind, nice and demure. Even if he had acknowledged her efforts he'd still be inwardly pushed to believe she was doing it wrong.

So yeah, both could use a very long life changing field trip with Katara and Sokka, who were both allowed to develop their relationship naturally.

I think I've said enough for now. This is how I see things AT THE TIME OF WRITING.

I tried, really tried to be as fair to Zuko as possible and not harp the poor Azula harp. But if anyone wants to scream at me and be rude over my obviously wrong opinion on either fire sibling, don't expect a response from me.

[innocentimouto]

Do you think Toph and Jet would get along?

I think they would fight more than Katara and Toph. Toph was projecting her issues onto what Katara was saying, so most of their arguments were Toph misunderstanding Katara and being pretty bratty and rude about it, and then Katara getting fed up and striking back.

But there's nothing deep they need to understand or overcome about each other. Toph is emotionally intelligent at times, and Katara is very willing to help and understand others. Similar to canon, they can easily come to an understanding, and they didn't butt heads every episode.

With Jet and Toph though, it's much different. There is a class difference for one. Toph enjoyed wealth and safety from the war. Jet obviously didn't.

The show never really acknowledges that Toph never cared about the war and just wanted freedom from her parents, so encountering people who suffered in war would be something entirely new to her. Think Zuko or Azula, except without having harmed anyone. Toph is the same as them.

Jet is also similar to Katara. They both work in groups as a team. Toph not helping the others would also bother Jet. Toph also has endangered the Gaang a few times.

Say Jet was there when Toph was doing all those scams. Jet would completely support scamming the Fire Nation at any other time, but he wouldn't then because it would be too dangerous to risk getting attention. Basically, he'd side with Katara. And unlike Katara, Jet has been in the war a lot longer and has probably buried people he loved, and Toph and the others continuing the scams would completely piss him off.

One thing going for them is that Jet was the leader of many kids and a bunch of them had to have been brats and unwilling to listen. So he probably has experience dealing with stubborn people. Also he seems to have a talent for working with people with unique of different skillsets, and Toph's way of bending is obviously unique.

The other thing is that Toph loves to rebel, which is everything Jet does.

But the Earth Kingdom never took care of orphans, so Jet would probably resent the wealthy, especially if it was someone who easily left it and only complained about how annoying it was to live that way.

Also Toph wouldn't really understand why Jet would hate the Fire Nation so much. She didn't really care about Zuko. Because he and the Fire Nation never affected her life.

Toph is a very sheltered and protected kid with far too much wealth and what makes it worse is that she never recognizes it and doesn't care about it.

Jet would have problems getting along with her, and Toph would respond to it equally.

Obviously they could eventually get along, but it would take Toph realizing how well off she had it compared to others, and for Jet not to project all of his rage against his people onto her.

I've seen a few fics redeem Jet and try to write it like how redeemed Zuko is always written by making him befriend Toph. And I'm always wondering how?

[theowritesfiction]

‘The Western Air Temple’

Okay wow, yes, the upside-down Air Temple is one of the coolest places in the world of ATLA. Interesting little Zuko flashback, too, I had forgotten that this was not his first visit to the temple.

Ok, so Aang is back to his flighty "I guess you don't have a firebending teacher lined up for me, so I’ll just goof around" ways. Enter Zuko. Zuko hatching his plans on how to convince the Gaang to accept him and delivering his monologue to a frog will never stop being funny. The Frog remains unconvinced. But I think Zuko's impersonation of Azula was actually pretty good. :)

Ooof, Zuko's first attempt to ingratiate himself to the group is so damn rough. Can't believe he used the practiced routine that didn't even work on the frog. Still... he was doing almost okay until he mentioned the Combustion Man. Seriously Zuko? Diplomacy is clearly this boy's dump stat. (Great for a future Fire Lord...) Gotta say, I love seeing Katara being absolutely ruthless to Zuko here.

okay, but for Zuko thinking that he should have said Azula sent the assassin... sorry, Zuko, that's 30 Jerk Points right there. I think it also clearly shows how biased Zuko is when it comes to his sister, and that HE is actually just as or even more ready to lie to make her look worse.

I loved all the back and forth between the Gaang when discussing Zuko, and I thought it was especially interesting how Toph mentioned that Zuko could have turned out a lot worse considering his crazy and messed up family, and like... yeah, sure, but... how much does Toph actually know about that? She has nowhere near the full story. And I get why Toph is arguing on Zuko's behalf - unlike the others, she has no negative experiences when encountering Zuko.

Do I give Zuko Jerk Points for burning Toph's feet? No. That was a complete accident. Also, I love Zuko's dramatic 'Why am I so bad at being Good?' cry.

Well... I guess the key to joining a group of heroes is to first hire an assassin to kill them and then make a public but ineffective spectacle about trying to stop said assassin. Problem solved!

Also, Sokka's boomerang throw was legendary. <3

I absolutely love Zuko sweating pinballs as Aang asks Katara if it's okay for Zuko to join. I cracked up laughing. And I love how angry Katara still is when she agrees to it. Also, the ending is just so perfect. I know Katara got a ton of hatred especially from Zuko fans for this episode, but screw that. The way she leans in menacingly against Zuko's doorframe and then proceeds to give Zuko likely the most threatening speech of his life? That's... amazing. Running away from Azula, only to run into Katara, that's too funny to me.

Jerk Points for Book 3:

Zuko - 640 Aang – 280  Ozai - 250 Roku - 100 Hide, Sokka - 80 King Kuei - 60 Toph - 50 Haru - 30 

[balanceoflightanddark]

The big problem with writing Zuko I feel is trying to find that balance between him redeeming himself but almost making sure he's not some saint either. I'm speaking from experience here. He's the guy that wants to do good, but whose worldview is so lopsided that he doesn't know how to do good. And sometimes can make things worse either by not knowing better or letting his personal biases get in the way.

Most writers though seem to take the more rose-tinted version of the character. Basically just ignored everything he did and all the personal flaws he had while passing them on to everybody else. Like Azula or Aang get his anger issues while Katara gets his unwillingness to forgive. Not saying that's understandable. When you love a character that much, it's hard to take yourself out of that biased mindset and write them with nuanced. I'll admit that I have that same problem with writing Azula. Like I want her to redeem herself, but I also know I can't disrespect the people she hurt.

Another question

You can answer based on your experience writing fanfiction, what you've noticed from reading fanfics, or just based on what you think based on your understanding of the character.

I would love to see some explanations comments and tags about how and why.

[julietwiskey1]

people be like:

- i want zuko to be the best in everything he deserves it 🥺he's baby,a true hardwoker

-azula doesn't have to be the best at everything😒 there are better than her and that's fine🙂😉

It’s true that Zuko is a hard worker. But not necessarily a smart worker. With his character introduction we see him trying to skip over the basics to do the advanced forms. That’s not how you get good, that’s how you become proficient at being bad. Their is saying that I think applies to Zuko here, “practice makes permanent, not perfect.” I wish we saw Zuko learn to focus on the basics instead of just get magic dragon advice. (Don’t get me wrong Zuko is a good Fire Bender, but he could be better if he practiced better.)

Theirs nothing wrong with people being better with Azula either. But that’s not what they are actually saying. They say Azula should be worse then everyone else. Which is even more annoying because these are the same type of people that say Azula was handed everything and never had to work hard because she was naturally gifted. Being naturally gifted at something doesn’t make you good. The hard work paired with it just means you can get better faster.

Azula is smart. We see that she has great recall of historical facts to the point where Zuko goes to her for that kind of help. She was able to plot a coup in a few days to take down Ba Sing Se. That shows an insane amount of intelligence. She also planned the defense on the Day of Black Sun that saw the fire nation’s strongest adversaries captured.

Azula is a great fighter and her firebending is only matched by Ozai and Iroh, people who have decades more experience and training then her. She has mastered her flames to the point where the combustion is so clean that they burn blue. She has the ability to use jet propulsion to fly, a feat we only saw others do during Sozin’s Comet. Azula is by far a superior bender to Zuko. But in terms of skill and power is equivalent to Toph and Katara.

But Azula is not the best at everything. She is terrible at socializing and maintaining healthy relationship. She enjoys teasing her brother but seems to not know when to stop. She doesn’t know how to use others to help her with her emotions. While she is smart she doesn’t have the creativity of Sokka (do you know how hard it is to come up with new and viable ideas). The Kyoshi Warriors are by far better team fighters then the Dangerous Ladies and the Gaang who generally split up in fights and don’t fight together against a common target.

[macrosdesfleur]

A ficlet for you to have a “ha-ha”

SO, I was slightly busy (and lazy) this past three days and i kinda wanna indulge myself now that i have a spare weekend

But i had this dumb idea a whole-lot-of-time ago, so now that i have a bit of free time to sit and outline slash translate this piece so yeahh 

what-a-will await you is uh? i have no experience tagging ficlets of even fanfiction but i will try;

Zuko joins the gaang early kinda

Just past s1ep13 The Blue Spirit

Sokka & Aang bonding i hope

Sokka (finally) being a big brother (in his own way tho)

Sick Katara being coddled

Confused Aang

Momo & Appa! 

Confused Zuko 

Frogs

...and spirit shenanigans 

Word count: 2296

So yeah? Click keep reading i guess if you wanna read it *shrug*

A fair share of spirits slips into the world of people. Capable of performing miracles and curses that are worse than death. The Kingdom of Earth seeks protection from spirits for a long milenia now; Honorable grand spirits of Earth, strong-war-thriving ghosts in battlefields, even the weak non-seeable ones receive a fair share of offerings in exchange for a slight chance of protection on their village from Fire Nation army, such a frequent wish. Shridevi, the patroness of rice and plantations; turned out to be friendly and tolerant of small spirits seeking refuge. It is not surprising that minor feeble spirits appear in her grand fields of crop, looking for their calling in this realm. Some of them will become attached to a quiet tree and make it their home, someone will find the hearth of a house and will join the service of Agni. Or be overwhelmed by another more greedy spirit to never exist as itself again. Spirits have no reason to love, definitely not. However, seeing a feebler existence begin to engress her safe plantations, drawing earlier and earlier, keeps a reflection of her deep anguish tangible.

The spirit that freed the avatar from Pohuai Stronghold must have been born in a moment of true unbalace that broke out there. Such a pity her plantations and worshippers long burned. Shridevi sent a gentle breeze across the space where endless fields stood as a farewell to another being she had not been able to see in person hoping her touch reached far enough. 

A breeze run through a foliage of trees. “You know what's the worst part about being born over a hundred years ago is? I miss all the friends i used to hang out with!” Aang was sitting on the root of a tall tree. At what point they both ended up here is a real mystery. Why the avatar-child decided to open up abruptly and start talking about his past - a detective thriller in three acts, buy first two act-scrolls and get the finale for free. “Before the war started, I used to always visit my friend Kuzon; the two of us, we get in’n’out of so much trouble together,”  Aang's voice rose to the usual fluctuations in volume, if his head didn't hurt so much, it would be just perfect. 

“He was one of the best friends i ever had; and he was from Fire Nation-”

“Just like you.”

OK, that’s it, maybe Aang got sick as well afterall ‘cause what is this sudden Fire Nation sympathy-talk means than. And it could kinda explain why he sees any other people -Fire Nation people- anywhere near their earshot. Well, if sickness makes Aang go suddenly all soppy and open and trusting, maybe it’s not gonna be real pretty if he now betrayed it. Plus, it’s healthy to be emotionaly open isn’t it? Not girly at all right? 

“If we knew eachother back then, do you think we could’ve been friends too?” Aang's voice was full of trepidation, excitement, hope. But in his own gut- how could he let Aang down so badly? Hadn't they made it clear to the monk that they were friends? They are not just friends, they are each other's family. 

Well, his father wouldn't have been such a great dad if he hadn't taught him how to support others. It remains only to remember how he did it and not how his gran-gran showed it.

“Aang,” the fear to say something wrong fettered him for a second. The voice didn't even seem to belong to him, but a real warrior does not show fear and sticks to his believes till the end. “I hope you know that I'm your friend, we're not on different sides afterall. I understand that your situation is difficult, so much so, that no one has actually faced it before you, but I hope that we can support you in some way, make it easier y’know” laying down and saying those words seemed wrong, but trying to get up and worry Aang seemed like an even worse idea, so be it. By the way, Aang at this moment looked shocked, only looking at him, goosebumps went up his skin. Shock quickly replaced relaxation, and a modest smile crept onto the face of the boy with the arrow on his forehead. 

"I knew you weren't bad," Aang replied, he stopped hugging his knees, his smile broght ease into his gut. Well, he probably said something right ‘cause now this mischevous airboy got back at him for exiling Katara and him back and the South Pole right? 

"I don't know what you mean, Aang." now, smiling seemed comfortable and easy. Their misunderstandings cleared up and they can relax again on treir respectable sleeping bags? Where is his sleeping bag?

“A-a-ang, what are those- are these leaves?” Oh the universe just lo-o-oves making him miserable huh, maybe he was too quick with the smiles so throwing a frown on his face seemed appropriate. Aang laughed. Even in his throbbing head he could’t stop his muttering about stupid airnomads and their stupid avoidance and their stupid all- Aanginess. 

“Well, can you stand up? It's time for us to collect frogs for Sokka and Katara,” the monk jumped from his place on the root of a huge tree.

“What? Frogs? Why do I need frogs all of a sudden?” his body ached,little spots swam in his eyes, it seems that he did not fully recover. But he managed to get to his feet.

"I was at this herbalist's house and she said I needed to collect frozen bog frogs for Sokka and Katara to suck on." Aang looked sweet, content, as if he hadn't said the dumbest thing in the whole wide world. There was a springiness in his steps that usually showed when he was particularly pleased. 

“Y”know, Aang, I'm not going to suck bog frogs and I think Katara will not approve either,” he hoped that maybe his fever still hadn't gone as he assumed and his mind was still coming up with words that Aang didn't actually say at all. It's a strategic move to mention all the keywords that Aang said to make sure he said them right.

"Mhm, I guess you won't need to suck on frogs," Aang looked away a little worried and stood still.

“You're not sick, are you? We can get more frogs, you know,” and lo and behold, the eyes of the avatar-child looked at him full of concern. How he could be so sincere was still a mystery worthy of great detectives.

“Uh, Aang, I do get what you mean, but I won’t put a frog in my mouth and definitely won’t suck one,” it seemed like the best option to move them legs and follow the boy; maybe he stopped coughing, but the fever churring weirdly in his stomach and whatever it was with him and Aang's hallucinations that say that somewhere there is a person from the Fire Nation and the frogs that heal are definitely still here. At least he doesn't feel like an earthbender. Everything has its pluses.

"Oh, we can't leave your mask and swords; I'll help," Aang muttered and quickly ran to the tree and the bed of leaves. And he returned, surprise-surprise, with a mask and a sword sheath with a sword hilt sticking out. At what point he managed to acquire a mask and a sword was also a mystery, but such gifts are not just dismissed. Aang jumped a little using his air magic tricks and shod a mask on him, the sword was bestowed in his hands.

                                                              ***

It turned out that frog-hunting was not a hallucination and as for Aang's behavior; it could be mistaken for a hallucination or some kind of high fever symptom. He literally never ceased to generate happiness. 

Something on the left side of his head kept pulling his whole face together, maybe when Katara gets better they can fly down to this crazy herbalist Aang told him about and she can examine his head. Good thing their hiding place wasn't as high as he thought. As soon as he frees his hands from the frogs, he will immediately claw from the avatar how he even ended up in the forest on a bed of leaves. Throughout their frog-hunting, Aang never stopped telling his past adventures with Kuzon and avoided any mentions of the dumb leavy-bed he made. 

“Katara! Sokka!” It would seem that Aang can't vibrate with joy any harder than it already was, but here he is, in all his avatar glory.

“I brought you medicine! And you won't believe who I met!” oh, there it is, now he's jumping into the air without realizing he's using his air magic, typical Aang. Katara leaned out from under Appa's legs in an attempt to wave her meets to them. Oh, ocean spirits, she looks even worse than Aang described. She muttered something unintelligible and waved her hand languidly. The older brother's instinct did not fail him and he was already next to Katara and hugging her tightly. How could Aang leave her alone? How did he himself could leave her alone?

“Aang, what should we do? This so- so not looking good,” perhaps his voice betrayed a lot more concern, but this is his family, he can't just not worry.

“Zuko! It'll be all right, just give her the frog!" Aang's eyes darted from him to Katara, he was much more alert, almost nervous, stance ready for battle. Wait, Zuko? The mere mention of that name sent him into a fight-or-flight to inspect all of their hiding place, if the burning-fists prince-jerk was somewhere nearby, then they urgently needed to pack Katara up and fly away, but, there was no prince.His vision swam, he himself was not good to stand a fight and Aang still joke around about Fire Nation. Just. Not good. 

“Aang, cut it!” he definitely didn’t shout so loud, as- he didn’t mean to frighten the monk so badly, but the boy cringed under his voice, his fighting stance wobbled as if he readied to bolt. OK, he'll deal with him later, Katara needs help right now. He wiped the cleanest frozen frog he could find and brought it to Katara's mouth. She herself reached out to the frog and literally inhaled the frog until it was half hidden in her mouth.

She...

Sucks.

The frog.

And her face seem’d to calm, the bog frog worked. 

“Okay, I'm sorry I shouted, but just imagine how strange it is to put a frog in my sister's mouth, right?” he was still carefully examining how his sister sucked the frog from all sides and looked a little stupid, his hands found themselves gently patting her head and feeling her temperature. Definitely, if he remembers this sight well enough, he can come up with a joke and annoy Katara when she is all healthy.

“Sokka?” Aang asked puzzled. Sokka turned to look at the monk and raised an eyebrow, as if asking silently what he wants. The monk met his eyes, his face full of indescribable emotion, the main emotion was definitely bewilderment thogh.

“Oh, monkey feathers, how did i not see it sooner,” the monk slapped himself on his bald head and left his hand slowly slipping onto his face. Momo swooped down from the sky onto Aang's shoulder, Katara's water skin hanging full around his neck, Momo's fingers actually looked so weird sometimes, especially when those little grippers dug into people's shoulders.

“Aang? What?” Aang was a little too mysterious today, not in a soppy-sick way, it's time for Sokka to sort this out.

“You're Sokka, right?” Aang asked the strangest question Sokka had ever heard, not for the first time today. This is either a field of philosophy that he has not plowed and is not going to plow any time soon, or his fever is playing out again. Collecting himself and pulling himself out of his guesses, Sokka cleared his throat. Momo repeated his cough, but it definitely sounded like Momo, so his fever wasn't so high that he thought Momo was a conspyrasy-spying-animal against their world-saving plans and his high inteligent plays only for their side of this war. 

“Yes, Aang, I'm Sokka, the one who is sick and sucks the frog lying on Appa - Katara, the one who stubbornly looks at me and-”

Sokka squealed. His squeal was the most masculine of all possible squeals, thank you very much, it certainly wasn't so loud and high-pitched in sound that everyone's ears got clogged. Momo seems to have suffered enough and flew away to hide behind Appa hiding his ears.

                                                           ***

The second(?) Sokka broke out of the sleeping bag and performed a firebender kata that was supposed to set something on fire, but instead he just held his fist in the air for a couple of moments. “Hmm, didn't work.” Noticed the second Sokka out loud lowering his fist, after that he quickly did a couple of rolls, after which he grabbed Zuko-Sokka and took away his sheath with a sword- swords, after a couple more rolls, the second Sokka was near Aang, between Sokka and Aang, another Sokka that looks like Sokka. Oh this is so confusing, they need a better system than that. 

"Avatar," a voice full of authority sound itself from the second Sokka. Hearing Sokka's voice in that tone was terribly unusual. The second Sokka drew Zuko’s sword from its scabbard and split the sword in two with too much grace for Sokka’s image. 

"Whatever body you're hiding in, give up." The second Sokka's voice held on to determination, but his eyes studied each person in their place as like searching for a clue. The swords pointed at Aang and Sokka. “And, my body, you are also coming with me,” nervousness finally caught up with his intonation, he still continued to study everyone in turn thogh. Sokka let out what sounded like laughter in Zuko's body.

"Aang, Katara won't believe the kind of hallucinations I'm having right now. Here, Zuko in my body is threatening us with swords so that I go with him,” Sokka cackled laughing in Zuko's body.

“Well, you know, Aang, you convinced me. I now won't refuse to suck a frog," Sokka said in Zuko's body and was already stuffing the whole frog from his hands into his mouth. The squeal that followed will also be the manliest in the world if real-Sokka wished so. The real-Zuko's swords clanged to the ground,Sokka’s whole body restraining real-Zuko's hands with a reprieve. Appa did not like this concert of squeals as he let out a lowing sound that inclined his fatigue.

“What are you doing with my body?” shouted the second Sokka, probably Zuko-Sokka. “Trying to suck a frog whole?” Sokka-Zuko answered too simply, still stretching his whole face and tongue towards the restrained hand with the frozen frog in. 

“No! Do not dare!” Zuko-Sokka continued to slur, hiss, and pull Sokka-Zuko's hands away from the frogs. Honestly, Aang managed to get confused about who is who, their behavior was not very different from the originals, according to his observations, if he wants to keep track of where who was, then he should come up with something better than Zuko-Sokka and Sokka-Zuko as well. 

“Spit it out!”  “Spit it out! STOP!” yes, Sokka was always the one who was not happy with things and he complained, he used to complain loudly. So? Not so different. 

“No wait- it’s not- it’s not so bad, I- shhose fhe khleanesht onesh,” Sokka-Zuko justified himself. But to be honest, they saw how Zuko could do things worse than eating frozen frogs, and Sokka realy did choose cleaner ones. And so, the frog ended up in Zuko's mouth. Zuko's body? The loudest squeal escaped Sokka's body, okay, there's nothing to hide, they were both squealing too loudly. Appa sighed with his mighty lungs and lashed his tail in displeasure. Momo was definitely twittering as he crawled all over the bison's hide looking for cover.

Soon, the screams and even hissing stopped. Zuko, in Sokka's body, lay on the stone floor of their hiding place, barely moving. Aang should probably raise him off the stone floor so he could sleep peacefully. “I'm cursed.” Oh, thanks the spirits, he doesn't need to be lifted up. 

"What do you mean, Zuko?" Aang asked, using Zuko's name just because, avatar intuition, definitely. “My inner fire, my body, I have been deprived of all,” Zuko began to list sounding too depressed for Sokka’s voice. He let out a shaky sigh and muttered something else, Sokka liked to lie down like that sometimes.

“This is the work of the spirit, I shouldn't have saved the avatar. Spirits are apparently inheritantly evil.” cut Zuko, still face down on the stone floor. “Maybe I could’ve saved the avatar without using a spirit disguise?” at least now he unsticked himself from the ground. Good for him. “Of course!” hissed the prince in Sokka's body, and banged his hands onto floor into a shape that meant flames were about to come out of them. There was no flame.

“Aang! Aang!” having understood, the voice of screaming Zuko meant Sokka. So Aang turned his eyes towards Zuko, well, Sokka. Monkey feathers,what an awkward situation.

“Look!” Sokka was still screaming, but there was fire on his arm, so it wasn't much different from Zuko- It's not really surprising that Sokka was silent when Zuko whailed about loosing his fire and body. He made fire. Zuko seemed to be looking in the direction of the scream as well, because now he was screaming into the stone floor. His cries generally had the idea of ​​something like “you can’t be a firebender for less than two minutes and already make a stable flame” and “this is my body, how does this fire even come out like this”.

[sokkastyles]

But...it wasn't a harmful experience for her. She is shown in the episode gaining her own sense of closure and embracing Zuko because he helped her. That's what happened.

And I feel that trying to analyze this from a "psychological" perspective as if Katara were a real fourteen year old in the real world is pointless at best and infantalizing at worst. If we were really considering what is psychologically appropriate for children in the real world, there would be no story. Aang would not be the one to fight Ozai, because of the pyshcological harm it would do to a twelve year old.

If you really want to analyze the psychological implications, you have to think about things symbolically, because this is a fantasy story and you can't take it literally as if these characters were real children. Of course it would not be healthy for Katara to beat down someone in revenge, but she was never going to do that. Nor was Zuko.

I've seen people make the same arguments about Zuko, condemning that scene for supposedly promoting the idea that a kid should confront their abuser, when of course that is not the safest action. But these are fantasy characters. The real thematic meaning here is about confronting your demons. Facing Yon Rah and facing Ozai are about Zuko and Katara taking control of how they view their experiences, not letting their trauma control them any more, which also means choosing not to engage in unhealthy coping mechanisms. Zuko was engaging in unhealthy coping mechanisms by hurting others to please his father. Facing his father and saying he isn't going to take orders from him any more is not about controlling Ozai or beating him, it's about controlling his own actions, and in the real world that can happen without a confrontation. It happens here with a confrontation because this is a fantasy series. Same with Katara. Facing Yon Rah is about Katara choosing not to repress her anger, and not to let others tell her how she should feel, either, because part of her trauma was related to feeling like she needed to take care of others and neglect her own emotions. So facing Yon Rah was symbolic for her not only taking control of her own emotions and letting herself feel her grief, but also learning that she didn't have to suppress her grief for others, which is why not listening to Aang and his attempts to define the situation WAS a healthy reaction for her.

So if you really want to interpret these things psychologically, they're about controlling how you cope with trauma rather than letting it control you. And Aang was wrong because he's trying to control how Katara should feel about her trauma (she should feel forgiveness for Yon Rah). Zuko and Katara are right because they both advocate for someone who was hurt having control over their own trauma and narrative, and neither of them choose violence in order to do that, and they both become better, more compassionate people because of it.

So even if you look at this from a mental health perspective, Zuko and Katara come out looking better and Aang comes out looking worse.

Some more quick thoughts on "Southern Raiders" (Ugh, there are so many layers in this episode to analyze, and so many different angles. It's like a freaking kaleidoscope. My autistic brain could get stuck in this mess for eternity.)

Basically, there are three separate choices with "Katara confronting Yon Rha" situation:

1) facing/not facing him at all

2) killing/not killing him

3) harming/not harming him in any other way

I'm not interested here in the moral side of things - it's too difficult topic for me to decipher, to be honest.

I'm here for a "mental health" perspective.

And psychologically speaking, both "facing your mother's murderer" and "specifically seeking a person and killing him with your own hands" are not really good experiences, especially for a 14-year-old girl who is already in a bad state of mind.

Hmm... But there is still point three to consider, isn't it?

The only thing facing Yon Rha seemingly could help Katara with was to make her feel powerful.

"I'm not a helpless little girl anymore. I can beat the person who hurt me. I can have a semblance of control."

But this is all it was - just a semblance.

The thing is, Katara knows from the start she can beat Yon Rha. This man couldn't be stronger than Azula.

And feeling powerful by beating or killing someone obviously weak and helpless is a psychologically degrading experience, no matter what the person in question did to you. In perspective, it can become an unhealthy addictive coping mechanism, and this is something you shouldn't encourage in yourself or a person you care about.

Basically, that's the problem with Zuko's "closure" on the Day Of The Black Sun as well. His whole speach was pointless from a practical point of view - Zuko couldn't change Ozai's mind on anything. In essence, what Zuko was really trying to achieve by making his temporarily powerless father listen to him is to feel in control (well, and prove to himself what he wasn't a coward by not leaving the palace quietly like any reasonable person on his place would do). But the power his father held over him was never something physical, and it almost costed Zuko his life in the end. Offering the similar experience to Katara only shows what Zuko didn't reflect on what really happened that day.

So facing Yon Rha was at best pointless, and at worst harmful experience for Katara. The real reason why she felt so angry and helpless would not go away like this.

In the end, I believe the "killing/not killing" angle most people choose as a point of focus doesn't give enough credit to the complexity of the problem.

Something like this, I guess.

[zukka-pegged-by-suki]

ok so guys, remember that “my father always says azula was born lucky, i was lucky to be born” line? yeah, now explain to me why tf are we even considering OZAIs words?!?! like some people use this line as an argument against azula when its literally what OZAI SAID?!?!!?!!?!

Zuko’s good and bad luck, as well as Azulas. Was either of them lucky? Let’s see.

Please read all of it before drawing assumptions.

Zuko’s luck:

- has mums care and affection

- has irohs care and affection

- can get away with being a softie as a child, because he may get disregarded and called weak but lets be honest, azula wouldnt have been able to get away with his behavior because she didn’t have firstborn privilege (which is a thing while azulon lived) or mummy’s protection like he did.

before anyone comes at me i’ll expand a bit on the firstborn privilege. as first born he was instantly considered more important by the masses since birth, that might’ve changed later but before neither could bend that much was still a fact. which means azula wouldn’t really have any recognition for anything unless she surpassed him in every way, which is what became her goal especially when ozai became the one who spent more time with her rather than ursa, anyways lets continue.

- constantly receiving second chances; iroh, the gaang minus katara, katara, azula (even if not from the “good” side), ozai (no matter the intentions, this much is true), iroh again, mai, the entire fckng world.

- he had a guide and help throughout his long healing and learning process.

Zuko’s bad luck:

- Unloving father

- Mummy disappears

- Doesn’t train that hard and surprise surprise, is worse than azula. Because if he had really trained hard, he would’ve at least known the formations wether he was able to firebend with them or not, but he was just clearly trying to copycat azula while tripping over because he didn’t have that much experience doing it. This is something no one can change my mind about. How tf did he expect to excel if he didn’t train enough. This wasnt about luck but hard work which he didn’t put in, too busy playing with mum and the little turtleducks. And I do not hate Zuko, I really love him but this is just a fact and he’s too fixed on blaming everyone else for his own mistakes and problems (esp Azula). Like, im sorry to break it out to you honey, but Ozai hates you because he’s an asshole, and that’s his own fault, not Azula’s.

- Scar and exile time, we all know this.

- Ugly haircut because of dishonor

- Finally achieving his goal of regaining his “honor” but realizing it wasn’t what he wanted only when he was already at the Fire Nation palace having all the glory from Aang’s presumed death.

- Katara’s distrust after his betrayal (bc who would’ve expected that to happen /s)

- Getting zapped in an attempt to save Katara.

I mean except for the things related to Ozai, most of this was all consequences from his own actions.

And I’m sorry but I don’t understand the fixation he has with having Ozai’s love. Unlike Azula, he has had his mother’s love and his uncle’s love. He knows what real love looks like and he has never really seen anything that could imply Ozai likes him, while he has Iroh treating him like he’s his actual father.

I’m not invalidating his traumas in any way and terrible things did happen to him, but why is he so obsessed with Ozai and why would he choose him over Iroh, he’s 16 and has been with Iroh since age 13, he was also with Ursa for the majority of his childhood, make it make sense.

Azula’s luck:

- Uh she was born rlly smart i guess

- She had some natural talent and knew to train hard to shape it to perfection, as well as studying a lot about war tactics and shit ig

- Ty Lee and Mai loved her and she loved them back

I mean as far as luck goes, that’s it. Everything else was achieved on her own merit and even if she had no scar, her traumas are just as valid as Zuko’s, neither is worse or better, we do not compare traumas in this house and they were both terrible.

Azula’s bad luck:

- Bad mother (i’ll make a post on why Ursa sucks)

- No second chances

- Mum never said goodbye just like she never said “i love you” lol, except in that one hallucination

- Never has had any real help to heal (i’ll make a post on why the asylum was a trash idea that would’ve never worked)

- Can’t fully trust anyone, not even herself, or will be punished for it

- The only people who loved her, Mai and Ty Lee, “betraying” her (check out my post on that, its under #jinta’s commentary)

- Ozai psychologically abusing her all her life

- Some characters may have been lonely, but she was genuinely absolutely alone. And she knew it.

- Hurt and self-hatred channeled through anger like Zuko did sometimes when he had that shame shave ponytail, but with her, its all the time.

- Even his abuser abandons her

- Everyone hates her but forgives Zuko, Mai and Ty Lee. And it’s so annoying because all Mailee did that Azula didn’t was swap sides almost at the end, if the excuse is that they were being manipulated well Ozai was manipulating Azula so what’s the excuse.

- Is always believed to be lying but usually isn’t (check out my azula always lies post)

- Has a mental breakdown and nobody gives a shit?! Like the first think Zuko thought of was “ooh she’s slipping lemme take advantage of that”

- Has nothing and no one, yay

- Gets thrown into a stupid asylum but not rlly because there are no comics in ba sing se

While Zuko had Ursa and Iroh to protect him and stuff, she was victim of Ozai’s manipulation and psychological abuse all her life.

So when we know Ozai said she was lucky, why tf is anyone taking his word for it??!

Plus when Zuko was born they didn’t know how he would be and Azula didn’t exist so there was no way he could’ve been lucky to be born.

Zuko was very unlucky, but he was also lucky.

Azula was just unlucky.

edit: as bellatrixobsessed1 said, azula had the illusion of luck.