#katara: this brother? you cant mean this brother

[johnskleats]

Zutara Cate's Brother AU with rivals to friends Katara and Azula? It's more likely than you think.

[azaablue]

hey love you’re writing ❤️ do you have any head canons about aang and his fam (his children andddd maybe Gyatso)? would be great to hear any as your writing of them is incredible

hi!! thanks so much omg ok i have many an aang + family hc and i love love to talk abt it so tysmmmm :)

ok here's my list of musings atm <3 most of them have a twinge of aangst bc of who i am :)

first off i think that having kids is wild for aang (as it is everyone, but stay with me) for all of the reasons but also bc aang has never been around anyone he's bio related to so literally like seeing his features/expressions on someone else for the very first time is CRAZY!! and then also seeing katara (and sokka's) features in his kiddos is probably just like the most magical thing to him

aang and each of his kids have a special thing they do with their dad that the others don't, i reject the narrative that he was a bad parent/only took tenzin to do things - do i think that he got more attention/one-on-one time bc he was the only air bender? yep, do i think that that means the others felt wholly neglected? i really dont think so. i think that they were all in hard circumstances and did their best.

Aang refers to all of the kids as his kids (including Lin and Su especially, but also Izumi)

Aang teaches his kids songs/lullabys/etc from the Air Nomads and Su's kids all know them - the first time Korra hears Opal humming one for a single second she feels the pull of something she hasn't felt in a long time (i do want to believe the lives come back to her, if not slowly)

i think that becoming a parent makes Aang think a lot about his upbringing and the fact that he didn't know his parents. i dont think he lands on it being good or bad, but he does think about it.

in my head, aang and sokka are brothers, aang and zuko are friends - NOW STAY WITH ME - i don't think that this makes one pair closer than the other, in fact i think that aang feels like he can be more honest with zuko sometimes BECAUSE they are friends, i just do honestly think that it is a different relationship

Katara and Aang have one big fight before they get married (see my fic, if i were a mountain lol) but other than that they are almost sickeningly on the same page - they have to be, if they weren't their lives would Not Work

i think that aang and toph are meant to find each other in every lifetime, they keep coming back together.

i think aang and suki have a special bond the other's don't often see/think a bunch about bc they gravitate to other people in their group, but there is something different about someone who worshipped an avatar becoming friends with one

aang and bumi have ups and downs, he makes the most mistakes with his oldest and it's just hard bc circumstantially bumi will always feel like he isn't enough, and there's nothing aang can say to make him see how much that isn't the case, however they still are close and are very similar people (Tenzin is jealous)

aang and kya are close, they get super close when she's in her twenties and starts to want to learn more about her Air Nomad roots, they confirm what Aang sort of already knew, which is that she is very spiritually connected (Tenzin is jealous)

tenzin and aang ... i agree with the canon that tenzin worships his father in many ways, i think this makes it harder for him sometimes to have more of a full relationship with his dad, but also i think that they understand each other and their loneliness in a way others cant, and that's sort of what they offer one another

all of aang's kids are pure magic to him. he thinks they're perfect.

Lin and Aang were incredibly close, so close sometimes it made his kids privately insecure, she just got him in a way that he was loosely mysterious to them; Lin in turn was always insecure because he wasn't her dad, he was their dad, she was just there (though he never felt that way)

Aang and Su are also close, but given the timing/way life shakes out, i feel like Sokka takes that specific sort of role in her life that Aang took fro Lin - still, she has a photo of him in her home and her children refer to it as Great Uncle Aang

for his friends, i think mourning aang feels like carving a piece of themselves out and tossing it away, it is like taking away a piece of themselves because he is what brought them together, he showed them the way forward, he is what made them who they are

okay that was a lot!! thanks for asking aaa!!

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Saw a post that was at first katara focused about a concept of her keeping the scars she got in “the deserter” and making edits of her with them. then others started inserting zuko into it and saying how it wouldve been SOOO MEANINGFUL for both of them if they talked about those in the cave instead… like as if zuko hadnt met Song and still chose to steal from her after showing kindess… it also bothered me when someone said “Actually they could connect about how someone they love and trusted hurt them too” and just… not the aang-ozai comparison again. Cant have anything for katara without making it about zvtara or aang hate :/

And come on, they're really gonna compare an accident to a father INTENTIONALLY disfiguring his child? By that logic, Zuko is just like his dad, after all he burned Toph's feet - and apparently "this was literally an accident" is not enough for these people.

The sheer irony of zutarians trying to make a big deal out of Aang accidentally burning Katara, yet constantly acting like bloodbending was "empowering" to her even though THAT actually (either intentionally or accidentally) had parallels to Ozai burning Zuko's face, since Hama wanted to "teach" Katara by controling her and her friends (and making her watch as her brother and her friend were about to kill each other), and Ozai full on said to Zuko "Suffering shall be your teacher."

And yeah, like you said, we had Zuko kind of bonding with Song over the two of them having scars, and he still did not hesitate to steal from her - it's almost like, even though the scar is a large part of Zuko's character, it is not ALL there is to it, and that "this person has scars too" doesn't mean Zuko will feel any real connection with them.

[stinkysarai]

idk why but i feel like the funniest and also most annoying thing i see with atla characters is like. how theyre pushed into a VERY small box and mostly known for/ characterized with like. a certain aspect of them.

tell me why i constantly see ‘mom friend katara shes so momcore motherly’ posts. like yeah i guess so but shes more than just a motherly person guys!! shes a teenage girl with anger and rage and a very very strong passion for justice! shes a teenage girl who was forced to mature and clearly dislikes the motherly part of herself!!! cmon guys shed be so upset if she was only known for being a ‘mother hen’ or something!!

aang. poor aang literally hes either a 'pacifist saint scared of confrontation and has no guts' or an 'evildoer thats the founder of frowntown' or some shit. did we watch the same show?? i mean i was a little sleep deprived when i watched it yeah but i dont think aang was the true villain of atla… i think that was ozai? just a guess ? (sarcastic) idk. i just think its crazy that this little fella is usually seen in such a bad light

sokka. my boy sokka brah see hes like. hes a strange thing. i feel like there could be a buzzfeed quiz of Which Sokka Are You? and the options are buff stupid ass himbo that gets girls , annoying male manipulator/manchild that hurts women, mean big brother thats only ever sarcastic and annoying and cynical and NEVER shows any emotion other than hatefulness, spite, and jealousy, or sunshine happy funny guy that aspires to be a comedian and never has any emotions or personality other than butt of the joke/ jokester. and even then those are like. BROAD options. i could get so much more specific but like. i wont because im lazy. it just. it peeves me a little bit but to be fair i am the same type of person to go YOU DONT GET MY FAVE LIKE I DO even though i am bad at overanalyzing characters. sokkas my fave so i might just be spewing nothin but pure ass takes (dont criticize me ill cry)

toph. AUGHHHH IT GETS ME SO MAD!! why is she a mean ass no tolerance no respect girl!! why is it thay most of the time they make her out to be some girl that is mean to others because ‘its funny!!1!1!’ and will never listen and also hates everyone and is unnecessarily violent. THAT or they make her out to some ‘i’m secretly really sweet and nice and kindheartedmaxxed but i hide myself with ANGER and violence and rebellion…’ type of person that acts like a tsundere in extreme comedy animes. like giys please why are there two extremes that neither of which are good!!

dont get me started on zuko because once i start i wont stop . WHY WHY WHY!!!! i scream to the midnight sky as raindrops down my despaired face… WHY is it that hes either a small, shy, vulnerable sack of twigs who cant defend himself and needs his alpha sigma buff boyfriend(s) to defend him at all times or a buff ass strong extremely mean jerk thats also ‘a bad boy with a big heart’ that smirks 25/8 and is sad all the time and in his feels. guys like… WHY?? HES NOT .. GUYS olease. Please please please

pisses me off man! but to be fair i am VERY particular about a lot of thijgs and like. no shame / hate truly. im just a fella who cant shut up, living my life happy go lucky and filled with love and hate. if this offends you PLEASE DONT HURT ME im just a feller!!! a person in this big big world!! twas just a rant!

[ursaspecter]

yeah exactly, like, while i hold avatar the last airbender near and dear to my heart, it isn't perfect, but the changes they are making only seem to ruin it, which SUCKS ASS. everything i learn about the new atla live action just makes me mad, i mean, it cant be as bad as the first live action atla, but its definitely not better, at least the original live action didn't make so many changes that it completely derails the whole fucking story of atla.

(also. the clothing just. makes me infuriated just looking at it, zuko has been on a run-down ship for three years, their armour should not be looking all shiny and new, sokka has been teaching toddlers to fight. you can not tell me that sokkas clothes will look all pristine. same with katara who is an amateur waterbender, who we see mess up so many times, she is bound to have ruined her outfits at least once, aang is twelve years old!!! where are the stitches, the worn colours, the patches, where is the detail, the character!!! azula and ozais i can excuse they live in the palace but the rest of them?? NOOO!!!!! why introduce azula and ozai so early!! i think the only purpose is to make zuko not seem as bad which affects his redemption arc so badly, because season 1 zuko SUCKED he was a villain for all intents and purposes my god!! by getting rid of sokkas mini arc of unlearning sexism, what in the world is going to make katara angry to break the avatar from its frozen prison!! why make azula use a bow!!! are they going to get rid of irohs creepy advances towards women if they are getting rid of sokkas sexism!! IHATETHISIHATETHISIHATETHISIHATETHIS)

Let it all out brother. Honestly I haven't really been keeping up with development. I think trying to retell the original story with no changes is a little silly, but also I think the changes should make sense y'know? I much prefer seeing more stories set in the same world for worldbuilding!

[ungirthed]

want to make a place for my thots of anything with no viewers if i remember to come on here. i cant believe i keep having to make these since i end up getting followers and interacting. but i'm an adult with shit to do irl and things to fight and this fandom is almost 20y old so idt i will do that. lol. just finished atla like 20y too late cos my parents hated me and my bro watching tv growing up. journaling/blogging thots!!! ugh. i wish i didnt hve adhd and dyspraxia lmao gonna split them up so i dont get overwhelmed reading my bullshit. if u stumble upon this it doesnt make sense sry

politically a lot of critique that i have to think about. character and plot wise it was pretty good and tight esp for a kids show. amazing female characters. can't wait for the bi agenda from LoK but i may take a while for that. p much i have to say these are great characters and i could talk a lot about them but i'm shocked at what i took away with regards to the romantic rships from the show and the characterization via it.

re love lines:

i wish kataang was written better in the show (MY opinion if any1 stumbles upon this). i don't ~ship~ zutara bc i am an adult and even back then no cos who cares lol but i see the appeal and am attracted to that. i do think we have to retire the trope of the "both sides but falling in love" not because it isn't possible but because post 10/7 (free palestine) i don't think it's worth it to look at it this way anymore. until someone proves themselves not worthy of death because of the resistance fighting back then they NEED TO PROVE THEMSELVES IMMEDIATELY. no more of this i'm in a concentration camp but he's a nazi bullshit. no more i'm a slave but he's the slave master's son (i mean in this case u could have been related but no1 listens to me!) it's repetitive, reductive, and untrue.

that being said: i just never care about the typical bildungsroman love story. you see the One Person bc i guess the kids tasked with saving the world have to be monk-adjacent (in aang's case quite literally) bc understandably theyre so fucked up lol. but it's always sooooo boring to me esp if it's f/m.

katara is such a complex character and mae whitman brings a wisdom to her voice that can be frustrating to connect with for me but her character arc, her strength, her MIND, her heart, and her fists. i think ppl probs like zutara the most when shes' going batshit and no one can understand aang's perspective. but aang is one of a kind and the cutest smartest sweetest loser ever. not my fav char but i love him. he's like if i had a younger brother and not an older one lmao.

of course they're (kataang) together. they were meant to be from the moment they saw e/o and that stupid cave kiss...this is why you don't wait until 32 to watch this lol.

but nothing surprised me and it was meant to be the way it was written. that's also why i find it understandable but shocking people in the universe and apparently outside of it were surprised at aang's turmoil over ozai. like are you joking? he's a 12 year old vegetarian monk. which: i loved his vegetarianism and obviously he was going to be but very casually they put in a line that hints as to why he would be and why many of us are...so i am dedicated to it again.

so wrt that and zutara...the episode where he's with her with the dude that killed her moms and his support of her i can see why people like them. the cave ep obviously but this show is veryyyyy free with affection i noticed and there's some jealousy but they all get over that pretty quickly. i read some of the comics and i could see different rships happening and i definitely think this world lends to queerness (me personally i love monogamy but a certain type lol so not rly interested in much poly but i do like a throuple) but i could see most being bi+ or having identified as that in the past, or labeling themselves but nto limiting. that's just an aside for meee...

so like katara was being katara. i could see suki and zuko being romantic but also a deep friendship that could be deeply affectionate either affect or physically or both bc that's who these ppl are. katara is a very intense person and that's part of why she can be annoying. that's part of why they ALL can be overwhelming. theyre intense, traumatized, repressed kids and teens with mostly good hearts (or just a person so disconnected from herself but also a fascist so u know. her going nuts lol)

hmm what else oh yea. so i came away with maiko......gjpasig the show was paced and plotted well. i am a libertarian communist (anarcho-commie) so MANNNNN i wish they did better on that front but again i must remember i am 32, ancom, and the world is diff. but anyway lmao so team avatar is who i would want to spend time with but i got so interested in mai and ty lee (mailee...). that beach ep conversation was so good, that whole ep, their argument. it was extremely teenage and showed how fucked up they all are. how confused and fucking lost and pathetic. how small their lives are. how boring....so mai...

[pencilscratchins]

PLEASE GIVE US THE FULL SOKKA AZULA PLOT IF YOU HAVE IT!

you don’t know what you’ve signed up for here sKSKS SORRY ABOUT THIS

so basically, i imagine its a few years after canon; azula (19) has been in reformative therapy for a few years and sokka (22) has been ambassador for 4 & with zuko for 3. 

while zuko & azula have begun to really repair their relationship as much as they can, sokka & azula have never really uh clicked

sokka discovers theres an underground group based in ba sing se plotting an assassination attempt on zuko’s life with a series of undercover agents in the palace.

zuko assures him not to worry about it-- but sokka can’t drop it so he goes to investigates. azula catches him as he’s about to leave and is like “if someones trying to kill my brother just after he’s begun to be less annoying to me, i want in on the dismount. i miss fighting” so she tags along

sokka writes a note that’s almost identical to the “gone fishing!” one from boiling rock and kataras like “he cant honestly think this will work a second time” and zukos like “yes i too was completely suspicious yes right away”

the two of them travel and begin to thaw the ice, talking about stuff she’s learned in therapy and touching a little on sexuality, but she’s still fairly withholding.

sokka’s not at all convinced she actually cares about zuko, and he hates what she did to suki & katara-- and hell, hes friends with ty lee. he’s loyal. azula thinks sokka’s disingenuous and sloppy and doesnt get what zuko sees in him.

anyway, they make it to ba sing se and split up to interrogate some members they’ve isolated. sokka finds out their mixing a new poision, one without a cure to kill zuko with in (some number of) days

azula’s guy, however, tells her that the undercover mole is sokka and she instantly goes into action mode and tracks him down to kill him. they have a fight in a bakery (see below some V ROUGH storyboards) [full]

sokkas like obviously im not the mole, but its sweet that you genuinely wanna protect your brother

but this fight destroys the bakery theyre in and they get arrested-- the underground group kidnaps them out of prison. they have to take them down, just the two of them and bond over fighting styles.

they succeed but dont know where this poison's being made so sokka suggest lake logai and also theyre now fugatives in ba sing se, so they have to change into disguises

they have to rest in a hotel for a night since the tides too dangerous to get to the bottom of the lake rn; there they talk about how they each look like their mothers and what that means to them

azula talks about how finding her identity after the war has been hard bc everytime she looks into the mirror she sees her mothers face and sokkas like “well cut your hair”

so they cut her hair and bond. (side note i think they have the same benefits to theyre dynamic as katara & zuko; they other is the sibling of their character foil. s & k have the relationship z&a never got to have; and a&z have a competition k&s never could develop.)

anyway this is already way too long im so sorry SKKS spoiler it has a happy ending, they bond, zuko doesnt die-- i wont bore you with the details : heres two fake screen shots just to end it

[fictionissocialinquiry]

FISI’s Favourite Zutara Fics

A lil late for ZFAW’s Saturday prompt, sorry about that! Haven’t had any internet over the weekend. But better late than never!

I’m not gonna lie… a lot of these are angsty af. But I promise you they’re not gratuitous angst! They’re well written, beautiful stories that will make you feel like a better person for having read them. These are my favourite all time fics, ones I’ve read more than once and will continue to read (even though I’m taking a week break from fandom and fic).

 Multi-Chaptered Fics

The Sparrowkeet Series by audreyii_fic

To be honest, this story’s summary doesn’t do it justice so I ain’t including it. Originally a one shot, Sparrowkeet is headcanon for me now. Move over canon, this is where it’s at. Audreyii_fic’s characterisation, world building, and writing is exquisite. It’s incredible. She manages to channel the same fun and whimsical energy from the show while allowing the characters to grow and develop to places I wish they had actually been taken.

This one is a fandom Must Read and one I return to regularly.

 Clothe Me in Seasons, Dress Me in Snow by sadladybug

It is not the memorial she deserves, nor the one she would want. But it can't be helped. He owns no property in the other nations, and he needed to keep her close. Closer than she was in life, anyway.

Zuko's reflections on a life lived and a life that could have been.

This is one of the best written fics I’ve ever read. It’s tragic and deep and will hurt you in all the tender places but you would be doing yourself a favour if you read this. There’s a real bittersweet feeling to it and the love between them is just… urg, visceral.

 Lovable by LadyCharity

Zuko knew that he could not save Azula. He could only try to forgive her. Fittingly enough, those two were one in the same.

I love stories that make Zutara their centerpiece but every now but then a story like this comes along. A story where their relationship builds almost incidentally because the plot and character development straight up hijack your emotions. I got so invested in this story. Zuko is amazingly well characterised and his complicated thoughts and feelings around his father and Azula are incredibly well written!

 One Shots

Lunar Ephemerality by @formerlygoldilocks (goldilocks23)

After multiple failed attempts on his life and years of self-set expectations, Fire Lord Zuko is a shell of the man he used to be. But Katara won't turn her back on those who need her.

I really didn’t expect this to hit as hard as it did. This straight up snuck up on me, fly-kicked my feelings, and by the end I had written an 800 word comment that was too big for AO3 and I had to contact the author directly to send it to her. Awkward. I couldn’t help myself. The side to Katara we see here is so good, her empathy and love for her friends are one of the things I love seeing most in AtLA fanfic. I’m a sucker for Zuko having complete breakdowns and having to piece himself back together too. So sue me. I like it when they suffer a lil bit. The writing is absurdly good and I will be keeping an eye out for any new stories by goldilocks23!

 31 Minutes by @ifyouwereamelodymeg

It's quite astounding, really, how quickly she's learned to translate him. They've spent a grand total of zero time together outside of training, and he's hardly big on chat so she knows next to nothing about his life.

But she knows him, probably better than she knows anyone at the moment – with every tap of his fingers, every crook of his lips, every turn in his voice, he just...

He makes sense to her. It's weird.

I’m a sucker for fic writers playing with style to make the story pop and boyo does this fic deliver. This is one of the rare times that I’ve been dumbstruck at the end of a story— I just couldn’t accept the ending. Because I’m a sucker for pain, (and this story will bring The Pain) I loved it. The ease of Zuko and Katara’s growing relationship in this bowls you over, it’s absolutely beautiful and you find yourself nodding along emphatically when Zuko calls himself an idiot for waiting… “Life’s short, kids, live each moment as though it could be your last,” says this fic as it pulls my heart out and dropkicks it off a cliff.

 i count to five (and life passes by) by @markedmage

Five heartbeats.

I still haven’t forgiven Mage for this one. I think it’s the best thing she’s written to date! I mean, tragic and painful and heart-rending but holy shit is it powerful <3

 The Lake of the Dismal Swamp by @thewhiitelotus

Spook af. Spook (horror) is real hard to do well but thewhiitelotus is coming for your goosebumps and those shivers down your spine. She has a way of balancing beautiful, evocative imagery with action (in this and other stories of her) that just keeps you reading!

 Calloused by @rideboldlyride

Iroh hadn’t been able to watch. The pure horror of a man - a father- burning their child for a slight infraction... He couldn’t do anything to stop it, but he will stop his brother from destroying entirely the kind boy he knew Zuko could be.

This is a painfully underappreciated fic for how great the characterisation is. I know we in the zutara fandom tend to not read stories that aren’t Zuko/Katara centric as often but do yourself the favour of reading this (or listening to it: RideBoldlyRide has done us the gift of recording a podfic for this and it’s stupidly *good*). This story is Iroh confronting Ozai just after he burns Zuko’s face and it kicks.

 four days and three nights by @hinaoyamas (lettersfromnowhere)

Zuko discovers firsthand that nothing is more fleeting than happiness, or more enduring than memory.

Do you like reading stories with a distant, omniscient narrator? The kind that read like a myth from the ancient world? Welp, hit the hyperlink, friend, cause this one’s for you. Not only is the writing exquisite but the characterisation and painful inevitability of the plot is grade A.

 For the Fire Nation by tullyblue12

He falls in love with her for his country before he falls in love with her for himself. A Zuko/Katara AU that explores how love and duty aren’t always mutually exclusive.

There are about 40,000 exquisite lines in this story but here is just one of my favourites: “He falls in love with her for his country first. That’s what his people never understand.” This fic says a lot with so few words, which is something I really look up to! In 2,800 words, tullyblue12 does what some 100,000k fics cant: They make you feel.

 Guide Me Home by Rashaka

To sleep, perchance to dream. Katara and Zuko find a friendship they never expected in a place that seemed impossible.

This is a one shot I will forever wish for a continuation of. The setup is just… so juicy. There’s a real sorrowful innocence to this story that the unique short, dialogue only scenes really punch home. I know some people don’t like dialogue only fics but when done well like in this one, it leaves you with the impression of something deeper than a 1,185 word fic has any right to! 

 Other Favourites!

Hopeless by tullyblue12 — Kids grow up fast when a cruel world awaits them. In times of hopelessness, Katara and Zuko grow together. In times of separation, they hope to see each other again.

Speechless by goldilocks23 — Zuko has a medical condition. Or: Zuko speaks in haiku at inappropriate times.

Don’t Follow Me Down by eleventy7 — Katara is the dread queen of the underworld, ruler of the dead, destined to reign her cold kingdom alone. Until a sun god catches her eye. A Hades/Persephone retelling with incredible writing.

I Don't Speak Meow Language by @botherkupo (Boogum) — In which Zuko adopts a cat and Katara just wonders what spirits she pissed off to deserve this fate.

I have the privilege of being friends with some of these authors (they know who they are) and am in near daily awe and gratitude for the works of free fiction they provide us, the fandom. And not just any old stories: Guys... Really good ones!! Can I ask that if you go check out these fics, can you just drop a kudos or a comment their way? If you’re feeling shy just copy and paste this into the comments box anonymously: “WOW! Loved this! Thank you so much for writing it!”

I know it would mean the world to this talented bunch <3

[koheletgirl]

this is not important at all but im So certain zuko was supposed to be dead in tlok. katara says in the pilot that her brother and many of her friends are gone, and she can't mean aang because we know they were married (and that she's saying this to his incarnation); so that leaves toph, suki and zuko - we can assume she wasn't only talking about the gaang when she said this, but it's also pretty safe to assume bryke knew us as viewers would associate this saying with the gaang. so all im saying is, it's a little weird of her to say many of her friends are gone when 2 out of 3 said friends (again, if we’re only taking the gaang into account here, which i think we should), are alive and well. both zuko and toph didnt appear on screen until seasons 3 and 4 respectively, and production-wise we know these seasons weren't planned from the get go. i think it might also explain why the only statues we see in republic city on s1 are of sokka, zuko and aang - because katara is still alive. (this doesnt explain why toph and suki were left out and im afraid i cant think of a good explanation for that). anyway this isn't that deep At All but all this is to say: "many of my friends" is a phrase that gives you some leeway. lok wasnt originally meant to last 4 seasons, and i Think if it had been canceled after s1 or 2, zuko (and maybe toph) very likely would have been canonically dead. but as the seasons moved along, they decided to bring back some characters that they could still get away with bringing. katara said "many of my friends", but she didnt say who.

what she did say was "my brother". and i think if she hadn't said that we may well have gotten to see sokka in later seasons.

[reinerispretty]

What if Zuko's s/o is Katara's twin sister who is also a water bender but when he brings Katara to the guy who killed her mom, his s/o comes with them, after Katara has her moment and calms down his s/o starts blood bending the guy who killed their mother, understanding kataras view but feels like she cant allow him to live, how would Zuko calm her and bring her back? Also comfort her when she realizes that she was blood bending?

AAAh this is such a good idea!! thank you so much for requesting!! 

for some stupid reason tumblr acts SO weird when i do cuts on asks but here you go!! :)

---

Katara and her sister may have been born twins, but they were vastly different. Their father used to say that it was because Katara was born while the moon was high, making her fierce like the ocean waves the moon controlled. (Y/N) was born a few hours after Katara, just as the sun was starting to rise, so the ocean waves were calm and steady, much like her demeanor. Katara was outspoken and opinionated: she liked to take control of a situation before it got out of hand. Her twin sister, however, preferred to sit on the sidelines until she was needed. She was quiet and rarely spoke a word to anyone except her sister and brother. 

Which is why it came as such a surprise to the rest of the group when (Y/N) and Zuko began spending more time with each other. They pulled each other out of their shells. Zuko felt the guilt of his past lift off of his shoulders whenever he was with her. And (Y/N) felt that she could speak freely whenever he was near. She started talking more and making jokes (usually at her brother’s expense) and while it was a change, it wasn’t an unwelcome one. 

Except for Katara. She despised Zuko, and (Y/N) understood why. He had betrayed her trust in Ba Sing Se, but that was another difference between the two sisters. Katara kept her emotions inside and was most definitely one to hold grudges. (Y/N) realized at a young age that everything that happened in life happened for a reason, so she didn’t hold on to anger. She didn’t like the feeling weighing her down. 

But when Zuko had offered to take Katara to find the man that killed their mother, (Y/N) was furious with him. It was the first time anyone had seen her speak with such ferocity. “I can hear the resemblance between them,” Toph whispered to Momo quietly as Katara, (Y/N), Aang, and Zuko all argued over the mission. 

“Katara,” Aang said, “I understand that you’re still upset, but violence is never the answer. It will only lead to more guilt.” 

“You don’t get it,” Katara scoffed as she packed her bag. “Neither of you do.” 

“I don’t get it?” (Y/N) demanded. “She was my mother too, Katara.” 

“Then maybe you didn’t care about her like I did!” Her sister snapped. (Y/N) set her jaw, trying to brush off the hurt that the words had caused. 

“If this is what she needs to do, then let her do it.” Zuko said simply. (Y/N) turned on him, her eyes almost ablaze. He gulped. 

“I don’t feel the need to hunt the man that murdered our mother. She wouldn’t want us to do this.” She sighed, closing her eyes. “But if you guys are going, I’m going too.” 

“Absolutely not,” Zuko said. “It could be dangerous. We have no clue what this guy is like now.” 

“I don’t trust either of you to not do harm, so I’m going.” She turned on her heel and began packing her clothes for the trip. 

It was a long and awkward flight on Appa. (Y/N) refused to speak to Katara or Zuko, leaving the two to talk amongst themselves. It was hard for Katara, she knew, to have to have a conversation with the boy that had raided her village and made her life miserable for the past year, but (Y/N) didn’t care. If they were going to be on this stupid mission together, then the least they could do was make up. 

Their first attempt at finding the man who killed their mother proved to be unsuccessful. They had boarded the ship only to find that the real man, Yon Rha, had retired to a small village within the Fire Nation long ago. 

“I feel like this is a sign,” (Y/N) said as they climbed aboard Appa, but Katara ignored her. She looked at Zuko, who gave her a sad smile and a shrug. She scoffed and rolled her eyes before sitting as far away from him as she could. 

It didn’t take them long to find Yon Rha once they arrived at the village. He had been walking home with a basket of groceries, and the three teenagers had frightened him so much that he spilled the contents all over the ground. He thought that they were thieves trying to rob him. He realized the truth rather quickly once Katara had begun speaking to him.

She made him remember what he had done to their mother and (Y/N) watched as her sister made the man fear for his life. They stood there for a long time as Katara revealed herself as one of the last Waterbenders of the Southern Water Tribe. The rain that had started falling around them came to a halt, but when the moment came for Katara to enact her revenge, she couldn’t. 

“I can’t do it,” she said, letting the rain continue falling around them. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she walked away from the man and to her twin sister. “You were right.” She wrapped (Y/N) in an embrace and cried into her shoulder. 

(Y/N) stood still, her eyes trained on the man who was gathering his food from the ground. The full moon was high and she could feel its power coursing through her veins. As she stared at Yon Rha, she finally came to terms with the fact that she was standing just a few feet away from the man that took her mother away from her. She remembered that day vividly, and occasionally had nightmares because of it. Sokka hadn’t been there and Katara had left to alert their father, but (Y/N) had walked into the tent after the Fire Nation soldier left. She had seen her mother’s lifeless body lying on the ground, her palm outstretched to (Y/N) as if she was asking her to hold it. She had cried and cried and only stopped crying when she had fallen asleep in Gran Gran’s arms. 

With a flick of her wrist, Yon Rha stopped moving. His body froze as he was picking up the last of his groceries and his eyes looked around in fear. (Y/N) moved Katara to the side, walking closer to him. With another move of her hands, he lay face-down in the mud. 

“(Y/N) Zuko asked, his voice laced with concern. “What’s happening.” 

“She’s bloodbending,” Katara said sadly, her voice hollow. 

“What?” But Zuko’s question was answered as he watched his girlfriend contort the man’s body with her hands. “(Y/N)!” he shouted, running over to her. 

“Zuko, be careful!” Katara called out. 

Zuko grabbed her arm and leaned in close to speak into her ear. “I know you think you have to do this, but you don’t. Let him go, (Y/N), please. Remembering what he’s done should be punishment enough.” 

She shook her head, but her control over Yon Rha was loosening. “He didn’t show her any mercy.” 

“That doesn’t mean you have to be like him. Be better than him, (Y/N).” With a grunt, she released Yon Rha, who scrambled to his feet as fast as he could and took off in the other direction. She stumbled back into Zuko and Katara was at her side immediately. She felt her eyes well with tears and her throat choke on a sob. 

“I-I don’t know what came over me. I’m so sorry, I would’ve never--” Zuko shushed her, pulling her into his chest and stroking her hair. 

“It’s okay, my love. We all lose control sometimes. He did something horrible to you and your family. No one blames you.” 

Her sobs faded into small hiccups, but the tears still streamed down her face. Zuko pulled back and wiped them off of her cheeks. “You did the right thing. You always do.” 

She gave him a watery smile before being pulled into a hug by her twin sister. Katara looked over (Y/N)’s shoulder at Zuko, and while the girls both cried, Katara mouthed “Thank you,” to him. 

---

permatag list!

@aroyaldarknessblr

[thecelestial-art]

ok but like, here me out,,,,, avatar high school au but its just me projecting my personality and trauma

my instagram

Aang

Freshman

He's trying his gosh darn hardest

The group baby

Appa is a therapy dog so he spends the day with gyatso in his classroom :)

Hes a saint bernard 

The best man

Despite katara being the ‘mom friend’ he runs the god damn show

Momo is a shit head sphinx cat 

The gang dropped movie nights for “knitting nights” so they could all learn to knit him sweaters

Hes very fashionable

he hates it

sokkas best friend

Aang makes costumes so when halloween comes around momo is very scary as dorothy 

Track and field babey

Does not curse

He has a hard time keeping up with world events

Straight (i'm not wrong)

he and toph have an ongoing tradition of going in full dress to waffle house before school dances. 

it got to the point where now all the workers know them by name

they also accidentally crashed a white lotus meeting and just kept going

Azula

Band kid

Sophomore

Rich girl with 2 friends

Pre eng

i know most schools dont have this program, but mine did and holy shit. those were some overachievers 

The most annoying mf on the planet

Not a single teacher likes her

The know it all that will fight if you don't agree with the facts

She was the ww2 kid

Capitalist in the worst fucking way

Closeted lesbian, when she figures that shit out she gets a lil better

The one who can drive

Mai

Bisexual

She's really good at math?? Like shes the gay who can do math

But cannot drive, bitch failed her permit more times than she can count

She nearly went to an all girls boarding school at one point

Sophomore

Colorguard!!

She has beat the shit out of people she's walked in on making out in the bathroom

Genuine friends with the faculty??

She takes programming/coding as a filler class but she's pretty good and continues to pursue it.

Her tumblr looks sick as hell

has caused a teacher to cry

Ty lee

Bisexual

Lesbian earings actin mf

Sophomore

Cheerleader

She is the nicest mother fucker and everyone loves her

Despite acting like an airhead she's really science orientated

When she takes biology she passes with flying colors

Very invested in social justice

She would never hurt a fly but she will fuck you up

The one with a healthy relationship with her father

has comforted a teacher she found crying in the parking lot

Iroh

Now runs the jasmine dragon where zuko works after school w/ katara 

Knows every single kid who comes in and tries his hardest to make sure everyone feels appreciated

Former war criminal

In a book club

The white lotus? Yeah this is the white lotus

Idk if it would be the same as the show, or if its just an old person shit talking group

Zuko

Junior

His dad got full custody of him and his sister when he divorced their mom

But at 13 he got kicked out for another bullshit reason and ever since Iroh has had custody of both of the siblings

But bitch boy ozai has visitation rights but only wants to see azula

Theatre kid!!

I mean he was gonna join jrotc to appease his dad but he figured his shit out before he really joined

A republican turned leftist

Hes queer he just doesnt know which label to use

Himbo rights

He and katara are best friends idgaf about ships but they are bros

orchestra kid! (yes this is me self projecting bc we have similar trauma) 

Violist 

Teachers have no idea what to do with him bc on one hand he's very reclusive and on the other his sister has the worst opinions so they don't know

Katara

Sophomore 

Still the mom friend but this time she goes to therapy

Bc she literally raised her brother after her mother died?? And then became a parental figure to her FRIENDS???

Biggest political activist, genuinely does her best at educating herself and others about civil injustices

Also really obsessed with cults and true crime

Choir kid

She takes AP history, english, and second language classes

Is trying her hardest in math and sciences

Huge stuffed animal collection

Student council vice president

she originally ran for president but jets gang voted him in as a joke

The teachers pet

Swim team bitches

Best friends with the school janitors

This is my au so fuck off she and zuko are chaotic friendgroup parents and annoying best friends i love them

and maybe something more???

 who fucking knows theres a betting pool in the white lotus and so far aang is winning 

Sokka

Junior

Bisexual

Gym and History teachers LOVE him

On the swim team and the fishing team

Started crying when he took his drivers test

Goes to gsa w/ toph and loses his fucking mind

He's the reason suki’s car is disgusting

In all advanced/ap classes in math and science

Was the kid who carries a portable speaker around until suki put him in his place

Still has to use his hands to figure out left and right

Yue

Technically she doesn't go to school with them she goes to a nearby private school

She met the gang at a football game and has been invited to every group outing since

Junior!!

Very invested in world politics

When she joins the group at school events she ends up making friends with all the staff

Debate team kid!!!

She's not a rule breaker she just knows their limitations ;)

at one point missed school for like 2 months and everyone thought she died

turns out it was just fucking pneumonia and sokka is one dirty liar

Suki

oh? you mean yue’s best friend bc we dont respect pitting women against each other in this household?

Junior

Bisexual icon!!!

Oh god what sport would she do??

Probably basketball??

Or she would just do martial arts outside of school

And have a ‘female empowerment’ club or somethin

100% believes in self government in society and that the current gov exists purely on the theory that all humans are inherently evil

Bitch for bernie

Her car is DISGUSTING

She asks if she can hit peoples juul and then throws it in the trash

The gym coaches really like her but she fucking hates them

Is very close with her school counselor??

She never wants to run but she keeps getting elected to homecoming court

Toph

Freshman 

Former homeschool bitch

Joined the wrestling team and the fishing team??

She doesn't even like fishing she just thinks it's hilarious 

Very good a pottery and that's her arts credit

She and iroh have lunch together every thursday

If she catches wind of you putting gum on desks they will find your body in a ditch

She makes sokka and suki take her to prom 

She hates it she just likes to fuck with people at prom

Sometimes she just tells people she doesn't believe in something bc she cant see it

has been wearing the same sandles for the past 3 years bc “they’re reliable”

Cryptid hunter

Goes to gsa bc its better than any fucking reality tv show

Has nearly burnt the house down making ramen

[autisticzukka]

what is this hakoda zuko arranged marriage you speak of? i am intrigued

okay so the long story short is that it’s a slight rebuttal of a popular post that is very fun but i find like... unrealistic in a really intriguing way like, how would this ACTUALLY play out. I’ve talked about it at length in my server a few times, and it’s one of those AU’s -- like the genderbend zukka ATLA rewrite or the zukki fic that starts with sokka failing to assassinate zuko -- that lives rent free in my head and I’ve written a couple thousand words for.

tw for like VERY unrequited zuko in love with hakoda and the inherent comedy of sokka being in love with his fire nation stepmom.

so here’s hakoda, chief of the southern water tribe, happily not-married to Bato. and here is a more balanced war, where the north and the south are actually  allies, rather than whatever the fuck they were in ATLA. Yue already has a fiance and the Northern chief refuses to remarry. that leaves hakoda responsible for biting the bullet and doing a political marriage even though, as he points out at length, he is an elected official and if he stops being elected it’s no longer a marriage with the chief of the south pole. intelligently but mostly selfishly motivated (yue’s fiance is his nephew, after all) pakku points out that its not like the fire nation knows... that. the fire nation is dumb. ozai’s stupid.

faced with such inarguable points hakoda stiffens his upper lip, pre-emptively ends things with bato on the understanding that if this is another kya situation they’ll get back together and that he’s still the most important person to him but the tribe comes first yada yada, and deals with katara throwing the mother of all tantrums. it is slightly softened by the fact that in return for him marrying the fire nation noble, a thing everyone can agree isn’t traditional, the north has finally agreed to train katara. she heads out before the wedding, in protest but also so as to not cause an international incident.

(on her way, she’ll find aang. with the war less dire, katara will be sympathetic towards his desire to live without committing violence, even if she deeply can’t relate. they’ll have a hot girl romcom summer of self discovery and coming to terms with the dichotomy between duty and love as they become master benders. at some point they pick up toph. they ARE a throuple.)

sokka meanwhile is like.. not cool with it.. but ? kind of relieved? like. he’s the eldest kid. he’s 18, and he’s been a man of the tribe as far as legalities for several years. it would have been entirely understandable if his dad had asked HIM to do it. he had his emotionally crushing romance with yue, and as much as he was like ‘im kind of a prince’, he finds he doesn’t actually want some of the responsibilities and demands that would bring. yue’s life sucks.

back in the fire nation, zuko never demanded a quest and never went on it. he’s spent years hardening into something that, while brittle, can survive the pressures of the court around him. he still has his scar. he still wants his father to love him, but he knows by now that it’s not something he’s capable of earning. he watches his sister, never the most stable person, start to have complete breakdowns of sanity once she hits puberty, and helps her cover for it and receive medical treatment on the down low. he’s the heir, but he lives knowing that if he was ever in a position to inherit his choices are to abdicate or have the baby sister who he raised kill him and destroy herself and the country in the process.

when he realizes the plan is to marry azula off rather than someone more reasonable-- mai is RIGHT there, for fucks sake-- he doesn’t realize ozai’s true intent is to fuck this up through malicious compliance and false shows of good faith. he panics, and does the zuko thing: he blurts out that this is unacceptable and immoral and she’s only 16 and Ozai sees the true opportunity for two birds with one stone. send zuko, let him piss someone off so badly he gets killed or divorced, and he gets rid of zuko from the line of succession permanently. there are those who are incredibly attached to teh idea of a firstborn for firelord, and it’s been a constant thorn in unpopular ozai’s side to nto be able to name azula his heir apparent without costly rebellion. but if he can taint him in the mind of the fire nation so much that birthright is easy to supercede-- yeah. this’ll work PERFECTLY.

so zuko is sent to marry hakoda, chief of the water tribe.

literally NO ONE was expecting it to be a member of Ozai’s immediate family. besides the fact that his oldest child is half hakoda’s age and his brother has 20 years on hakoda, it would have been sus as fuck - the treaty is not favorable enough to grant that kind of secession of interests. it becomes quickly apparent that this young man -- hakoda reminds himself of that repeatedly. not kid. not kid. young man. don’t think of him like a kid, it’s hard enough on both of us already. -- is not a horrible threat. he’s scared shitless and shakes with what he thinks is bravado. he’s desperate to make the marriage work. he’s desperate to not go home. he’s got a giant fucking scar on his face from where the fire lord punished him for some grievous but unstated offense.

zuko “daddy issues” fire nation sees his husband to be and, despite being scared shitless, immediately begins to soften a little. like... he’s not nearly as scary as he thought he’d be. his face can be stern, but it just as easily breaks into huge smiles, and his eyes are crinkled with laughter. he’s incredibly handsome. and his biceps are. his biceps. are. his hands are...

like. zuko thinks. okay. maybe. maybe his marriage duties. won’t be so horrible as he thought. maybe he’s ready for this. and he knows what to expect, Uncle had discreetly provided him the means and the contacts to acquire an intimate education in the whirlwind of activity that was the two months before leaving. and like, once he’d gotten past the nerves, it was often even... good? or at least... not bad? he thinks that even if hakoda isn’t a professional expert, he has a certain.... je ne sais quoi, if you will.

((DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF DILF))

sokka sees his new stepfather and immediately falls in love because he’s that kind of dumb bitch. (the core of this au is that i cant breathe thinking about sokka falling in love with his hot young stepmom his age who his dad doesnt even want to fuck. like. i CANT. sokka masturbates to ‘hand caught in the washing tub’ fantasies which are even more absurd for requiring zuko to be DOING LAUNDRY. i find it so funny.)

bato watches them at the wedding feast while hakoda is very clearly trying to treat zuko as an Equal Adult Partner and mostly managing to seem like someone having a serious conversation with a seven year old about the game they’ve made up. zuko is clearly enamored with it, soaking up the attention, blushing and doing his best to Bravely Flirt, which at one point includes awkwardly attempting to feed Hakoda by hand. bato has to excuse himself to have a teary eyed giggle, hoping that Kya is in the spirit world looking down and laughing with him. he can’t resent the kid even a little bit, when hakoda is sitting there looking so incredibly fucking befuddled as to what he’s supposed to do with this star struck infant he’s legally wed to

anyways all of this... is very funny. their wedding night... is less so. zuko does not take the rejection from hakoda very well, especially because he’d been caught wanting. HE’S the one who should be rejecting hakoda. and he catastrophizes almost immediately about his potential value to the water tribe, his future treatment, that endless inescapable freezing cold loneliness is the good ending for him here... hakoda, meanwhile, drops zuko off at his home, reassuringly informs him that there’s NOTHING else expected of him and he will be well taken care of, and books it to bato’s. bato refuses to let him in on grounds of ‘you can’t sleep under the same shelter as me on your wedding night to that kid, have a fucking brain’, and he ends up crashing at sokka’s.

sokka, who had KNOWN that his dad wouldnt, but also upon seeing zuko and zuko’s awkward flirting was like... but how COULDNT he???? sokka is relieved.

the core of this fic is that i find it endlessly hilarious for zuko to try and seduce his husband while sokka simps around zuko and bato tries to be heartbroken or betrayed but mostly ends up with a giant case of hysterical schadenfreude. but the thing that CLINCHED it for me, like THE scene. several years after being married, settled into their life. they’re partners and they see each other as people. and zuko just fucking snaps one night

he just kisses him, desperate and clawing and climbing and maybe a little drunk. he knows hakoda is going to push him away, maybe even hit him, but he doesn’t care anymore, he doesn’t care. he can do anything he wants to him as long as he just-- finally does something. zuko is 21 and married to the surface of the sun and the surface of the sun jr is his best friend and clearly in love with him-- so clearly not even zuko can miss it-- and like. listen. listen. zuko is not a patient person. but he’s been patient for this. he waited and he matured and he is a fucking amazing husband and he wants this, he wants him. he wants to be wanted.

but hakoda doesn’t push him away. hakoda doesnt yell at him, or hit him. hakoda gentles the kiss into something soft and closed lipped. he pulls away slowly, and his eyes are so sad for zuko, so pitying. he strokes his cheek with the back of his hand so gently. he says, I’m sorry. I don’t want you.

and zuko daddy issues fire nation swallows

and he nods

and he leaves, even though its his own fucking house

and he knows he’s never going to be good enough

like FUUUCK i am OBSESSED WITH THAT

[cavehags]

i realize this will probably bring up old drama so you might not want to answer it. but do you ever regret, however on purpose or on accident, bringing all that unnecesary hate towards Katara? i'm really sad and dissapointed tbh. i'm a woman of color and katara was so important to me growing up. my favorite animated woman ever. and then this resurgence comes and theres so, so much unnecesary hatred for her and everyone ignoring everything that makes her a good character.

(2/3) 2- and you know, i expected this from the male side of the fandom. they were misogynistic to her and the others even back then so i would expect it to be even worse with how internet culture is more mysogistic now that ever. and i wasnt wrong. male atla fans had some truly horrible takes and views that just came across as racism and misogyny. but, i expected these circles to be better. to be a safe space for us woc who love this character. but i found the same weird hatred for her.

(3/3) 3-i just, i cant believe i feel less welcome now that i did even back then. and back then i didnt even paricipate really. but at least i could enjoy fandom content without stumbling into misogyny and racism every other post. also sorry for sending this to your personal blog b i just wanted to let you know you controbuted to that too even if it wasnt your intention. at least you realized that and arent contributing to it anymore right? cause honestly the hate has only gotten worse not less.

hey anon. thanks for asking this question, because i hadn’t addressed this topic previously and this gave me an opportunity to do so. 

no, i don’t regret publicly interpreting a character whom i love through a nuanced and human lens. and i don’t regret combating the one-dimensional interpretation of this character, which posits that she’s merely an vaguely defined object of attraction for some boy or another, and a singularly gentle, mature, maternal figure whose sole purpose in life is to nurture others. those interpretations suck. they rob her of the humanity and complexity that make her character unique and they stem from misogynistic tropes that reduce women to the services they can provide to men. the thing in the world that matters most to me is fighting misogyny, and this trend to diminish a proud and powerful and angry teenage girl by exaggerating only her most socially acceptable traits is misogyny. 

unlike you, i did not grow up watching avatar: the last airbender. the shows i watched growing up did not have a lot of girls who felt real to me. the girls i saw on tv growing up were simple. they were the main characters’ crushes. they were simple, desirable, usually sweet and loving, and not much else. if they had a flaw, it was that they were, at best, “awkward.” whatever that means. or if they were the protagonists, which was rare, they were nice enough and tried to do the right thing, but they never had strong feelings like resentment and anger. they weren’t allowed to be unfeminine which meant they weren’t allowed to be bitter, angry or in any way flawed. they didn’t look like the version of girlhood i knew to be true for me personally, which included a lot of anger and frustration and powerlessness. 

that crappy representation left me with internalized misogyny that chased me for longer than i’d like to admit. i did not learn to think of girls as humans who could be as interesting and flawed and messy as the boys were. i did not value myself as a girl, and later a woman, because i thought the best thing a girl could be was... bland. boring. pretty, but empty. passionless.

it would have meant the world to me to see a character like katara. 

because katara is angry. she has every right to be: she’s had so much stolen from her, including her mother, her people, and her childhood. katara has a short fuse. she yells. she snaps. she fucks up. sometimes she makes mean jokes! i never saw a single one of those dreamily perfect cartoon love interests make mean jokes when i was a kid. she is extremely idealistic--it’s her defining character trait--but we see the bad side of that as well as the good. we see that her need to help others  leads her to act rashly, to get herself into danger, to put others in danger too. 

and she has her very own arc. it’s not about her love for another person, either (what a snooze of a storyline); it’s about growing up and learning to break down some of that stubborn black-and-white thinking that we all indulge in as children. it’s a true coming-of-age arc and it belongs to a fourteen-year-old girl. 

when i, to use a phrase i find crass, “entered the fandom,” i quickly realized that other fans’ perceptions of katara did not line up with the things i valued most about her. other fans seemed to valorize her most socially acceptable feminine qualities: her generosity, her kindness, her dedication to helping others. and of course i love those parts of her--i love everything about her--but what is really remarkable about avatar: the last airbender is that katara’s many important virtues are also counterbalanced by equally significant flaws. a good character has flaws. katara is a good character, and a deviation from the characters who made up my formative media landscape, because she has flaws. her temper, her idealism, her stubbornness--these are flaws. flaws make her seem real and human and challenge the mainstream sentiment that girls are not real or human.

it simply did not occur to me that celebrating these aspects of katara that make her a realistic and well-written teenage girl would spark ire from other adult fans. it absolutely did not occur to me that i would then be blamed for somehow causing misogynistic interpretations of this character, particularly given that misogynistic interpretations of this character are the very thing i sought to correct when i began to blog about this television show.

i’m told there are “fans” on instagram and tiktok who think katara is whiny, annoying, and overly preoccupied with her trauma. i do not use instagram or tiktok, so i wouldn’t know, but i’ll take your word for it. respectfully, however, they didn’t get that from me. misogynistic takes on katara have existed since before i came along. i have never, ever called katara whiny. and seeing as i have been treating my own PTSD in therapy for nine years, you can safely conclude that i don’t think anyone, katara included, is overly preoccupied with their trauma. that’s not a thing. do i think she’s annoying? of course not! as a character, she’s a delight. does she sometimes find real joy in aggravating her brother and her friends? yes, because she’s 14. i, an adult, am not annoyed by her. sokka and toph often are, because that is katara’s goal and katara always succeeds in her goals. she’s not “annoying.” 

if there are “fans” who are indeed following lesbians4sokka and somehow misreading every single post and interpreting them to mean that we hate katara and they should too, i don’t really know what you want me to do about that. l4s has over ten thousand followers and we have already posted so many essays disavowing katara hate. our feminist and antiracist objectives in running the blog are literally pinned with the headline “please read.”

furthermore, you cannot reasonably expect my co-blogger and me to control the way our words will be received. we should not have to, and are not going to, add a disclaimer to every post saying that when we critique or make jokes about a teenage girl we are doing so through a feminist lens. our url is lesbians4sokka, and we are clearly women. if that alone doesn’t make it obvious, then refer back to that pinned post. 

it is indescribably frustrating, and really goddamn depressing as well, that people are so comfortable with the misogynistic binary of Perfect Good Women and Flawed Wicked Bitches that they perceive any discussion of a woman’s flaws to be necessarily relegating her to the latter camp. if that is how you (a generic you) perceive women, then i’m sorry, but you’ve internalized sexism that i cannot cure you of. and it’s unjust to expect my friend and me to write for the lowest common denominator of readers who have not yet had their own feminist awakenings. we do not write picture books for babies. we write for ourselves, and with the expectation that our readers can think critically. reading media through a feminist lens is my primary interest; i have no intention of excising that angle from my writing.

as i go through my life, i am going to embrace the flaws of girls and women because not enough people do. as long as the dominant narratives surrounding women are “good and perfect” and “unlovable wh*re,” you’ll find me highlighting flawed, realistic, righteously angry women in the margins. and for what it’s worth, it’s not just katara. i champion depictions of angry girls in all sorts of media. that’s sort of my whole thing. my favorite movies are part of the angry girl cinematic universe: thoroughbreds, jennifer’s body, hard candy, jojo rabbit, et cetera. on tv, in addition to katara, you’ll find me celebrating tuca and bertie, poppy from mythic quest, tulip and lake from infinity train, korra, and more. i adore all these women and see myself in them. i hope you find this suitably persuasive to establish that i have sufficient Feminist Cred, according to your standards, to observe and write about these very flawed and human fictional women. 

what i’m saying is this: i decline to take responsibility for the misogynistic discourse orbiting a children’s cartoon. as someone who writes about that series from a perspective that seeks to add humanity and nuance to the reductive, one-dimensional, overwhelmingly sexist writing that already exists, i am pretty taken aback that i am the one being blamed for the very problem i sought to address. except not that taken aback because i am a woman online, haha! and this is always how it goes for us. 

finally, i think it sucks that you’ve chosen to blame me for a problem that begins and ends with the patriarchy. i can’t control the way this response will be perceived, just like how i can’t control the way anything will be perceived because i am just one human woman, but i do hope you choose to be reflective, and consider why you’ve chosen this avenue to assign blame. 

[trrickytickle]

✿ aang + zuko hcs !! ✿

happy birthday @token-lee​ !! ur so poggers and cool and i love u so much so i made u headcanons,, 15 for each character bc ur 15 now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  🌪️ ☁️  🌻 ❀ sO like most hcs i believe aang had a lot of experience with twords,,, growing up at the air temple, he has been both the lee and the ler. although he refused to admit it at first, after finding out his status and prior to the unfreezing, he missed tickles sm lmao,, and katara and sokka were happy to help with that >:3 !! (he thoroughly regrets ever telling them)

❀ squeals like a mf. oh and he KICKS. just he tries to defend himself in the most ridiculous ways and always fails,, toph and katara are often enlisted to hold him down. 

❀ ler leaning switch. loves the game, not the sensation but he still likes it!! the other gaang members primarily tword him as a “punishment” or if theyre feeling a lil wrestly,, aaa he mostly gets got by katara bc shes da gf, sokka, and toph

❀ when zuko was introduced into the group, he wasn’t used to physical touch and a caring family, so when aang tried to start a tickle fight, he lost to an incredibly yell-y, rough and sadistic ler!zuko who apologized profusely. (”that’s how azula used to do it, and, um, she wasn’t the best, not at tickling, but at being a sister, well anyways, uh,,, -scar boy 2kxx) 

❀ when the sky bison and winged lemurs repopulated aang was incredibly ecstatic to see that the furry friends he grew up with were still alive, resulting in a swarm of baby sky bison and winged lemurs snuggling up against him and nuzzling against him with their fluff,, a lethal attack >:00 ❀ LER WISE hes so mean and playful!! like teasing, jumpin around, bending, and giggling along its SO CUTE,, he makes his lees- especially zuko- start giggling in anticipation and aang knows and takes pride in it, especially with the poopoo not poggers jerk prince zuko/j

❀ giant air raspberries thats the post.

❀ octopus technique that’s the post.

❀ buckling the lee down with earthbending when they move too much that’s the post.

❀ fireb- NO NO THAT’S NOT THE POST

 ❀ post tickle symptoms include earth shattering hiccups, which are fun for a group of travelling teenagers who sleep outdoors, mainly on mountains or caves. f u n!!!!

❀ aang and toph mud-wrestle during training and one more than one occassion, it’s turned into a tk free for all. 

❀ kataang smooches with tickles. they do be wholesome,, also neck raspberry. brrt. 

❀ sokka messes with him a lot, and you bet your ass this involves him being Mega Ler. like hes the epitome of ler with him. SUKI ON THE OTHER HAND

❀ suki and sokka helped him get into the avatar kyoshi getup again. the face paint ended in suki wrecking tf out of him for the duration of time it took.

❀ light on his feet = t,, tword,, is, h,, 

❀ bro tumby. him tumby. 

🧨  🔥  🎇

❀ blushy lee asf. the gaang wouldn’t let it slide and aang would try everything to fluster him, but only mai/sokka/whoeverthefuckyoushiphimwith knows how to TRULY fluster him- being slooow and gentle!! he gets all huffy and muffles his mouth to prevent his cute lil flustered giggles.

❀ the one to change his opinions on tickles and help him get comfortable was toph- she made sure to stop when it got too far for him- she always knew, thanks to her seismic sense abilities. he’d never admit it, but he kind of liked when toph tworded him, it was an oportunity to be closer to his friend in a comfortable way. he thought toph felt that way as well, but really toph is just an incrediblly stubborn lee who just wanted him to gib the tickl. now. firebender? more like firebendLER. please ler me big brother who gives me a sense of companionship.

❀ snorting. squealing. wheezing. giggling. any noise in the book, he definetly makes. so fuckin cute and precious HSDBAH

❀ chile anyways he pouts when he cant think of a clever rebuttal to the gaang’s teases (*leans in and whispers* sokka’s are the hardest) because they’re. so. MEAN

❀ textbook definition of lee, this man is. but ler, he can be. he was the latest in the group to find out THEY were twordish too bc hes a dum. chile anyways he goes after aang and toph the most.

❀ zuko and katara are practically toph’s parents so she craves tickles from them the most, but she doesn’t know how to ask. zuko is very oblivious to toph’s lee moods, but katara knows all. 

❀ ra- *gets mauled* pentapus bites- this mans biggest weakness. will yell-laugh, attempt to kick his lee off,, 

❀ the gaang helping him change his mind about tickles bc azula and ty lee used to destroy him. (mai was too busy bi panicing over teasy ty lee and giggly zuko.) i imagine they like to do it softly, not like some writers out there (glares at kyoko pfp and slow writer with god level fics  ) 

❀ chile anyways so teasing. they each have their own brand when it comes to making zuko redder than his non poggers scar. toph’s is more like taunting, aang is super silly and just,, cute, katara likes making little comments, sokka sucks at it but that’s what makes it good, and suki’s suki. like, you know, casual comments?

❀ it’s the face covering for me. think you can hide your lee? miss girl no. 

❀ ah yes the rare occurance. zuko squeaking. mostly happens when his neck or shoulderblades are attacked because the light touches kill him. 

❀ curling up into a ball like an armadillo-whatever because this is the atla world and h, hybrids,,, and wait actually curling up + covering his face. adorable out of this world i am LIVING for it. he looks smaller when he’s in a ball because of the flustered zuko shrinking theory.

❀ back to the theory. when you fluster a zuko enough he turns into a constantly shrinking pile of blushy mush which tries to surpress a big smile. 

❀ this was only recently discovered because azula never flustered him or made him feel safe or happy. she bullied him. tortured him and made him bitter about even the sheer thought of tickling. but now that he has his friends family, his opinion changed, knowing that they were people he could trust and talk to about just about anything.  ❀ the gaang never does anything intrusive or kinda mean. (again, GLARING at a major writer.) just nice :D things. no straddling him down and continuously doing hard stuff for hours on end. (glares at another human.) thank you and sorry for all the glaring. 

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Thank you for also calling out the Azula fans that call Zuko "whiny" (I suspect they also think Katara is whiny for talking about her mother). Like you cant call yourself a true Azula fan if you dont empathize with how trauma works. It's like saying Azula is whiny for mentally breaking down at the end of the show. The callousness is scary to see, it's something what Ozai would say.

You’re welcome. I try not to demonize a whole portion of the fandom. I don’t like it when people demonize Azula’s fans and don’t listen to them. So I try to keep an open mind about the perspectives of Zuko’s fans. 

Under the cut because this got kind of long and maybe some sensitive themes?

I think that some of it has to do with simple character bias. Ex.) I like Azula more so it’s easier for me to defend her and sympathize with her. I tend to lean towards uplifting Azula and sometimes (though I don’t particularly mean to) it can come at Zuko’s expanse. And the reverse happens a lot too; people like Zuko more so those people demonize Azula to make him look better. Or they simply don’t like Zuko so everything he does is annoying, stupid, ect. Likewise people don’t like Azula so she’s pure evil and the worst person ever and so on.

But I also feel like a lot of it has to do with everyone coming from different walks of life. Some people may find it harder to empathize with trauma because they’ve never experienced abuse. They can sympathize but in order to empathize you have to have gone through the same thing. I also think that it’s important to factor in that people react to their own traumas in different ways and have had different types of traumas. These two things can impact how a person interprets and interacts with different fictional characters. My take on Azula and Zuko are going to be vastly different from someone else’s. My take will also be similar to someone else’s take but with subtle differences. Because I experienced different things than the next person over. And I deal with things that I’ve experienced in a different way than the next person over.

Oml though, I’ve actually seen that on instagram. Someone posted this pic;

and the comments were just flooded with, ‘lol Azula’s a crybaby’.

I hated that so fucking much. And I hated it for the same reason that I hate it when Azula’s fans call Zuko a baby. I know that we’re just talking about fictional characters; but what they went through is so profound. And for some people (minus the bending aspects) these situations are very real and to see fans being dismissive of situations be it Zuko’s (child abuse) or Azula’s (mental health struggles) is disheartening. The truth is, both Azula and Zuko have tragic stories and they both warrant sympathy. Neither of them where whiney or overdramatic. They were kids, deeply wounded kids. 

And even the Katara thing too. I actually thought that she brought up her mom too much for the longest of time. But then I lost my brother and... yeah it be like that. Even if you don’t mean to, you find yourself saying something like, ‘my mother used to love this.’ 

I bring this up to kind of bring home the point; perspective and life experience really impacts how you view characters. My own experience changed how I feel about Katara’s mentioning of her mother.

All of that said, I feel like this fandom can be kind of dismissive of other people’s experiences. People get so caught up in discourse and defending their characters that other POV’s are lost. And I can’t condemn anyone for that (especially since I’m guilty of that too every now and again), it’s really hard to see things from another person’s prospective in general. 

I think that the important thing is to just be mindful of other people’s experiences and to try to keep an open mind.

[koishua]

I am not great at theorizing but I would love to hear about your favorite characters from atla!

oh my, i am SO down for this. let me take a look, okay

i wont rank them or anything bc i love them all, but my top five would be uncle iroh, sokka, toph, suki, and azula.

UNCLE IROH. is the story's source of lesson and of wisdom. he is such an icon and he is loved by all istg he is the best man ever i love him so much i wish i was related to him as a niece like zuko or something. he truly is so wise and kind against all.

he is one of a kind, he was such a gem and held a strong view of what was wrong and what was right. i think people underestimate how great of a bender he is, tho. he was a member of the order of the lotus (eyyy the oldies but goldies gang basically lmao) aka the strongest people ever hello?? he represented the fire nation in that group and my GOd is he an amazing one.

he is different from most, because unlike other firebenders, his skills and abilities aren't directly derived from anger and fury. that's why he isn't as hot headed as regular firebenders and even teaches zuko about this (which works bc zuko is considerably calmer later in the series)

and then there is his legacy. mans beat an entire dragon in a battle of flames?? he breathes fire too so that's always the coolest thing ever and his diligence while working himself back to prepare for war in that prison absolutely took me out omg the way he strategizes??? explains why he was a general. he has a heart of gold unlike any.

SOKKA. now for him, i have the biggest amount of respect and adoration for. let's adress the elephant in the room here. he singlehandedly devised a ginormous plan to defeat am empire that has been raising tyranny for over a century. how fucking awsome can one get?? mr sexy brain amirite?

plus, he was completely skilless the first part of the series and his entire growth just blows me away every single time. sure, he had his little boomerang but that was it. after they created gaang tho, his potential was so fully exploited i cant even express how proud i am oml he was diamond in the rough.

he acted so brash and was the comedic relief character a lot of the times, so his subtle feats of intelligence didn't get noticed a lot, but oml the way i am down bad for him. his determination and desperation to become god at a skill is so enjoyable to watch like,,, the piandao episode where he learns how to wield a sword is one of my favorite episodes of all time!! anyways, this is getting alittle long so lets move on to....

TOPH BEIFONG. listen. lis-ten. thats my girl right there. i was eight when i first watched atla and she was twelve and the amount of confidence she instilled in little-me is just- *sobs* (also i realized that she is literlly the only character in this with an official lastname lmfao)

toph is forever going to remain as THAT icon. her mindset is as stable and stubborn as they go because of her earthbending lmao i love how self-assured she is. she is the definition of born into riches, growing to become greatness.

her heritage is not at all important to who she is as a character and most people even forget that she is insanely wealthy because she never mentions it. but anyway that is beside my point idk why i touched on this aspect. moving on!!

i feel like they portrayed her childish nature so well in this series like?? sure, she was the greatest earthbender of all time and still is, she was also a twelve year old tween lmao she was something else istg

and her sass, humor and just her entire attitude was so solid oml she was THAT bitch and i mean it in the most awed way possible. i can talk about her more but imma keep it short for this post's sake.

SUKI. my idol right here y'all. this is my og feminist queen right here. badass woman i love her so much. embodies courage, hard work and strength in oneself. man, kyoshi warriors are super awesome i literlly do not have any other words about her other than "woah"

obviously, she couldnt bend at all but growing up on kyoshi island, one made by avatar kyoshi herself by literally parting an entire section of land away to carry them back to make an island by spouting out lava hundreds of miles down the ocean floor is just???? but we aren't here to talk about the blood-thirsty woman rn-

she learned how to deal damage on benders who dared to attack their homeland and she is just- just- idk ugh she is so gorgeous too like?? forget about sokka please, come marry me instead i beg you ;-;

suki is so quick to react to danger and doesn't wait for anyone to save the day. she knows what she can do and she does her best to help ;-; im thinking about that once moment when toph fell into the ocean and suki was the first one to dive right in their to save her while everyone else was just literally standing there lmao even katara who could literally bend water

AZULA. now, this is where shit goes down. i lover her as a character that has been developed to show what a bad childhood environment could lead to in children who are particularly cunning and born a little sharper than others.

azula was a threat to all at the age of fifteen. fif-teen. she was a mastermind in countless incredible plans that overtake populations and she is so incredible quick-witted. perfectly evil for the sake of being evil, but also not at the same time.

the azula we last see in the agni kai between her and zuko, her own bilogical older brother whom she had tormented pretty much their entire life, was the product of accumulated trauma and pressure that she had been subject to ever since she had learned bending fire. blue fire.

she had shown from the start that she was gifted and strong and was on a league of her own compared to other kids. all of her childhood was spent garnering the approval of her father and grandfather who were toxic and evil and bad role models for her. anyone who grows up in bad environments are guaranteed to turn out messed up.

her mother preferred the softer zuko than her sadistic daughter and not receiving her mother's affection enough really showed its consequences in the last few episodes where you get to see her breaking down. she hallucinates about her mother and it was so heartbreaking to watch for me as a seventeen year old. i didn't really get the extent of her pschotic breakdown as an eight year old.

for heaven's sake, she was a devil. idk my thought are so scattered rn but i feel like i can make a post about her complicated character later when i gather my thoughts properly bahaha

tldr for azula: gifted child gone horribly wrong

anyhow, this was super fun omg