#not quite zutara so im sorry

[burst-of-iridescent]

sometimes i don't mind kataang and then other times i just remember the finale of katara kissing a 12yo boi im sorry 💀💀💀 also tumblr rly did away with the absolute gold zutara posts huh 😭

you and me both, anon.

the finale kiss is just... so incredibly bizarre that i cannot fathom why on earth bryke ever thought it was a good idea. not only is katara acting extremely ooc, the way the shot is framed and sequenced just makes it feel very odd. they hug, the camera pans out as if to the ending card, and then it pans back in for a very long and unnecessary kiss before panning back out again? almost feels like something was hurriedly added at the last minute...

if they had to end with a kat.aang romance, i would've far preferred if they'd gone with something subtler and more classy like a brief, chaste peck or actually having dialogue where katara talks to aang about her feelings and how they've changed. anything would've been better than the weird makeout session they gave us.

i'm not quite sure what you mean by the last part but i assure you that there is still a wealth of amazing zutara posts on tumblr! all you need to do is go into the zutara tag to find incredibly well thought out metas, headcanons, fics, art, and all the other wonderful content that makes this community the amazing place it is. there's a reason we've been going strong for almost two decades now <3

[kataraslove]

not the same anon but i am a zutara fan who is also a kataang fan. imo, i found it much easier to navigate kataang spaces as a zuko fan. yes there is some bitterness and bad takes (as is all fans) but the kataang fandom from what ive experienced majority doesn't seem to have a problem with zutara as an actual ship, its the shippers. so when i interact most people are fine with me enjoying zutara because im not being nasty about it. however the zutara fandom is very much a.. hive mind, to put it one way. a lot of fans can't bare the fact that the ship is fanon, and as most of us know kataang and aang especially is n1. enemy. I've been kicked out of discords for saying i don't think aang is an incel, and a lot of people have the belief that aang deserves better than kataang too whilst simultaneously arguing that he was extremely toxic and self centered. the fandom is very toxicly centred on katara and zuko, although have a very narrow view of katara that only exists within shipping lenses but if you point it out they call you sexist. to put it nicely: being a kataang and aang fan in the zutara fandom is hellish, because someone will always come at you. the amount of people who say im not even a zutara fan, or am probably a zukka fan trying to stir trouble. most people who are multishippers (ship katara & zuko with other characters that aren't zutara approved) tend to stick to their own little circles to avoid harassment

i just want to state that while i do think the kataang fandom has a problem with zuko and katara romantically, we’ve never really had a problem with their friendship. we just don’t think it’s one of the defining relationships of the show that a lot of people make it out to be. if you had to ask me, the most prominent relationships in atla are katara and aang, zuko and aang, zuko and iroh, zuko and azula, & katara and sokka.

it’s ridiculous that you were kicked out of a whole discord simply for stating that aang isn’t an incel. when a shipping fandom continues to sprout this type of nonsense towards the main character, a character that is beloved to many people, of course people are going to take issue on it and turn against the fandom.

the hate towards aang (disguised in the form of “critique” often) is quite disengenuine many times because i doubt that they would despise him as much if he had ended up with someone else. if aang is this horrible, awful predator that they make him out to be - why ship him with toph, a blind girl? manipulative and abusive men (things that I’ve seen aang called) do not change their behaviours and attitudes towards women based on whom they date. toph or anyone else won’t be able to “fix” aang. if you genuinely believe aang to be a predator and ship him with someone else, you are stating that you are completely fine if this other character is subjected to the horrible things that you believe he is capable of doing. so, either you don’t genuinely believe that aang is a predator, or you have to admit that your willing to put aside your fandom feminism so long as he doesn’t end up with the person that you think zuko deserves.

“very narrow view of katara that exists through shipping lens” is the best way to describe it. the view that katara was a victim by aang and the gaang - that she had no agency, or free thought, and had to be rescued by zuko - is not understanding katara! i’ve never seen a fandom so insistent on viewing katara as a helpless victim at the hands of the gaang, someone who performs all the emotional labour (fandom buzzword), and proclaiming that the writers/creators did her a huge disservice… whilst replicating that dynamic in their fics. except this time, zuko - excuse me, dadko - helps her out with the chores, defends her, protects her, until she ultimately can get her agency back from the gaang and start standing up for herself after realizing her worth.

sorry, but how am i supposed to believe that this is the fandom that understands and cares for katara the best? this isn’t canon katara - this is a version of katara that you have projected your own interests and desires and issues onto. canon katara has no problem telling people where to shove it if you stand in her way. and the gaang agrees with her, has done so in many of her episodes. the southern raiders is a special case, but even then, neither aang nor sokka actively try to stop her from confronting her mother’s killer. they advise that revenge isn’t the best option — and for the love of god, that opinion does not mean that they are demonizing her. the southern raiders is a tale about katara confronting her mother’s killer, of seeking justice, of seeking retribution - but it’s also a journey of forgiveness; katara learns not just how to forgive zuko for his betrayal, but also learns to forgive herself for the survivor’s guilt that she experiences from her mother’s death.

the criticism towards post-canon is that katara’s entire character revolves around aang. and i agree to an extent - especially in those awful gene luen yang comics barring north and south. but why is the solution in fanon then to attribute everything about katara towards zuko and the fire nation? katara is the southern water tribe ambassador to the fire nation, katara experiences liberation from her friends and family because of zuko, firelady katara, etc, are all popular tropes or perspectives emphasizing katara’s role and connection towards zuko and to the fire nation. you can’t tell me that katara was done so horribly in post-canon, then insist that firelady (a connection defined by her worth to her husband and his nation) is the best possible outcome for her and the feminist ending that she deserved. oh, and that everyone (no matter if they ship kataang or zutara) who doesn’t see it this way are all sexist.

“shipping katara and zuko with characters that are zutara approved” i wonder what characters those are. for katara, is it yue? suki? jiang? for zuko, is it jet? a lot of people in the kataang fandom also ship katara with other women (myself included). the kataang to sapphic katara pipeline exists for a reason.

I’m sorry about your experiences in the zutara fandom, anon. but i’m glad you’ve had more positive experiences in the kataang fandom to make up for all the awful shit you’ve had to deal with! hoping you know that there’s always a safe space here ❤️

[thegeminisage]

6, 13, 18?

HI BESTIE ty for asking sorry i didnt do it last night I Went To Bed. lets fuckin go

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

well, look, the obvious answer would be those j*hnlock truthers, and i do hope those tjlc people are having a wretched day rn wherever they are, but ACTUALLY im actually choosing atla for this just to say (sorry) i hate zu//kka SO MUCH. i hate it so much, it's unreal. i don't particularly have beef with the shippers necessarily but i think the concept is so fucking lame. it's a classic case of migratory slash fandom paired with a side of misogyny. the thought process goes like "zuko is rotting holes in my brain > want to ship him with someone > i don't want to ship him with a female character > the only one left is sokka." (even though suki is right there.) aang is out on the basis of being a baby and the rest of the gaang is girls. if you don't like zutara that's fine, but sokka/zuko is the SAME THING with less anger issues and less women. katara is kind of a devisive character to begin with (this is misogyny) but then one time i saw someone deride zutara for being "straight" to reason why shipping zuko with sokka was superior and i have never forgiven it. IT'S THE SAME SHIP. like HOW was this popular enough to PIT ZUKO/SOKKA/SUKI IN THE OT3 SEMIFINAL POLL? hello?? what were they doing there?? suki and zuko speak TWO LINES to one another! god! i guess that's better than using your ship to excuse hating suki but jesus christ it's so transparent just say you hate women and go

13. worst blorboficiation

i'm not doing this one or your other one for spn bc someone else sent in these exact numbers so i am choosing teen wolf. what im gonna say is so controversial but it's actually peter hale and it's not even fanon that did this IT'S CANON. i used to be a big peter fan and then it got completely ruined. ok so peter's whole thing, right, is that he's a deeply horrible person and that kate argent burned every molecule of humanity out of him during the hale fire. okay, got it. fuck yeah. that's rad. SO WHY THEN. IN THE SEASON 3 FLASHBACK EPISODE. WAS HE ACTING EXACTLY THE SAME AS HE DID AS AN ADULT. and this was the one thing that fanon was getting RIGHT. pre-fire versions of peter in fic were wildly different to post-fire versions BECAUSE THAT WAS THE IMPLICATION. peter works perfectly as a villain because his actions are reprehensible but his motives are justified which makes him COMPLEX and with one episode they RUINED IT. it speaks to a larger problem of jeff davis backtracking a lot of stuff that was said or implied in season 1 (such as kate preying on derek when he was underage) for censorship or what the fuck ever. now whenever i see peter in anything the only thing i wanna do is roll my eyes. they made him like him for ten whole minutes in 6A and that was the best it ever got again. sorry to peter hale fans.

18. it’s absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on…

i won't list my teenwolf rarepair here, but that. oh, wait, actually, my ff13 rarepair. fang & lightning are WAY BETTER than fang & vanille. this on the basis of 1. hot. that section where you can do double commando. sexy. 2. everyone keeps calling vanille a kid and it weirds me out to ship her with someone who calls her that/thinks of her that way 3. lightning/fang is sort of the same dynamic as lightning/snow which i love in a NONROMANTIC way in that lightning is the straight man, very stoic, and fang is so flippant and casual about everything and so open with her emotions that it gets on her nerves until it becomes endearing. and theyre both quite In Charge generally so when lightning is like well every monster is one step closer to rescuing vanille they keep each other going in that same way, out of sheer stubbornness. anyway 10/10 ship dynamic i completely understand and respect fang/vanille fans but i wish fang/lightning got the same amt of attention

[ASK MEME]

[zutara]

Dalz here! This is by far my favorite ask, so thank you anon!

To answer this, it really depends on your ships? And your kinks hehe. I was going to post for recs for every ship, but got bored after Kagehina and Iwaoi. If you want more, or for a different pairing, just ask again. For now, here ya go:

Kagehina:

Binding Problem: magesticartax. 163,546. 28 chapters and ongoing. Rated E.

The most involved and canon-aligning fic that exists. Ongoing, but the author actually updates (though infrequently, so you’ll be waiting). It’s worth the wait I promise. Beautifully written mutual pining and the slowest, tastiest burn. Probably more like Teen an Up rating right now, but things should escalate soon.

Somewhere to Belong: Esselle. 37,761 words. 4 chapter. Rated E

 Best Haikyuu au fic around. It’s a kageyama loner/sungod hinata au and it’s everything you need in your life. Also, I won’t tag them all, but EVERYTHING by this author is worth reading. You can find her Tumblr here.

Fate Mates: JeweledTygerLily. 95,339 words. 22/? Chapters (basically complete though, with a sequel started). Rated E.

Omegaverse au based on the infamous oneshot Oh God by Olympic Platinum, or orphan_account on ao3 I think, which is also a stellar read. This chapter fic, while it does have some awkward writing and grammar inconsistencies, is overall a fun and exciting read with emotional drama and good sex scenes. The sequel, Fates Revealed, continues with the characters playing volleyball in college (5 chapters, but on hiatus).

I like the Way Your Clothes Smell: Mysecretfanmoments. 75,278 words. 19 chapters. Not Rated

A classic, this fanfic probably was my first kagehina. It’s sweet and fun and there’s volleyball. What more could you ask for? I’d probably rate it Mature, but the author says where to skip if you want to avoid nsfw

Am I Gay? Please Help: buu. 37,371 words. 19/20 chapters (but complete honestly). Rated Teen and Up

Cute misunderstandings, Kageyama realizing he’s gay, and fluffy hinata not-dates! Also one of my first introduction into the fandom.

The Sum of Its Parts: anonymouschupacabra. 140,848 words. 54 Chapters. Rated E.

Kageyama has a child and lots of tattoos. Hinata is bakery fluff. Romance ensues. (It’s well written, but I’m not very down for Kagehina with past relationships tbh).

Impressions: Momus. 55,530 words. 11 chapters. Rted E.

Model hinata is too short to make it! What happens when he becomes the assistant of the stoic top model Kageyama Tobio? Read and find out~~

The Sum of Our Parts: Vixen13. 47.890 words. 14 chapters. Rated E.

Don’t confuse this with the previous fic! This is a dramatic omegaverse where Kageyama bonds with Hinata to protect him from authorities that are anti-omega. He influences Hinata’s mind but ends up falling in love in the process.

Hunger Series: Esselle. 32,669 words. 4 chapters (plus continuation). Rated E

One more by Esselle! This one is omegaverse inspired where Hinata is a cute and innocent prince who runs into the lone wolf Kageyama in the forest and smexy times ensue.

Soul-pair: Yoloo312. 78,659 wordss. 27 chapters. Rated E.

 Pretty similar to Fate Mates, but not quite as good. Omegaverse where you have soul mates.

The Heart of The Jungle: Esselle. 50,148 words. 6 chapters. Rated E.

One more Esselle because I can’t help it. This one is a tarzan au. HOT.

The Video: Navybluewings. 53,473 words. 7 chapters. Rated E.

College Kageyama and Hinata need to pay rent, so they make a porno and also obviously are idiots in love.

Routine: someonestolemyshoes. 29,188 words. 4 chapters. Rated E

Kageyama must be home every night so that he can jerk off to camboy Hinata. Delicious.

Whole Milk Series: Esselle. 4 works. Rated E.

Kageyama is a prostitute. Hinata is an innocent floof.  Nuff said.

The Show Must Go On AND Friends Will Be Friends: someonestolemyshoes and esselle respectively. Rated E.

Can’t really explain? But if you read routine and then whole Milk, then you can read these two fics. I read these while sitting in a library and couldn’t stop shrieking outloud.

Come and Get Lost With Us: boxofwonder. 150,504 words. 28 chapters. Rated Mature.

Emotional forest au where Hinata’s makeshift tribe take in and heal Kageyama, a hunter with a mysterious past. Includes some adorable daisuga and kuroken side plots.

The Kids Aren’t Alright: anonymouschupacabra. 69,493 words. 33 chapters. Rated Mature.

Coffee Shop au! Couldn’t not include at least one.

Parisienne Walkways: someonestolemyshoes. 3 parts. Rated Mature and Explicit.

Sexy figure skating au with good sex and better angst.

Cry of a Fallen Crow: Sakuchii. 112,205 words. 24 chapters (incomplete but updating). Rated Teen

Hinata pretends to be a girl and marries Kageyama at 17 to save his family and protect his sister. Plot idea is great, but writing and pacing certainly leave something to be desired. I usually skim for the cute Kagehina moments.

Just Friends: okoyee. 17,109 words. 5 chapters (very incomplete). Not Rated.

I hate putting up incomplete fics, especially those that look like they’ll never be finished. And yet…just trust me. These 5 chapters are everything. Also. If you comment maybe it will inspire the author to continue!

Denial: martialartist816. 10,028. 4 chapters. Rated E.

Description given: “If we don’t kiss, it’s not gay.” /squeels/

Acceptable Risk: Mysecretfanmoments. 46,108 words. 5 chapters. Rated E

College roommates with mutual pining!

Handgun, Fire, and Key: kvhottie. 13,570. 11 chapters. Rated Mature

Yakuza children/Romeo and Juliet au.

Unexpected Fixations: Natsumiofgames. 27,947 words. 4 chapters. Rated E

Hinata loses a bet and is forced to wear a cheerleader outfit. Kageyama goes crazy and pwp gets real. I would rate this one Mature though.

King and The Lion Heart: MaryLouLeach. 113,073 words. 39 Chapters (and still updating). Rated Mature.

Highschool Omegaverse but with a good amount of abuse as well as pretty sloppy writing. I’m including this fic if you’re desperate for anything kagehina, like me :p

The one that I need (could be right here by my side): kagome_angel. 32,950 words. 13 chapters. Rated E

Our cute beans fall in love! Pretty basic plotline

Saffron and Cayenne Pepper: dontsaycrazy. 30,773 words. 7 chapters. Rated Teen and Up

Hinata can’t cook so his hot neighbor decides to help him out.

You’re my Forever: camra01. 19,416 words. Oneshot. Rated E.

Omegaverse where the paor reunite after meeting in childhood. Cute alpha jealousy and fake relationship.

Good Boy: kieranlikesplants. 1,870 words. Oneshot. Rated E.

Very self-indulgent praise and daddy kink fic. Hinata wears black panties so please don’t read this at work…

Shoutout to the tens of Kagehina fanfics I’ve bookmarked over the years that have since been taken down! Especially “Volleyball Homos” and “Being Seventeen Sucks,” (by crapso), and “Something New.” True gifts to the fandom.

Iwaoi:

Something Like Us: the_madame21. 28,916 words. 10 chapter. Rated E

Easily the best iwaoi fanfic written. Omegaverse and consensual. Best portrayal of mutual pining iwaoi and they also play volleyball on the national team so extra plus! Gets hot and heavy right away too~~

The Alpha King & I: caelestisxyz. 147,276 words. 17 chapters. Rated E

Still omegaverse lol. Alpha Iwa-chan has been cursed to live hundreds of years wandering the Earth, alone, until he find the reincarnation of his past love of course. Side plot of Ken and Shigeru. I almost didn’t give this a read because of the fantasy/past lives aspect, but it’s pretty secondary to the romance. Definitely has drama and mentions abuse though (in the side plot) so check the tags.

The Jewel of Seijoh Series: timetopretend. 4 consecutive one shots. Rated E

The smuttiest, kinkiest, most indulgent iwaoi omegaverse you will ever read (but at your own risk). You. Need. To. Read. It. Honestly, read everything by this author.

A Place to Call Home: the_madame21. 191,554 words. 44 Chapters. Rated E

This omegaverse (are you sensing a trend in my tastes?!) fic is definitely worth reading. Not abusive/fully consensual, which is rare for omegaverse. Also, cute mommy Oikawa! and a decent side Bokuaka plotline. Two or three steamy lemons. 10/10 recommend. Pretty ooc though.

Healing the Broken: caelestisxyz. 108,726 words. 14 chapters. Rated E

Finally not omegaverse! Modern au where Iwazumi is a traumatized boxer who moves to New York to escape is troubles. Oikawa is in a band. Not so true to canonverse, but it’s a fun ride if you’re up for it.

Conquering the Great King: suggestivescribe. 105,591 words. 17 chapters. Rated E

Currently rereading this one actually. Lives up to the memory for sure. Mostly PWP and there’s smexy office sex and teasing Daisuga.

To be first, to be best: kittebasu. 26,404. Oneshot. Rated Teen and Up

Cute, long oneshot where Oikawa finds an excuse to move in with Iwa and there is pining.

Where We Begin: chip1. 53,570 words. 13/14 chapters (and updating). Rated Mature.

Getting together story with lots of pining. Pretty nicely paced slow burn with copious amounts of angst.

We Shine Like Diamonds: whitemiists. 26,733. Oneshot. Rated Teen and Up

Another sweet and long oneshot with iwaoi growing up and Oikawa figuring out he’s in love.

No Room For Pretend: orphan_account. 12,600. Oneshot. Rated Teen and Up

The fake boyfriend au we all need.

Build a Temple in Me: Authoress. 39,780. Oneshot. Teen and Up

The author describes it as “a mix between the children->friends->lovers au and a Japanese folklore-ish story.” Oikawa is a god-like creature and Iwa happens to find him.

Shiver: Yuu_chi. 16,703. Oneshot. Rated Teen and Up

Another cute oneshot, but this time Iwa is the one figuring out he is in love.

Always, My Pillar of Faith. Starlitcities. 16,609. Oneshot. Rated Mature

Long a deep oneshot. Lots of Tooru pining. There’s cheating on an oc, but otherwise a fic that will give you feels in all the right places.

I CANNOT FIND my favorite iwaoi oneshot. This is calling all iwaoi fanpeoples to help me! It’s a long, slow burn where oikawa is a nerdy, smart, and sensitive child with no friends until bug collector Iwaizumi moves in next door and they become best friends. In high school tooru shoots up and girls start to flock to him, but Iwa knows that he is just the geeky, alien loving boy he always was. Obviously, they fall in love happily ever after. Any ideas??

So to be honest, these are just a selection of the thousands of fics I’ve read…let me know if you want part two or ever are looking for one in particular. Happy reading!

[mens-rights-activia]

hey, i mean this as a geniune question, you dont have to post this, but i was wondering if you were an anti-anti, meaning you think stuff like fictional pedophilia or abuse and such isnt wrong? the op of this post [https://mens-rights-activia.tumblr.com/post/647578227342278656/i-said-it-before-and-ill-say-it-again-but-funny] is, and the post was written in context of said opinion, so i was concerned. again, this isnt meant to be accusatory, so im sorry if it seems so. have a nice day

I thought that post was about people only caring about children in theory but then in practice not actually caring/doing anything about things that affect children? Or did I read that post wrong also I honestly do not read most OP’s names or click on their blogs on most posts I reblog I just interact with stuff as they are on my dash so I have no idea about the OP of the post or if there’s more to what that post said,

And for the record I’m not an anti-anti or whatever that means I haven’t ever shipped any two fictional characters together since zutara, and that’s the only thing over ever shipped so I’m not quite up to date on a lot of what goes on on fandoms tbh

[lesbianklance]

I remember you saying you started shipping zutara (which again proofs that your taste in ships is magnificent), so, I was wondering, do you already have some cute headcanons for them? 👀

ngl not really im sorry😭

i dont actually ship ship them if that makes sense? i see the appeal and like the ship?

IDK IF THIS MAKES SENSE OKAY

like i either: dont ship something/dont see the appeal, dont care for a ship, see the appeal, aggressively love a ship

zutara used to be at dont ship/dont see the appeal due to my personal interpretation of them

as i see more content it's now at i see the appeal but still dont really actively ship it if that makes sense?

so like i dont really have any headcanons for them since i wouldnt call myself a zutara shipper i just wouldnt mind them together yk?

like maybe in the future i will be who knows? im definately kind of getting there? but im not quite there yet shdjhd

[nerdybookworm25]

Rambling about Katara and Zutara

Ok so I’m going to kind of just put my two cents out there on this stuff. I joined the ATLA fandom this past summer and just started watching TLOK (my brother and I just finished Book 2 yesterday). This is a hot debate and I just want to ramble on about my opinions on this stuff. A lot of this will focus on Katara’s perspective because I can understand her better than Zuko or Aang due to personal experience. Im just... gonna... get into it now...

I’ll give you some background on me so you guys can understand where I’m coming from. I’m a 15 year old girl with abandonment issues caused by multiple deaths of close friends and family at a young age (my uncle when I was 4, a grandmother like figure when I was 7, my dad’s mum when I was 9 or 10, my great grandma when I was 11, a close friend of my dad’s when I was 13 and many others). I also am the Mum Friend (my friends literally call me “Mum”). I’m the caregiver of the group- the glue, the harmonizer, the therapist, the teacher, the good advice giver etc. (This stuff actually hot me in trouble as a kid and it kind of messed me up). My friends who have seen Avatar have compared me to Katara on multiple occasions and say I’ve got the temperament of a waterbender. You can kind of see where I’d relate, you know?

I do ship Zutara. My brother turned to me during the Book 1: Water- Episode 9~ The Waterbending Scroll and asked, “What if Zuko becomes a good guy and ends up with Katara?” From then on I was on the Zutara hill and I’ll probably die there. It limited ships that I loved from childhood and I thought it would hav been really cool- it would have fit the themes of the show, it would have been a cool thing to see grow and blossom, etc. It had nothing to do with Katara and Zuko being attractive at all- not in the slightest. It also wasn’t me projecting onto Katara. I didn’t really care to notice any major similarities between us until Book Three: Fire- Episode 7~ The Runaway. It was this exchange that changed Katara from my favorite character to someone I could heavily relate to.

Toph: [Sarcasically.] Oh really, Mom? Or what are you gonna do? Send me to my room?

Katara: I wish I could!

Toph: well you can’t! Because you’re not my mom, and you’re not their mom! [Extends her arm at Aang and Sokka, who are sitting on a ledge.]

Katara: I never said I was!

Toph: No, but you act like it! You think it’s your job to boss everyone around, but it’s not! You’re just a regular kid like the rest of us! Stop acting like you can tell me what to do! I can do whatever I want!

I remember bursting out laughing when I heard this. My brother asked me what was up and I paused it and explained that that was a lecture I revived so regularly when I was younger. It really really ended up messing me up. It’s not like I tried to mother anyone- it just happened. I wasn’t controlling it. I didn’t notice I was doing it and I got in trouble. Now things are different and I’ve embraced the fact that I am the designated Mum Freind. Still working on getting over being told off about it in therapy though. Anyway, I think you now can understand where I’m coming from with this “analysis.” Now I’m going to get into it (for real this time lol).

I think I’m going to start with the caregiver stuff. Katara’s mother died when she was very young. It was a very traumatic death. We can infer that Katara blamed herself for this death because the Southern Raiders were looking for the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe- her. That’s a lot for an 8 year old to try to process. Here’s the kicker: I don’t think she ever fully processed it until after Book 3: Fire- Episode 16~ The Southern Raiders. She almost immediately helped her grandmother take up the roll as the woman of the house. She probably didn’t feel like she had anyone to talk to about what she was feeling however true or false that’s what she most likely perceived this to be. When Hakoda leaves for war with all of the men of the tribe, Kanna might be the matriarch and help raise Sokka and Katara but even Sokka admits that Katara became a pseudo-mother for him. Taking care of others doesn’t leave a lot of time to deal with your own issues. Sometimes it feels easier to help others face their demons than face your own.

We continue to see Katara become the glue of the Gaang as the series progresses. She keeps them together in the Si Wong desert after Aang leaves her, Sokka, Toph, and Momo. She’s always the one cooking, cleaning, and mending not because she wants to, but because she knows no one else will do it and it needs to be done. We see her try to coax Toph into helping out around camp when she firsts joins the Gaang. It doesn’t work and this conflict continues for most of Book 2 and the beginning of Book 3. All of this time, she’s making it a point to take care of everyone. When the adults show up after the Boiling Rock, she’s still the one making the dinner and probably does a lot of the other chores as well (except for tea making- this will come into play later).

There’s a running joke about Katara being “Momtara” within the ATLA fandom (more the Zutaraians in the fandom than anything else but it’s a pretty well known concept). We continue to see this when the Gaang is on Ember Island. She brings them all drink during training sessions, watches said training sessions in case someone gets hurt and they need her, wrangles Sokka to the best of her ability, and just generally looks out for everyone regardless of age gap. It’s her natural instinct to be motherly. She retains this quality even after she finds Yon Rha. (Getting closure on her mother’s death doesn’t mean losing what had become a major personality trait).

Let’s unpack that now, shall we? Kya dies and Katara thinks it’s her fault. She doesn’t really talk to anyone about it. A few years later, Hakoda leaves to fight in the war. The Southern Water Tribe recives no letters or news about what happened to their warriors at all. Katara felt like she lost another parent. She nearly says as much during Book 3: Fire- Episode 1~ The Awakening.

Hakoda: You’re taking about me too, aren’t you?

Katara: How could you leave us, Dad? [She attempts to wipe away the tears.] I mean, I know we had Gran-Gran, and she loved us, but we were just so lost without you.

Hakoda moves to comfort her as she turns away.

Hakoda: I’m so sorry, Katara.

Katara: [Embraces Hakoda.] I understand why you left. I really do, and I know that you had to go, so why do I still feel this way? I’m so sad and angry and hurt!

The thing that sets off this exchange is Aang running away for the third time since Katara has known him (the fourth time in Aang’s lifetime). The other times he ran were when confronted by the rude fisherman in Book 1: Water- Episode 12~ The Storm, then again during Book 2: Earth- Episode 11~ The Desert. Aang has a, for lack of a better word, chronic running away problem. I’m not mad at him for it. It makes him an interesting character and shows that he too has flaws (even if they aren’t always addressed but that’s an issue with Bryke). When Aang flys away after waking up during 3.1, Katara is distraught.

Katara: He left.

Hakoda: What?

Katara: Aang. He just took his glider and disappeared. He has this ridiculous notion that he has to save the world alone, that it’s all his responsibility.

Hakoda: Maybe that’s his way of being brave.

Katara: Its not brave, it’s selfish and stupid! We could be helping him and I know the world needs him, but doesn’t he know how much we need him, too? How can he just leave us behind?

Katara feels abandoned by Aang. This is completely understandable. She has every right to be angry at him and feel sad that he flew away. He comes back every time but I feel like if I were in her position, as much as I’d hope my friend would come back and I’d tell everyone that I knew he would, I’d still be afraid that there was an off chance that he doesn’t. This is a natural human reaction to this situation. People were seemingly constantly fading in and out of Katara’s life and that just wasn’t good for her mental health. It couldn’t have been. This also raises the question of if someone has a very serious fear of abandonment, would it be healthy to be in a romantic relationship with someone who consistently leaves? Personally I don’t think so. Be friends? Sure. Date? I don’t know. It doesn’t quite sit right with me.

Katara probably feels abandoned by Zuko too. During the Book 2 Finale: Crossroads of Destiny, Katara and Zuko bond in the crystal catacombs under Ba Sing Se. They relate over their shared fear of being abandoned by those they love (yes I think Zuko has abandonment issues too- among other issues/fears). When he turns his back on her, she doesn’t live him (obviously). She has cared about him enough up to that point to offer to use what is arguably her most powerful possession to heal his scar. She cares. Because she cares about him then, she is downright livid when he betrays her. (Of course the difference between Zuko and Aang with this is Zuko leaves once and comes back and he doesn’t leave again. Aang leaves and comes back over and over and over again).

Katara: I thought you had changed!

Zuko: I have changed!

Katara carries the weight of his betrayal on her mind until she and Zuko go on their life changing field trip to confront the man who killed Katara’s mother. This was her time to finally get closure. She had probably had these feelings bottled up for 6 years and didn’t act on them. When she finally had the chance, her best friend and brother tried to stop her. She lashed out.

Katara: We’re going to find the man who took my mother from me.

Sokka pauses and stands up, surprised.

Zuko: Sokka told me the story of what happened. I know who did it and I know how to find him.

Aang: Um ... and what exactly do you think this will accomplish?

Katara: [Shakes her head in dismay.] Ugh, I knew you wouldn’t understand. [Begins to walk away.]

Aang: Wait! Stop! I do understand. You’re feeling unbelievable pain and rage. How do you think I felt about the sandbenders when they stole Appa? How do you think I felt about the Fire Nation when I found out what happened to my people?

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

Aang: I don’t think so. I think this is about getting revenge.

Katara: [Angrily.] Fine, maybe it is! Maybe it’s what he deserves!

Aang: Katara, you sound like Jet.

Katara: Its not the same! Jet attacked the innocent. This man, he’s a monster.

Sokka: Katara, she was my mother, too, but I think Aang might be right.

Katara: Then you didn’t love her the way I did!

Sokka: [Hurt.] Katara!

Katara gets a lot of flack for this interaction. She says Sokka didn’t love their mother like she did and Sokka I’d understandably hurt. It doesn’t excuse what she said, but people do lash out when they are feeling a lot of emotions and they get defensive when they feel like they’re being ganged up on or attacked (I myself am guilty of this sort of thing). What Katara said was wrong but I have no doubt in my mind that she didn’t apologize to Sokka when he and the rest of the Gaang arrive on Ember Island later in the episode. She is seen walking over to him after she hugs Zuko.

Zuko and Katara go after Yon Rha anyway. For once in her life, Katara is feeling emotions and no one is trying to get her to stop or to push them aside. She doesn’t have to be constantly taking care of someone so she can focus on herself. Katara trusts Zuko more than I think she realizes. I mean she trusts him with a lot and he follows through on a lot of unspoken/subconscious agreements and promises.

Zuko is looking out for her. Zuko has her back. Zuko is allowing her to feel all of these emotions and work them out of her own accord. Zuko isn’t telling her to feel one way or another. Zuko isn’t going to judge her for whatever she decides to do when they find Yon Rha or what she does in order for them to get to that point. Zuko ensures she gets the closure she feels she needs.

When he sees her bloodbend, he’s surprised, but he isn’t appalled. When he thinks she’s going to run Yon Rha through with a giant shard of ice, he doesn’t try to stop her. He lets her be her. He sees a dark side of her in a way that no one else in the Gaang has seen. It’s strangely intimate. Clearly it has enough of an impact to make her forgive him. She knows he isn’t going to abandon betray her and her friend again.

Once they become friends, and even before that, Zuko starts to help out with small things here and there. We see him making tea for all of the kids at dinner. He tells jokes to make them laugh. He teaches Aang firebending. He goes with Sokka to the Boiling Rock to make sure he doesn’t get himself killed or in a prison cell for the rest of his life. With all of this, “Dadko” is born.

If you strip away Zuko’s anger, he just becomes the awkward-turtleduck-first-time-father that we all know and love. There’s more balance in the Gaang with him there to help and become an “authority” figure with Katara. They become the parents of the other members of the Gaang. It’s an interesting shift in their relationship- enemies to unsteady acquaintances to enemies to frenemies to friends. They’re close enough that they show small signs of physical intimacy and they tease each other.

Also if you look close enough when the Gaang walks into the “seedy Earth Kingdom tavern,” Zuko and Katara appear to be holding hands and are near each other from then until the finale episodes. They are clearly just great friends by the end of the show. I mean Zuko also takes a bolt of lightning to the chest for her...

Zuko doesn’t leave when his life gets difficult- not after he joins the Gaang. He made that mistake once and he won’t make it again. Aang was always part of the Gaang but continued to leave (again, I’m not mad at him for it but he never seems to realize the effect it has on the people around him- especially Katara). Zuko also doesn’t all but forget Katara and continue to run around the world. When Zuko fully decides to stick around, you best believe he is sticking around.

This works really well for Zutara. They’re both each other’s rock. They support each other and help each other in times of trouble. Do they argue? Yes. Is that a normal part of a healthy relationship- romantic or otherwise? Yes. Do they take care of and look out for each other while also not smothering or suffocating each other? Yes. I don’t know about you but this sounds stable and healthy to me. They balance each other out so well (I’m not going to get too into that because if you’re reading this you probably already know with the whole Tui and La, Yin and Yang, Oma and Shu thing).

Now, this is a big deal for me and it makes me furious, but Katara is forgotten by history. She has no statue. She is reduced to a housewife and healer- things our wonderful water feminist was afraid of becoming as an adult. I mean this girl

This girl

THIS GIRL

She becomes nothing but a housewife stuck in a healing hut who gets forgotten by the world and left behind by her family just... let’s all of that happen? Yeah that’s pretty unrealistic. I think about this frequently and with starting TLOK I have formed even more opinions and have a little thingy (I don’t know what to call it) for what happened to her.

Kya II is everything Teenage Katara wanted to do and be before settling down. Old Katara is everything Teenage Katara was so afraid of become reduced to/becoming.

It’s an interesting way to think about it and I thought I’d share. Now if Katara was Fire Lady, she wouldn’t end up like that. She’d have the power to change the world and continue to fight for what she believed in. She could have helped with the trail with Yakone. Katara has so much potential to not be forgotten or brushed aside and somehow it happened. It makes me so sad. The potential Zutara had to make sure Katara had a genuine legacy was right there at their finger tips and they didn’t use it. What a shame. What a shame.

With all of the things I’ve talked about, I just feel like Zutara would have been better for Katara than Kataang was. I think that’s more Bryke not developing the relationship well enough and instead choosing to be sloppy and selfish in the way they structured the relationship. Yeah this is my rambling on about the issue. Hope it was mildly entertaining! If you want me to write something about how Zuko would have benefited from Zutara, let me know!

[my-bated-breath]

GIRL TY for ur zutara paragraph. im literally from a colonized country and ppl are trying to lecture me on colonization and its impact?? its so demeaning and it desensitizes ppl from the actual issue of colonial impacts. its clearly just a way to bring ppl down to gain fake 'woke' points. its attacking ppl for sympathizing with a literal child soldier who was abused and manipulated. its just so frustratingly performative...

I’m so glad that my post on colonization and its misrepresentations was able to speak to you, and I’m sorry you felt so frustrated and demeaned by the fandom as a result of it. After all, it’s quite counterproductive to attack a ship whose canon relationship symbolizes a step away from a legacy of imperialism towards a legacy of amends and understanding as “an oppressive relationship.”

I can only hope in the future that the people blindly calling Zutara a colonizer/colonized ship manage to gain some perspective -- maybe then there can be more awareness for the real colonization that still plagues us today. So until then, let’s persist in our struggle against ignorance :)

[firelxdykatara]

Day 2: Hidden Identities

So this is a day late, but hopefully not a dollar short! (lol kill me my jokes suck) ANYWAY, this is for Day 2 of @thirtydaysofzutara and was heavily inspired by @artcraawl‘s amazing Zutara Mulan AU pictures. Some of it is directly from the movie, some is embellished, anyway I hope it’s a fun read, as I certainly had fun writing it!

---

“I don’t know if I can do this, Tui.”

Katara gave one more half-hearted tug, but her father’s sword remained stubbornly embedded in the tree’s trunk. With a sigh, she flopped to the ground, thumping her fists against the hard-packed soil in frustration. Her companion, a silver dragon-lizard with impossibly black eyes, scurried up the tree and perched on the flat of the blade, tugging gently, but to no avail. “It’ll come out! You just have- to be- persistent!”

With a final tug, the lizard slipped from the blade and fell to the ground. Katara pushed herself up on her elbows with a groan. “I’ve been persistent! It’s not working! I haven’t even been able to get that stupid arrow out of the pole.”

“No one else has, either,” Tui pointed out, curling her tail over her shoulder and rubbing a spot of dirt from her scales.

“That’s not the point.” Katara sat up and pushed herself to her feet.  “They belong here. They don’t have to prove anything.”

“Neither do you, as far as they know.”

“Sure, and what happens when they find-”

“Who are you talking to, Tak?”

Katara froze. Tui scampered into the bushes with an alarmed squeak, and the moment stretched uncomfortably, as the woman tried desperately to convince herself that voice belonged to someone—anyone­—else. It didn’t work; she was pretty sure she could feel his amber gaze burning holes into her back.

He had the disconcerting ability to make her feel like he could see right through her façade—through the warrior she was trying to be, to the scared, homesick girl beneath.

Time sped up again, and Katara turned to look at Zuko, who was standing behind her with his arms crossed and one eyebrow raised.

“Uh…” she began, before realizing her voice was pitched too high, coughing to cover it up. “No one! I’m just, talking to… myself…” She trailed off, rubbing the back of her neck with one hand (mostly to hide the fact that she kept reaching for a lock of hair that just wasn’t there anymore). Her eyes slid to her sword, still sunk into the tree trunk, about the same time Zuko’s did. Disapproval radiated from his lithe form in waves, and Katara had to fight back the nervous laughter that kept threatening to bubble up.

“Oh, this is… I was just training…” she said, grabbing the hilt tightly in both hands. It still refused to move, and she braced herself with one foot on the trunk. Finally, with an almighty yank, the sword came free, and the momentum sent her careening off-balance.

Zuko ducked just in time—the blade passed a hair’s breadth over his head.

“Oops,” Katara muttered, giving a weak chuckle as she clumsily shoved her sword back into its sheath. “Cut it a little close there-” Spirits, Katara, stop talking.

The captain looked less than impressed as he straightened back up, looking at her with some emotion in his eyes that she couldn’t quite describe. Then he sighed, shaking his head. “Pack up.”

Something churned unpleasantly in the pit of her stomach. “What?”

“Go home. You’re through here, Tak. I’ve tried my best, but you just aren’t suited for war—not in my company. And if you’re the best that Chief Hakoda could send in his own stead-” He broke off, squaring his shoulders. “You’d be more of a danger to your own comrades than the Fire Nation soldiers. And I won’t have good men, even you, needlessly killed because they weren’t ready.”

Katara watched as he walked away, trying very hard to keep from noticing the way his muscles had tensed (probably from anger) beneath the thin padding of his training vest. “He’s right. I know he is. But…”

Tui poked her head out of the bushes. “But you want to prove him wrong.”

A wry grimace twisted at her mouth. “I was too willful and stubborn to make a good wife, remember? It must be good for something.”

“So what are you going to do?”

The sun had set, the last of its amber glow receding from the skyline just as the full moon began to peek through the clouds. “I don’t know…” Katara murmured, gazing up at the sky—she traced the moonbeams with her eyes, until she caught one that illuminated the arrow still stuck at the top of that tall, wooden beam.

She could have had it down weeks ago, if she’d wanted to risk waterbending—but it was supposed to be a physical exercise. For all that she was at a disadvantage compared to the rest of the company (not that anyone but Sokka realized it), the last thing she wanted to do was prove herself by cheating. But there had to be some way to get to that arrow. And maybe, if she got it down herself…

 Hours later, the only thing preventing her from screaming in frustration was the fact that Zuko’s tent was only ten feet away. “Come on,” she grunted, taking another running jump at the pole—and, as before, she made it a few feet before falling to the ground in an ungainly heap.

She might have had a better chance at getting higher, if not to the top, if it weren’t for the weights at her wrists. Katara picked herself up for the thousandth time, dropping the weights and dusting herself off. (It was a good thing her family didn’t seem to have the ‘quitter’ gene, or she might have contemplated just leaving, like she’d been told.) She couldn’t help the nagging feeling that there was something about this exercise that was missing, that she just didn’t understand. She picked up the weights again, holding them in front of her, inspecting the etchings in the gold. It was an ancient form of Earth Kingdom script, and she could only make out a few letters.

Somehow, she doubted anyone had carved a cheat sheet onto these things a thousand years ago, anyway.

But as the weights swayed gently on their leather ties, something occurred to her—it was so simple she could almost kick herself for not thinking of it sooner. It was so obvious. It wasn’t just about having to struggle against the weight. It was about discipline and strength—using them to her advantage.

Squaring her shoulders, Katara faced the pole again—this time, when she jumped, she swung the weights, tangling the leather ties together, and she began to climb.

Halfway up, she almost wanted to let go, forget the whole thing. Her arms were screaming in protest, and she kept slipping even as she gained inches in height—sweat was streaming down her face in small rivers, and she could feel her tunic sticking to her back. The cotton binding around her breasts was beginning to itch something fierce. But she had already gotten too far to quit, and so she kept going—gaining inches and losing centimeters, until she could see the top of the pole. She could almost reach out and grab that arrow.

The sun began to peek over the horizon once more, and Katara gasped for breath, her muscles screaming in agony as she grabbed the top of the pole and finally pulled herself up. It was a deceptively wide beam of wood, in fact, and easy enough to perch on was she grabbed the arrow in one tender hand and pulled it free.

It was only when the cheering began that she realized she’d drawn a crowd.

A tired grin crossed her face, and she subtley bent some of her sweat, coating the arrow-head with a thin layer of ice. Just as Zuko’s tent flap opened, she threw the arrow down—it landed with impressive accuracy, thudding into the ground at his feet as he stepped out. He looked up at her, and while it was difficult to tell from how far away she was, Katara almost thought he looked proud.

 ---

 “I’m sorry. About your uncle.” Katara winced inwardly—she kept forgetting to pitch her voice low enough, but Zuko didn’t seem to notice. He was staring at the fire; if he’d heard a word she said, he didn’t indicate it. Which was almost a relief—she wasn’t sure she’d be able to get into a conversation about lost loved ones and not accidentally blow her own cover.

Sokka had been helping as much as he dared, once he’d realized her plan, but there was only so much he could do to keep her from ruining everything with her ‘stupid girly habits’.

Apparently, talking about feelings qualified.

Either way, Zuko clearly wasn’t in the mood for company. Katara turned to go—if she hadn’t already become so tuned to the tenor of his voice, for reasons she couldn’t even begin to explain, she might have missed it entirely when he said, “Thank you, Tak.”

She stopped, glancing back at him—he was giving her at least an attempt at a smile, and it suddenly struck her how very young he looked. Especially for a captain.

He really couldn’t have been more than a couple years older than she was, and it was hard enough for her to manage to keep her own life straight—she couldn’t imagine what it was like trying to lead an entire company.

She opened her mouth to say something else—she wasn’t quite sure what, but since when had thinking ever stopped her from blurting out what was on her mind?—when she heard the screech of a bird of prey high in the sky above them. It sounded familiar, almost… almost like…

She was six years old, and the snow had turned grey from falling ash. Buildings burned, people were screaming and running away, bursts of fire from soldiers in the streets kept illuminating the overcast sky, and Katara couldn’t find her parents.

“Mama!” she shouted, tears streaking through the soot stains on her face, running towards her house. Everything was chaos, but she still knew home. Somewhere, high in the sky, a fire hawk screamed—the little girl could see it circling over her family’s hut, an omen she couldn’t quite comprehend.

When she opened the door, the smell of charred flesh nearly knocked her off her feet. It was-

“The Fire Nation!” Katara heard herself shouting, those last images from her memory still superimposed over her vision, the smell sticking to her all these years later. She wanted to gag, but there was no time. “They’re here! They-“

An arrow whistled through the air and into Zuko’s shoulder as he stood, knocking him flat.

“Zuko!” Katara rushed to his side as more arrows floated into view just over the snowy hilltop—he waved her off, pulling the arrow free with a grunt and clambering to his feet.

“Everyone, get out of their range! Grab the cannons!”

It was pure chaos, after that. Zuko’s company scattered—they grabbed armloads of cannons and their weapons and ran, forcing the Fire Nation soldiers to abandon their high ground advantage if they wanted to do any real damage. Out of range of the arrows was also out of range of their firebenders, and it took everything Katara had not to panic and freeze.

“Sokka!” The relief nearly knocked her over, but she held her ground, grabbing for her brother’s hand and yanking him out of the way of another arrow barrage. “Where’s Zuko? Is he-”

“He’s fine! We need to set up these canons, Tak. Now!”

Their answering barrage sent shockwaves rippling through the ground—when they were down to the last cannon, Zuko appeared behind them. “Hold- we don’t know who’s left. If…”

He trailed off. The smoke cleared, and revealed the bulk of the Fire Nation army still intact on the hillside.

Ozai was at the army’s head. Katara could feel his smug smirk from here.

“Sokka, take that last canon. Hit Ozai, if it’s the last thing you do!” Zuko commanded. “Men- prepare for a fight!”

Katara’s hand went to her sword hilt, but something was still bothering her. Taking out Ozai wouldn’t decimate the Fire Nations forces—they’d keep coming, they’d kill everyone. How many more villages would suffer the way Omashu had? The way her tribe had? The way-

She caught sight of the snow-covered mountain just behind them. They weren’t going to have time to retreat back through the mountain passes to safety, but maybe, if she could only just… She reached, but nothing. Practicing her bending in secret had only gotten her so far, and that snow was too far off. But…

“Give me that!” She pushed Sokka aside and grabbed the cannon. It would work. It had to.

 ---

 Katara was beginning to lose feeling in her arms. She hadn’t realized Ozai’s blade had cut that deep, but now Koda’s saddle was soaked in her blood, and she had barely been able to muster the strength to grab Zuko and pull him to safety.

The avalanche had stilled, snow wiping the last traces of the Fire Nation army away, and Katara finally slid from her horse’s back, stumbling to her knees. Zuko had regained consciousness, and he rushed to her side. “Tak! Are you alright?”

She gripped his arm and pulled herself upright, nodding weakly. “I’m fine, is everyone else-”

“We made it, Tak,” Toph said, affectionately thumping her shoulder. “Thanks to you. That was brilliant.”

The others chimed in, and Katara smiled, for just a moment. And then she collapsed.

When she opened her eyes, she recognized the colors of the medical tent above her cot. For a moment, Katara was dazed, confused—how had she gotten here? Where were Zuko, Sokka and the others? How-

Her clothing had been removed. The breast binding wraps were visible, overlapping the bandages around her abdomen. The doctor was looking at her, perhaps to be sure she was truly awake, but when she opened her mouth to speak, he turned away and left the tent.

Katara sat up quickly, wincing at the tight feeling of the wound in her stomach, wanting to protest—but then Zuko stepped inside, and the words died in her throat.

It was then that she realized her hair was loose—the thick, dark brown waves that just brushed against her shoulders were much more visibly feminine now that she no longer wore them in her father’s hairstyle, and the breast wraps had only been effective at hiding her figure when covered by padding and armour. Now, she felt her cheeks burn as Zuko’s eyes followed her figure, and realized the truth of what the doctor had obviously told him.

“So it’s true,” came Long Feng’s voice as he entered the tent behind Zuko. Where the latter’s gaze was completely unreadable, Long Feng didn’t bother to disguise his disgust. He surged forward, grabbing Katara by the arm and dragging her out of the tent, throwing her into the snow with just her blanket for cover. She fell to her knees before the rest of the company, tears of humiliation freezing to her lashes before they even had a chance to fall.

“A woman,” Long Feng hissed. “A despicable traitor to our great kingdom!”

Toph and Aang stared in shock. Sokka started forward, but Katara shook her head. It was too late for her, but she would not let her brother take the fall, too. “My name is Katara. I only came here to save my father-”

“More lies!” Long Feng insisted, turning to glare at her as Zuko approached. “Devious snake!”

“I never meant for it to go this far!” Her eyes met Zuko’s, and she pleaded with him silently. Please understand. “You have to believe me! I only wanted-”

“Silence!” Long Feng shouted.

Sokka ran forward. “Wait! You can’t do this—she’s my sister!”

“Sokka, no!”

But the damage was done. “You knew about her deception?” Long Feng was practically quivering with rage. “Stand aside, boy, or you will share in this traitor’s fate!”

“Sokka, please-”

He refused to budge. Katara could still see Zuko, staring at the both of them now, sword in hand. He took a step forward, and several gasps ran through the company—Toph and Aang looked ready to rush to their defense, but Long Feng threw his arm out and stopped them. “You know the law!”

For just a moment, Katara met Zuko’s eyes, and thought she saw something flickering in their depths. Something other than anger or disgust. Something warm.

Then it was gone, and Zuko threw his sword to the ground. “A life for a life,” he said, staring down at her. “My debt to you is ended.” Finally, as if only now realizing he was there, Zuko looked at Sokka. “Take her home. Don’t bother coming back.”

He turned on his heel—Long Feng made a noise, as if he were about to protest, but Zuko turned on him with a glower that could’ve melted steel. The advisor finally cowed into silence, he turned to the rest of his men and motioned for them to move out.

 ---

 “You trusted Tak. Why is Katara any different?”

“You stole my victory.” “No! I did!” “… The soldier from the mountain!”

“She’s a woman, and from the water tribes! She’s not worth protecting!”

“I have heard all about you, Katara of the Water Tribes. You followed your brother off to war—stole your father’s armour and ran away from home. You impersonated a soldier, deceived your commanding officer, dishonored the Earth Kingdom, and… you have saved us all.”

 It was… surreal. That was the only way Katara could describe the feeling that overtook her, when she realized that not only was the Earth King bowing, but so was the entirety of Ba Sing Se. As far as the eye could see, citizens were stooping low, and it was all but impossible to believe they were honoring her.

Even Zuko was bowing—even her brother. She wanted to tell them all to stand up, that she really hadn’t done anything that extraordinary, but she didn’t want to risk losing the King’s good faith. The moment eventually passed, anyway, and Katara turned to find the Earth King smiling warmly at her.

“I would be honored if you would accept a seat on my council, Katara,” he said—Long Feng looked like he was about to faint.

“B- but sir, you can’t just- there are no positions open!”

“Alright. You can have his job.”

This time, he did faint. Katara had to smother a chuckle before taking a deep breath and shaking her head. “You honor me, your majesty, but… I think it’s time for me to go home.”

He nodded, as if he’d expected nothing less of her.

The Earth King gave her his medallion and Ozai’s sword, and when Katara finally turned to go, she very nearly ran right into Zuko. “Oh! Zuko, I-”

“Katara-” he began, at the same time. They both broke off; Katara bit her lip, waiting for him to continue. He cleared his throat. “I, uh- you fight good. Well! Proficiently, you- you’re an excellent soldier.”

Their eyes met, but Katara was the first to look away, this time. “Oh. Thank you, Zuko. For everything.” And then she left, finding Koda and pulling herself into his saddle to begin the long journey home.

“You don’t meet a girl like that every dynasty,” the Earth King declared—sounding very much like he was calling Zuko an idiot.

 “Would you like to stay for dinner?” From a distance, Katara could hear Grandma Kanna’s voice, “Would you like to stay forever?!” Zuko laughed. “Dinner would be great.”

[marsixm]

edit sorry this post is both long (if the readmore fails i am truly truly sorry) & longwinded im just reflecting and thinking; (another edit: u can probably just read the tl dr and get it)

anyway allow me to spin some very personally based theory here for a mo while i put off/warm my fingers up from the cold in preparation to email my therapist

so growing up i had, i think only, het ships, but i never quite had the ones you were (narratively speaking) “supposed to” have

in most media i recall when i was a kid, there were like, 2 diff structures of character romance plot arcs in media i consumed, there was the main lead and 2 best friends model, where thered be the star of the show who had outside romantic leads and the 2 best friends (who were always a boy and a girl) would have their secondary romance, OR there were ensemble shows where there was a more clear romance set up between the main boy and main girl, then side characters whod pair off in whatever ways ended up happening. in the first, see: hannah montana, the second, see: zoey 101. obv this isnt a hard rule and there were loads of exceptions but like, lets just say i tended not to care for the romances set up for the main girls in the trio models, or quite as hard for the main boy and girl in the ensembles, and in general if there was an obvious romance between two leads i either didnt care or outright hated it

basically i never liked the ships they set up for us in straight media, as a kid (namely, a girl) i liked being that “ew pink!” “i hate valentines day” sort of contrarian, but what i remember actually disliking was the predictability of it, because i clearly still shipped characters, so it wasnt /really/ that i hated romance, per se

looking back on it i think it was probably or at least to a degree more like that i hated the hetero expectation of it- i can nit pick down to more specific examples of why i disliked the main pairings (kataang, for example, i thought was weird bc katara acted like a mother/older sister figure to aang, and i didnt feel like there was romance between them at all except where it felt shoehorned in) - maybe it was also that i thought it made more sense for a main character to be with someone they clearly already spent a lot of time with and not some random new hot boy in town (i very distinctly remember shipping miley and oliver on hannah montana, and i believe that was the first time i ever read fanfiction @ age like... 11 lol) as is often the case w like these things.

theres another level to this though, which is that i notice i tended to ship characters who were more vaguely similar to each other, like, physically (ie, similar heights, or hair colors mainly) obviously this is funny now since my main pairing is johnlock which is such a physically different ship we can construct them from basic shapes and colors and theyre still recognizable as who they are, but i have some thoughts about this- but i think there might be two interesting things about this again in retrospect

first of all, this sounds silly ik, but shipping the vaguely similar ones as a child’s way of queering heterosexuality is an interesting concept and not that difficult, like, two boys are also vaguely similar to each other in a similar way a boy and a girl with the same hair color and height might be, which is something i thought of a while ago

the other way in which this is really interesting to me now, that i think might have been more actually pertinent to myself as a trans child, is that i think i shipped the characters i did in an attempt to morph the concept of boy and girl? to find the boy counterpart to every girl??? that second one makes more sense actually. anyway, i digress

2 start off i definitely had gender feelings starting from a very young age so i think these observations ring more true than just reflections, PERHAPS

so the first thing i remember shipping, ie wanting them to be together, thinking about it an inordinate amount of time outside watching the films, even imagining them eating ice cream together in their pjs (i was NINE DHFJGghfkg) was jack sparrow & elizabeth swan from potc (basically my franchise of choice as a kid bc i never read harry potter) now this doesnt quite fit the “visually similar” thing bc actually orlando bloom looks more like kiera knightly and is prob due to them like making out in one movie, but i think this works for the “shipping as gender expression” theory, because elizabeth swan dressed up as a boy, spent most of that movie wearing boy’s clothes, etc- meanwhile jack was a wacky pirate which like hello duh i’d want to be. so i wonder if beyond the fact that they kissed and flirted, there was something to this concept of me wanting two characters to be together, meant i wanted to marry together two conceptual things happening with two characters, or absorb the cool dude and the boyish girl characters into each other to make one whole archetype for myself? i likewise shipped aang and toph (toph who, normally doesnt really have anyone to be shipped with, since she likes sokka but he has a gf) who we all know is the VERY boyish girl character, so boyish im p sure her actually being a trans dude later in life is a p decently accepted headcanon (i dont actually delve into aatla fandom though so i can only hope) 

another thing about this ship thing, is most of my ships had brown hair (like miley and oliver), just like i always have, and in certain cases the girl character would look a LOT like me (i also shipped logan and quinn on zoey 101, which to my surprise n delight actually came true later (although looking back im like... 11 yr old me is glad they made out a lot but adult me is like uhhh why were the kids on this show making out a lot? anyway thats another issue) and i def was a weirdo girl with glasses and long brown wavy hair) which sort of further fuels my feeling that this was an attempt by my brain to do 1 of 2 things, if my own involvement really was a greater motivating factor in this thing, 1. ship MYSELF with a boy (which is like def possible for my gay kinnie ass, but not quite my thesis here) or 2. morph these boy and girl counterparts by imagining them together, seeing them together, etc

for example, i realize now, when i was a kid i drew an avatar sona for myself and said sona looked an awful lot like how id imagine a katara/zuko fusion would be, and the fact that i shipped zutara (very hard lol) was what lead me down this thought path rn

i feel like even to me this concept sounds weird and far fetched but like, gem fusion made enough sense for someone to write with its clearly, usually, romantic implications and we all “get” that, so whom knows???

another thing ive noticed while writing this is for a good few of these ships you can argue the boys in them can be read gay, like jack sparrow and zuko and aang, which feels even more strongly like me trying to marry my gay boy feelings to my tomboy realities [thinking emoji]

the biggest reason i think this makes sense to me is because when i was 10 i became obsessed with the idea that this boy i was friends with and i were secretly twins separated at birth, like i was so into the concept that we looked alike, i like hoped and wished so hard for it to be true, i wished a christmas miracle would happen for fucking real and a magic door in my house would open and be his new room and itd all work out perfectly! and you might think this was a manifestation of my difficulties with my family and wishing to leave it, but in my dream world my parents were still my parents and he came to live with us- which makes me think the obsession of ME looking like this BOY was a manifestation of my gender feelings, which i think can maybe be traced to this concept of pairing a visually similar, possibly gay, brunette boy to every brunette and/or tomboyish girl

anyway. if you actually read all of this id love it if you lmk somehow (doesnt need to be a like) like this is clearly very long and strange but i hope it makes sense. i think i stop myself a lot from ever commenting on gender or theory or whatever but i am a living breathing trans person who has experienced things and i have opinions and i dont think im claiming anything destructive with this lol i think its not unusual to reflect on the way you interacted with the world as a gay/trans kid

also im obviously not saying that shipping straight things is somehow inherently queer, im not trying to retroactively claim something about straight ships, like, those two characters are still functionally straight, and i definitely also shipped probably all of them for normal shipping reasons (although, kid ones, so less “oh theres a lot of ACTUAL romantic subtext between these two” but rather “oh theyre friends and would be cute together!” (or like they kissed and i was like O: )) but im just trying to theorize about something its possible my tiny trans brain was trying to express- and who knows maybe im not the only one!

anyway i guess the TL;DR is: when i was a kid i had a lot of “unconventional” straight ships- i already observed that i eschewed the main canon pairings in kids media in what was probably my tiny baby brains rejection of hetero culture, but i also actively shipped side characters who looked like me, and also looked like each other (ie, both tall and brunette, a boy and girl counterpart of Each Other) OR characters who seemed to be a gayish boy and a tomboyish girl, and im theorizing that maybe the reason that was was my tiny trans brain wanting to gem fusion those two together because of my Gender Feelings and fuse the boy with the girl and this desire manifested in shipping therefore thinking about a lot these pairings of boy and girl counterparts

[zuzusexytiems]

do u have any new fluff/smut (or any fics with a happy ending) zk fic recs?

hi!!! I’m so sorry for replying late but in any case THANK YOU FOR ASKING BECAUSE BOI DO I EVER

FLUFFY ZUTARA FIC RECS!!!!!!!!!!!11

1.) The Stalking Zuko Series by emletish

thoughts: My absolute favorite fluffy fic in this fandom. It’s written in an unconventional albeit REAAAALLY astounding style (read: First POV Katara writing in a journal hooo boy). Features drunk!Zuko, ticklish!Zuko, and overall #1FuckingDorkinTheWorld!Zuko, but also angsty!Zuko and dumbshit!Zuko who just wants to set everything on fire bc he’s a dumbshit sometimes tbh. You will laugh and cry and laugh and laugh and cry over and over again and I just cannot recommend this fic enough please go read it now edhsujsa.

pt. 1: Stalking Zuko

pt. 2: Not Stalking Zuko

pt. 3: Not Stalking Fire Lord Zuko

Accompanying Oneshots if you’re up to it (you will be trust me):

the collected lists of zuko - a comprehensive list of things that annoy Katara and why Katara is the most impossible girl in the history of ever (which is why you love her Zuko. we all know. WE ALL. KNOW.), according to our favorite fire lord 

the crooked thing - they’re trying to keep this thing they have a secret; a.k.a. in which things are perfectly imperfect.

snuggling dysfunctional cats - all of this shit from Toph’s POV brb im fucking screaming .

2.) i didn’t know i was lonely (’til I saw your face) by raisindeatre

thoughts: Listen. LISTEN. @raisindeatre​ / Atia is an absolute GODDESS. Her writing style is one of the best I’ve seen in this fandom, and it’s absolutely breathtaking. She just blows my mind on a regular tbh. This fic is genius and stunningly weaves canon into a modern AU, and one that actually works (and there’s very few of those imho). Slow burn but worth it. Every word of this is golden (also please read all of raisindeatre’s work, she’s amazing I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH).

3.) Bones by sadladybug

thoughts: Zuko and Katara on the night of their wedding. I absolutely love it when authors weave in Fire Nation/Water Tribe/any kind of avatar lore into their stories (it amazes me moreso when it comes sTRAIGHT FROM THE AUTHOR’S OWN RESEARCH AND IMAGINATION) and I’m overall just a sucker for this kinda shit. This fic also achieves the perfect balance of smut and fluff, and is written so beautifully it just makes me wanna cry go read it pls. 

4.) Scars by Em Dixon

thoughts: “Katara is the only one with scar-touching privileges. Very quick read but beautiful all throughout. 

5. What Little She Can Do by chromeknickers

thoughts:

this is from chromeknickers’ collection of drabbles and ficlets (they’re very short, but they’re so well-written and they make me want to cry tbh). Not all of the entries are fluffy, so I’ve listed the ones that are!

Dangerous Games

Smile Lines

Stay With Me

From the same author’s Through the Looking Glass Series:

Desired

Intimacy

Light

Special Mention:swing and a miss by stellatiate, for beanaroony

Currently in the middle of reading this AND I CANNOT STOP FLAILING. It has some angst in it but the in-between fluff is where it’s at, fam. The writing style is very unique and i’ve never read anythign quite like it. It’s genius. Thank you so much to @babyfairybaekhyun for reccing this iufdhsuijhn

–

i havent been active in the fandom very much so this has been such a nice refresher! Plus i’m an absolute sucker for fluff. Anyhow, I miss you guys lots, so please accept this as a sort of gift from the bottom of this MIA zutarian’s heart. Enjoy and feel free to add more!!!

VIVA LA ZUTARAAAAA.

[firelxrdazula]

1) okay so i was just casually browsing through a certain persons blog and i saw a drawing of katara and zuko looking fondly at each other. now listen i dont know the ship names, i dont know shit im just a low key fan of atla and i reblog pretty graphics/fanart sometimes. i have been following you for quite some time (not very long maybe just less than a month i think???) but during that time i have seen many posts about zutara and kataang but i never really paid any attention to it.

Ah, I'm very sorry that I've sort of swayed away from the normal Azula content. Really apologize for that. I've just kind of been using this to address my issues with the shows and the fandom.If you want like peaceful and no ship wars, you can just follow my other ATLA blog, @wang-fire. Albeit it's not an Azula blog, but I reblog graphics there a lot. :)

[kataraslove]

There’s a trend that I’ve noticed with zutara shippers being pretendians 🥴 I asked a person on Twitter with indigenous in their bio what tribe they were from and they straight up just said Cherokee lmao I also told them that they couldn’t claim indigenous identity if they weren’t a registered member of a tribe and they told me that I was invalidating them even though I’m literally a native. I feel like it’s because we’ve been speaking up about the harmful racial dynamics behind zutara and zukka and they just wanna speak over us which is disgusting as fuck

i’m really sorry to hear that, anon. it’s disgusting for anyone to portray themselves as native when they’re not for the sake of a ship. you can ship whatever you want, but you can’t ignore native people’s voices when they say there are harmful tropes associated with the media content you’re consuming and producing.

although, i will need to ask since im not quite informed, what the issue is of them identifying as Cherokee? I’m not native myself so I apologize for any ignorance on my part.