#zuko made mistakes

[marchlione]

another bone i have to pick with atla fic writers, writing katara in a way that makes her out to be a totally unreasonable bitch who goes out of her way to hurt zuko or refusing to treat him is completely ooc. katara, no matter how much she hates someone, always tries to help, it is the core of her character, no matter how angry she is, no matter how much she can hate, she always, always, chooses compassion and forgiveness. This is a choice she makes even when confronting her mother's murderer. She could have killed him or done any number of things to him, but she didn't. In her own words, Katara will never, ever turn her back on someone in need. That is Katara's greatest strength and what makes her my favourite character.

In the beginning she, like Sokka, is helpless to the dangers her tribe faces. When she, Aang and Sokka travel to the North Pole, she is yet untrained, and if caught or attacked, she doesn't have much in the ways of defending herself, but despite this, she goes out of her way to try and help other victims of the war in any way she can. After being trained, she has the power to defend herself and others. She even gains the ability to blood bend. With all this power that she didn't have before, she could have gone the way of Jet and exacted her revenge in anyway she could, without considering how it hurt innocents. She could have done a lot with her bloodbending. But she didn't. She draws a line in the sand, she chooses "good", she chooses to be compassionate, even when it would be so much easier to hate, and hurt, even when it would make far more sense to turn someone away. Katara is the first person to give Zuko a chance, despite the fact that he has been chasing them from the moment Aang came out of that iceberg. Zuko had been pursuing the gaang the way Azula hunted them for far longer, even if he didn't deprive them of sleep. He at one point caught her and tied her to a tree. Katara had so many legitimate reasons to hate him and turn him away and not trust him. And we know she is capable of hate, we know she is capable of hurting. But she doesn't. That's the point. That is who she is.

So making her a petty bitch going out of her way to cause bodily harm to poor baby zuzu, is extremely disingenuous. We, as the audience, know Zuko's arc, we've seen his journey, we've watched him realize the harm the fire nation causes, the atrocities they've committed and resolve to no longer be a part of that and eventually accept that he has to actively make the world a better place. We know that his betrayal under Ba Sing Se was him backsliding, and was ultimately what sealed the deal in terms of him coming to realize the full extent of the fire nation's corruption. But their world didn't sit around "waiting for him to switch sides, and had to plan for a future where he didn’t" (quote from 'There Within' by Avataraccount on ao3). And a direct consequence of Zuko's betrayal was Aang's near death and destruction of the Avatar cycle. Katara was the one who worked tirelessly to keep Aang alive, to keep the world's last hope alive. She was the one who had to directly face the devastating consequence of her choice to trust Zuko in the caves. So when Zuko comes back and reiterates the spiel he gave her (albeit with stronger and firmer conviction but that makes no difference to someone who has heard a version of it before and watched him go back on it), Katara is well within her rights to not trust him. Making her distrust seem like it is childish or selfish is ridiculous. As is trying to justify it as her "character flaw". Katara is learning from what she deems as her mistake from before. In fact, she's making the smart decision!

[demaparbat-hp]

That infamous prison escape.

[perfectlypanda]

But I'm a fire and I'll keep your brittle heart warm If your cascade ocean wave blues come Peace/ Taylor Swift

♥ Please do not repost. If you like it and want to show people, share a link to this page instead. Thank you!

[mfelewzi]

Ehi @ironinkpen , somebody had made some screenshots of your post about Uncle Jasmine Dragon! And here, some interesting comments by r/TheLastAirbender!

Ehi, @akiizayoi4869 and @stardust948 , some ideas for your stories! Especially if you will make some jokes about this Mad and Crazy level of Lucky!

If you want, obviously.

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

s5 and the trivialisation of catra's crimes

i couldn't be the only who noticed the language that s5 used whenever it came to talking about catra's actions.

(i probably missed a bunch of other instances, so feel free to reblog and add more!)

“hurt people” = huge understatement.

you also abuse them, try to control them, emotionally manipulate them, gaslight them, and attempt to murder them.

“for everything” = again, vague.

what's everything? we see later that catra still holds adora accountable for “abandoning her”, she still acts like adora is dumb and weak and easily manipulated, she still shows no remorse for the way she treated adora. what did she mean by everything then?

“tried to kill me a bunch of times” = only touching the surface.

she also physically and emotionally abused you, scarred you, kidnapped your friends, mind controlled you, kidnapped you, drugged you, and almost ended the entire universe just to spite you.

“stubborn brat” = huge understatement 2.0

she was acting like an abusive bitch person. stubborn brat makes it sound like catra is a pre-teen throwing a temper tantrum (which is exactly what she acts like, to her credit).

“i thought things would be different”, “fixing things” = vague terms + trivializing the situation.

adora is speaking as if the only problem here was a rough patch in a relationship or a bad breakup and not, you know, dealing with a literal war criminal and abuser.

“it's a long story” = vague and refusing to explain further.

said long story being that catra only sided with you because she had no choice and is still actively abusing you.

we're talking about a war criminal here. we're talking about someone who put the safety of the entire universe at jeopardy.

why is s5 using such vague terms and trivializing everything that catra did? why is it acting like the only problem with catra's character was that she had some relationship issues with adora?

oh wait, i know why. it's because the creators were hoping that we don't remember what happened in the previous seasons or sweep everything under the rug. and luckily for them, 90% of the fandom fell for it.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Zuko: Aang, promise me. If I become evil, you have to kill me. Aang: Ok, I will. Szeto, inside Aang's mind: Hey what's all that crashing noise? Some of us are trying to sleep. Yangchen: That's Kyoshi. She's breaking the furniture. Szeto: Why? Kuruk: She does it when she's upset, I think she got it from her wife. Szeto: And that damn sobbing noise? Yangchen: Oh, that's Roku. Szeto: The Fire Avatar after me? Sigh *pinches the bridge of his nose* Why are they throwing a fit? Kuruk: Aang just promised to kill his best friend. And both of them have hang-ups on that particular issue. Szeto: And that is? Yangchen: Kyoshi's killed Yun. She didn't want to, fought it every chance, but her hand was forced. I don't want to speculate on what's she's feeling, but perphaps she's upset because people always call her a monster for doing such a thing. But with Aang it's "oh, he has to make a tough call." Kyoshi: THIS IS SUUUUUUUCH FUCKING BULLSHIT! Kuruk: Ooo nice, you hit the nail on the head! -hi-fives Yangchen- Szeto: And Roku? Kuruk: He couldn't kill his best friend. Szeto: I don't see how that's bad- Yangchen: That same best friend later genocided all of my people. Szeto: ................................................................ Szeto: I apologize on behalf of the Fire- Yangchen: Ah ah, save it. I don't want to hear it. Szeto: Fair. So he doesn't want Aang to make the same mistake he did? I can understand, but why is he sobbing so damn much- Kuruk: Also, the guy that's Aang's best friend, is Roku's great-grandson. Szeto: ........................well that certainly is a conflict of interest. Roku: Aaaaaang! You gotta do it buddy! Don't be like me! ;w; Kyoshi: Nah Aang, fuck it! See what happens! Follow your instinct, kid! Roku: What? And wait for him to stab Katara before doing anything like you did?! Kyoshi, picking up Roku by the throat: YOU WANNA DIE OLD MAN?! Yangchen: Uh-oh it's getting heated. Better go break them up. Kuruk: Now is Kyoshi siding with not killing Zuko because his sister looks like Rangi, or does she just want to be Roku's straw man to spite him? 🤔 Kyoshi: Get off! Get off of my back Yangchen! Aang you listen to me! If you don't fight for your friend, then you are scum! You better at least put some fucking effort in lil' man! Kuruk: Ahhhhh, nevermind. I'm sorry for doubting you, kiddo. 😔 Szeto: Nah fuck this, y'all are crazy. I'm going back to bed.

[tragedykery]

hitting y’all upside the head relationships can “not work out” without being abusive! there doesn’t have to be one person who is to blame for everything! what the fuck!

[allgremlinart]

"I hate the kinds of parents they made Toph and Aang in tlok :/" <- good litmus test for how boring someone is

[bigquestionmark]

the way people treat ozai and ursa is so similar to how people treat jiang fengmian and yu ziyuan

[ghostly-squid]

Time travel fix-it? No. Time travel worse-it.

[hel-phoenyx]

I see people using Zuko as an example of a redemption arc beautifully done every other morning and while I do agree with that I don't see a lot of people touching what is really interesting for me about it : The progression of his character is different from the progression of his acts

Like Zuko's character act is very much not linear. He learns, he make mistakes, he goes back to his old ways when he is offered his initial goal, honor and redemption, his path is like climbing a hill, rolling down the path on the other side and climbing a second hill again this time successfully

But when he does go back to the fire nation he's already a changed man and that is not a turn back in any way. What he saw in the Earth Kingdom is still there. What Aang told him about being friends in another life is still there. He's not the thirteen year-old that left obsessed with chasing the Avatar, or even the sixteen year-old with the same, three-year-old obsession. And he's aware of that.

Even though he returned back to his old ways and did so against everyone's advice, causing a bump in his arc, his character progressed linearly. He needed that comeback at his old home to realise it was anything but the safe place he remembered. The troubled teen that left didn't come back, a man did. And he didn't fit.

Hos relationship to Maï didn't fit, and the awkwardness is probably due to Zuko having a whole new bagage and seeing his childhood crush grow up without him : The fact that they do come back together at the end of the show is a proof that this time, they entered the relationship not as the teens that remembered what the other was like, but as adults that are aware of who the other is. His relationship to Azula didn't fit, even though still with the same tension ; it is less build on sibling rivalry and more on the awareness of both of their abuse (the beach scene is probably a catalyst for Zuko's pained expression at the end of their final battle. Like he knows she's as broken as he is, in different ways). His relationship to his father didn't fit as it is not one of admiration, but one of distrust and fear.

Even his relationship to his uncle didn't fit. Because now Iroh is a traitor and he's a prince and they created a rift from the core of their very values.

And realizing that he didn't fit the old life he came back to is exactly what prompted him to follow his own path.

Zuko did not just go backwards just to find his own redemption. Zuko went back to an old environment with knowledge of the outside world, relationships and doubts and realised he already grew past his childhood and dreams and had to find new ones, ones that align more with the views he gained and upheld. And he needed to see that his home was not what he remembered to realise that.

The acts seem to make him go backward, but the character himself evolved in a very forward way, looking back only to see how much he changed.

[edgyandoverzealous]

I'm a Zokka shipper, I am in fandom purely for fun, as I am under the impression that everyone is.

[gh0st-city]

Thinking about Azula again...

[hauntingblue]

Jee and zuko reconciliation episode I guess

[iminaworldofpureimagination]

poor kataang gets flax for being 'underdeveloped'as if thats a fact and not just some opinion with zero proof outside of fanon wank/ its one of the best written friends-something more realtionship ive' seen on tv yes even more than kim x ron and sam x danny got nothing on it.. honestly i dont get the hate kataras feelings for aang were supppper obvious.

its one of the only healthy ships i have and yet its treated like TRASH but its cute oh well thats the lost of butthurt haters.

[goldenvulpine]

I want to clear up a mistake people make with Azula and Ursa.

Ursa didn’t play favorites.

Ursa didn’t think Azula was a monster.

Ursa simply, unequivocally, just didn’t enable Azula’s worst traits like Ozai did.

Ozai’s favorite child was Azula, but Ursa still loved her more.

Because enabling isn’t love.

What did Ozai’s enabling do? It made Azula into the type of person to never have any loyal friends. It made the type of person that Mai and Tai Lee would betray at the risk of their own lives.

Ursa pushed Azula to be with her friends. To be with Zuko. Ozai pushed Ursa away, and both kids suffered for it. Azula became a sadist, enjoying seeing her brother get burned—while Zuko was pushed away because he cared for his people.

Azula thought her mom hated her because her mom was the only one who cared enough to tell her no.