orangepr

[orangepr]

In the southern raiders, it’s clear Katara planned to kill her mother’s killer initially. She may not have said it out loud but it’s clear by seeing her behavior that her initial plan was to kill him. She only changed her mind at the very last minute and spared Yon Rha when she found him pathetic. Aang sensed this, he knew she was going down the dark path of wanting to kill for revenge, which is why he tried to stop her. Zuko was enabling her. You can call it “support” but if you truly care for someone, you’ll speak up when you think they’re about to make a mistake, even if it’s not what they want to hear.

Zuko just wanted to get on Katara’s good side even if it meant letting her do something she would regret later. Zuko may not have directly encouraged her to kill the man, but he was willing to allow her to do so. This doesn’t mean Zuko is evil, it just means he’s flawed but I do not see his actions towards Katara as good in that episode. This isn’t an attack on Zutara shippers, it’s okay to like morally darker ships, it’s fiction, but southern raiders is really not an episode to use to try to prove Zutara would be healthy

So, I’ve been sitting on this ask for a few days because I wasn’t sure how to word this. But now I think I know how to answer this. Stay with me, this is going to be a long one. 

TSR discourse is actually really funny to me because on a fundamental level, the wild interpretations people have about this episode are because people don’t like women Katara (and Zuko, because they have to pretend he’s this big bad evil whenever he and Katara are in the same frame, but this is more so an extension of the misogynistic Katara hate). Katara never said she was going to kill Yon Rha, Aang implied she did (and the fandom, of course, listens to Aang on this). There isn’t any canon dialogue of Katara saying she was going to kill him (and Aang isn’t a fucking empath that can sense murder lol, he just assumed Katara was going to kill, which says more about him than her). 

Zuko also NEVER encouraged Katara to murder (and if you ask the fandom for the canon lines to prove this, they can’t, because Zuko doesn’t even speak for a good chunk of this episode). I will tell you some canon Zuko lines; Zuko told Katara he knows where her mother’s killer is and he’s going to help her find him, Zuko said Kya was a brave woman, Zuko told Katara she needs to rest, Zuko told that FN soldier to look Katara in the eye and to not pretend he didn’t know who she was, and the original tsr draft has him putting a blanket over her while she rests. TSR literally ends with him being forgiven by Katara because he personally helped her confront the ugly parts of her trauma and gain a sense of closure over it so she can finally begin to heal. So, I'll ask this: Zuko enabled her to do what? How can you watch TSR and say Zuko wasn’t a good influence on Katara? Because Katara certainly doesn’t seem to think that’s the case… Unless you can’t trust that she knows what she’s talking about? 

Katara told Aang out of her mouth that she knew he would never understand and that she would never forgive Yon Rha (therefore, Aang is wrong). Katara wants to confront her mother’s killer and Sokka for some reason agreed that she was sounding like Jet–a boy who manipulated her specifically to be able to kill a village filled with innocent people. But let this fandom tell it, Katara is vulnerable and being enabled by big bad Zuko and she needs Aang to tell her what to do. Or that she was some massive bitch for what she said to Sokka but he doesn’t need to say sorry for what he said to Katara? Katara needs neither Aang, Zuko or Sokka’s go-ahead to act. She needed someone who was going to give her the space to process and confront the man responsible for her pain, and that wasn’t Aang. 

Not for nothing, if I’m being real, I can’t even imagine a TSR where Aang joins her instead of Zuko. 

Food for thought, but if Katara thought Yon Rha deserved to die, I would be 100% down behind her. You think Kya was the only victim? You think just because he’s conveniently retired that erased the harm done to SWT? I think there’s a few reasons why he doesn’t die, but I for one would not argue about why Yon Rha of all people needs to live. If Katara didn’t find him pathetic and sad and decided to kill this man, would that change your perception of who Katara’s core character is? Katara ends the episode saying she wasn’t even sure if she was too strong or too weak for not killing Yon Rha, showing that there is some lingering doubt in her mind about the outcome of that confrontation. Not the journey itself, but the confrontation. Understandably so! This shit is heavy!

This fandom also has a bad habit of positioning Aang as a moral authority in TSR because of his tragedy, and it's not right. Katara gets dogged on by the fandom and told that her trauma doesn't matter in comparison to a boy who lost his entire people, therefore she should just listen to him, and it's frustrating. Aang can be angry and lash out and not have to apologize. Aang can have off-screen kills that don’t ever have to get addressed by the narrative. Aang can kiss Katara after she said no and not have to suffer the consequences of it. Aang can be patronizing and flighty and it's completely fine. There is a clear double standard here. I know you see it. 

I also think this outrage about Katara killing Yon Rha is disingenuous. Aside from the fact that everyone in the Gaang has killed before, a previous user said that had this been, say, Hakoda, no one would have think pieces about the morality or the emotional repercussions of killing Kya’s murderer—who was an agent of the systemic FN killing and imprisonment of the SWT. Katara would have been crucified by the fandom if she told Hakoda he shouldn't confront Yon Rha and that he should forgive that man. It's misogyny to think Katara needs her male friends to tell her what to do and that they’re directly responsible for her moral decisions. It's misogyny to say that Katara didn’t really mean what she said when she told Aang she knew he wouldn’t understand and that he was wrong about what she needed. It's even weirder to pretend that Katara would somehow be “broken” and feel worse about herself if she had killed Yon Rha; Katara doesn’t forgive Yon Rha yet she’s clearly on a much healthier pathway post TSR, contrary to popular belief.

Also, by the way, Zuko doesn’t need Katara’s forgiveness, he wants it. Zuko can still train Aang, stop Ozai and ascend the throne. He can do that all without Katara’s forgiveness. Hell, Zuko would have beaten Azula fair and square had she not cheated and tried to aim at Katara. But he knew he personally wronged Katara after they emotionally connected in the crystal caves–about their shared trauma regarding their mothers who both sacrificed themselves to protect them, mind you–hence him seeking Sokka out in the first place to ask about Kya. Anon, you need to ask yourself, WHY does Zuko want Katara to forgive him? Why does he take this journey with her? You don’t want to “get on someone’s good side” for no reason. Zuko actually cares about Katara, and their relationship only gets stronger after TSR (while the KA dynamic gets weaker on the road to the finale).

Also, where the hell were Toph and Suki this episode? Bryke got rid of them with the quickness because he knew that episode would be different if they got to add their two cents to the conversation.

[orangepr]

‘We need more loud, unashamed queers’ yes but some of you can’t even seem to handle a bisexual woman liking men.

[orangepr]

[orangepr]

math nation does this happen to you too

[orangepr]

[orangepr]

i was talking with a friend and i mentioned the term "pillow princess", and we started talking about like. opposite terms. what i meant by that was more along the lines of "service top", but he took that to mean just like, the boy version.

he just started dropping names: blanket boy, duvet dude, mattress man. fitted sheet fucker. boxspring boy. headboard hunk. he just kept GOING

[orangepr]

"Protect and defend trans children and people year round"

Pasteups in New York City

[orangepr]

i do not ghost purposely i just have no idea what to say ever

[orangepr]

"They're soulmates" oh it's way worse than that

~ quote from marsadist

[orangepr]

[orangepr]

social media has got twenty year old women thinking they have to be a "clean girl" at university with a morning routine and face masks and expensive water bottles and a 9pm bedtime. I am begging the world to let young women go through a crucial developmental stage of being disgusting messy little rats. for feminism.

[orangepr]

Thinking about how water is the element of change and how of all the characters in the show Zuko is the one who changes the most.

Thinking about how fire is the element of power and will and how Katara took back her power by saving someone who sacrificed themselves to save her as her mother had.

[orangepr]

Rangshi for my birthday because I deserve it xx

[orangepr]

I desperately want to request a zaundads sketch because I love how you draw them, but my head is empty of ideas.... Maybe something from the alternate timeline where they love each other? If you wanna get NSFW with it then maybe a little action against the Last Drop bar after closing time?? Please and thank you!! 🙏

Aww thank you I'm glad you like my stuff!! Oh boy I sure do love the alternate timeline Zaundads. I bet they're just so sweet on each other~

Anyway Vander bear hugging his husband before some social function.

[orangepr]

husband

[orangepr]

what if this scene was worse

[orangepr]