evsalonyx

[evsalonyx]

Katara 🌊🩵

[evsalonyx]

Your post made me notice that Zuko stayed with Mai out of "obligation" because she helped him. Like Katara stayed with Aang because he saved everybody. I never thought about this before.

Don't get me started again on how Mai threatens Zuko to never break up with him again and the narrative implies that she is right to do this because she saved him and took jail time for him. Even though the only reason she was at the boiling rock to begin with is because she wanted to punish him for dumping her because he decided that saving the world was more important than a relationship built on lies. "But she saved him!" She was the reason he needed saving to begin with! Don't get me started again on how bad it is for Zuko, especially, an abused kid who is used to people he loves making him think he owes them while they take advantage of him, to end in a relationship like this.

Don't get me started on how BOTH canon relationships end in obligations for Zuko and Katara to reciprocate the feelings of someone who hurts them and benefits from their feelings of obligation towards them. Katara at least has a more healthy background and support system to fall back on, so I can see her in some ways realizing that the relationship is unhealthy before Zuko does, although she's also dating the literal answer to her prayers so that also puts pressure on her to stay in the relationship.

It's insane that both main canon relationships have this current of obligation running through them. It makes me think that Bryke have an overall poor conception of relationships in general (and women).

[evsalonyx]

I've had a c-section and then a vbac with a 9.5 lb baby, give me the c-section any day of the week, vaginal birth was so much worse, neither affected breastfeeding, as both kids went past a year. I'm only having a vaginal with this pregnancy because I want a fourth baby quickly, but that one is going to be a c-section and tying my tubes because this mama is tired of birthing and nursing! Modern medicine has its faults but at least I don't have to birth and nurse 11 kids back to back like my great grandmother, and we've gotten to a place where we don't use forceps and injections to dry up breastmilk like my grandmother's generation.

"ahh this baby sure looks big from our ultrasounds which are known to have a wide margin of error! better schedule that c section! especially since you're a first time mom and I have a vacation planned around the 40-42 week mark when most first time moms naturally go into labor... well its your c section day at 37 weeks, nah the baby probably doesn't need any more time in there to develop lol lets slice up your abdomen without thinking twice about it, going through the birth canal in order to establish his microbiome is really a hassle you know, besides as soon as he's out we're going to cut the cord immediately because its just not very important to us that he get his entire supply of blood and stem cells. I'm not sure what use a growing baby fresh into the world would have for those. what he REALLY needs is an injection which has a 15% rate of adverse reaction in adults ranging from eczema to febrile seizures to immune system disorders, maybe higher for a little 7 lb baby still getting half the dose a 170 lb adult would get lol idk it hasn't been studied, funny since the manufacturer Merck has been sued like a lot over harmful medicines they've made ANYWAYS dont worry I'll give ya a nice "information sheet" about it :) dont you dare ask for the package insert :) if you don't let us inject your child with this we will intimidate and verbally abuse you at best or do it behind your back and call cps at worst :) so yea some kind of "natural birthing and postpartum bonding process" is pretty interrupted here i guess but that doesn't matter because you are a machine and i'm the mechanic, not a human woman lol. we're not like every other mammal on the planet. oh breastfeeding isn't coming along so well? you and your baby are stressed from all the physical and hormonal trauma you've just endured? lets get him on some FORMULA. also you've failed as  a mother nbd. since you've just had your uterus cut open its real important you don't get pregnant again any time in the next year, and well yes exclusive breastfeeding delays fertility in most women until weaning (biologically normal age for that is 1-3 years) but we've got your baby on that fortified soy..stuff instead so we better get YOU on some hormonal birth control :) this wont have any negative impact on your health or future fertility.. oh btw all future births within this system will be a c section, we dont do vbacs here and also there is a limited number of times your body can be cut open and heal fully and still grow a baby so..hope you didnt want like 4 kids or something lol. yea insurance will cover all this probably, and thank goodness cause you'll definitely be back! aren't you grateful for modern medicine??"

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Iroh: Oh my. Nephew, you wouldn’t happen to be in love with that waterbending girl now would you?

Zuko: Yeah right, Uncle. It’s not like I lie awake at night thinking about her.

*Later*

Zuko, lying in bed at night: Uh oh.

[evsalonyx]

katara showing the aurora borealis to zuko and teaching him the deities and stories the swt has for em

[evsalonyx]

Conversations that definitely happened in the writers room

In honor of the current writers strike, I thought it would be a perfect time to talk about how insane the writers room must’ve been during the development of ATLA…

_____________

Day of Black Sun:

Bryke: We should have Katara and Aang kiss in this episode.

Writers: That could be cute. We could show Katara’s feelings finally become more clear to the audience with her smiling-

Bryke: No. We want him to grab her, kiss her while she looks frozen in shock, and then have her blush and frown while he flys off.

Writers: … Well, that’s a choice.

_____________

Ember Island Players:

Bryke: We want Aang to kiss Katara again.

Writers: This could work. We can finally show Aang’s feelings for Katara being reciprocated-

Bryke: No, we want Aang to demand an answer as to why they aren’t together after they kissed in DOBS. And then she responds with an entire monologue about her being confused and how this “isn’t a good time.”

Female writers: *Having flashbacks of all the times they have had to give the same speech to “nice guys” in their lives* And then… he kisses her?

Bryke: Yes, immediately after, but this time we want her to be visibly upset-

Female writers: *Muttering* At least that’s realistic.

Bryke: -angrily lashing out at him for his actions and then have her running off.

Writers: …

Bryke: We also want to have her sitting next to Zuko during the performance while having them bantering with each other in a positive manner while Aang looks at them angrily from afar.

Writers: After?

Bryke: No, in the lead up to the confrontation.

Writers: I’m sorry, what-

_____________

Imagine trying to write a compelling story that flows and makes sense, only for the two creators to get in the way and make the most bat-shit insane changes possible.

I would lose my fucking mind.

If anyone wants more, I have plenty…

[evsalonyx]

they’re so soft 🫶

[evsalonyx]

I absolutely think Zuko was drawn to how much Katara cared about her mother because when his own mother went missing, no one cared or wanted to talk about it. Seeing Katara cry for her own mother openly, seeing Katara angry about her mother's murder, hearing her talk about it, accompanying her on that journey, forcing the man responsible to talk about it, must have been so healing for him.

[evsalonyx]

I saw your response to the previous anon. even if we assume that you are right about KA (you are wrong, but I don't see the point in arguing with you), there has never been such a lot of negative interaction between Aang and Katara as there was between Zuko and Katara. Katara threatened Zuko with death and was literally going to leave him to die (and Zuko remained alive only thanks to Aang), and Zuko betrayed her trust and literally said that he did not understand why she was angry with him (although Katara explained to him the reason for her anger a minute ago) and then, according to Katara herself, forced her feeling that she has no choice. I hope you understand that "a partner who respects her, admires her, supports her, cares for her, and loves her just as much as she does him" is pure fanon, and none of this is in the canon (neither in the show itself, nor in post-canonical things)? it's normal that you ship zutaru, and you can read and write as many fanfictions as you want, where Zuko loves Katara, and Katara loves Zuko, but the truth is that the canonical Zuko, the real Zuko, was never in love with Katara, he chose another girl for himself, and had a child with another gir (Mai actually) whether you like it or not. Just like Katara chose another man for herself and lived with him for many decades, gave birth to three children from him. You may think they made a mistake, but it was their choice, and canonically they never considered each other as likely partners. It's weird that you can't understand in any way that canonically there was never anything between Zuko and Katara.

what a pity that avatar: the last airbender ended ten minutes into the southern raiders episode. what a pity that katara never told zuko that she was ready to forgive him, that she never hugged him tenderly, that she never joked with him, supported him, comforted him, and agreed to fight by his side. what a pity that zuko never took a lightning bolt to the heart to protect her, and that katara looked shocked and terrified at the sight. what a pity that she never yelled his name, forgot the incredible danger she was in and tried to run to him and help him. what a pity that katara never took down a firebending prodigy at the height of her power and then rushed to zuko's side and cried when she was able to heal him.

what a pity that they didn't end the show with a beautiful, strong, intimate friendship that provided the perfect foundation for a romance to develop.

i'm not sure if you're aware that fictional characters usually undergo something called development, where they adopt different attitudes, behaviours and feelings from those they held before. i love that katara goes from threatening zuko to fighting for zuko tooth and nail in the finale, because that is called change, and growth, things that are generally considered good and necessary within character arcs and relationships - but i understand you may not be familiar with those concepts in romance, given that you ship kat.aang.

literally said that he did not understand why she was angry with him (although Katara explained to him the reason for her anger a minute ago) and then, according to Katara herself, forced her feeling that she has no choice

it is usually good to provide this little thing called evidence when carrying out analysis.

that is hard to do, of course, when you have none.

You may think they made a mistake, but it was their choice and canonically they never considered each other as likely partners. It's weird that you can't understand in any way that canonically there was never anything between Zuko and Katara.

in case you don't know, zuko and katara aren't real people with free will. their choices are made for them by writers whose job is to make those choices make sense within the scope of their own narrative arcs, and fit the themes and messages of the show. when they fail at that job, audiences are perfectly within their rights to recognize that and examine what could have been done differently.

just because something is canon, that doesn't mean it's immune to criticism. of course i know katara canonically got married to a.ang, and that zuko chose a different partner. that doesn't automatically mean those are the right narrative decisions because - and this may come as a shock to you - engaging critically with media also means looking at the ways in which it fell short and how it could have done better, and the romances in atla are by and large one of its major shortcomings.

[evsalonyx]

Thinking again about how Katara is portrayed in "Ember Island Players" and how a lot of her objections to the play have to do with how it portrays her as an overly emotional damsel who needs Aang to save her from her wretched existence, and the disrespect of her entire culture and people that is used to portray her as someone who needs a man to rescue her.

Which on one level you can interpret as Fire Nation propaganda, but it's also a meta commentary on the series itself, because Katara does rely on Aang as a savior figure and there are certain scenes that are specifically designed to damsel her so that Aang can be a hero.

It's interesting that the show chose to portray Katara watching herself in that position and specifically show that she doesn't like it, in the same episode that they have the real Aang act like them getting together is a foregone conclusion.

In contrast, although the play changes Katara's relationship to Zuko into something romantic and lurid, they do get one thing right about it.

And that's that Katara is the one making the choices.

Of course they also ramp up the sexuality in a way that is gross, especially considering the context of this being a FN play meant to disparage the other nations, but on a meta level it's also meant to make us, the audience, feel disgusted by a woman who makes overt sexual overtures.

I've seen people (who are anti zutara) say that the play is showing Katara as the colonized woman who falls for the colonizer, but that's not what's happening here. Zuko is not portrayed as dominant by the play, and it wouldn't make sense for the FN to portray him that way, either, since one of the purposes of the play is to portray him as a weak and ridiculous traitor who is ultimately defeated. So the joke, both in-story and the one Bryke want to make at a meta level, seems to be about Katara being more dominant than Zuko. In the play, Katara says that she felt attracted to Zuko from the moment he captured her, yet Zuko is shown shrinking from her overtures. And I just have to find it interesting that this is the joke the show wants to make in an episode where the major conflict is Aang making a pushy overture towards Katara and her rejecting it.

Zutarians frequently talk about how zutara focuses on Katara's agency. I have to agree, and I don't know what the conversations about this were at the time, but I do find it suspect that the show seems to recognize this, but decided to make fun of it at the same time. The episode posits the threat that Katara might choose someone other than Aang as a major conflict in the story, shows us a Katara who feels trapped by her role as Aang's damsel, and then makes fun of her for it and expects us to root for her and Aang to get together.

Meanwhile, we also see the real Katara and Zuko get closer in a way that feels real and organic, we see them exchange banter, we see Katara confident and able to best Zuko verbally but also able to comfort him over his fears about the play, which again focuses on her as the main actor in the relationship. Although Zuko and Katara do have that one scene of them moving away from each other in reaction to being portrayed as a couple by the play, overall their relationship remains unplagued by the insecurity that the play brings out in Katara and Aang, which seems to indicate that the problems in their relationship go beyond the play's parodies and that there is actually some truth there, that Katara really does feel like she has less choice in her relationship with Aang and that Aang seems to fear her choices.

It's really not hard to see why zutara becomes appealing in that context.

[evsalonyx]

Conversations that definitely happened in the writers room

In honor of the current writers strike, I thought it would be a perfect time to talk about how insane the writers room must’ve been during the development of ATLA…

_____________

Day of Black Sun:

Bryke: We should have Katara and Aang kiss in this episode.

Writers: That could be cute. We could show Katara’s feelings finally become more clear to the audience with her smiling-

Bryke: No. We want him to grab her, kiss her while she looks frozen in shock, and then have her blush and frown while he flys off.

Writers: … Well, that’s a choice.

_____________

Ember Island Players:

Bryke: We want Aang to kiss Katara again.

Writers: This could work. We can finally show Aang’s feelings for Katara being reciprocated-

Bryke: No, we want Aang to demand an answer as to why they aren’t together after they kissed in DOBS. And then she responds with an entire monologue about her being confused and how this “isn’t a good time.”

Female writers: *Having flashbacks of all the times they have had to give the same speech to “nice guys” in their lives* And then… he kisses her?

Bryke: Yes, immediately after, but this time we want her to be visibly upset-

Female writers: *Muttering* At least that’s realistic.

Bryke: -angrily lashing out at him for his actions and then have her running off.

Writers: …

Bryke: We also want to have her sitting next to Zuko during the performance while having them bantering with each other in a positive manner while Aang looks at them angrily from afar.

Writers: After?

Bryke: No, in the lead up to the confrontation.

Writers: I’m sorry, what-

_____________

Imagine trying to write a compelling story that flows and makes sense, only for the two creators to get in the way and make the most bat-shit insane changes possible.

I would lose my fucking mind.

If anyone wants more, I have plenty…

[evsalonyx]

Katara deserved a partner who didn’t burn her, who didn’t insult her culture’s cuisine, didn’t keep the location from her surviving parent away from her, who didn’t keep running away, who didn’t go play around every time and ignored and waved off her warnings why he shouldn’t do that, who she didn’t have to endanger herself for to try and calm him down, who didn’t cross boundaries multiple times by forcefully kissing her, who got mad at a fictional representation of her and proceeded to get angry at her and then demanded answers from her even though it clearly stressed her out, and she got that 😔💔

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my hands slipped

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Katara: Come on, i wanna show you something *turns and walks away*

Zuko: Nice

Katara: That’s not it but thank you.

Zuko: *Smacks Katara’s butt*

[evsalonyx]

No thoughts except Zuko and Katara running away to elope as Rewrite the Stars play in the background.