#Mom!Katara

[okbrambleberry]

Just things they can connect about… Zuko you should bring up the fact that you burned down Suki’s village again, I’m sure she’d appreciate it.

[eeriezoundz]

I could be a good mother

[demaparbat-hp]

Izumi (steambaby) sketches.

[fanfic-gremlin-ft-trauma]

i am disgustingly late but for women’s day i wanted to appreciate the mother figures of the world :)

[awakefor48hours]

Katara: *brings up her mother’s death, someone who died in her place because of ethnic cleansing, less than 10 times in show about world-wide colonization*

Fans: Katara is SO ANNOYING. She brings up her mom’s death every three minutes and I wish she’d just stop.

[nyxelestia]

Originally on Instagram, posted with artist @hrlshnv's permission.

Edit: artist is not on Tumblr, so if you have an Instagram account, please remember to go show them some love.

[billsbae]

this is so momtara and dadko coded

[redbayly]

Zutara headcanon #35594

When he realized that Katara didn't have any sort of image of her mother (as the Water Tribe isn't really known for its paintings), Zuko hired the most talented portrait painter in the Fire Nation and then consulted with Hakoda and Gran-Gran for as many details as possible in order to commission a life-size painting of Kya to give to Katara.

The painting was so beautiful and so true to life that Katara almost thought her mother was about to step out of the canvas. It became one of her most cherished possessions.

Many decades later, after Katara passed away, the painting was considered a masterpiece and placed in the Southern Water Tribe cultural heritage center and museum. It is the most beloved work in the gallery and remains a symbol for many Water Tribe and Fire Nation people of love, courage, and kindness.

[late-draft]

Southern Raiders

Well, after rewatching the Southern Raiders with my mom, it's easy to see why it could be interpreted as Zuko wanting violence and revenge, with scenes such as him lingering too long with his angry stare at Yon Rha after Katara already decided to leave, or him attacking and pressing on to get information from the captain of the Southern Raiders on the whereabouts of the man they were actually looking for, even though he could have called it quits as a "dead end" when Katara already started walking away.

But that's a misread. This is nothing personal to him and it wouldn't align with any of Zuko's previous behaviour - not in the Boiling Rock where he did everything to help Sokka, not in Day of the Black Sun when he didn't attack his father. Not in the North, where he offered a hand to try to save Zhao, a man who attempted to get him killed.

If the viewer invests two seconds into investigating the situation, it instantly becomes clear that when Katara was walking away when they hit the information "dead end", she was grim, tense, frustrated, bitter and still deeply hurt. Calling it quits there would mean her emotional wound would not heal. This is the reason why Zuko pressed on, and the reason he looked at Yon Rha with disgust. Not because he wanted murder, but because he was significantly affected by how deeply Katara was hurt.

"You should get some rest." "Are you ready Katara?" It's disingenuous to read Zuko's quotes as him doing this just to manipulate her into committing murder. He's never been portrayed as a manipulator in the show, and it makes perfect sense he's truly saying and doing these things to help her, just like how he was helping Sokka an episode earlier.

Yes, if I were directing the episode, I would have added scenes of more closeups, Katara despairing when they ran into a dead end; Zuko seeing her pain and it reflecting in his expression of sadness. That is where the focus actually is, and it would be conveyed visually this way. But:

Considering this episode was rewritten a thousand times, it's clear how the actual meaning was placed underneath the top layer of misdirection. And it becomes clear there was no chance for directing to put these visual explanations.

My mom commented, "maybe the Southern Raiders took Katara's mother as a prisoner, why is she overreacting?" and I had to facepalm. No, it's heavily implied Katara saw her mother's charred corpse. Her reactions throughout the show in regards to her memories of her mother are extremely intense, causing her to shake and cry. Third episode of the series, she outright says the Fire Nation killed her mother. And Yon Rha confirms in the end that he "didn't take any prisoners". It doesn't matter that Yon Rha was a pathetic person who was able to kill Kya due to Southern Raiders overwhelming their village and her being a nonbender. The trauma it caused to Katara became an integral part of her. Her "nasty" comment towards Sokka is logical. It's not nice or kind, but it's logical. Zuko was able to understand the depth of her pain and that simply "forgiving and moving on" was not an option for her.

And in the end, facing Yon Rha did help Katara get closure. It helped her. It alleviated the pain she was intensely bottling up for years. It gave her back control and power over the murderer she could do nothing about as an 8 year old girl.

[kittenfangirl20]

I love my mom so much, we introduced her to Avatar the Last Airbender and I told her the original plan was to have Zuko and Katara get together romantically and she responded with “That actually makes sense.”

[ultfreakme]

I just want to know what is this obsession with some ATLA fans on making Katara "The Mom"? She's 14. We start with Aang saying she is just a kid so what on Earth is this weird take?

[yourhighness6]

Every so often I am struck by how truly wonderful the zutara ship is. Unreal chemistry? Check. Mutual support? Double check. Fits so many great tropes my head is going to explode while also somehow being completely unique? Check times a million.

[korielle-writing-fanfics]

saw a comment say that katara being a fighter and mother were never a dichotomy and how even as a mother (at least in tlok) we don’t see her do much in terms of even being a mom and i had to think a bit

and yeah shes not present as a mom or grandma and damn they have her not even the bare minimum to do

[lphoenixspiritl]

At Toph and Aang's wedding, Zuko filled in as father of the groom and Iroh had the honor of being the father of the bride. Meanwhile Katara took on both roles as mother of the bride and mother of the groom.

[luriuan]

This =

Do you guys see my vision

[survivalove]

you ever sit and think about how both times katara compared her parents to aang, he was never around to hear it?

meaning he has no idea the role he occupies in her headspace when they’re not together? 😫

and that all her “mothering” actions to him were really just a coverup to hide the fact that she was actually scared to lose him like she lost her parents? (to avoid confusion, i’m referring to hakoda leaving her behind as a loss, i’m not saying he died obviously)

and that katara’s belief in aang to save the world, doesn’t just come from her belief in the avatar, but her own selfish need to be with aang specifically?? and how she affirms this every time he returns from some dangerous battle or comes back to save her throughout the series?

and how their relationship SIGNIFICANTLY progresses romantically, after she 1) confronts hakoda and 2) faces her mother’s kiIIer??

1. The Awakening

Katara: I know the world needs him, but doesn't he know how much we need him, too? How can he just leave us behind?

Hakoda: You're talking about me too, aren't you?

katara goes on this whole rant about aang leaving her behind, and it takes hakoda like 2 seconds to realize that she’s talking about HIM TOO. (not just him, but him AND aang btw)

after this, we get some of the most significant unambiguous kataang moments in the show, more than we ever did in the first 2 seasons combined. which means, she’s probably been carrying around this feeling way longer than the episode suggests. it could also mean that katara has simply never felt abandoned by aang until that very moment, which would make sense too, because he never did!

2. The Southern Raiders

Katara: Remember, back in Ba Sing Se. And you turned around and betrayed me, betrayed all of us!

Katara: Hmm, maybe you could reconquer Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth King. Or, I know! You could bring my mother back!

then, she (more implicitly) compares aang dying in ba sing se to losing her mother which on first watch, are really not comparable at all (especially the way she says it) and seems like she just trying to find any reason to be mad at this person.

EXCEPT, the more the episode progresses, we get to see even more and more parallels between kya and aang. so yeah, of course, katara connects what happened in ba sing se to the day her mother died...

obviously these 2 moments are important for katara and her individual arc, but I just think it’s interesting how the moments we see of her lashing out talking to/about her parents are somehow connected to aang dying, and how their relationship evolves once she gets closure from those moments of her childhood.