#i noticed that in each of my ship drawings including toph

[pepper-makes-art]

can you draw topher and abe- (gets shoe by the US military 50 times in the chest)

THEM!!!!

inspired by a fic on ao3 written by... FartMcgee

[sokkascroptop]

traitor. (sokka x f!reader) pt 12

part 1 | part 11 | part 13

A/N: Enjoy a fic where Katara is able to express her emotions to someone and not have to keep everything bottled up inside until she explodes in a blinding rage. The next couple parts are gonna be so angsty :) *Also, I never came right out and said this, but I allude to it a lot. Y/N is a tall bitch. That is all.*

Katara peeked her head in. “Can we talk?”

The sound of her voice didn’t soothe any of Y/N’s fears. “Yeah, sure,” she said shakily. 

Y/N sat on her bed roll and left room for Katara to sit across from her. She pulled her knees up and played with her hands. They aren’t your friends. They aren’t your friends, Y/N chanted inside her head. She willed herself to take this well. She always knew this was going to be the ending, that this was going to happen–

“You know how you said I could talk to you?”

Y/N let out a huge breath she had been holding. Maybe this wasn’t a send off, no hey, thanks so much for your help so far, Sokka really appreciates you teaching him to sword fight, but we’re off with the Avatar now! 

“What’s wrong?” More importantly, what’s so wrong that you wanted to come to me to talk to? Y/N wanted to say. She settled herself a little more comfortably against the wall. “Is it about your dad?” Y/N guessed.

Katara froze, halfway between pulling her legs into cross them, her face a mask of shame. “Gods, is it so obvious?”

“Oh–um…” Y/N trailed off, not sure of what to say. 

“I don’t know why I feel this way,” Katara stuttered out.

“Don’t you think that you should talk to Sokka or Toph?” Y/N wasn’t sure that she was the best person to talk to about father-daughter relationships, seeing as she didn’t have one. They knew her better. Although, that might be the exact reason why she wasn’t going to them. 

“No,” Katara waved her hands. “Sokka, he wouldn’t get it. He loves my dad–not that I’m saying I don’t but–ugh,” Katara groaned and dropped her head in her hands. When she looked up again her eyelashes were wet. “Sokka doesn’t get what I’m feeling. I don’t understand what I’m feeling. I really do love Dad and I missed him every single day, but the moment I saw him I just felt this anger towards him. He was gone for so long and I was forced to grow up more than I should have with both my parents not being around. When I needed him the most he left. How–how can I just ignore that? How do you love someone and still be so unhappy with them?”

“Oh,” Y/N realized now what this was all about. Everything always comes back to Azula. Every decision she makes, every conversation she has, Azula still dominated her life. 

Y/N didn’t realize she started crying until Katara grabbed her hand. “No, no. I’m sorry! Don’t cry.”

Y/N squeezed Katara’s in a vice grip. “It’s not the same. Your dad, I’ve seen him look at you. He loves you and Sokka, he cares about you so much. He never meant to hurt you by leaving, but you don’t need to ignore it either. I love Azula because I’m weak. You love your dad because you know that no matter what he did, it was for the best even though it hurt.” Y/N wiped at her cheeks. “You need to talk to him. Tell him everything you told me. He’s probably hurting because you’ve shut him out, but he’ll understand.” 

“I didn’t mean to make you cry,” Katara sniffled. 

Y/N gave Katara’s hand another squeeze, not trusting her voice at the moment. She wished she had the courage to ask what was going to happen to her. It meant so much more now, but they were both teary-eyed and vulnerable; Y/N wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer. 

There were always distractions on the deck while Y/N and Sokka sparred, other warriors stood around eating, talking, watching them; the two of them had gotten used to it and ignored most of the voices, focusing on the task at hand. The difference that morning being that Aang was awake, and Aang didn’t know that she wasn’t their enemy anymore. 

“What are you doing?!” Aang’s voice broke through her concentration. A small gust of wind knocked her to one knee. Sokka’s inexperience didn’t give him the ability to pull back when going in for a strike and his sword glanced across her leg. 

Y/N didn’t feel it right away, in fact she thought he had missed until she looked down and saw the hole in her pants and the blood seeping through the fabric. It was the first blood they’d draw while sparring, and in the back of Y/N’s mind, she was thankful it was hers and not Sokka’s. 

“Oh shit. Oh shit, I am so sorry.” Sokka grasped her wrist and pulled it away so he could look at the wound. “Katara?!”

“It’s just a scratch.” Y/N waved her away after noticing that Aang was leaning heavily on his staff after airbending at her. “I’m fine, Katara.” 

“It’s like the size of my hand. Let her heal it,” Sokka protested. 

“Sokka,” Y/N growled through her teeth. “Let her help Aang first.” 

---

“Sorry, Aang. We should have told you when you woke up last night. I just didn’t want to overwhelm you,” Katara explained as she mended the gash on Y/N’s leg. The water soothed the sting, and when she was done all that was left was a pink scar. 

Aang rubbed his neck. “Sorry, Y/N.”

“No harm done. I probably would have reacted the same way if I saw someone beating up on my friend,” Y/N reassured. 

“You weren’t beating up on me,” Sokka muttered. He was quickly silenced with an elbow to the ribs, courtesy of Toph. 

“Maybe we should tell Twinkle-Toes what’s happened these last couple weeks.”

“Right, so after Ba Sing Se, we had to get you to safety. We went to Chameleon Bay and found Dad and the rest of his fleet. But the bay was full of Fire Nation ships and we wouldn’t stand a chance against them. So, we stole one.” Sokka gestured happily around him.

“So, what now?” Aang asked. “What are we going to do now that I’m awake?”

“My dad and I have been working on the invasion plan,” Sokka said. 

Y/N knew of the invasion plan. They didn’t act like they were trying to hide the plans from her, but it wasn’t like they included her in them either. 

“We won’t have the Earth King’s armies but we’ll have our allies from the Earth Kingdom, the eclipse and a surprise on our side.” Sokka wiggled his eyebrows. 

“What’s the surprise?” Aang asked suspiciously.

“You! The whole world thinks you’re dead! Isn’t that great?” Sokka jumped to his feet.

“Great?!” Aang stood up too, albeit unsteady, and leaned over the railing. “That’s terrible!”

“No, it’s great.” Sokka countered. “The Fire Nation won’t be hunting us anymore and they won’t expect you the day of Black Sun.” 

“No, no, no! You have no idea. This is so messed up!” Aang ran his hands through his short hair and opened his mouth to say something else when a foghorn interrupted him. 

Everyone’s faces whipped around in the direction of the sound. A Fire Nation ship was approaching. 

---

The five of them huddled on the staircase that led below deck, each one peeking their eyes (or ears) over the railing to catch what was happening. A metal gangplank was dropped between the ships and two soldiers and their captain approached Bato and Hakoda. Words were exchanged between the men but Y/N couldn’t hear a thing. 

“Gods, he looks familiar,” Y/N mumbled to herself. 

“Something’s wrong. They know!” Toph grabbed the edge and was about to haul herself over to tell everyone. 

But Y/N grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. “Wait.”

“What?!” she shrieked. 

Y/N ran up the steps. Sokka grabbed her calf but she shook him off and put on her most confident walk; long legged strides and her billowing cape hid her shaking hands. Y/N still wasn’t sure what she was doing. 

“Captain, what is going on?” She blinked at Hakoda and begged the spirits to tell him what she was doing. 

“My Lady,” He said gravely and Y/N held back a smile. “This Captain tells us that we need to be headed back to Ba Sing Se to support the occupation there.”

“Absolutely not!” She shouted.  

She stepped up on the gangplank and walked towards the three enemy soldiers who had frozen in the middle at her voice. “What is your name?” she pointed at the Captain.

He looked at her, taken aback. “I am Captain Sato. And who are you?” 

His eyes moved up and down her body and she stood a little taller. She put on her most diplomatic voice. “My name is Y/N, daughter of Commander Zhang. Right now you are delaying a very important mission. I command you to disembark our ship immediately and let us be on our way.”

Captain Sato let out a chuckle. “And what mission would that be? Your Captain is heading in the opposite direction of where he should be going and doesn’t even know which Admiral is in charge.” 

“That’s the point, you idiot! I’m on a secret mission for Fire Princess Azula; one of which you aren’t privy to the facts of and neither are they! Get off my ship!” 

He took an intimidating step towards her but Y/N didn’t back down. “I will be sending a messenger hawk to Capital City to confirm this, of course.” His voice was slimy, and she finally knew where she recognized him from. Some dinner party or something. His eyes always lingered too long. 

“You can do that, but know that I will be sending my own to make sure you are stripped of your title, stripped of your ship and you will go back to the Fire Nation as a disgrace. How does that sound, Captain Sato?” she sneered. 

She was met with silence. His face was red and he was breathing heavily. He wasn’t going to risk his job for his, Y/N knew it. “You’re free to go, My Lady.”

“Yes I am,” she growled. 

She marched back to Hakoda and Bato with wide eyes. She stood shoulder to shoulder with them as the Fire Nation ship pulled away. 

Toph grabbed her from behind and spun her around. “Y/N, I laughed so hard when you said you were going to strip him of his title, I thought they were going to be able to hear me.” The younger girl threw her head back and laughed some more. “Who even says ‘privy’?”

“You did good, kid.” Hakoda patted her shoulder, and that little action took a huge weight off her shoulders. Y/N let herself laugh loudly and freely along with Toph; she laughed so hard that she could barely pull a breath back in. 

“I–I don’t even remember what I said. I think I blacked out.” Y/N giggled again and she felt good. 

---

The ship docked in a Fire Nation port at dusk. Food was getting low on the ship but that was just the essentials they needed. It was also exhausting being at sea for so long. They all needed to stretch their legs on dry land. 

Toph, Sokka and Y/N waited just inside of town. It was beginning to get dark outside and Sokka was pacing. “Where are they? I’m starving.” 

“Calm down, Snoozles,” Toph said. “Katara said they’d be right behind us.”

“But what if they got captured? We are in the Fire Nation.” Without meaning it, he looked very pointedly at Y/N. She in turn, focused her eyes anywhere but him. 

“Wait!” Toph said. “I can hear Katara…” She trailed off and gave them both a confused look. “It’s just Katara.”

Y/N followed Sokka and Toph as they ran to meet her. 

“There you are!” Katara’s cheeks were red from running. “Aang is gone.”

“What? Where did he go?” Sokka inquired. 

“I don’t know! He said–he said he needed to redeem himself. He took his glider and left! I think he wants to finish this on his own. He said he needed to defeat the Fire Lord alone.” Katara shook her head, not even she could understand the reasoning behind it. 

“Well come on! We have to go find him!” Toph was already running back in the direction of the ship. Y/N hesitated, but then followed them. The least she could do is give them a proper send off when they took Appa. 

---

Katara climbed up and took the reins while Sokka and Toph clamored up into the saddle. Y/N opened her mouth, but she didn’t even know what to say. Was good-bye something even appropriate? Good luck? Sokka interrupted her thoughts and she realized she was standing there staring at them like a fish out of water. “What are you doing?”

“Saying goodbye?” Y/N replied. 

“Why are you saying goodbye?” Toph asked. She nudged Sokka in the arm. “Why is she saying goodbye?” 

“I’m not a part of your team.” Sokka and Katara shared a look. Y/N felt stupid, like she was missing something very important. 

“You’re coming with us,” Katara declared. “We thought you knew. You became a part of this the moment you fought with us, fought for us. Aang would want you here. I–We want you here.”

Y/N couldn’t help the small smile that drifted across her face. Finally, here was her answer. And it was as simple as Sokka leaning down to grab her hand and help her climb up Appa. She finally had a cause that she could be proud to serve. Because this was what it was all for; uniting the nations. And here they were, five kids doing it themselves on the back of a sky bison.

---

A/N: How do we feel, guys? Send me asks and messages bc i love hearing your feedback ❤️

I think I’m gonna let Toph say fuck in this fic. I don’t know exactly how Katara’s healing powers work when it comes to severity of wounds so I’m just making it up as I go. Also, I don’t know if I’ve made Y/N sound passive at all because of how Azula treated her but I want all of you to know that that is not her in my head at all. She is aggressive and vindictive, and despite all of her internal monologuing, she actually hates being told what to do. 

Taglist: @myexgirlfriendisthemoon @reclusive-chicken-nugget @astroninaaa @aangsupremacy @beifongsss @crownofcryptids @welovediaaxx @littlefluu @lozzybowe @thebluelcdy @ohjustlookalive @sugarmoongey @fanficdepot @teenbiology @13-09-01 @riespage @davnwillcome @naanlianid @creation-magician @lunariasilver @vintagerose1014516 @bcifcng @rockinearthbending-marauders @francesciak @thia-aep @aphrcditeee @milk-n-cheese @solarsuki @sendnuwudes @humbleseame @my--shitty--art @lovingcupcake51002 @loganrwebb

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Azula Ship Challenge

Week 2; Partners in crime.

Ship: Azula/Toph

Song Recs (idea from @feedingthewrongwolf): Eric Whitacre’s Lux   Aurumque, Atmozfears' This Is The Time and Helalyn Flower's I'm Human Detective.

Ngl this one is my favorite of them. Toph/Azula (which I am calling rockzula) is just such an underused ship and I wanted to give it  go. This is a cyber goth/solarpunk(ish) AU.

They were just two beat down kids in a beat up world.

No wonder it was so easy.

So easy to run away.

So easy to fall in love.

So easy to make such a mess, to have such a thrill.

 Days in the city of breathing in smog and staring at distant smoke stakes were taking their toll on Azula. Listening to the noisy clatter of industrial trains constantly on the move transporting mountains of coal, iron, and metal to the factories. Azula knew it wasn’t much better for the neighbor kid, Toph in an apartment with a leaky ceiling, dented walls infested with rats, and a tattered matters stock full of mites. She sighed and took a drag from her cigarette. She supposed she should be grateful; at least she lived in a house, however trashed it was. And it was decently trashed, your typical decaying yet somehow overgrown lawn littered with heaps of trash; a few rusty car parts here and over there, a weather abused swing set that hasn’t been used in year. Broken pieces of their house that had landed in their yard, a beater car that was on its last breath of exhaust fumes. Shards of a flower pot that called back to a time when flowers could still grow. A cracked birdbath reminiscing of when their mom was still with them.

That was what did their family in. They were never well off; nobody was these days. No one but the oil tycoons, unbreakable cooperations, and the industrial fanatics. Azula had reason to believe that even they had it bad now that there were so few people left to buy their products. They probably realized that they fucked up. But they keep up their poison, because what else did they have left to do? No one stopped them. It was too late to do so anyhow, everyone was just waiting for the world to die off in one last polluted cough. Her own family didn’t feel the effects until after Ursa had fallen ill just like everyone else who couldn’t adapt to the new toxic air. The Airbenders dropped like flies. Balance was thrown off and soon bending was a thing of the past.

 Azula peered over at Toph’s sorry excuse for an apartment and counted her blessings again. Zuko was a nervous wreck and Ozai was a hopeless drunk who had the biggest hand in letting their house go. He also couldn’t be assed to go to work—not that she blamed him. He used to work for Tak-Dom’s Rail Co., ‘proud’ owner of the smokestacks in the distance. One of four major companies that violated the world. At least her father had the decency to feel like shit for playing his part. Her family was a disaster, they didn’t even talk anymore, content to be alone with their own demons. But at least she had a family. Toph was living alone and was able. Azula couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen any form of security or authority, much less someone to check on the kid. Azula speculated that no one even knew that anyone lived in the apartment. But Toph seemed okay with that.

But Azula knew it, she decided to make an adventure of exploring the broken world she lived in. That’s how she met Toph. Toph with that spunky bandana she had tied over her mouth and that quirky pair of goggles that sat on her head. Toph who took her by surprised and bashed her a good one with a baseball bat. Toph who tied her up and held a gun to her head and told her that she’d used one before. Toph who held her captive for a good two days.

 Azula liked Toph. The kid knew how to survive. She also knew where to go if you wanted to forget the world for a while. And if all else failed she knew how to make a good time. Azula taught her how to skateboard and Toph taught her the best spots to breach the closest factories. She said that she needed to get food somehow and wasn’t a good cook. Eventually though, they began breaking in not for to steal the food—it was pumped full of radiation anyways—but for the thrill. Azula would pick up her board, adjust her studded gasmask that she was lucky to have received (back before things got wildly out of hand, at the time it was more or less a trend to have), and venture with Toph into the warehouse.

 On their first endeavor—one that happened only after the pair had felt each other out, Toph handed Azula a bat adorned with rusty nails and drawings that were both cute and crass all at once. “I thought I’d give it to you as a token of our friendship.” Toph had said.

“This is the one you hit me with, isn’t it?”

Toph just smirked.

And they were off. Since Toph didn’t have a board of her own, Azula let her wrap her arms around her waist and told her to hold on. Over the wind rushing passed and the sound or kicking up pebbles Toph would shout things like, “make a left, now a right, keep going straight.” Finally, they had arrived. Azula called with vivid detail how putrid the place smelled. Toph forgot to mention that the secret entrance was positioned smack in between a compost that hadn’t been emptied in months and a waste discharge pipe that spouted colors all over the nasty green and gaudy brown spectrum. Azula recalled nearly retching on the spot, only managing to keep it down so not to make herself look like a wimp. She watched Toph scope the ground. Azula had figured that the girl was looking for something to help them force the warehouse door open. Intent on proving that she was a useful partner, she rummaged through a pile of scrap metal and rusty iron beams. Wedged between two, she had found a crowbar. “That’ll work.” Toph declared. And in minutes they were sneaking around the building. Not that they had to. The place was both trashed and empty. Though Azula was certain it was still in use on occasions.

That night they stole a considerably sized crate of food and a wrench. And that night, in light of their first success, she kissed Toph, if for no other reason than just to try it. But she liked how it felt to do so, both of them did…

 From then on they moved on to wilder adventures that included skateboarding in the ‘stay out’ sections of the industrial park, looting stores—nothing major, just to see if they could—and smashing car widows just for the hell of it. And on the nights when they were to wiped to do anything else, they’d share a smoke.

  Before the world began to decay, Toph was someone Azula would have never talked to. Toph had moved in from the east side. The part of the city that was known for being less civilized, if she was putting it gently. The BeiFong family started out in poverty—it showed in the way Toph talked and in her posture among other things—and had finally gotten out, just in time for the world to go poor. Azula had been raised to, “stay away from that lot.” Perhaps she should mind her father’s words, before Toph the worst that she would do was swipe a light from Lo and Li. She snickered to herself, it’s not like there were laws anymore.  She took another drag and watched the smoke puff into the sky. It reminded her of the smoke stacks that never ceased to stop puffing, and for a fleeting moment she felt guilty. The skyline already had smog on top of smog, what did it matter if she added a breath more of it? She yawned, deciding that a trip to Toph’s place was long overdue. She stood up and stretched, pulled her ratty sneakers on, and headed across the cracked street. She noticed that some vines had finally pushed through some of those grass and made a note to take a quick picture before they shriveled up and died. At the thought, she tightened the gas over her nose and lips.

 Tonight, Azula just wanted to relax—relatively speaking—so she was going to suggest a trip to BioBlaze. A secret rave nestled in the hidden tunnel of the abandoned Laogai water works that played somewhat disconcerting machine sounds and electric vocals over techno beats. A place for teens like them. People who still somehow managed to be misfits in a world full of underdogs.

Toph has never been there and would surely get a kick out of it. It would be the best birthday present Azula could muster up. She gave the door a sturdy knock. Apparently too sturdy, for her hand went through the rotting wood.

 Toph inspected her newly decorated door. “Surprise.” Azula grinned.

 “Gee, thanks.” Toph muttered.

 “Have you ever heard of BioBlaze.” Azula asked.

 Toph tapped her chin, “nope, don’t recall.”

 “Wonderful.” Azula replied, taking Toph’s hand. “It’s my turn to show you a hidden part of the city.”

[rachelillustrates]

Having unexpected A:tLA shipping shifts and need to raaaaant/whine <3

As it says. Contains discussions of Kataang, Zutara and Taang.

(Guess where I’ve ended up. Hoo boy.)

Okay, so once upon a time, I was a calm, relaxed, accepting Kataang shipper. I blindly accepted that the Powers that Be (aka, the writers) intended Aang and Katara’s romance from the start, so I chose to be very on board with that. And they ARE, still, cute. I get it. Katara became Aang’s family right after he lost his ENTIRE people. There is beauty and sense in that.

But also, convenience. 

And is that enough?

My birthday was recently (yay!) and my wife and I celebrated with an A:tLA rewatch - the intention was to actually watch season 4 of “Legend of Korra,” which I haven’t seen even though I love that Korrasami is a Truth :D But I declared that intention WAY early in the summer, which led to a rewatch of season 3 of Korra, which led to a rewatch of A:tLA.

Which led to revelations of how OBVIOUSLY Zutara was set up in the first place, even though the creators put her with Aang in the end.

Hmm.

It turns out, also, that my wife is a big Zutara shipper (bigger than I realized) and that motivated me to question the blind faith I had in Kataang in the first place - if they were endgame, always endgame, why would they have written Zutara in?

I have read since that the creators claim Zutara WAS the plan in season 1, but they decided on Kataang in season 2, and that was it. So that begs the question - why would they KEEP building on Zutara after that point? There is definite evidence, all the way up to the end of the series. 

From all of that, on this rewatch, I got the definite impression that Zuko chose Mai because he assumed Katara wasn’t an option (the “Avatar’s girl” and all), and that Katara chose Aang because Zuko had chosen Mai - she was even at the party at Iroh’s tea house, in that last scene (which must have been SUPER awkward).

I had always assumed before that the writers intended Katara and Aang’s relationship to be romantic from the start of the series. I’ve actually relied on that a bit in my love of Korrasami (since part of what the writers were allowed to do - to prove that love - was to make parallels between them and Katara/Aang). So I understand how that is valuable, but now that I’m seeing things differently, I’m finding that kind of insulting - using another ship to validate the relationship they intended, but didn’t communicate well enough. And if that’s what they meant all along (which, surprise, it turns out they didn’t), should they be having to fight to validate it at all? Cause its not even just that - there are other moments in their commentary and in their canon that are clearly like “Hurrr, this is what we meant guys!” Like they’re forcing the acceptance of what they chose to do, without doing the right work to convince us.

The canon should be clear enough that validation after the fact is. Not. Necessary. I understand that mistakes are made, yes, things change, yes. But the writing within the canon work NEEDS to make up for that. And I do not feel like this is the case here.

And now that I’m examining WHY I’m having so much trouble with this, I’m realizing I had this fear-based gut reaction to the idea that The Writers could have made such a drastic mistake with their characters (since I’m writing a romance comic, myself). How could they have put the wrong people together, in the end, after all that work? But that fear was based on the idea that they had always intended to put Katara and Aang together - which they didn’t - and the assumption that Zutara is a crack ship - which it is not. I would argue now that they put more work into developing Katara and Zuko’s relationship, even “nonromantically,” than they did Katara and Aang’s. And smooshing two characters together ‘just because’ is NOT responsible writing (sorry, guys. But no).

Though I am finding myself in as much turmoil over this as I often am about Rumbelle (yeesh), I am learning something important - if you intend something in your writing, you MUST set intention early on AND do the groundwork. Especially if things change.

I also mentioned that this rant would include Taang thoughts, and that is true - one other thing that bothered me about all this is that I really like Aang. I am inspired by his spirituality, and I wouldn’t want to see his heart broken. Still, that is not a good enough to put him with someone who would be better off with someone else - who would be more loved, and more treasured, and more equal in life.

We haven’t seen a lot of what Katara’s life as Aang’s wife was like - but in the comics, as his girlfriend, I feel like she has lost some of her autonomy. Everything always HAS to be about him and they world they’re building, guided by him as the Avatar. Maybe that’s not how it is, in their private moments, and I admit that I’m not caught up on all the comics (I have yet to read “Smoke and Shadow”) but she does read as less of a badass in the comic stories than she did in the series. Her autonomy seems watered down (whoops, pun) and I noticed that even before this shipping conflict came up. I’m really feeling like her future with him would be much like Pema’s life with Tenzin in “Legend of Korra” - the rebuilding of Air Nomad culture is SO important that it eclipses all else. And while Pema chose that, falling in love with Air Nomad culture even before she fell for Tenzin, I believe that intense focus would be harder on Katara, who is even more willful and has different needs and desires.

She might run into similar problems being with Zuko - the need to restore his nation’s honor, after what his father did, is also hugely important. BUT - she being who she is, and so devoted to her people and her culture too, actually feeds into that same mission. 

How better to show the world that he’s devoted to a more equal, peaceful future than to take a wife who’s of a different culture? (I would argue, especially a Water Tribe one, since they were the closest to being wiped out after the Air Nomads - what would have happened if Zhao had succeeded, at the North Pole in season 1? Exactly). 

Also, the fact that they already have love between them (or at least affection, very clearly), and how Zuko understands her even better than Aang does - even though Aang was right about the non-violence in the end of “The Southern Raiders,” Zuko more understood her need for revenge and closure from his own experiences, in ways that Aang couldn’t. And that anger IS a part of her, much more than it is a part of Aang. 

She and Zuko balance each other out and compliment each other so nicely - that’s how they came to care for each other so quickly in the first place, even after all that Zuko had done to the Gaang. And the status of being the Fire Lady, in a loving relationship to boot, would give Katara the power to effect change as she wanted and needed - not just based around what Aang needs.

But that still leaves Aang in a position of not being able to care for her in the ways she needs, or give her the autonomy she needs - which, while its not his fault per se (Avatar stuff? Not his fault. Need to rebuild his entire culture? Not his fault), it is still a problem and would still show up in any relationship he has.

Or would it? - if he was with someone who respected that, but instead of giving in and doing just what he needed, chose to take a step back and do their own thing in an equally respectful way.... that would work. That would give both him and his partner the space they both needed to be who they are in the rebuilding of the world. 

Toph would be EXACTLY like that, with him.

I admit, the start of my interest in Taang was not from an interest in their chemistry. Since I unquestioningly followed Kataang before, I didn’t even consider what their relationship would be beyond their friendship, and just enjoyed their banter as it is. But now, reexamining things as I’ve described, I think there’s some gorgeous potential there. 

Aang is really very clingy with Katara - though he loves so deeply, and that’s beautiful, his NEED for her is a bit unhealthy. He won’t be able to focus on his mission as the Avatar, the needs of the world AND have a fully healthy relationship if his partner isn’t a) also completely devoted to that mission 100%, without any other needs, or b) able to set healthy boundaries and just do their own thing and let him do his. 

I don’t think Katara fits into either of those categories - not that she’s incapable of setting boundaries at all, but her relationship with Aang is so focused on entirely what HE needs, who HE is, that I don’t see her living up to her full potential with him. 

But Toph clearly would be able to let him be him and herself be herself, and that’s that, and that would work. Yes, they would both need to do a bit of growing to get there - he would need to detach more, just as his troubles releasing his Crown Chakra showed us, and learn to be okay with taking care of himself and letting his partner take care of herself. She would need to learn to let herself be vulnerable, and loved. 

But once they get there, how beautiful would that be? :)

I’m sure I’ll be thinking on this (and probably drawing on it) MUCH more, but let me just say again that I’m grateful for this insight into why I was upset, and for this exploration of how the writing happened and the creation of these loves in the first place - and I look forward to what I can learn from Zutara and Taang, since I always learn from ships (unless, you know, I just accept them as they are and don’t do any thinking about them at all. Which is where I was before this shift. I am a very silly person).

Gonna leave you with this gorgeous Taang artwork, too (also in hopes that someone knows who the artist is, I can’t find them!) <3

(And kudos to anyone who read this whole thing, since I wrote it for my own brain-craziness!)