#katara probably: so this is why you have no girlfriend

[rifari2037]

6. Do you consider the comics/LoK canon?

I prefer to pretend that comics and TLOK aren't canon.

ATLA is enough for me, even though the love story isn't good written. It's weird and rushed except for Sokka and Suki. I'm a Zutara shipper, but I wouldn't expect them to end up together either if the better story is ended with friendship.

Why I don't consider comics as canon?

I probably can't give to much criticism because I don't read the comics yet and I'm not interested to do so because I've read many criticisms about it before, this is one of them that I found recently.

There are other criticisms about it, most of them about the plot and how is Katara's role reduce, from Katara we all know to not more than Avatar's girlfriend. Those makes me less interested, though.

Plus, I probably can't stand reading Aang and Katara calling each other 'Sweetie' all the time. It wasn't romantic but cheesy to me.

Why I don't consider TLOK as canon?

Don't get me wrong, I quite enjoyed TLOK since Bolin exist, but I don't think it's as well written as ATLA. The conflicts, the arcs, the complexity. I have a lot of thoughts on some aspects that make TLOK no more special than ATLA, but I will only explain the most disappointing for me - and a lot of fans - here, which is how Katara is written.

Bryke always tells fans that Kat/Ang are perfect pairing. Since they became canon in ATLA, Bryke has many chances in TLOK to convince fans (especially Zutara stand) of what Bryke said.

But what we get are – Katara's role simply as the wife and mother of the Avatar's children. Like, having 3 kids doesn't make them perfect couple. And if Katara's role replaced by another character, would the main story change? No, not at all.

Zuko still the one who knew Aang more than anyone else, not Katara.

It doesn't matter if Katara only end up being a healer in her old age even though she wanted to fight when she was young. I mean, Toph also lives in the swamp and Zuko chooses to retire as Fire Lord.

But where was she when she was young? Where was she when Sokka was a leader, Toph was a police chief, Zuko was a Fire Lord, and Aang was the avatar? Where is her statue, while even cabbage man has it?

Not only that, Bryke also thought it's a brilliant idea to make Aang as a bad father. Unbelievable!

Bryke ignores all the opportunities of Zutara. But seeing how Bryke's favourite pairing is written, it's better that Zutara don't end up together. I'm afraid Bryke would destroy Zutara more than Kat/Ang.

[bluespiritshonour]

One thing about ATLA I love is... Things start making sense once you think about them...

Like, maybe I watched it when I was too young to catch on to a lot of nuances and my rewatches have been sparse and inconsistent but like...

While watching the show I didn't like Maiko—something seemed to be missing. At the same time I really wanted them to be endgame and resented the fact that they weren't better written. I still ship them to this day because—HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A COUPLE LIKE THAT ON SCREEN THOUGH?—I like every slightly unconventional thing and Maiko is unconventional and unique.

Last time I was thinking about how I didn't like that no big deal™ was made out of Mai sacrificing herself at Boiling Rock and I was just entertaining fix-it scenarios in the empty echo chamber called my head where it goes something like:

Zuko: Does that mean you don't hate me anymore?

And instead of Mai putting a full-stop after “I actually kinda like you” she continues to tell him that he'd have to win her back though. Like, in a friendly way—“I want to be in a relationship, sure, but I want to be wooed” way—because, well, she was in prison and now she has a better understanding of why he did what he did—

Oh wait! Is that why she forgives him so easily? Because she was in prison—probably with the Kyoshi Warriors because that's where Ty Lee was too (honestly I've begun to appreciate MaiLee more as time passes)—and while saving Zuko was a leap of faith and she didn't understand him then, but now she does? She knows what he did was right and she's glad to have been able to help him with it?

So...yeah. Her forgiving him makes total sense now. If Zuko had tried to explain it to her instead of breaking up in a letter I don't think she'd have understood (I understand why Zuko left her with a letter, I really do; but I'm still going to trash him for it: [cue exasperated tone] “Zuko!”)

But she does now...

What I don't like however is the “They let you out of prison?”

You're the fucking Fire Lord now, aren't you supposed to have pardoned all PoWs? Which includes Mai and Ty Lee. Who ended up their trying to save your arse?

[cue exasperated tone, second time] “Zuko!”

It could have been something like “Did you get out of prison alright? There wasn't any problem right? I'm sorry I couldn't come to get you personally—” or any variation of that!!!

How difficult could it have been?

But yeah. The point remains. I'm no longer bitter about Mai forgiving Zuko so quickly this time around.

Another thing I disliked is how in The Beach Zuko kept coming back to Mai expecting a warm welcome after every little friction. It was a classic man move where they upset you and try to act caring immediately afterwards and expect you to be responsive to it.

I loved Mai slapping his hand away when he tried to put his arm around her and yelling that she's still mad at him.

At least Zuko knows when to back off: he did everytime Mai told him to. And he didn't call her names for not being forgiving (which is what you expect men to do honestly).

Bar so low it's in hell, I know.

I hated that about him, that he thought he's owed forgiveness (with Mai here, never properly having apologised and trying to act as if nothing wrong happened) and later with Katara...

So... What I'm trying to say is... I love that in that last scene when Maiko is reunited... He isn't expecting her to forget everything and forgive him like a good little girlfriend. The fact that she does has a lot of reasons (she understands his motives now) but the fact that he goes, very timidly “You don't hate me anymore?” is actually very cute.

Add one more to the pile of “Zuko's character development.”

Like, yeah. What he did was necessary. But she also does have a right to be mad at him.

I'll just... Take it as a by-product of The Beach... He has bettered himself. Okay? I'll take it as that.

So. I've come from when I absolutely hated the Maiko post war reunion scene to a point where I only dislike the “they let you out of prison?” part. Also, it was cute the dopey way he smiles around her and she helped him dress, okay?

[drpoisonoaky]

This is what I think it would be like if Azula and Ty lee were telling people they were dating:

.

.

.

Aang: Oh that’s so nice I’m happy for both of you. Being in love it’s a wonderful experience.

Ty lee: Oh thank you Aang it’s-

Azula: Blah blah blah. Can you change with Kyoshi she’s the only avatar whose opinion matters to me.

————————————————

Katara: Whao, I didn’t know Azula can love somebody. Are you sure that she didn’t force you or something?

Ty lee: She still has her issues but she respects every boundarie and truly is a big softie.

Azula: Sorry water tribe peasant if you are jealous, which I understand, get your own girlfriend I’m taken.

Katara: I WASN’T…I’M NOT…YOU TRULY ARE…I CAN’T

————————————————

Zuko: …

Azula: I think that we broke Zuzu.

Ty lee: I would be a really hot fire lady.

Azula: No doubt about it.

Zuko: …

Zuko: WHEN?! HOW?! WHY?! OMG THAT’S WHY YOU BOTH HAD SO MANY SLEEPOVERS?!!

————————————————

Sokka: Makes sense.

Ty lee: Really?

Sokka: I mean, I was more afraid of her when you flirt with me than when we fought directly.

Ty lee: I don’t know why i didn’t realize sooner she almost melt like 12 boys who try to hit on me.

Azula: 14* boys and i would do it again.

Ty lee: She’s work it on it.

————————————————

Toph: So Princess fussy pants and you…?

Ty lee: Yeah.

Toph: Cool. You’re both hot, makes sense.

Ty lee: Thanks?

Azula: Finally somebody who knows what should be said.

————————————————

Suki: I don’t like her. I don’t respect her. She’s an awful person. And I probably murder her when she sleeps if-

Azula: As if you could fan girl.

Suki: Ty lee there’s plenty hot girls with parental and mental issues out there for your savior complex. You don’t hav-

Ty lee: Thank for worrying about me love ya but I madly in love with her since forever. And you don’t have to like her just be civil.

Azula: …

Azula: Wait. Do you think i’m hot?

————————————————

Mai:

Azula:

Mai:

Azula: She already knew, didn't she?

Ty lee: Since the first glance.

Mai: Are you two idiots or something?

[goldentoshi]

eight

warnings: cursing, suggestive comments

all of the bonten boys were sitting down in the dinner room after dinner and a meeting. they just got off a zoom call with their manager when sanzu opened his mouth to ask. question.

"when the fuck did you and y/n become a thing?" sanzu asked.

"a few days ago." rindou shrugged, as if it was nothing. he honestly wasn't paying attention, too focused on texting his new 'girlfriend'.

"didn't y'all like dispise each other a few weeks ago." mochi asked.

"things change." rindou chuckled, his entire focus on his phone.

favorite idiot: i changed your name in my phone just in case someone sees you texting me

rinrin <3: yours is favorite idiot and i'm not changing it

favorite idiot: ofc you wouldn't 🙄 we also should probably start texting like a couple…for the same reason..can you come to ikea with me tmmw too?

rinrin <3: does y/n want me to start calling her princess and sweetheart?

rinrin <3: sure, why not. i want a new bed anyways. what time do you want me to get you?"

favorite idiot: how about 1pm? we can get food after

rinrin <3: sounds good to me

favorite idiot: could you just not bring your motorcycle? i've never been on one before

rinrin <3: awww what're you scared?

favorite idiot: ngl, yes

rinrin <3: don't worry princess, you can hold on to me if you need to

favorite idiot: you promise?

"what has you smiling over there, loveboy?" ran asked his brother. when he didn't get a response, he calmly walked over behind him and stood, looking over his shoulder. "oooh your favorite idiot is texting you."

"fuck off ran." rindou said, shying his phone away.

"how did you get a girlfriend before us?" kokonoi asked. "especially one as fine as y/n. that girl would've got all the work."

"dude. don't talk about his girl like that." kakucho said to his friend.

"i'm just saying, y/n is probably the sexiest woman i've ever seen in my fucking life." koko shrugged. “lucky i didn’t get a hold of her. would’ve fucked fucked the life out of-“

"she got any single friends?" takeomi asked, cutting off his much vulgar housemate, “someone who isn’t in a relationship.”

"katara is sing-"

"dibs." ran said before rindou could even finish his sentence.

"what the fuck, no fair!" koko said.

"hey, dibs is dibs." mikey finally spoke before going back to his ramen.

"katara is so fine." mochi said. "two pretty best friends."

"stay off tiktok." takeomi laughed.

rindou quietly walked away as the group continued the conversation. something about koko's words made him...angry. for all everyone know, you were his. "fucking asshole." he muttered before starting grand theft auto 5 on his ps5. "hitting on my girl."

his girl? that made him freeze as the thought crossed his mind. everyone thinks that y/n was his girl. not ran's, not haru's, not even mikey's.

rinrin <3 : come see me baby. i miss you.

hopefully that didn't sound too cheesy. oh god, she's not gonna respond-

favorite idiot: okay rin. i miss you too.

꧁꧂

"you okay?" y/n asked. as soon as she had arrived to the gaming house, rindou practically dragged her to his room before shutting the door.

"yeah." rindou said before the realization of what he did hit him. he tried to hid the blush of embarrassment that grew on his face before he spoke. "i know this isn't exactly apart of our agreement but i just, i dunno, was lonely."

"ypu don't have to say that, rin. you need me , call me. kay?" you reassured him. “we’re still friends right? i mean, you can call me for anything.”

“yeah, okay.” he mumbled, a feeling he’s never felt bubbling in his chest. “sorry for scaring you.”

"it’s okay rin, i swear. wanna play minecraft?"

꧁꧂

serendipity : a very good coincidence, often leading to something really awesome.

prev | next

masterlist

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

There's a common theme in Zutara fics where they put Zuko and aang against each other... Mostly to fill some fantasy of two guys fighting over a girl

They always forget that Zuko and aang are like, really close friends post canon (there's a whole monologue of Zuko talking about how much of an influence aang had on him in the legacy of the fire nation I think).

Also aang isn't one to dictate who Katara likes? When Katara was crushing on Jet (and possibly haru if you wanna go there) he just let it be. He wasnt jealous or angry, just sort of went on his business

I give them a pass when it's done in good fun - as in genuinely going "I'm just gonna have this happen because I like the drama". I also excuse it when Aang is given actual reason to feel insecure/like he's losing the girl he liked to someone else (remember, he only took the Ember Island stuff to heart because he had assumed he and Katara would get together after their kiss during the invasion, while during the Jet and Haru things he did not seem to believe he'd have a chance with Katara either way so he wasn't really losing anything).

What I cannot stand is the "This is totally what would happen in canon" or worse "This is exactly the same as that scene in which Aang wants to sit next to Katara, but Zuko won't let him because he' wants her too/is trying to protect her from Aang"

My guy. My dude. My pal. Aang was not really mad at Zuko on that scene. He wasn't happy about not sitting next to his crush, or about the play forcing to ackowledge his anxiety that the reason he and Katara are not together yet is because she doesn't think of him that way - but he doesn't take it out on Zuko. Hell, when he confronts Katara about it, he asks if it's true that she thinks of him as a little brother, not if it's true she's into Zuko because he knows that part isn't true.

As for the idea that Zuko either felt he needed to "protect Katara from Aang" or was into her, and that's why he doesn't give up his seat to Aang, we need to remember that this is ZUKO we're talking about here.

The guy who saw the same girl coming to his uncle's tea shop repeatedly and assumed "She must know we're Fire Nation is planning to take us down by ordering tea!" before he went "Maybe she's into me, or just likes the tea."

The guy who shouted "SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" in the middle of his date because he felt awkward about acknowledging he liked a girl, and didn't even register she could take it as him not enjoying their date. The guy who interrupted their kiss at the end of said date because he just had to give her a freaking cupon.

The guy who saw Suki trying to sneak into her boyfriend's tent, in the middle of the night, and acting all sus when she was caught and then went to talk to Sokka without having a damn clue that he interrupted their romantic night until he saw Sokka with a rose on his mouth, practically telling Suki to draw him like one of her frenc-I mean Kyoshi girls.

The guy that is related to miss "That's a sharp outfit, Chan"

That boy cannot read the room to save his life. When he told Aang "Just sit somewhere else, what's the big deal?" it wasn't him being passive-aggressive, or possessive, or jealous, or trying to do literally anything. He just didn't realize that Aang wanted to sit there because it was the seat next to Katara's. Hell, he probably didn't even know about Aang's crush on her.

[paragonrobits]

Sokka: Scientifically speaking, there's no way to be sure reincarnation exists or that the spirits are actually real Aang: Okay, I've been meaning for a while to talk to you about this but... they are ABSOLUTELY real. You have empirical evidence that the spirits exist. Aang: One of them kidnapped you out of retribution. Katara: You made Wan Shi Tong so angry he took his library out of the physical world. Which, now I think about it, probably could have been a source of missing information on our culture that was lost with most of our oral traditions. Zuko: Your first girlfriend had to take the place of the Moon Spirit. Or so I hear. Toph: You told ME you were in the Northern Water Tribe city when all that happened! How do you not know?? Zuko: I'm not good at paying attention when its not about me. Aang: Anyway the point is, after your lack of veneration probably put some kind of karmic curse on the Black Sun invasion plan to begin with, and that a lot of the knowledge I provide is either FROM the spirits or what my past reincarnations tell me, how on the world can you say that spirits don't exist with a straight face. Sokka: Okay guys, I'm going to level with you, this is all a big bit I'm doing because the fact that the spirits exist and you can't fight them or really understand them because of how alien they are SCARES ME A WHOLE LOT. Sokka: Please just let me cope as sarcastically as possible. Katara: Given that letting you cope is actively enraging the beings that form the balance of the world and therefore returning harmony to the world means we have to make peace with them... no. Letting you cope like that is a REALLY bad idea. Katara: Also I have no idea where you picked any of this up. About the only culture in the world I can think of that actively disdains the idea of spirits is the Fire Nation. Why are you imitating them? Sokka: I have no idea. Honestly I think it might be a really extreme fear response. Koh the Face Stealer, apparently taking to following Sokka around out of boredom: That sounds incredibly counter productive.

[balanceoflightanddark]

Avatar the Last Airbender Netflix Episode 2- "Warriors"

Well, things took a bit of a downward turn.

It started off reasonably well enough. Aang buries Monk Gyatso and gives him a proper send-off. Again, I do like that his bond with Gyatso is a driving force for his character. Even introduces new stuff like his initial problems with training with Katara since he never trained with anyone outside of Gyatso before. Particularly since an ongoing subplot is his inability to control his bending abilities sort of caused him to latch onto his father figure. While I'm not exactly on board with "other kids being afraid of Aang" before he was revealed to be the Avatar, I do think it feels like an extension. Like maybe once he gained control, he made friends again like in the cartoon.

Thus, without Gyatso there to guide him, he feels more lost. Particularly with his duties as the Avatar. So he has a good solid foundation to go to Kyoshi Island this time around since he feels he needs the wisdom of a previous Avatar in order to find his place in the world and whatnot.

...we'll get to Kyoshi's "wisdom" in a moment, but for now, just know that I'm not a fan of how she was handled.

Now on to the Kyoshi Warriors, who are fan (Azula snickers) favorites for obvious reasons. On the one hand, I do like that they addressed how their isolationism has caused problems for Suki and the island. That lack of contact with the outside world has left them with little options other than keeping their heads down while the Fire Nation basically stomps everywhere else. Again, this feels true to the original series. The Fire Nation preyed on that disunity between the Nations to get such a huge advantage. Divide and conquer so to say. Hell, we see that in action with Zhao pushing Zuko to work with him to capture the Avatar instead of being a lone wolf and chasing after glory like Zuko has been doing (only thing done well with Zhao in this episode if I might add). This is in contrast with Suki's mother being reluctant to harbor Aang, Sokka, and Katara, wanting them to leave as soon as possible. You get why wanting them to leave is a priority, but you also know that you can't exactly run forever and keep your heads to the ground without fighting.

...and here's where I start to run into problems.

Let's start with Sokka and Suki for starters. I know a lot of people were angry about Sokka not being sexist this time around. I was not, but probably for different reasons than most. The idea of sexism in the Water Tribes is based on Native American stereotypes. For a series that's supposed to be about anti-colonialism and breaking those very stereotypes, that's a big red flag. With that in mind, I'm not against Sokka not having it.

I will get to the sexism thing later though, around when we get to Pakku and the North, but toning it down here was not the issue.

What IS is how Sokka's struggle with leadership is portrayed here. Again, this is a reasonable extension of the original series and I have no problems with it. Hell, I could see it as a pretty good developing point for Sokka. Problem is...I don't think it went far enough. Sokka is presented here as being aware of his inadequacies as a leader and a warrior. Yet, he's not really challenged either. Suki doesn't really do a whole lot aside from ogle him and tell him he's better than he think he is. Which sort of falls into the trap of Suki being reduced to Sokka's girlfriend in my opinion. I know she has that subplot of wanting to see the outside more and all, but then we have scenes where it's implied that she's too hard on Sokka for beating him?

Okay, let's take a step back for a moment. Removing the sexism angle, part of Sokka's flaws in the original was his pride. He thought he could take Zuko when he obviously couldn't. He demeaned the Kyoshi Warrior despite them beating him. The whole purpose was that he was using his pride to cover up his insecurities about being a nonbender and his doubts about being a leader. Yet at the same time, it was that pride that prevented him from actually confronting his flaws and growing as a person. Suki's purpose in the original was to help him swallow his pride, and thus allow him to grow to become a better warrior. He adopted her customs with humility, and he became a better fighter as a result.

Here? Nothing. He doesn't even adopt the Kyoshi Warrior uniform (which considering one of the problems plaguing the world is division amongst allies is a HUGE missed opportunity), nor do we learn of their values outside of protecting people. Which in a 45 minute episode, boggles the mind about how they couldn't fit that in. Instead we just get a more generic "you're better than you think you are" without deconstructing why Sokka needs that message. He doesn't really learn humility here, just that he needs to be better. That doesn't really address his problems outside of slapping a band aid on it.

Speaking of bad advice...Kyoshi.

I HATED what they did with Kyoshi. I understand that she's not the most compassionate Avatar, but it feels like they ran with her "murder" portrayal the fandom gave her. Her advice to Aang about being a warrior was accepting that things will get bloody, but he shouldn't run from his duty. Yeah. Right. Apparently the only way to fight fire is with fire I guess. Her message of "being merciless" is the exact same doctrine the Fire Nation runs on. Something that is highlighted when Zhao threatens to burn civilians. And it doesn't even make sense from her perspective since she takes down Zhao's soldiers without killing any of them.

Forgive me, but while Kyoshi is somewhat correct that things will get worse, the answer isn't to get meaner and more ruthless as a result. Which honestly comes as a surprise since they bothered to include her backstory from her novels, but forgot that part of her journey was realizing that she needed to be more than some ruthless thug and instilling fear lest she run the risk of becoming like Jianzhu. And she should've known that tearing down a scared kid for running away won't do any good since SHE was a scared kid who initially ran from her duty as the Avatar. It just made her look like a colossal hypocrite.

sighs

Sorry. Kyoshi in the original and in the novels was one of my favorite past Avatars. I'm just insulted they basically made her fanon self canon when she's more than that.

Finally...Zhao. I'm not a fan of how he's the one to burn down Kyoshi Island instead of Zuko. Mainly because it made him look like a colossal idiot. He knows there's an Avatar running around and he only brings A SINGLE SHIP? What's more, he knows about what Kyoshi Island was doing and presumably knows how formidable the Warriors are. Why wouldn't he bring back up in case things heat up? His men don't even outnumber Suki's!

What's worse is that they got some of him down okay. He was wily enough to figure out that Zuko was looking for the Avatar and where Aang was on few clues. So why's he that incompetent here since by all accounts, he should know better? Was the message here that the Fire Nation aren't as powerful as they appear, so Sokka and Aang just need to man up and fight? Then how the hell did the Fire Nation get so close to winning the war in the first place?

...yeah, this episode was a bit of a step down. The kid playing Aang continues to help carry this thing, but honestly, if they can't even get one of the past Avatars right and deconstruct the ruthless attitude of the Fire Nation where it should be needed in this case, I'm not feeling confident for the third episode.

[starfinss]

hmm im not sure how exactly you could add this BUT i feel before the gang realizes that zuko and the reader make it obvious they like each other Sokka might mention that Zuko used to have a girlfriend and doesn’t know exactly if they broke up or not…. OO MAYBE the reader tries to ask Zuko about it and this raises some flags for the gang cause they’re probably like “… why is she asking that….”

also i feel it be canon for katara to be all against the gang getting involved in the reader and zuko’s love life. I imagine her bringing them all in for a “IMPORTANT MEETING” being all “YOU GUYS CANNOT RUIN THIS FOR THEM” and Toph at some point goes “By the time they do confess I’ll be in my 70s” type of convo HAHAHA

i’m also thinking maybe a scene (before the others realize it) where Sokka, Aang and Katara are all just watching from a distance how the reader and zuko are suddenly not going for each others throat and just discussing amongst each other questioning whats going on then Toph comes in like “what yall talking about” and they explained their concerns then Toph goes “Oh, it’s cause they have a crush on each other now” and the gang BLOWS UP WITH QUESTION HOW SHE KNEW and she just goes “Both are loud pacers when stressed, woke up and heard them blabbering about it. Geez they’re meant for each other after all.”

im… i need to sleep ohmtgod

YES. PERFECT. I’m pretty sure you sent this after I’d already gone to sleep lol.

Katara would totally try and make the others not get involved and Toph totally would say that. I don’t think Aang would really feel too strongly about it, he’s just there for the vibes, but Sokka would agree with Toph 100%.

Sokka: I will be dead before they confess, Katara. OF OLD AGE.

Something like that.

TOPH WOULD TOTALLY BE THE FIRST TO NOTICE. She’d be like you haven’t listened to their heartbeats. They go crazy when they’re around each other.

Anyway, give me more if you’ve got it, whenever you wake up lol.

Edit: or also doubles as a note I suppose. I left off on my rewatch on Book 2, episode 18, so I’ll have to try and remember exactly what happened after the black sun episodes since it’s been a good while since I watched those. I vaguely remember, but I’ll need to watch a recap or something before I start writing. In the meantime, feel free to send more thoughts my way.

[broadwaybalogna]

Zutara Last Five Years AU (Pt. 7/12)

Read part 6 here

-

A boat ride isn’t exactly what Zuko had planned for the night but he didn’t care. As long as he got to spend time with Katara, nothing else mattered to him.

”Yeah, that’s Avatar Roku. They made a statue of him before the whole war thing started. I’m surprised no one ever tore it down,” he softly spoke to his girlfriend. They were riding along a river that went through a lot of the fire nation.

”That one’s Azulon, there,” he pointed to another statue, a bit smaller. He had thought long and hard about tearing it down, the image of war flashing in his eyes whenever he saw the statue. But he knew it would do his nation no good to forget all the bed they contributed to, so he added a large card with information regarding everything Azulon contributed to around the statue.

”No, that’s actually an old school,” he corrected Katara when she pointed to a very large building.

“A museum is just down a couple blocks. Have you been inside? We should go.”

He continued to row the boat down the long river in silence. There was a small smile on Katara’s face.

“We’ve got ten minutes before we have to head back to the palace . What would you like to do? We can dock here and take a few moments to relax, or we could continue rowing?”

She looked up at the sky and then back down at him. “Whatever you want,” she said, laying her head on his shoulder. Although it was uncomfortable for him to row while Katara was up against him, he didn’t show any signs of discomfort. He loved this too much to make her go.

Maybe after these ten minutes finished, they would stay for another ten. The politics at the palace can wait.

And if she agreed to that, he would probably keep asking until the morning sun rose.

He will never feel complete until he shares these moments with her.

-

Katara kissed Zuko’s cheek. “I’m sorry I was late to this. I promise I wasn’t trying to I just- I know I’m going to be late to a lot of things, I lose track of time easily,” she chuckled, “but if you can just wait a few minutes for me, I promise I’ll always make it. No matter the cost.”

She had been late to the boat ride Zuko had planned for them. She felt horrible and continuously apologized to him. She did this a lot— be late. She always got so caught up doing whatever she was doing and lost track of time.

She sighed and dropped her head. “I really don’t try to do all this shit on purpose . You know that, right? And I’m certainly not proud of it. But anything other than being on time, I can do for you.”

Zuko laughed and kissed her back. “As long as you make it, I’ll never leave.”

Katara felt at home with Zuko.

”I don’t understand how other couples can’t make it work. And I don’t understand why so many people give up on their lovers so easily. You make me think they’re all stupid. It’s a horrible mindset, really. Or maybe it’s just because they don’t know you.”

Zuko laughed again and rolled his eyes. He made a comment about how maybe he should start lowering her standards and she tackled him. It felt so out of character for the two of them to be doing this, but also so perfect. She loved it.

When they were finally settled, Zuko took a moment to himself.

“Katara,”

She doesn’t remember much else other than gasping and yelling “Yes” so loud she was sure people from towns over could hear her.

-

Zuko was mentally beating himself up. He didn’t know when to do it, and the ring in his pocket started becoming more and more uncomfortable as their ride progressed. Finally, after a small talk, he ripped off the bandaid and got down on one knee.

”Katara, will you share your life with me for the rest of our lives? For a million summers, until the world explodes— forever? You’re so perfect, I can’t imagine my life without someone like you in it.

-

”Forever,” Katara repeated to herself, looking at the ring on her finger.

-

And in the blink of an eye, it was their wedding. The moment Zuko had been waiting towards for years.

Zuko spoke his vows aloud for who seemed like the entire Fire Nation. It was a large wedding that they had invited over one thousand people to.

”Until there is no one left who has ever known us when we were a part. Until only death do us part. I will never be complete without you. And I know damn well I’ll never be able to change this world without you by my side.”

and after a few more words were spoken, Katara and Zuko both said the words they were dying to speak since first getting engaged.

-

”I do.”

-

“Is that Avatar Roku?” Katara asked, pointing at a large statue in the middle of an even larger park.

Zuko gave a brief explanation on the statue, then pointed out one of Azulon who was significantly smaller but still in the middle of the same mark.

“Is that a church?” She asked as they passed by a large and beautiful building. It looked amazing, with small plants growing in front of it.

She sat with Zuko for a while. They laughed and flirted. She felt her heart beat with joy.

”Is that a museum? We I wonder what the Fire Nation artifacts look like.”

[ben-talks-art]

So here's a hot take, I don't think Sokka needed that sword episode

The more I think back about "Sokka's Master" and how it's an episode dedicated to make Sokka feel good about his place on the team and have him realize he's just as valuable as the rest of the group due to his creativity and unique perspective on things...

I can't help but feel this episode should have happened MUCH earlier in the series.

Before this event, the dude had more than proven himself plenty of times in the past.

He tricked the pirates into fighting with Zuko, saved innocent people from Jet's plan, solved the mystery of Avatar Kyoshi that could prove Aang's innocence, found a way to stop the drill, saved the people of Omashu with a fake disease plan, got Katara to infiltrate a prison by making her look like an earthbender, found out about the freaking eclipse, and so on.

It's so weird they felt the need to give him an episode to make him feel like he earned his place on the group when I felt like that had been obvious for a very long time by now.

It's like if Toph had an episode where she goes, "Everyone can see but me... 😢 But wait a minute! I don't need to see! I'm fine just the way I am!!" 😤

Maybe if instead it was an episode where, I don't know, he had his boomerang stolen and to get it back, Sokka had to pass a series of tests, and these were used to spotlight his strengths, then that would have worked better, imo.

But to have him be "Aww... I can't bend like you guys..." 😢 When that literally was never a problem for him before felt a tad forced.

Also, I'm gonna be honest, I can barely remember a moment where that sword or his swordsman skills were used to save the day.

I remember much more how he used his boomerang to kill the combustion man. Like, how often do you see characters using boomerangs to fight in media? 🪃🔥

Sokka only ever needed his intelligence and confidence, which were things he already always had except in this episode and in The Boiling Rock, and he only lost it in that episode because he was afraid of failing his dad and also so he could form a deeper bond with Zuko who's also used to failing, and I feel like him regaining his confidence here was much more effective than in "Sokka's Master."

I know this is a fan favorite episode, but the more time passes, the more I feel like "Sokka's Master" was totally unnecessary and exists just to say what we already knew, and having him be insecure about his lack of bending THIS late in the game feels slightly out of character for me.

I like that they made an episode to highlight how awesome Sokka is, but I'm not a fan of the "Why" they made this episode.

I think I would have liked it more if, again, it had happened much earlier, or if it was done because he needed to pass some test, not because he was insecure.

Or heck, if they had done it like in the game "Sly 2" where the group gets captured and we have an episode about Sokka freeing them all by himself...

Although I guess that's exactly the plot of Boiling Rock... 🤔

God, "The Boiling Rock" was such a good episode. How come THAT one isn't a fan favorite?

Everyone always only talks about the "girlfriend moon" joke and Mai betraying Azula. 😭 It's probably one of the best, if not THE best, Sokka episode.

[thegirlwiththeskybison]

My general consensus on the live action Avatar: the Last Airbender series is that I liked it, I liked it a lot the more I think about it. There are things I didn’t like, but there are things I loved, and a couple things I think were improvements on the animated series.

That being said, spoilers ahead, so tread carefully friends.

My first concern was how they were going to cram twenty episodes into eight. And I am happy to report that they managed this BEAUTIFULLY. The storytelling was my favorite part of the live action. While things were rushed in some places and compressed, they told a cohesive story that took things that shouldn’t necessarily go together and made them work. Where the animated series used chapters, these are episodes. It's strange, but it works.

Episode 1 Aang covers: The Boy in the Iceberg, The Avatar Returns, The Southern Air Temple, and half of the Storm

Episode 2 Warriors covers: A bit of the Southern Air Temple and The Warriors of Kyoshi

Episode 3 Omashu covers: The King of Omashu, Jet, The Northern Air Temple

Episode 4 Into the Dark covers: The King of Omashu, Jet, The Northern Air Temple, and weirdly the Book 2 Episode The Cave of Two Lovers

Episode 5 Spirited Away covers: The Spirit World, Avatar Roku, and has elements borrowed from Siege of the North

Episode 6 Masks covers: Bato of the Water Tribe and The Blue Spirit

Episode 7 The North covers: The Waterbending Master and Siege of the North

Episode 8 Legends covers: Siege of the North, and includes elements from the Book 2 episodes The Avatar State and The Cave of Two Lovers.

Look, if you’d told me they were sticking Jet, the Mechanist, and Teo in Omashu, I would have been horrified. It was probably my favorite episode.

We also got some original content. Azula has a storyline set in the Fire Nation and we see a whole lot of Ozai. While I’m not fond of adding content when other canon things had to be cut for time, I was a big fan of this. It makes Azula much more interesting, and Ozai was probably the best casting in the whole show. There are also references to elements from The Search comics and the Kyoshi novels.

Zuko has what is arguably one of the best character arcs I’ve ever seen. I wrote an essay on his journey for an AP English class my senior year of high school. The live action show made it better. I wouldn’t have thought that was possible. But the emotion this kid had was phenomenal, and they added pieces to his story and rounded things out. We get to see Ozai banish him instead of hearing Iroh tell the crew about it. (Show, don’t tell, first rule of storytelling!) We get to see more why this matters to him. We get to see how he spent the time searching for the Avatar, three whole years instead of two like in the cartoon. Aang swipes a notebook of Zuko’s where he’s been studying the history of the Avatar, so Aang gets a look into Zuko, and he understands him a little better. Zuko is probably the world’s leading expert on the Avatar, and he can draw! The poor kid probably needed a hobby, let’s be real. His crew even gets some backstory.

They chose to take out Sokka’s sexism, which I feel was a mistake because that character growth was so important. He went from “There’s no way a bunch of girls took us down!” to “My girlfriend is a better warrior than I am!” And that’s so cool because hey, if you were raised with some incorrect beliefs, you can learn and you can grow and change! And that is an important message! But Sokka was still the best written of our three good guys and stole pretty much every scene he was in. He’s not the sarcasm and meat guy anymore. In fact, there’s almost no sarcasm and honestly I don’t remember much in the way of meat.

The costume design was fantastic, oddly with the exception of Aang, Katara, and Sokka. Frankly, I’ve seen better cosplays. But I love how much of everything else they got right design wise. Suki’s makeup was perfection, the Firebender helmets were accurate, and Jet’s armor was an exact replica.

Katara’s fight with Pakku was almost a shot for shot recreation. Some of the positioning was reversed, but we even got the ice disc almost taking his head off.

Somehow they made Yue’s fiance likable? I wasn’t prepared for that. 

Cabbage Merchant. Amazing. 10/10. No notes.

Avatar Roku’s temple has a shrine to all past Avatars, with collected relics. I really need someone to get some high quality screenshots on that so I can pour over it. The temple also somehow replaces the Spirit Library from Book 2, and Wan Shi Tong showed up in the Spirit World.

This show managed to tell a fantastic story. It’s easy to focus on the bad and the things that made me angry, but honestly I liked so much more than I didn’t. 

Now it wasn’t perfect, and I’ll admit to that. I spent a lot of my day yelling like Harrison Ford in The Force Awakens, “THAT’S NOT HOW BENDING WORKS!” Aang can fly without his glider, except when he can’t for plot reasons. Ozai can set someone on fire just by touching them. People aren’t wet after Katara hits them. Aang puts out fires by throwing air at them rather than draining the air from the fire.

The CGI is rough in some places and flawless in others. Appa and Momo were not… loveable. Nyla? The Shirshu? Looked like she was a real creature. The bending effects were pretty solid all the way through.

Aang, Katara, and Iroh all felt super flat to me. If you take a drink every time Aang says “save the world” or “I’m the Avatar”, you will have an Appa sized hangover. There’s nothing fun loving about Aang. Katara is just sort of… there. She’s not passionate. She’s not driven. She’s not even particularly powerful. We only got like two hope speeches. Sokka got more funny lines than that and he barely got any funny lines. Iroh isn’t cunning. His silly old man act is just that, an act, at least most of the time in the cartoon. He’s not silly in this, but he’s also not the Dragon of the West of legend.

They erased Zhao’s backstory in that he already knew Zuko and Iroh. He was there the day Zuko got his scar in the cartoon, and yet in this he’s a “nobody in the Southern Seas”. It makes him both less interesting and less of a threat, so his whole “Moonslayer” speech is really weak. Also, this man can’t project to save his life when addressing his troops.

I would really like to know who picked these fonts and send them back to design school.

My biggest complaint is that there is no build up and no pay off. Everything is revealed from the very beginning. We see Sozin’s Comet in the very first episode in a flashback, and Gran Gran talks about it as soon as Aang wakes up as she reveals he’s the Avatar. We don’t get to learn that Appa is a flying bison and then see him fly, he just zooms on up. (Yet we don’t get a “Yip yip! Until like episode four.) Aang recognizes Bumi almost immediately, and he’s not a clever old man or a mad genius. He’s just a bitter old asshole. Katara sees her mom die in a flashback, and she knows her mom said she was the last Waterbender so there goes that big season three storyline. We meet Kyoshi in the second episode, and even Kuruk by the last. There’s no foreshadowing, no promise of things to come, because it’s all just handed to us from the start. 

The season does end really well, I will give them that. It sets it up perfectly so we can dive right in on the next season, skipping the first two filler episodes because we’ve already covered them. I’m really looking forward to Book Two. I like the pieces we’ve got in play and the story blocks where they are. Whenever we get it.

I hope it's sooner than 2026.

[juniperhillpatient]

Hey @juniperhillpatient !! How’s it going?

I just reread (don’t judge me for rereading! It’s your fault for writing a griping story!) the breakup chapter in Happenstance, and though it Bataks my soul I do recognize that temporary break is probably best. For now, but the universe will pull their souls together as it will.

I also really enjoy just how overdramatic both Azula and Katara were. Especially when they both messed up with their hair, had a breakdown, and then got hair die of their (ex) girlfriend favorite color.

Their dramatics lead me to my question. Will Azula and Katara attempt to (subconsciously) make the other jealous? Say that Azula decides to start dating again (at the urging of Jet, Mai, and Ty Lee) and she decides to go for Sedna (the discount Katara). At the same time Katara (at the urging of Suki, Yue, and Toph) also decides to start dating. And she goes back to June (the discount Azula). These decisions of course make Azula and Katara both insane with jealousy.

Or perhaps it’s with completely different characters. I’ll I’m saying is that I’m looking forward to the coming storm.

It’ll make Azula and Katara getting back together all the sweeter.

I would never judge you for rereading but I would judge myself a little for the ego boost it gives me knowing that you reread 😉

Azula & Katara Break Up is one of my fave chapters I’ve written in a while, I was just really happy with the chaos & how I tied it together to be funny & sad at the same time so THANK YOUU 💜

I’m glad you liked the hair shenanigans I LOVE using hair as a character development tool especially in atla fanfic given it’s narrative significance in canon & I almost always give Azula a hair makeover but this is the first time I’ve done it (on this scale) for Katara which was just so fun for me! I gave Katara a pink streak in… I think TVD au? Shit idk I know I gave her a pink steak at some point. But I’ve never had her do a breakdown cut like this I know that, so that was fun!

Oh there’ll be jealousy. You think I’m gonna break up my otp in a fic filled with hookup shenanigans & not take advantage of the chance to have them get jealous? I wouldn’t say it’ll be “subconscious” though given that Azula & Katara are fully obsessed with each other & just about everything they do is ultimately about each other 😂

I will now give you the next 3 (draft) chapter titles because why not? It gives very little away just to know the draft titles. “Foosball & Nocturnal Vigilantism,” “Such Good People,” & “Vajazzling.” I desperately want to say more because these are (hopefully!) gonna be such fun chapters that I’m super psyched about & that set up some chances for the girls to be jealous as well as some big character development moments toward getting back together 😊 I don’t really consider that a spoiler since I do have the endgame ships tagged so it’s not like you expect the breakup to last forever haha

Anyway LOVE the enthusiasm & speculation you’re so so appreciated as a reader ☺️💜💜💜

[gladerwolfstarkimagines]

Imagine the Ember Island Players creating a romance between you and Zuko which hits a little too close to home

You sat beside Katara and noticed how Zuko sat on the other side of her. Aang faltered, obviously wanting to sit there and you smirked as Zuko obliviously missed Aang’s look. Zuko had been with the group a few weeks now but his social skills still weren’t very good and you found it made for some very interesting interactions. His attempt at telling jokes alone made you smile every time you saw him for a full week afterwards and you found Zuko did a lot of things that amused you but apparently not so much the others. “I was going to sit there” Aang whined and Zuko shrugged “so? Just sit next to me”. Aang pouted and you laughed to yourself “here” you said standing up “take my seat Aang” and you moved so he could sit beside Katara. Katara was oblivious and you sat on the other side of Zuko chuckling at Aang’s blush. “What was that all about?” Zuko asked and you smiled “ow nothing you just almost ruined Aang’s evening”. Zuko frowned and went to ask what you meant when the lights dimmed so you knocked his arm shaking your head “i’ll tell you later now shhh”. Zuko folded his arm huffily but stopped talking. The play was wonderfully awful. As you hadn’t joined the gang straight away you knew you had time to just enjoy the first few acts and make fun of the way they portrayed all your friends. Plus what could they do to your character? You didn’t have any old flames like Katara or Sokka and you didn’t have an emotional backstory like Zuko or Aang. So you relaxed arms spread over the back of the bench and waited for *yourself* to make an appearance.

The second your actress walked on stage you knew it wouldn’t be good. They had your character all wrong! Your actress flirted with everyone and acted like a lovesick idiot. You didn’t think it could get much worse and then your character met Zuko’s.

“I’ll save you from the pirates” Zuko’s character purred to yours and you spluttered. “That...that wasn’t even me! That was Katara!” you whispered angrily. You looked to Zuko for confirmation who nodded “yeah I didn’t say that to you...and I certainly didn’t tie you up while staring at you like that”. “And I did not flirt with you like that either”. You both glared as your characters bonded and they actually invented Zuko letting you go voluntarily. As Zuko’s character stared off into the distance and said your name you heard Sokka and Suki wheezing from laughter while you simmered with anger and embarrassment. “I didn’t do that!” Zuko cried and you saw he was blushing vividly. That made you blush too and crossed your arms tightly “they better not stick with this theme”.

Of course they did. By the time act 3 had ended you and Zuko were living a star crossed lovers lifestyle in Ba Sing Sei. They again got you mixed up with Katara and said Azula kidnapped you to lure Zuko to the Earth King’s palace. The act ended with Zuko charging in to save you, offering his own life in exchange for yours, but Azula outmanoeuvred him and arrested him too. As the lights went up for intermission you and Zuko paused before exploding.

“That never even happened!”.

“I knew he was in Ba Sing Sei but we never went on a date”.

“Yeah that was a different girl”.

“And you did not fight with Jet over me”.

“I didn’t even know you knew Jet!” Zuko agreed and you both paused for air.

The gang all looked at each other before bursting into laughter. “What is so funny?” you cried and Sokka smiled. “We all know none of that stuff happened, we were there too remember?”. “Yeah so...can’t we rant?” you asked. “Well yeah but why get so mad about it? Are you trying to convince us or yourselves that the idea the two you flirted is so impossible?”. You and Zuko exploded again at the thought and Sokka and the others burst into laughter again. “All i’m saying is this is a lot of emotion to come from nowhere” Sokka smiled “now i’m going backstage so yell at each other or something” and he disappeared with Suki. Katara and Toph left for snacks and Aang went to the toilet leaving the two of you alone. “But i mean it is ridiculous” you muttered and Zuko nodded “utterly ridiculous”. “Sure we ended up together a few times” you shrugged “but that was completely by chance, it wasn’t like you were hyper-aware of me or vice versa”. “Yeah not at all” Zuko agreed but he wasn’t looking you in the eye for some reason. You stared at him confused and noticed his neck looked slightly red as if he was blushing. “Wait did you?” you asked suddenly “notice me more?”. Zuko looked up and he was indeed blushing deeply “what I....of course not! I never...I mean I did learn your name before anyone else’s but that’s because we spent that time together when I helped the pirates kidnap you and you wouldn’t shut up the whole night”. “Then why are you blushing so much?” you asked and Zuko shrugged “I don’t know I...it’s just them insinuating I like you. I’ve had it a lot”. “You have?” you asked amazed and Zuko nodded “when my uncle heard you’d seen me in Ba Sing Sei and that we’d reached a deal not to tell on one another he had this annoying smirk like i’d done it for any other reason besides the fact it was mutually beneficial. Then when I went back home Azula made it seem like me and you had a thing and Mai got jealous and started asking about you and I had to explain all our interactions and it was very awkward...she wanted me to reassure her by putting you down and making the idea seem impossible but I must have failed because she didn’t believe me. So I guess that’s why it makes me feel weird, everyone keeps telling me I act differently with you and I suppose I do but I have no idea if that’s because everyone keeps saying it or if I always have”. You nodded your head but were unsure what to say. “Well which one do you think it is?” you asked eventually and Zuko paused “what?”. “If you had to guess, would you say you act differently around me because of what people say about us or have you just always acted that way”. Zuko thought, staring at the ground and basically anywhere but at you, “i’m not sure but I guess maybe the second? They must have got it from somewhere I suppose”. “The second?” you asked surprised and Zuko’s blush returned vividly “I’m only guessing, I honestly don’t know”. You nodded your head and went to speak when the others returned which stopped you right in your tracks.  

The second half of the play began of course with you and Zuko reuniting in the prison under Ba Sing Sei. You and Zuko did end up there together but you definitely did less staring at one another. You rolled your eyes as your characters began to passionately speak to one another stepping closer and closer. They finally reached one another and you laughed when your character began yelling at Zuko’s. “Ha maybe they got some things right!” you whispered to Zuko who nodded “you did yell at me a lot”. You smirked and went to apologise when Zuko’s character kissed yours. You and Zuko abruptly shot away from each other. “That is not even close to what happened!” you cried at the others who were all laughing. Zuko nodded “this is just slander! They didn’t even bother to try to get our characters right and anyone with half a brain would realise that!”. Someone shushed Zuko and he glared “shush yourself” he cried before storming from the room. He didn’t return for the rest of the play and honestly you thought that was probably wise. It got worse and worse. They still kept in Zuko’s betrayal of Iroh but changed it making you at the centre of Zuko’s struggle. He chose the crown and they made you react dramatically (even getting a love ballad moment). They then skipped forwards to Zuko at the palace, who got his own song when he realised he’d made the wrong choice. Your characters reunited not long after and promptly confessed their love for one another. Then you were both murdered by Ozai very much in line with the tragic forbidden lovers style.

“I mean I’m just glad she’s dead” you shrugged on your way out “anything to end that romance”. The others smirked when Aang paused “do you think Zuko went back home to the villa?” looking around for the angry fire prince. “No he knows we don’t know this place well, he’s probably just sat outside somewhere” you replied looking around but you couldn’t see him brooding anywhere either. When you walked out the front door and still didn’t spot him Aang frowned “okay everyone split up and look for him, meet back here in five minutes”.

You returned five minutes later to see Katara, Suki, Sokka and Toph all hadn’t found him either. “I wonder where he is” Katara frowned and you shrugged “he’ll be fine, that boy has nine lives”. “He didn’t in that play” Toph commented and you nodded. “True but that play was a mess and there’s one thing I still can’t get over. Zuko said his family and friends thought he liked me that’s where his side of this rumour started but in the play they acted like I encouraged him! Where on earth did they get that idea?”. The group all went quiet and you paused “what?”. “Well...I mean you kinda do encourage him” Sokka frowned and your jaw dropped “I DO NOT! When have I ever...”. “When we got kidnapped by the pirates you teased Zuko constantly and refused to be quiet until he spoke to you” Katara pointed out. “Yes but that was to annoy him not flirt with him!”. “Okay how about when June asked if you were his girlfriend and you replied he wishes instead of no?”. “I was joking” you shrugged and Toph smirked “or how about when I was sneaking out to see Zuko at the Western Air Temple and found you already on your way to see him? What were you popping in to see Zuko for huh y/n? Nice date by the campfire?”. “I was doing the same thing as you! I was going to see if he would tell the truth and given that I knew him best I thought I....”. The gang all erupted and you paused “what?”. “You know him best?” Sokka asked smirking and you nodded “that doesn’t mean anything it’s a fact”. “Ow is it?” Sokka asked and you nodded “It is! Fine if I don’t know him best what was his fake name in Ba Sing Sei?”. Everyone went quiet and you nodded “or how about how long ago he was banished from the fire nation? Better yet just tell me his parent’s names!” you cried. When nobody replied you smirked folding your arms victoriously “told you I know him best”. “Yeah you’ve definitely proved how much you know about Zuko” Suki smirked looking past you. You frowned before you heard someone behind you. You turned to see Aang had found Zuko and by the look on his face he’d heard everything. You blushed and looked down “Zuko we were...”. “Having a competition to see who knows me best?” Zuko asked mildly amused and you paused “well sort of...Sokka started it”. “No I didn’t” Sokka retorted “you declared you knew Zuko the best and when I asked if you were sure you started spouting your favourite facts about him”. “They’re not my favourite facts about him” you snapped and Sokka’s smirk just grew “whatever y/n” and he turned leading the way home. The others all followed and purposefully made it so you and Zuko were at the back. “Why were you talking about me anyway?” Zuko asked and you paused “ow nothing I was just er...trying to work out why the Ember Island Players thought I had a thing for you but the gang was not helpful”. “They couldn’t think of a reason?” Zuko asked innocently and you frowned “no they could actually think of lots of reasons, it appears similar to your family they were also under the impression I held a flame for you as it were”. “Ow really?” Zuko asked. He kept his voice flat but you could swear he was smirking slightly. “Stop enjoying this” you whined pushing him “it’s not funny, it’s embarrassing”. “Liking me is embarrassing?” Zuko asked and you paused “no I didn’t mean that, I just meant having all your friends claim you like someone when you can’t see it”. “You really can’t see where they’re coming from?” Zuko asked and you shook your head “nope not at all”. Zuko looked away and you frowned “I saw that, what did that look mean?”. “Nothing...” Zuko trailed off but you sighed grabbing him by the arm to make him look at you “I’m sick of everyone saying things about me for once just say it to my face!”. Zuko sighed “fine, I just think i’ve been honest with you but you’re not being honest with yourself”. “Not being honest?”. Zuko nodded “Yes, I admitted I could see where my family were coming from and how the rumours started but you’re acting as if they plucked them out of thin air!”. “Well maybe they did! I don’t see how any of our interactions could be interpreted as romantic”. Zuko didn’t look convinced. “You don’t think there’s some truth to what the Ember Island Players said? That maybe there is something here?” Zuko asked gesturing to the small gap between you. “No of course not! Do you?”. “No” Zuko yelled back and you nodded “fine! You are the most infuriating...” you started when Zuko grabbed you kissing you. You initially tensed at the sensation but soon melted into it. Zuko seemed to be trying to prove a point by kissing you passionately and not wanting him to win you kissed him back matching his intensity. Finally Zuko pulled away for air and stared at you “still not want to admit there’s something here?”. You stared at Zuko torn between admitting he was right and your pride. You were annoyed, frustrated, excited and exhilarated all at once. You were breathing rapidly, your cheeks bright red as were Zuko’s and neither of you made to move away. “I...” you started eventually “that was a good kiss”. Zuko nodded, his frustration melting away “it was, I enjoyed it...I’ve been wondering what it would feel like to kiss you for a while now”. “You have?” you asked and Zuko nodded “as annoying as it is to admit my family and friends were right, I like you and I have for a while”. You smiled despite yourself at how adorable Zuko looked all bashful and embarrassed. “I tried ignoring it for a while but then when I joined the group your friends all saw it straight away. Then tonight...the play was bad but I was frustrated that everyone seemed to see it apart from you the person I actually wanted to see it...you”. You looked down wondering how to reply “I’m sorry I bet that was really frustrating”. Zuko nodded “It was and I figured this was just one-sided but that...did you feel it too?”. Zuko looked so unsure and unlike himself it was endearing and gave you confidence. “Yes” you said shakily “after that kiss I can tell you it is definitely not one-sided. I like you too Zuko and probably have since the start”. “Probably?” Zuko asked and you sighed “I’m not good with my emotions, I can be oblivious to them so I can’t with certainty tell you it’s been going on as long as the play made it out to be but I know I like you. Right now in this moment...I hope that’s enough, I know it’s a shit confession and you probably wanted something more solid but I...”. Zuko began laughing and you paused “what’s so funny?”. “Something more solid? Y/n I’m on the run from the Firelord who is my father, my sister is hunting me to kill me and I could very likely be imprisoned for the rest of my life if Aang fails and that’s if i’m lucky...I’m not even sure if I have a future so trust me all I need is the present. To know in this moment right here you like me back” Zuko blushed but he stepped closer and took your hands “that’s more than enough for me”. “It is?” you asked and Zuko nodded “yes and if by some chance it becomes more long-term I’ll be very happy but for now I just want to enjoy this time with you”. You smiled and leant in to kiss Zuko again when someone coughed. “Hey what are you two doing?” Sokka called. Apparently the others had finally realised the two of you were no longer with the group and walked back to find the two of you as you currently were. Luckily it was dark so you moved away from Zuko but still held his hand. “Yeah we thought you’d gotten lost are you okay?” Katara called. Zuko sighed and you smirked at his expression. “We’re fine” you smiled “we were just talking and Zuko’s going to show me this beach he went to a lot as a kid”. Zuko’s eyes shot up to yours and he smiled. “You are?” Aang asked and Zuko nodded “yep, it’s not far from here so we won’t be long. You guys head back to the villa and we’ll meet you there” and with that Zuko tugged you away from the others. You smiled at Zuko and he smiled back at you “quick thinking, I didn’t think we’d get out of there so easily”. “You can thank me later” you replied when you heard Sokka gasp “wait are they holding hands? Y/n are you holding hands?”. “Run!” Zuko cried and you laughed but did as he said. You kept running even after Sokka’s voice trailed off and only stopped when you reached a sandy beach. You both collapsed on the ground and you turned to look at Zuko “did you know this was here or did you get lucky?”. “Totally the former” he smiled and you shook your head “you’re lucky I like you”. “I really am” Zuko agreed and he stared at your face tenderly. His fingers brushed your cheek and you smiled “what are you waiting for?”. “I have no idea” Zuko admitted and he leant in to reclaim the lost kiss from earlier. This time you weren’t interrupted.

[unfriedough]

hi can i order zuko hcs with a waterbender or a forgotten one? sorry if you got confused, it's just that english is not my first language

‘Watergirl & Fireboy’- Zuko x female!reader

Masterlist <3

An: GOOD DAY FRIENDS. AHHH. tbh this is my best title yet.

I'm not sure what you meant by the forgotten one, but if you want to resend another ask, I can write you something again <3

(Your english was pretty good tho anon! good job!)

Summary:

Water bender gf firebender bf, yes. (Fn is fire Nation I used that at some point haha)

Warnings: mild comic spoilers.

Dating Zuko is super wholesome.

And the dynamic of water and fire is so chaotic

At first, it was a bit of a shocker, as you’re complete opposites

But also made sense

Opposites attract

Anyways

Honestly nothing interesting happens in the gAang part of this story so I’m going to slide right past it

Fire lord and his lady

Notice the his

You’re not married yet haha

So you’re just his girlfriend for the time being as he’s adjusting

The peeps of the fn are definitely surprised

And not happy

Why is there a water SCUM here 🤨🤚

Some like the idea

Like ‘oooh diversityyy’

But others like the new ozai society opt to say you suck

Smh

It’ll be a super new concept

I’m talking a mixed wedding

I’m talking a mixed wedding

For example

The ring or whatever would have aspects from your culture as well as his

For example a blue dragon, pretty cute idea

He definitely had Sokka/Katara’s help with it though

For fighting and stuff, you guys are the dream team.

I mean like

Water and fire

Ugh goals

But yeah

Y’all are a force to be reckoned with yk?

In the palace, water tribe decor would for sure be incorporated

Some blue some red some dragons some penguins etc

It’d be such a vibe

Other rulers now not only look down on him because he is a CHILD, they now also feel superior as he married someone from outside his nation

Katara and Sokka would probably take on your protective siblings role.

So like, Zuko would get lectured anytime he was annoying to you

He’s just a baby-

Sparring would be kinda fun

Cuz like fire v water

Like you do the octopus arms and he’s like shooting at you

All in good fun ofc

And training

You would probably have an important role in his life

Like his advisor

So your next to him in all those boring meeting he has to sit through

You accompanied him on the search for his mom

We’re ignoring the promise comic because that's not my baby, he kinda was weird in that one?

Yikers 😒

Travelling to the watertribe would be so funny because you are more used to it so can like wear less coats but Zuko’s got his AND your coats all piled up and looks like a little marshmallow 😩

The watertribe siblings would 100% make fun of him

Trying each others foods like culture wise would be such a blast

Like he has some water tribe delicacies and you the same with fire nation

He would be evil and give you the ones he doesn’t like too just to see your cute face get annoyed

He’s secretly evil guys

The fact that you’re like always cold and he’s always WARM is funny, because he would heat you up, But you

Being the little gremlin you are

😈.

Place your COLD hands on his stomach or arms and stuff and he like shivers.

“Hey Yn did yOU - STOP” literally squealing

Anyways, yall opened up new opportunities for biracial marriages in the fire nation and water tribes. 😌

But yeah, fireboy and watergirl

An: This was so short and written late at night and yeah okay I’m tired. As always, hope you enjoyed reading, SEE YA! <3

[innocentimouto]

Criticizing atla’s romance

Aang kissing Katara without her permission is bad. We could speculate he probably had no exposure to being taught romantic relationships, but that only explains it, not justifies it.

So the question goes to why didn’t Aang apologize after that? Why did Katara kiss Aang at the end happily like nothing happened? 

And you know who’s to blame for that? The show.

Katara backed away after the kiss and reaffirmed she didn’t want that. Katara made it clear she wasn’t happy with it. In fact Katara never clearly stated she liked Aang, but she sure made it clear she didn’t want to be with him in that moment.

Katara has never taken anything quietly. You think she would just let something like that go? Katara found out Kya’s killer was out there and took action. And she did it her way. Like she always has.

Even if you think Aang wouldn’t apologize (and frankly Book 3 did Aang so dirty and the show always made Katara apologize more than the others), there is no way she wouldn’t stand up for herself.

Even if you argue for some reason she wouldn’t, why is she happy kissing him at the end? There was no build up to that. We’ve only ever gotten hints until then and very weak ones at that.

It’s Aang’s fault that Katara became his girlfriend but also that she doesn’t get one scene being upset over it? What is he doing, preventing her from getting one scene of looking upset?

Adults sat down and decided to write that. THEY thought the hero gets the girl and everything else is history. THEY wrote the fortuneteller episode and made Katara consider Aang despite clearly stating at the beginning she only saw him as a friend. THEY wrote that episode about teaching a girl to move on but if a boy tries hard enough, he’ll get the girl.

Aang did none of that.

More importantly, this is the same show that wrote Maiko.

How is it that many people who hate Maiko also hate Kataang but only blame Aang for Kataang issues and not like it’s the same mistake these writers keep making?

They wrote Mai having a crush on Zuko since she was little and then made them kiss at the beginning of Book 3 without warning. There was even less build up to that than Kataang.

Oh and Zuko had no thoughts or conversations with Mai until that point.

This is the same writing that chose to put Zuko with a girl whom he’s never expressed feelings or thoughts over. This is the same show that thought pairing a heavily developed character with one whom we know nothing about and is practically a caricature was a good idea.

How did they even get together that quickly? Are we shown it? No. Do we know why Zuko likes Mai? No. Apparently he fell for her in...a week? Two weeks? Who knows, not me. That’s how little effort they put into throwing a ship together.

Kataang has problems, but it’s not Aang’s fault. The idea of them getting together when they’re a little older is fine and seems interesting. But the way they were written was poor and we should really start looking to the writing instead of the characters.

And maybe stop defending the writing around Kataang because I’m sorry it’s bad. If you could even say they had anything more than Aang having a crush (and we support him in this, Katara’s amazing) and writing Katara possibly being with nearly every teenage boy in the show because apparently her actual feelings aren’t important in this.

Also fine with Katara considering Jet her boyfriend in...a day or two. They kissed apparently, but do we see it? Do we even get Jet’s side? Can we even say we got enough of Katara’s side?

Kanna travels to the other side of the world to get away because she didn’t want that marriage.

But she also kept the engagement necklace...

And then Pakku travels to see her and they get together. Do we know why? No. Do we hear Kanna’s side of the story? No.

Has no one noticed they have consistently written romantic relationships this way? Seriously, it’s not Aang. They’ve done this multiple times. Katara just had more screen time.

I know people have a lot more issues with Aang. I did too in fact, but I think it’s important to consider how the narrative has treated Katara from the beginning compared to the male characters and also how many writing mistakes were in Book 3. And then you’ll slowly realize it’s not really Aang that’s the problem here.

This also applies to Mai by the way. She didn’t force Zuko into a relationship. This boy stopped girls from touching him on two separate occasions and both in very emotional situations when his worldview was being challenged. We don’t know much about Mai. Very little effort was done to explore her, and she’s not exactly a side character when she’s the girlfriend of one of the main characters of the show!

Point being, Aang isn’t to blame for horribly written romance. And neither is Mai. 

[sokkastyles]

Reading ATLA: The Promise - pp66-93

Note: I'm reading the Promise Omnibus digital scans which has parts 1-3, and I'm assuming I'm done with part 1 since I'm about halfway through the story, but there's been no indication of that so far so I'm not sure which part I'm on anymore or if the Omnibus just combined them all into one consecutive story and did away with the parts alltogether. Anyway, let's move on!

Katara and Aang deciding to set up a meeting with the Earth King is good, but it kind of begs the question of why this couldn’t have been settled when they all met together at the beginning of this comic.

Aside from how dangerous it is that Aang relying on Katara to calm him down is romanticized, there’s something else that bothers me about this conversation. Katara tells Aang that if he is going to have to kill Zuko, he has to be calm enough to know he’s making the right decision. But wasn’t Aang’s whole stance in ATLA that there is never a justification for killing? Specifically in “The Southern Raiders,” Katara was painted as out of control because of the implication that she might kill Yon Rha, yet she does make a rational decision in the end despite not following Aang’s advice and not letting go of her anger. And here, yet again, she is tasked with being the voice of reason despite how negatively that episode painted her when she faced the same exact dilemma that Aang is facing now, except that Aang is treated with much more compassion for flying off the handle for a much less justified reason. And here, the conflict isn’t centered around the morality of killing at all or the fact that Zuko is their friend, but because Katara “hates seeing Aang get like that.” Okay.

Also, now that they’ve agreed that Zuko actually has a point, I’m not sure why killing him is even still on the table, other than some weird “blood determines your destiny” BS.

Hold up. I know that lack of communication is a chronic problem throughout this comic, and Mai says Zuko left without telling her where he was going, but it also seems like Mai doesn’t communicate very well with Zuko either, since she seems to just pop into the throne room unannounced, which he is totally surprised by. And “you’re doing it again?” Again as in, that time he broke up with you to save the world because it wouldn’t be safe to break up in person, and you also showed no interest in communicating with him when he tried to express to you his concerns about the Fire Nation? So Mai has to know where Zuko is at all times because “I’m your girlfriend” - even though she wouldn’t accept it when he broke up with her - but she gets to come and go as she pleases and decide when she’s interested in hearing about his life and when she isn’t?

How is this the fault of Zuko’s bodyguards, who we saw earlier being unfairly yelled at? This does explain how the Kyoshi Warriors got to the palace, though.

Also, the fact that Mai didn’t know that Zuko wasn’t sleeping well and Zuko was surprised that she could tell tells me that they’ve been having some deeper relationship problems that it’s unfair to blame on Zuko, especially given the history of their relationship in ATLA and Mai's chronic inability to care about literally anything.

And I know it’s Nickelodeon, but if Zuko is old enough to lead a country he’s probably old enough to have his girlfriend sleep with him, especially since she herself is a trained fighter. It also seems like it would be more Mai’s style to decide she needs to protect Zuko herself instead of getting five other women to do it for her, but I guess that would put a dent in her carefully affected apathy.

Zuko can’t sleep again so he tells Suki and Ty Lee, who are now guarding his bedroom, that he’s going for a walk. He goes straight to the prison, of course, because what better way to find a good night’s sleep than to visit your estranged father who obviously has malicious intentions towards you? Also, despite how heavily guarded Zuko’s chambers are, no one is guarding the prison where a deposed dictator is being kept? Maybe Zuko’s guards ARE idiots.

Or...you know, you could have gone with Aang and Katara to meet with the Earth King. Just a thought.

Toph and Sokka go back to her metalbending school because Sokka wants to get away from Katara and Aang being all lovey dovey  - me too, Sokka - and they find that it’s been taken over by a firebending master and his students, who say that it’s HIS school now because Fire Lord Zuko has withdrawn support for the Harmony Restoration Act. They agree to have a match between their students for ownership of the school. I actually like this scene. It shows the entitlement of the Fire Nation colonists towards Earth Kingdom land. I don’t particularly care about the conflict, though, which just seems to distract from the main focus of the story.

Katara and Aang head to Ba Sing Se to meet with the Earth King. They land and intend to stay at Iroh’s for the night, but then Aang runs into his fan club and of course they end up staying there instead. Katara gets jealous, and I won’t rehash what other people have already said about how gross it is that Katara is punished for her jealousy, but this entire subplot is full of misogyny and Bryke getting another potshot in at fangirls. Not only do the other girls act like catty bitches to Katara, but their dialogue is full of valley girl stereotypes.

I also feel the need to point out how of course the shorter, larger girl is the one who threatens to steal Aang from Katara and is portrayed as grotesque for aggressively pursuing Aang.

The theme park-ization of the Air Nomads is also weird and uncomfy. Remember how mad Aang got in the series at the Earth Kingdom refugees for co-opting Air Nomad culture? What, is it better when it’s a bunch of girls who are showering him with attention instead of disabled refugees trying to survive?

Zuko: but what does this have to do with the pressures of rulership...?

Ozai: Nothing, I just like thinking about that time you almost drowned.

I kid, but shout out to that time that someone tried to use these panels to prove to me that Ozai was a good leader. The social Darwinism argument isn’t actually a good argument for rulership, though. Ozai is able to sleep at night because he doesn’t care whether the decisions he makes are morally right. That doesn’t make Ozai a good leader. Zuko is a better leader because he agonizes over whether the decisions he makes are the right ones. It shows that he’s a leader that actually cares about people. I guess the lesson should be about the dangers of inaction or trying to both sides things, but Ozai's point seems to be to "let nature take its course," which is a decidedly amoral stance when you're talking about people.

Also, Ozai apparently loves tea now.

I do like the last panel, where it looks like Zuko is the one behind bars instead of Ozai. It shows how Zuko’s father still has a hold over him psychologically, even when he lacks physical power and freedom. No wonder Zuko can't sleep, with Ozai so close by. I think it would be a long time before Zuko feels totally secure and free of his father.