#possible zutara moment

[ekwolfwriter-blog]

Hmm....

Is the following image just me.... or is a certain fire boy's general direction not toward Sokka or Suki or even any of the people that are cheering for him, but toward a certain water bender he has been hoping to gain approval from and hopeful she would cheer for him as well? And does that same boy have the look of "Wait, you all are cheering for me? Me?"

All of this still while looking at said water girl that he saved not too long in the episode...

These episodes just animate themselves so much potential.

Maybe it is just me...

[fandomunsexyman]

My thing with child characters that people consider "evil" is that I'm willing to excuse their actions because 90% of the time they're reacting to traumatizing and overwhelming situations in a way that A Child would. Obviously there are exceptions, but I feel like a lot of this type of discourse is flawed because it expects children to have in-depth decision making skills and the ability to understand themselves in ways that a lot of adults can't as well as the ability to react well under pressure. So it comes off to me as discourse that somewhat criticizes these characters for acting their age.

[sokkastyles]

I've seen people try to argue that while Katara and Zuko have a close friendship, Katara could never trust him enough to be in a romantic relationship with him. And the thing about this is that I think we are really underestimating here the amount of trust Katara would have to put in Zuko to even be an ally to him, let alone a friend.

Katara's hurt is so great that there is no possibility of her having even a casual relationship with Zuko if she was not assured that he no longer believed any of the things he previously believed about her people or the other nations, and no longer would act on those beliefs. Their entire relationship is built on not only Zuko's redemption but Katara's belief in his redemption, which the show spends quite a bit of time building. The reason Katara was so angry at Zuko when he joined the gaang is because she did not trust and believe that he had changed, and she needed that convincing to even allow herself to be around him.

That's why the renewed interest in calling Zuko a colonizer to discredit zutara does not ring true. It seems to actually diminish the choices Katara made to trust Zuko, to paint Katara's trust in him as undeserved. Which actually undermines Katara's pain in a misguided attempt to "protect" her from it because then everything Katara does from the Southern Raiders onward, every moment where she confides in Zuko and expresses care towards him and fights alongside him, becomes a moment where she is actually not a person making a choice to trust Zuko. It reduces her to a victim in a relationship that she actively invested in and assumes that her forgiveness of him was either insincere or coerced.

And the problem with that is that in canon, Katara's relationship with Zuko is actually a healing one. Her forgiveness of him is essential to her finding closure for not only the pain he caused her, but the pain of the loss of her mother. That is why she explicitly chooses to forgive Zuko and not Yon Rah. The closeness she has with Zuko following this choice is a result of her decision to seek healing and accept Zuko's help, and to give him what help she can. She does not forgive because she is morally obligated to, but because she chooses to and wants to.

And this process actually began long before Katara forgave Zuko. It began in the crystal catacombs when not only did Zuko apologize to Katara, but Katara apologized to him. Because seeing Zuko as someone like her who was in pain was part of her way of finding healing for herself. That's the thing that is missing when people insist that there is forever this unbridgeable gap between them. That Katara herself sought to close that gap as part of her healing process.

That also was a large part of why she felt betrayed by him in book 3. Which means that reconciling with him was an essential part of finding closure. Katara could not just put up with Zuko. She could not be an ally or a casual friend. She had to be sure that there was mutual trust between them, and she had to feel it.

She would accept nothing less from him than mutual respect and trust. And I don't think she would accept anything less if their relationship became romantic.

[rifari2037]

7. What’s your favourite Zutara moment from the show?

I love all Zutara moments, because it shows development in every season. But, I would never forget how June being Zutara shipper in every appearances. This is my random thought! Very random thought!

June looked closely when Zuko showed Katara's necklace. Since she was from earth kingdom, she probably didn't know it was a betrothal necklace. But, very clear the necklace belong to a girl.

But, she was a bounty hunter, she worked for anyone who paid her, they could be from anywhere . So, there was possibility she learn about other nation cultural like betrothal necklace from Northern Water Tribe.

A prince using a (betrothal) necklace to looking a girl? (Maybe he made it for her, but she run away?) Well, the conclusion was, "What happened? Your girlfriend run off on you?"

And Zuko didn't deny it.

June was right, the necklace belong to a girl. A beautiful girl! “So this is your girlfriend. No wonder she left, she's way too pretty for you.”

And again, Zuko didn't deny it!

June didn't know what happened after that, but the Prince Pouty came again to her and now TOGETHER with the girl. Not only that, June saw Katara wore her necklace.

What sense situation except, "I see you worked things out with your girlfriend."

This time they denied it!

But, what a reaction if there was nothing between them?

Zuko never give a f*ck before every time June teased her with Katara, why he suddenly so shy and denied it? And Katara made the same reaction as she denied her relationship with Jet! Something fishy!!

And in the very same night after someone assumed that they were together, they slept like this! Remember, Aang was missing that time, no one knows where he was or was he okay. But, look at the little smile on Katara's face! I wonder, what were they talking about before they say good night?

[crienselt]

So a few days ago I saw someone (elsewhere) questioning Zutara fans’ excitement about the scarf scene. It wasn't a mean comment, more general curiosity. And well, I didn't have time to get my thoughts out then. But they haven't gone away, so I'm getting them out here:

Here’s what everyone need to understand about Zutara shippers. We were baited baaaad during the initial run of the show–from the magazines to the shorts to the trailers and how they were cut. And Zuko and Katara’s relationship on the show certainly underwent a lot of development and featured objectively emotional–if not overtly romantic–moments between the two. We were well fed, and we had reason to hope. Right up to the end, we had reason to hope.

The shipping wars were the shipping wars, of course, with all the usual tensions; there are always going to be overzealous fans of each (and any) pairing willing to get toxic. Generally, I think Kataang fans were always jealous of Zutara’s popularity and Zutara fans, post finale, were jealous of Kataang’s, well, canon status. But really it operated much the same as any other large fandom’s shipping wars.

And then came Bryke and the panel where they showed and mocked Zutara fan art, some of which had been created by teens if not straight up children. Then came their, “Come on, kids! It was never going to work. Zutara is just dark and intriguing.”* And the pièce de résistance, their telling Zutara shippers (specifically girls/women) that they were doomed to have failed romantic relationships. Like, what? The thing with the art was arguably cruel, and the rest of it was oh, so condescending. Just all around not well done. 

The after effect was that Zutara went from being simply a fanon pairing to a wrong pairing. The ATLA fandom at large became a far more hostile place for Zutara fans, who were now more commonly deemed delusional and viewed as lesser fans. The vitriol only got worse when the show came to Netfilx and the next wave of antis rolled up with their co-opting of legitimate socio-political terms to paint Zutara not just as wrong but morally corrupt if not evil. It’s all very puritanical.**

So Zutara fans need to be reminded that we weren’t delusional, and we aren’t alone. It’s why it means so much to know that Dante Basco and Mae Whitman shipped their characters. And that so many other VAs came out as Zutara supporters too: Jack De Sena, Michaela Jill Murphy, Grey DeLisle, Janet Varney--even the cabbage man. For it to be revealed that it was discussed in the writers room; that the writers fought over it; that it WAS a canon possibility. (And that writers Joshua Hamilton and John O’Bryan are perfectly comfortable admitting their preference for Zutara.) To know that the Elizabeth Welch Ehasz described Zuko and Katara as an “Avatar-style Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” in the script for The Southern Raiders, and used the phrase “Zutara-feuling synchronicity and cooperation” to describe their action sequences. To see Giancarlo Volpe, a Kataanger, admit Zutara might been the better pairing in retrospect and choose a quiet scene between them (to see their “chemistry”) as what he’d most look forward to in the live action adaptation. It’s why we cling to the artwork done by Korean animation director. We aren’t delusional. We aren’t alone.

But try telling that to the general fandom, right? Most are ignorant of a lot of this, particularly Hamilton and O’Bryan’s revelations re: the writers room. A lot of Zutara fans don't even seem to know. But being baited by Netflix on their official accounts? Oh, people see that. And we are reminded in a big way that we aren't delusional and we aren't alone. And everyone else has to remember it too.

So, of course, we're having fun clowning over the scarf scene. And I think most Zutara fans know we are clowning. I don't think most expect to get canon Zutara in live action because of one little scene or the fact that their Netflix icons are facing each other. (I headcanon that that was totally the doing of Zutara shipper on staff, though, lol. Because there are a lot of us, and we are everywhere.)

And this is okay. Zutara has been doing just fine as a fanon ship. Meanwhile, NATLA might actually do Kataang justice. It always worked better as a future ship. (Really all the pairings do. But I especially don't ever need to see another 12 year old kissing let alone making out, in animation or live action, ever again.) There's a reason Padme and Anakin don't get together in Phantom Menace, after all. Also, there's always the chance they could give us Dante's or Mae's headcanon of them basically suppressing their feelings and choosing duty over love/right person-wrong time. And the odds of getting some more moments to clown over are high enough. 

Anyway, TLDR: Zutara has been made to feel like an out-of-nowhere crack ship and the live action crumbs remind us that it is not. And this is at least partially why we are enjoying it. (Because, also, it's just fun!)

*Side tangent: I’ve never gotten this dark and intriguing comment. Even during Season 1, the height of the capture fic era, Zutara was always a ship fundamentally about hope, predicated on Zuko's redemption. (Back in the day, there were also plenty of antis arguing that there was no way Zuko would ever be one of the gaang.) And they say “intriguing” like it’s a bad thing? Are we not supposed to be interested in the relationships of their characters???

**There have been some very good think pieces written lately on late stage capitalism and consumption as morality. Worth googling.

[im-a-hoping-beetch]

Many people seem to get genuinely confused, whenever we, zutara shippers, mention how underdeveloped kataang really is. Usually, they’ll brush it off as us being delusional, bitter and you know the drill. Their main response to that, usually is: “How, could they possibly be underdeveloped, they had 3 seasons!?!”

The thing is they forget that the amount of time isn’t as important as what you do do with it. Cuz, yeah, Aang and Katara did have 3 seasons, but their relationship still managed to feel rushed as hell. Heck, even Bryke, out of all people, admitted to it. Which mostly as to do with a bunch of things that I’ll get into right now.

Let’s start with the fact that, Katara never actually shows any interest in Aang.

Now, many of y’all will probably come for me by citing how the cave of the two lovers or even the Headband have moments of her showing interest in him, but all of them end up falling flat at some point.

The cave of the two lovers:

The argument here, usually is“if she didn’t have any interest in him, why would she kiss him?” or “why would she blush at the idea of kissing him?”. The former seems to forget this is a life or death situation and that we don’t really know for sure that if there were another way to get out if this, she wouldn’t take it. For the latter, I’d like to say that blushing can have many significations such as, embarrassment. Which, here makes sense when considering what she says and overall demeanour, after suggesting to kiss.

Like yeah, a fourteen year old girl blushing bcz she’s embarrassed at the idea of having to kiss, her friend, out of all things, cuz you know… awkward. Can you imagine that (pun fully intended)???

The headband:

This one is going to be a ride, but stick with me. The arguments can range from “What about her jealousy while Aang is dancing with other girls.” to “What about the way she looks at him during the dance.”

Here, is said jealousy being shown:

And said look being done:

Now, yeah, I can absolutely see why these two exemples would be used as a way to prove her interest, but let me remind you that this is the same episode where we have this happen.

Yeah, the same episode where Katara is acting all jealous and giving flirty looks to Aang is also the same one where she pretends to be is… mother. While, I could go on about how it wasn’t the best idea on the directors or whoever was in charge of the episode part if it was their way of giving a glimpse of Katara being into Aang. The issue is, them doing so wasn’t completely farfetched either, because up until now it’s been established that Katara can be very motherly and she acts that way with almost everyone in the gaang. More specifically, the one with who she does so the most is, Aang.

I mean, even the show makes a point of poking fun at their mother-son dynamic on several occasions all throughout the show (ie. the don’t-rub-your-eyes-when-you’re-speaking scene in “The runaway” episode). So realistically, the two exemples shown way above could somewhat work, but only if you decide to completely ignore what episode they take place in, one that hasn’t really helped at stopping the mother-son dynamic allegations kataang has been getting, for years, now.

So, back to the development aspect, I think it has always been stunted from the beginning, because, fundamentally, the ship as always been designed to be Aang-centric. If you’d like more insight on that I’d recommend checking @starlight-bread-blog’s amazing post on the issue. But also, that their lackluster resolution is way much more obvious, cuz both are leads in the show. Katara's existence in the show, isn't solely there to serve as some love inerest for Aang. Shocker, but she's actually a MAIN CHARACTER in the show, meaning that we spend three seasons where we get to learn about her battles, fears and aspirations, none of which seems to involve a relationship with Aang.

Like yeah, the reason why The Ending Kiss™ feels so unsatisfactory is, simply, because, Katara doesn't like Aang (at least not like that). Katara, likes Aang, because the show said so. Now, stick with me, cuz I can already feel some of y'all ready to jump at the screen. Within the show, name a single moment where she ever comes to thinking of Aang in a romantic way. One that doesn't involve any external sources, such as someone suggesting about it or because of the given circumstances she has to. The answer is none. The only time we ever get to see her voice her ACTUAL opinion about it, this is what she says:

That's not even counting how her overall demeanor, from the body language to her choice of words seems to suggest that she's actually trying to let him down gently. Also, may I remind you that at that point THERE'S ONLY 3 FREAKING EPISODES LEFT BEFORE THE BIG KISS™ and this is where there at in their relationship. Plus, within the 3 episodes that are left WE NEVER GET TO SEE THEM TALK ABOUT IT, EVER!!!

This obviously was part of Bryke’s horrible attempt at the will-they-won’t-they trope. Which ended up playing right in their face, cuz like I mentioned they themselves had to come to glaring realization that kataang was rushed. Now, it could’ve been it, the creators realizing their obvious mistake and if they could, trying to fix it by giving us what seemed like the natural progression of their relationship, which was for it to end.

Instead, we got comics!Katara and oooh boy…

Basically, they decided that they would throw away Katara’s meticulously built characterization in order to make her existence revolve around, Aang. I kid you not, when I say that she isn’t allowed scenes, lines and actions that do not revolve around her “sweetie”.

Remember how I said that, Katara likes Aang because the show runners said so. This is an example of this cranked up to a hundred.

Essentially, when you start thinking about where these two are in terms of growth, kataang is the antithesis to development itself. On one hand it validates the regression of one (ie. the dropped chakra plot line), while simultaneously, having to strip any previously built characterization of the other (ie. comics!katara).

On that note, I’d like to remind people, how important Katara is to the story. Without her, the entirety of the gaang would be dead. Without her, there would be no story. Without her, there would be no Aang.

She deserved to have a voice within her own relationship and not for it to be stolen by two grown men who were still stuck in their childhood fantasy.

She deserved better.

[miss-sweetea-pie]

Listen I don’t like k.ataang and m.aiko because the narrative structure strongly implies for them to not end up together.

The abandoned plot line for Aang’s arc (want vs need) learn to let her go. Aang wants to be with katara but he needs to be the avatar.

And Aang having plenty of time to come around to the possibility that maybe it’s not meant to be.

Similar to Zuko and Mai in boiling rock. Zuko was still holding onto Mai while talking to Sokka. Zuko didn’t want to drag her into this. but by the end of the episode

Zuko: this isn’t about you this is about the fire nation,I’m doing this to save my country 

Mai: save it your betraying your country.

This was definitely the moment where Zuko realized that there ideology was too different, and the relationship wouldn’t work, which is why he didn’t even bother asking her to come with him. Sure maybe she would’ve gone with him but not for the right reasons. 

Zutara was just a lovely little treat and would have tied up everything in a lovely bow. But it didn’t need to happen. But m.aiko and k.ataang happening really hurt the arcs of the characters and the narrative flow.

[prying-pandora666]

What Your Ship Says About You

It’s so interesting how certain ship fandoms behave relative to their characters.

Zutara fans are deeply passionate and ready to fight at any moment. They don’t care what canon (authority) says, they’ll fight them too. They also have very creative souls and explore possibilities that others wouldn’t have even considered. However they can be hotheaded and their passion can turn to aggression. Just like Zuko and Katara.

Kataang fans are more peaceful usually, content to bask in the zen of being canon. But if you drag them into a fight, they’ll bring the fury like they’re in the Avatar State! They strive to find coherency for the canon couple and accept what they cannot change rather than fight a fruitless battle. Just like Aang and Katara.

Ty Zula fans are fierce and sometimes they say things that don’t make sense to others because it’s based on “vibes” (auras). But if you insult them, they’ll come at you with the full force of their collective might. Just like Ty Lee and Azula.

Toko/Zutoph fans don’t care about the rules and are happy to enjoy their ship without feeling the need to defend it as canon. They’ll hit you over the head with their love for the ship in their memes or stealthily lure you in with fanart. Under their rash surface though, there’s some heartbreaking and vulnerable metas. Just like Toph and Zuko.

Zukka fans are just fun. Although sometimes there’s the occasion where they slip into taking themselves too seriously, and need to remember they have nothing to prove. They’re fine the way they are even if it’s not canon. Just like Zuko and Sokka.

Sukka fans are lovely and I haven’t ever seen them start fights with anyone, and yet Bryke continues to do them dirty and neglect them, even going so far as to imply this ship has broken up. Just like Suki and Sokka.

Maiko fans handle criticisms with smug dismissal and apathy a lot of the time, but set them off and you’ll see another side. It has ardent defenders but most of it seems like a defensive reaction against much more stable ships. Just like Mai and Zuko.

Taang fans are myths of epic proportion. Can’t tell if they never existed or if they simply vanished. Just like Toph and Aang.

Tokka fans are fun and most people will get along with them. But if you’re one of the few to get on their nerves or find them annoying? You’re gonna have a bad time. Just like Toph and Sokka.

Sokkla fans are tactical. They don’t usually get in fights for the ship, they just slowly lower your defenses with beautiful fan art. Sneaking in past your walls, once they’re in they’ll bring the receipts with their metas and brainwash you to their side. Just like Sokka and Azula.

Ty Suki fans are perfect and correct and deserve a giant gay island all to themselves and their girlfriends. Just like Ty Lee and Suki.

[juana-the-iguana]

Sometimes I just think of fan interpretations of the cut-away between Zuko telling Katara that he knows where the man who killed her mother is and her packing things and getting ready to leave, and Aang and Katara having their last in-person interactions on screen (when they are lone together in EIP and when they are in a group in the finale) be fights to them kissing at the end.

People who support Kat-aang and do not like Zutara (and specifically comment in the Zutara tag about this) often say that Zuko had to convince Katara to go after her mother's killer. A lot of those people also assume that Aang must have apologized to Katara off-screen for the EIP kiss.

I have had a lot of people who share these interpretations accuse me and other people of not having "media literacy" because we can't clearly understand he must have apologized off screen. The irony is that is the exact opposite of the truth.

The cut away between Zuko telling Katara he knew how to find her mother's killer and her getting ready to leave signifies swiftness. Her response to this knowledge is so clear that showing her reaction would actually take away from conveying it. Things are moving fast, her mind was made up right away and she kept moving so the scene did too. And because she is moving so quickly, the audience can fill in the fact that any conversation she may have had with Zuko about this (How do you know this? When did you find out? etc.) did not play a role in her decision to find her mother's killer.

We know from both her past actions (being haunted by her mother's death, her righteous fury) and her future ones (trying to take Appa without talking to Aang or anyone else, telling Sokka that he didn't love their mother like she did, bloodbending) there is nothing Zuko could have said in a period of time that would have been a few hours, tops, that could have made her that angry or driven if those emotions were not already there. Zuko telling Katara he knows where her mother is isn't actually the completion of that narrative moment: her affirming that she needs to confront said killer when her actions are questions is. (I should note that part of the cut away could have been to leave room for a commercial break - I can't remember if that was the case when this aired on television - which would break up the viewing, but does not take away from the fact that Katara's shown response to this knowledge is to leave as quickly as possible).

Now compare that with the EIP kiss. We see the full moment play out, from Aang meeting Katara on the balcony to pressuring her to commit to him to kissing her when her eyes are close to her getting upset to her running away to him reflecting on what happened... Set up, action, response, reflection. This is an emotional scene, Katara is clearly distressed and this is one of the few times we actually see her mad at Aang. Their kiss at the end is another emotional moment, as it marks the culmination of Aang's journey as an Avatar. There needs to be a bridge between these intense scenes for them to make sense. Kat-aangers will argue that the EIP kiss is A and the ending kiss is C, so B must be the implied apology. But if A and C both matter a lot, and there needs to be a connection between the two things, then B should matter a lot too. C is the last scene in the show! This bridge should be shown, or at the very least referenced!

Unlike the TSR scenes, there is so much time between EIP and the finale that there is no clear flow between these moments. To the contrary, there are moments that break up this romantic sub-subplot, from them playing at the beach together again to them fighting again over how to deal with the Fire Lord and Aang running away (something worth noting is that Katara is the last person who is talking when he runs away - he literally left her - and she lets him go after a light touch on the shoulder from Zuko). Fight, friends, fight, love.

Since that B scene, the thing that bridges together Katara and Aang's relationship, is not there, then it either isn't important or did not happen.

Now let's get into media literacy. Media literacy isn't filling in gaps to make things make sense. Media literacy is understanding the messages that a piece of media is sending, intentionally or unintentionally. Even, in theory, if Zuko did have some conversation with Katara convincing her to seek out Yon Ra, it isn't shown and it isn't alluded to, so it doesn't matter. What we are supposed to take away from that episode is that Katara was ready to hunt down Yon Ra, she needed closure and got it, and that Zuko helped her. The same can be said for an apology after EIP. It doesn't matter if one happened off-screen, if it wasn't shown or referenced to, so it isn't important to the narrative. And if Aang making amends for hurting Katara isn't important to the narrative, but her kissing him after he fulfills his duty as the Avatar is, that is a huge statement about their relationship. Katara only rejected Aang because he wasn't an Avatar yet, so the only thing that matters in their relationship is him being the Avatar.

But the thing about media literacy is it isn't just about what is shown on the screen itself. It is about the bigger picture, what this is trying to convey as a message to the viewers.

So what does the gap in time in TSR tell us? Katara is this caring, nurturing friend who, in her brother's words, doesn't hate anyone except the people who took her mother. If she doesn't hate anyone except for the people who took her mother away from her, and she was immediately able to act on that hate when she got the chance to seek closure, then that hurt must have been closer to the surface than anyone thought. She acted fine, but her trauma was still there.

So what does this mean? She was able to address the anger conveyed in the scene in the episode and by the end of it, even though she was still conflicted about Yon Ra, she made peace with Zuko. Zuko whose mere presence caused her distress for weeks, not only because of his betrayal, but because he reminded her of her mother's death. Zuko who became her good friend and saved her life later on. Confronting her demons not only brought her peace, it improved her life tremendously.

So what is the "media literate" message from the lack of apology? The absence conveys is that the most important thing needed for Katara to like Aang was for him to fulfill his role as the Avatar, because that is the only thing that changed in between those two scenes. He didn't treat her any differently, he didn't apologize for hurting her, in fact its vague that he even acknowledged that what he did was wrong because it hurt her (the "I'm so stupid!" could easily mean he blew his chance, not that he cared). And Katara never went through the process of forgiving him or making peace with him wronging her. She never even acknowledged that he underwent a significant change as a person in the last episode either (Aang, who ran away from his duties at the start of the series, faces them head on in the last episode. YMMV on how good that was developed) - if it's not shown, it doesn't matter.

So what does this mean? It doesn't matter when Katara is hurt, conflict resolution doesn't matter, and apparently Aang's personality doesn't matter either. Their interpersonal relationship and emotional connection mean very little. Men do great things and women love them for it, how they act or are treated does not matter.

And before anyone comments "they're kids, it's not a big deal," this is a direct response to accusations about media literacy which, by definition, is a big deal - it's about the messages being made to viewers and its commentary on how society works and how things should be.

[malefilwtcent]

Does Zutara have a chance in Live Action?

Given the changes made by writers, I have hope but also lots of reservations.

What favours Zutara:

• Aang looks very young. It would be weird to put him in a romantic relationship with an older girl.

• All romantic Kataang scenes have been cut: the cave of two lovers, the “powerful bender” scene, Aang staring and blushing at Katara, etc.

• Scarf scene.

• Official accounts interacting with Zutara shippers.

What is against Zutara:

• Apparently Zuko is a 17 year old in the Live Action. It means that writers made a choice to increase Zutara’s age difference.

• The necklace moment has been cut from the live action.

• Even if writers are considering Zutara in live action, Kataang is still large part of the fandom. I’m not sure if writers are ready to upset them.

• The writers might have just decided to move Kataang for season 2 or even 3.

• Kataang is canonized.

What is against both Zutara and Kataang

Even though Kataang and Zutara have lots of fans, even more fans don’t care about ships at all. That’s why, in order to avoid toxicity, the writers might decide to leave everything as vague as possible so that all shippers can continue supporting whatever ship they want.

[burst-of-iridescent]

What would you say is the dumbest argument people have used against Zutara as a ship that you’ve seen/heard?

can i say all?

that isn't even a joke; in all the time i've spent in atla fandom, i've yet to see a convincing anti argument for why zutara shouldn't be canon. it's always [false claim entirely unsubstantiated by canon] [zuko/katara would "insert bad thing that is already very much present in their canon romances"] [zutara bad but zu.kka good because obviously being fruity is a magical fix-all cure] [some straight up racist/misogynistic bullshit].

that being said, the argument against zutara i personally find the dumbest is the idea that people only ship zutara because they find zuko hot and want to self-insert into katara.

even leaving aside the fact that it's not just straight women, or even primarily straight women who ship zutara (most zutara shippers i know are queer and many of those are acespec), or the blatant misogyny of assuming the only reason a ship could be popular amongst women is because they find the male lead attractive instead of using critical thinking skills... how on earth do you watch zuko and katara hug each other at sunset and see each other through their lowest moments and bond over their trauma and see zuko throw himself in front of fucking lightning for katara, and still think the only reason people could possibly want them to be together is because they find zuko hot?

besides, if i really wanted to self-insert there are already two other eligible female characters zuko is actually romantically involved with, both of whom have barely any character depth and development, and thus provide the perfect blank slates for self-insertion. picking katara, who doesn't even get to so much as kiss zuko, and who has a far more distinct and unmalleable personality than both jin and mai, makes not the slightest bit of sense - but then, that's probably too much to ask from zutara antis.

[peanutbutterwrites]

My Good Looking Boy - Part Four

warnings for series: angst, struggles with self worth and self esteem, issues with appearance, childhood trauma, and mentions of death and murder.

summary: taking place after the southern raiders, zuko and katara finally learn to understand each other a bit more and long held on to feelings come to the surface. the gaang go and watch the ember island play and chaos ensues with katara's feelings.

part one - part two - part three - part four - part five

author's note: and here comes part four! this is where the story really starts to take a turn, so thank you to all your patience, here is zutara and where she finally starts to (maybe?) understand her feelings. part five might take me a bit longer, i lowkey ran out of motivation so I haven't started it yet, but hopefully not too long. as always, please let me know what you think and enjoy!

also thank you so much for all the notes and reblogs on this story, I really appreciate all of it! <3

word count: 2.1k

Katara made her way downstairs fully dressed and hair tied neatly into a half top-knot. Her red two piece consisted of a tight, cropped tank top with flowy and breathable pants she had managed to snag from the old clothes left here. It was clearly designed for the frame of a teenage boy, so Katara chose to ignore what or rather who they were made for in favor of just enjoying the freedom they allowed.

She knew it would be her job today to gather what was necessary to feed the group, along with multiple other things, so she wanted to get that particular job done as soon as possible. Over the last few days, the comments made about her in the play affected her less and less. Yes, she did talk a lot about hope, isn’t it important to have hope during such a difficult time? And yes of course she did the housework, who else would? Pushing aside what had been on her mind, the conversation with Aang, she grabbed the basket next to the entrance and dug through the makeshift wallet to see if she could afford to go into town today and continue to save. Zuko and Toph were only able to save so much money, and Katara absolutely refused to let the kids continue with scamming people; it had turned out rather horribly for them in the past. With her nose to the wallet, her visibility was severely impaired and she slammed into a rock hard surface. 

“Ow!” She yelped as she fell backwards, but she felt a hand grab her wrist and yank her back upright. 

“Oh, sorry.” Zuko murmured, still holding her wrist.

“S’ok.” She whispered right back, frozen in place. He noticed that he was still holding on to her and flushed as he slipped his hand behind himself. In doing so, he examined her full outfit and his flush turned into his full face overheating. He recognized those pants quite easily after all. 

“So, uh, where are you off to?” he choked out.

“Oh, well, the market. I think we have enough money to get some actual food.” 

“That’s good.” It was painfully awkward. They stood there, each shuffling in place debating on their next words. 

“You know-”

“I could-” They both began at the same time. 

“Uh, sorry, you go first.” Katara mumbled, looking anywhere but the boy in front of her while a light dusting of pink covered her cheeks.

“I was just thinking, I’m done training Aang for today. I could come with you.” Opening her mouth, rejection her go-to response, she closed it, opting to think for a moment instead. 

“You know what, why not.” She half-smiled up to him and he let his own hesitant smile crawl its way up. Walking side-by side they made their way down the dirt path towards the day market that was no doubt in full swing by now.  “About the other night,” she began, “I never got to thank you. I’m sorry you had to see that but, uh, thank you.” 

“You don’t have to thank me, Katara. I told you before, I’ll always be there for you. No matter how big or small the issue is.”  She smiled softly at him.

“And I’m sorry for assuming your childhood was, well, privileged.”

“I mean you’re partially right. I never had to worry about food or clothing, nothing money could buy anyway.” 

“So then what was it? What put the idea in your head that you’re worthless Zuko.” Silence fell over them and the only sound noticeable was the crunch of the dirt and gravel beneath them as they continued to the village. “Oh, I’m sorry. I overstepped, didn't I?”

“No, you didn’t. It’s just hard to talk about. I don’t like to talk about it either.” Katara nodded in understanding and gently grasped his right hand in her left. Zuko dropped his eyes to look into hers, shocked she was finally accepting him and willing to listen. It was the first time he didn’t feel pity or condensation in someone’s gaze when this topic came around.

“Well, I’m here for you too, you know.” Silence. After a few minutes walking, he began.

“I spoke out of turn.” She turned to him and squeezed his hand as they kept walking to give him support. Tilting her head to the side, she made it clear she was listening. “A statesman, one with many years of service and honor, wanted to use a young squadron as a decoy. He wanted to sentence them all to death just so we would get the advantage in a battle with a surprise attack. I argued against it. I was only thirteen at the time, but it seemed like a perfectly logical thing to do, to speak for those boys who were unable to speak for themselves. But in speaking out of turn, I disrespected him, threatened him. He challenged me to an Agni Kai to learn respect.” 

“An Agni Kai? You’ve mentioned that before.” 

“Yes, it’s a battle between two firebenders. It’s meant to be life or death.” Katara tensed as anger began to rise in her.

“But you were so young.” 

“It didn’t matter to him. I insulted his place of authority, so foolishly I agreed. I knew I could beat an old statesman so it didn't bother me.” He gripped Katara's hand harder as he continued. “But it wasn't him I had to fight in the Agni Kai. When I turned it was my father.” Katara’s breath hitched in horror. “He claimed by arguing in his war meeting I disrespected him more than the statesman.” He softly shook his head as he continued, “I refused to fight him, he thought that I was weak, a coward. So he gave me this.” He looked at her in the eyes and her own widened in horror. Her teeth ground as Katara felt rage like she’s never felt before. White, hot, outrage. The fact that Zuko had been burned was something she could make her peace with, everyone had their scars, visible or otherwise. But for a parent to do that to their child? She wanted to scream out in anger, to march into the palace at this moment and kill that man. But she knew Zuko didn’t need that right now, she knew he would only end up comforting her instead. 

“I, I’m so sorry, Zuko. I never imagined.”

“I know, it's okay.” They began walking again in silence, but Katara’s hand never left his.

“I’m sorry I didn’t heal it, I don’t have the spirit water anymore otherwise I wouldn’t hesitate.” He hummed softly and rubbed his thumb over the top of hand. 

“It's fine Katara, it wouldn’t fix anything. Just make me a little more easy on the eyes.” Katara stopped in the dirt road and Zuko only paused when he felt her hand leave his. “What’s wrong?” He frowned, turning to look back at her.

“You, don’t think you’re attractive?” He flushed in embarrassment and crossed his arms defensively over his chest.

“Well I mean, isn’t it obvious?” He left out a humorless laugh. 

“I think you’re beautiful, Zuko.” It was just a whisper, but to him it felt like so much more. She was looking him dead in the eye, no hint of embarrassment or lie. He felt himself stop breathing. Not bearable, decent, hot, but beautiful. She thought he was beautiful. And for some reason this word shook him. His gut flipped nervously and he had to swallow down his tears that threatened to unleash at any moment. 

“Well, thank you. Katara.” He said, his eyes still piercing into hers that kept their intensity. She simply nodded and gathered his hand back into hers as they continued their walk into town. 

They were able to haul a decent amount of food back, as surprisingly Zuko was pretty good at haggling with the older merchants who ran the stalls of the day market. Even after such a heavy topic, Katara found herself watching him with pride. His ability to live and forgive, to be kind after suffering such horrific actions against him made her eyes twinkle with emotion. He carried the heavy basket all the way back and offered to help her with the cooking as well. 

“I think you are officially the most helpful member of the group, Zuko. Thank you!” Katara spoke cheerfully as they boundered into the entrance of the summer home. Zuko smiled after her and gave a small chuckle. 

“I think that’s my favorite title I’ve earned yet.” He put the woven basket down in the kitchen, he began unloading their haul into their proper places as Katara let out a breathy laugh and went to gather the new laundry. Thankfully, the rather large fountain on the property made it easy to wash all the clothes. The next thing she knew she was bending water into the dirty clothing and Zuko was bringing out the tea set the house had been equipped with. He placed the pot out on the edge of the fountain and began brewing her tea as Sokka and Suki came down from their bedroom. 

“Good morning! I guess you guys went to the market huh? Couldn’t find you anywhere.” Suki mentioned and Katara nodded in agreement. 

“Yeah, and Aang’s lesson with Toph should be over soon so I thought some tea would be nice.”

“I’m sure your hot leaf water will be greatly appreciated, Zuko.” Sokka teased and Katara frowned.

“You do realize he has helped more today than you’ve in the past two weeks, Sokka.” Sokka froze and Suki let out a loud and exuberant laugh.

“Since when are you defending him?!” He said with a high-pitched voice crack and Katara had to fight with herself to stop from laughing outright.

“I’m not defending him, it's just the truth Sokka! And even if I was, it doesn’t matter.” Sokka’s mouth dropped in shock. 

“I think she’s right, you guys really need to help out more. She’s always doing all the housework.” Suki mentioned as she took a small cup of piping hot tea from Zuko. Sokka let out multiple gargled and disgruntled sounds with a small “you don’t help either Suki!” while she yanked him down to sit and hushed him. 

“Oh hey sugar queen, sparky.” Toph joked as she and Aang returned from their earthbending practice. 

“Oh tea! Thanks Zuko!” Aang cheered, after a long morning of practice he must be exhausted and grateful for the break.

“Here, Aang.” Katara reached over to grab some bread she had been able to get at the market. “Relax and keep your strength up, we still have our lesson.” she smiled down at him and his apprehensive smile brightened quickly. Katara knew she couldn’t let personal issues get in the way of her teaching Aang, the world being at stake was of far greater importance than her confusing feelings. Zuko took a seat next to her and handed her a cup of tea, to which she smiled warmly at him and thanked him for.

“No seriously Katara, did something happen? Cause I swear, even after your guys’ trip you weren’t this buddy-buddy.” Sokka finished with Suki elbowing him in the side and him huffing out an exasperated “what?” to her. Zuko tensed up, his grip on his tea strained and contemplated grabbing Katara right then and there to stop her from saying anything. But she made her decision before he could.

“Oh be quiet, Sokka. We aren’t ‘buddy-buddy’, and nothing happened. Gosh, would you give it a rest?” She huffed and crossed her arms in an irritated fashion. Zuko visibly relaxed and took a long sip of his tea, shooting Katara a grateful smile. She knew he would tell the others in his own time and resolved to let it happen naturally versus forcing him to have that conversation right now. 

“Karara!” Aaang, called out after gulping down most of his tea. She perked up at his voice, “Let’s start training now.” He smiled and she nodded in response, promising she’ll be back in time to cook dinner.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

At this point, I am legitimately convinced that most of the Zutara shippers that appear in your asks never watched the show and are just going by word-of-mouth by the distorted accounts of the fandom. Anyone who can confidently (stupidly) claim that Aang has never expressed empathy in the show when it is core to his very personality can't possibly be a fan.

I've seen lots of former zutara fans and people that still like the ship but are no longer on the "we were robbed of our endgame" train say that were extremely disappointed when rewatching the show because it made them see that their childhood memories of the ship and, more importantly, the way it is talked about by the zutara community at large is simply not at all accurate to the story.

Zutarians have absolutely created an echo-chamber in which they keep rewritting the show in their heads by watching the same clips over and over again, ignoring all context for said moments AND that they were only 5% of the show. That's why you have wildly inaccurate takes based on things that never happened.

Zuko and Katara constantly interacting/flirting, Mai thinking Zuko is into another girl, Katara being forced to do all the chores, Zuko totally wanting a simple life instead of being Fire Lord/Katara dreaming of being Fire Lady, Katara despising her own tribe and feeling some kind of connection to the Fire Nation, the South and Noth pole having the exact same (sexist) culture, the Fire Nation being a feminist utopia, Katara saying she thinks of Aang as her son/younger sibling (this one is extra funny since Katara herself responded to that with "I didn't say that")

That's why is so difficult to have a minimally logical conversation with them - they expect us to take a story that doesn't exist as canon, while thinking that we are crazy or misremembering the show when we say "What you're describing is wrong, here's what actually happened"

[sokkastyles]

I hope you don’t mind me sending in asks every so often, because I really love your blog and I like reading your opinions/analyses of ATLA’s story and characters. What I want to talk about is this one trope in fiction that I’ve always liked and wanted to see more of, which is “Person A sees characteristics of Person B’s personality or abilities that are kind of morally dubious or complicated and possibly less than desirable (depends on what the ability or personality trait is) and even though Person B has complicated feelings about what they saw, they never flinch or look away from who Person A is.” Because I’m obsessing over Zutara again, this made me think of the scene where Zuko sees Katara bloodbend for the first time and while he is momentarily surprised, his facial expression goes back to normal quickly. Something similar happens when he sees her waterbend while confronting Yon Rha. I really wish we had gotten a scene where Zuko and Katara actually talk about her blood bending abilities, though the main reason I wanted this isn’t only because of the potential for another Zutara moment. I also really wish the narrative had utilized bloodbending more and that we had gotten to see more of Katara’s complicated, ambiguous feelings about bloodbending (and yes I know she didn’t like bloodbending in canon, but I wish we got to see her be a bit curious about it or not knowing how to feel about it before she decided that). What are your thoughts about this? Is there anything about Katara’s bloodbending that you wanted to see explored in the narrative as well?

First of all, I love getting your asks! They are always very well thought out and insightful! I think you sent me another one that I didn't get a chance to respond to yet because I have been very busy, but I'm not tired of getting asks from you at all!

And I do think an underrated aspect of Zuko witnessing Katara bloodbend is that it's validating to him as an abuse survivor, as a fellow child of war who also lost his mother, as someone who deals with anger issues, to see Katara bloodbend and be able to control her bloodbendinng in that moment.

I do not think that Zuko was intentionally living his revenge fantasies through Katara or encouraging her to commit violence. We've actually seen both Jet and Hama try to do that to Katara and there are some distinct differences. If you recall the way Jet and Hama talk about their actions, and the way they try to get Katara to also do those things, they appeal to her with specific language. They appeal to her anger, specifically, telling her to think about what happened to her mother. They take joy in assuming that she is just like them and has sunk to their level.

When Zuko talks with Katara about Kya, he does not focus on her anger and loss and the need for revenge. Instead, he tells her that Kya was brave. When he sees himself in Katara, he doesn't see negative. He sees someone who is angry, yes, but also someone who isn't controlled by that anger.

Part of the problem with the way antis talk about this episode and Zuko or Katara specifically is this pathologizing around whatever "fantasy" they think Zuko or Katara might be engaging in. And let's be real for a second. It is actually incredibly common for abused children to have revenge fantasies about their abusers. Like, incredibly common. But it's something that is not talked about very often because we don't like to think about it. When it is talked about, it is usually in terms of the person becoming violent themselves.

I do think that Zuko wanted for Katara the same thing he got with his father, the chance to confront him and to walk away, to not be goaded into violence or sink to that level. But that doesn't mean it isn't also incredibly validating for Zuko to not only watch Katara have power over this man, but to be able to exert enough control over that power to be able to walk away.

Which is similar to what Zuko does with his father. Zuko doesn't want to be angry anymore, but that doesn't mean he suddenly becomes a doormat. And when he faced his father, he was prepared to fight if he had to. He brought his swords, he redirected lightning right at Ozai's feet. He made it clear that he could have hurt Ozai if he had wanted to. But he has enough control over that anger not to. Directionless anger is ultimately similar to intrusive thoughts of revenge, because both make the person feel helpless and out of control.

Also my piping hot take is that Aang was afraid of Katara's anger because he himself never learned to control the Avatar state, whoops.

Anyway, I love that Zuko has that moment when he maybe sees a bit of his old self, the part of himself that was angry and wanted to hurt people because he was hurt, in Katara, and it surprises him. But now he's wise enough to have compassion for himself, and for her by extension, and understands now that that anger comes from grief.

[soopersara]

Respite

Zutara Week 2023: Day 5

Read it on AO3 | @zutaraweek

At the Western Air Temple, Zuko and Katara can't stop arguing. But at night, to let the others sleep, they go by different rules.

“Can’t sleep?”

“No. You?”

Zuko shakes his head. “Still not used to the snoring. I thought my uncle was bad, but between Sokka and Aang, there’s never a quiet moment after sunset.”

He’s lying. Katara has heard him jerk out of sleep enough times to know that he has nightmares, and she suspects that he’s noticed the same about her. But they’ve come to an understanding by now—they may not be friends, but after dark, they don’t have to be.

They don’t argue. That might wake the others.

They don’t ask too many questions. That might make them argue.

It feels like a delicate balance sometimes, but their nighttime truce hasn’t failed them yet. By now, it’s beginning to feel natural.

“The snoring doesn’t bother me too much. You get used to that pretty quickly when you grow up in a tent.” She peers at him from the corner of her eye. “I’m less used to Toph kicking me in her sleep.”

If he recognizes the lie, he gives no sign of it. Instead, he gestures toward the empty space farther down the terrace. “I made enough tea for two cups if you want some.” He raises his cup enough to give its contents a sniff, and his mouth pulls to the side. “It’s—probably a little better than last time.”

“Did you make two cups deliberately, or did you just forget how much water you needed?”

A shrug. “Possibly both. I think I used too many tea leaves last time, so extra water has to be an improvement. Right?”

She perches an arm’s length away from him, allowing her legs to dangle over the edge. “You taste it first. If it’s better than last time, then I’ll think about having a cup.”

“Fair enough.” He doesn’t immediately taste the tea, opting instead to look out over the moonlit valley while the cup steams gently in his hands. “Did I ever tell you that I’ve been here once before?”

“No. But I guess I’m not really surprised.”

She looks downward too, her eyes tracing over the ribbons of mist forming along the rivers and streams in the jungle below. He’s been traveling more than three times as long as she has. After so much time, it’s no wonder that his path has folded back on itself.

“Is everything the way you remember it?” she asks. So long as she doesn’t look his way, she finds that she doesn’t mind his conversation. He is more soft-spoken, more thoughtful than she usually gives him credit for, and if she doesn’t meet his eyes, the anger that would ordinarily roil inside of her lies dormant.

“Mostly. And not at all.” Zuko pauses for a sip of tea, frowns in thought, then pours a second cup and passes it her way.

Katara shoots him a sideways glance before accepting the cup. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean the temple hasn’t changed very much, but—I don’t know. I guess I look at things differently now.”

Her hands clench, and she drags her eyes down toward the valley again. It’s nighttime. As frustrated and angry as she might be, she can’t argue with him now. Not when it could wake the others.

Still, a sharp tinge of bitterness finds its way into her voice. “Why? Because you’ve just changed so much?”

If her tone bothers him, Zuko doesn’t show it much. Dryly, he says, “I’m taller than I was last time I came here. And I can see out of both eyes since I don’t have half my face wrapped up in bandages.” A pause, and when he resumes, his voice is softer than before. “I am different now. You don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to, but I have changed. Maybe not as much as I should, but at least being alone with my thoughts sucks less than it used to.”

“Hmpf.” Rather than responding immediately, she takes a swallow of tea. Though the flavor isn’t spectacular—it never is when Zuko brews it—the tea is at least pleasant enough to drink. Pleasant enough that she can hardly complain about it, even jokingly. She’s had worse in dozens of small village teashops. “I’m still waiting for you to prove that.”

“I know. I’m trying.”

She spares him another sideways glance. The fact that he always manages to sound, to look so earnest unnerves her a little. She doesn’t want to believe him, to trust him, but at the moment, she can’t convince herself that he’s lying. At the very least, he believes what he’s saying.

Maybe that quiet conviction is the problem. Why is it that he can be so certain when she doesn’t know what to believe anymore? It doesn’t seem fair. She’s been on the right side all along. She ought to know who she can trust by now. Zuko shouldn’t have this sort of clarity when he’s only just realized that his nation is in the wrong.

Katara leans back on her hands. She isn’t going to argue with him, but she refuses to give him credit for any clarity either. They have their truce, and if the only way she can maintain it without ceding any ground is to change the subject, that is exactly what she’ll have to do.

“Of all the Air Temples I’ve seen so far, I think I like this one best. The others felt so much—emptier than this one.”

For a few seconds, she can feel Zuko’s gaze on the side of her face, but then he turns forward again. “I get that. The northern and southern temples are so high up that they almost feel untouchable. Like they’re so far away from everything else that no one should be able to reach them.”

“What about the eastern temple? What’s that one like?”

He glances her way again. “You haven’t been there?”

She shakes her head. “The others left me behind in Ba Sing Se when Aang went to visit.”

“Oh.” His voice is almost impossibly soft, and he presses his lips together briefly before clearing his throat. By the weight of the silence, she suspects that he knows exactly when that visit was, exactly what being left behind led her into. “I’ve only been there once myself. It was—more open than the northern or southern temples, I guess. Spread out across a few different mountaintops, and I guess the extra space just made it feel different.”

“Hmm.” She exhales and takes another sip of tea. “I wonder if I’ll ever get the chance to see it.”

“I’m sure you will, someday.”

“What, are you some kind of optimist now?”

He shrugs. “You and the others have always managed to find a way before. I don’t see why this would be any different.”

Katara narrows her eyes. The same ember of frustration that has been sitting in her core flares up again, but this time, she can’t quite manage to contain it. “Oh, so that’s it? You decided to join us because you were tired of being on the losing side?”

“What?” His brows furrow.

“You keep telling us that you’re just here to do the right thing. I don’t think that’s true. If you really wanted to do the right thing, you could have started a long time ago.”

They’ve tread this ground before. She knows what’s coming—he’ll insist, yet again, that he’s trying to be a better person, then she’ll push back, and the cycle will go on. They’ll argue over and over, and it will never end unless he gives up or finds a way to finally change her mind.

The trouble is that even she doesn’t know what that might take.

There is a sort of melancholy that comes over his face, and his shoulders hunch. “I’ve been telling you the truth.”

A bitter laugh claws its way up her throat. “You keep saying that. Do you really think repeating yourself is helping anything?”

The tired defeat in his eyes feels like it should break her resolve, but Zuko just shakes his head and looks out over the valley again. “You don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to.”

“You really don’t get it, do you? I do have to believe you. Everyone here is my family, and if you’re going to be around them, I have to trust that you’re not going to hurt them. And—” Despite her best efforts, her voice begins to wobble. “And I can’t trust you.”

“Oh.”

For what feels like a long time, that is all Zuko says. She thinks she sees his hand hover hesitantly toward her shoulder once or twice, but he never quite makes contact. She can’t decide if that’s better or worse. He cares enough to want to comfort her—or enough that he wants to make it look that way—but he’s either too disingenuous or too frightened of her to actually try.

“It was you,” Zuko says at long last, not quite looking her way.

“Excuse me?” She can still feel the heat in her own voice, and she stares daggers at him.

He clears his throat. “The other reason I came here. I mean—I did want to help. I still do. But—” He looks down into his teacup. “I had to leave home. By the end, Father just wanted to see the rest of the world burn, and I was tired of walking on eggshells to keep him from turning me into an example for everyone else.”

That figures, she wants to tell him. He’s the son of the Fire Lord. Sooner or later, life with his own family was bound to become too painful, too dangerous to bear. But the fact that he had no choice but to flee does nothing for his trustworthiness.

Zuko isn’t finished yet. With a sigh, he rubs his eyes with the heel of his hand. “It took me a while to realize that I couldn’t run away unless I had somewhere else to go. But as soon as I did, I thought about what you said to me in the catacombs, and—I guess I felt like I’d finally found my place.”  

Her temper spikes. Maybe he’s telling the truth, or maybe he’s not, but it doesn’t really matter. True or not, the idea that he’s here because of her just hurts.

She slaps her teacup down and pushes back from the edge of the terrace. “Don’t say that. Don’t you dare act like what happened in the catacombs mattered to you.”

Zuko rises just a moment after her. “Katara—”

She starts marching back toward her own room. If she has to stew in there alone for the rest of the night, she will. Anything to stop this conversation.

“Do you remember what you said to me?”

She fixes her eyes straight ahead. Just keep walking. Sooner or later, he has to give up.

“You told me that you thought I’d changed. And I had, a little. But now things just keep changing, and if I can’t stop that, I want to at least have some say in where I’m going.” He pauses, almost like he’s hoping that she’ll turn to face him again. “You thought I could be a better person. I wasn’t back then, and maybe I still haven’t gotten there. But I want to. Whoever you thought I could be back in Ba Sing Se—I’m still trying to figure out how to be that person.”

Katara stops walking, and her hands tighten involuntarily into fists. She wants to believe him. That fact surprises her more than she wants to admit. A person like him, like the better version of him, would make everything better. He could take an immense weight of responsibility off of her shoulders if only his change was real.

Maybe if she could shake free from the mistrust that has gripped her for so long, she would find that it is. That Zuko really is better now.

“Please,” he adds, voice soft. His footsteps come just a little closer, angling to one side where he can make out her face in profile. “I just want to know what I’m still doing wrong. I’ll fix it all if I can, I just need to know where to start.”

She shakes her head. “Nowhere. Don’t you get it? You aren’t doing anything wrong, it’s just—” Her voice wavers, then breaks. “It’s just that I believed you once before. I don’t think I could take it if I messed up and trusted the wrong person again.”

With one last, surprisingly light step, Zuko comes close enough to touch her shoulder, and this time, she feels the soft, warm weight of his hand. “You weren’t the one who messed up in Ba Sing Se.”

Though she is still both furious and hurt, she can’t help but lean into him. “What difference does it make whomessed up? I almost lost one of my closest friends. And I did lose someone else who I wanted to be my friend.”

She can only see him from the corner of her eye, but he appears briefly stunned by her candor. Then, instead of retreating as she expects, he offers her a tentative hug. “I’m not going anywhere this time. Not unless you want me to. If you ever decide to give me another chance, I promise I’ll be right here waiting.”

[kidnappedbycartoons]

Returning to Tumblr solely because I'm back on my Zutara shit. That moment in the catacombs was such a perfect setup, let me break it down.

Zuko being the one to reach out first

At this point, Zuko had been moving towards a more positive lifestyle and it shows in his reaction. Even though he is frustrated when Katara yells at him, he doesn't lash out or use his firebending. Season one Zuko wouldn't have been able to do this, look at that growth. Instead, he apologizes to her and attempts to connect with her by bringing up his mother as well.

Up until this point, the only people that Katara could talk to about the Fire Nation taken away her mother were other victims of the Fire Nation. On top of that, Zuko has been chasing down Aang for a hot minute. Who would've thought that the son of the Fire Lord also experienced the pain of losing his mother? Would've been able to understand that pain and loss? Would've been able to bond with her through that?

Katara offering to heal him with the water from the Spirit Oasis

Once again, I don't think people realize how impactful this is. This is water from the Spirit Oasis. She literally says that she has been saving it for something important. And as we all know, she only had enough for one use which ended up being healing Aang. But Katara offered to heal ZUKO'S scar with it. On top of that, let's look back.

Katara apologizes to him for yelling and feels comfortable enough with him to tell him that whenever she thought of the enemy, she thought of him. Mind you, she's using past tense. Clearly, after the two of them managed to open up to each other, she started to see him as the person he is and not just the enemy. And Zuko feels comfortable enough to tell her how he views the scar Ozai gave him and his recent revelations. These two have been on opposite sides for months, but it only took a few minutes or hours at most, for them to reach this level of comfortability with each other. Don't think so?

Zuko lets Katara touch the scar

Zuko has been very self-conscious of his scar whenever someone brought it up or drew attention to it. So for him to allow Katara to get close enough and place her hand on the physical representation of his trauma and pain just shows how safe he feels with her in this moment. And not just him, but for Katara to feel safe enough to even get that close to him without worrying if he was going to lash out and she would have to put him in his place. Do y'all not see the material? They trusted each other in this moment.

Of course, we get cut off by Aang and Iron pulling up which leads to the next point.

The looks

When Katara and Aang hug, Zuko glares at Aang. Now, it is highly possible that this is because a part of him still feels the need to catch the Avatar, but coming after that scene, doesn't it read like jealousy?

And as Katara leaves, she looks back at Zuko who is looking away with a sad expression. In that moment, in those catacombs, she felt something. As Katara will tell Zuko before their field trip, she trusted him. It's the emotional intimacy for me.