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Post-blood fears

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UNTIL THE DEATH OF ME!! (x)

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kinda missing my family rn (lee zuko and kya katara with their baby akio from @nerdylizj's fic!! check out forgetting is a kind of mercy if u haven't yet 🥰)

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it is so wild to me when people act like the fire nation isn't sexist because azula's girl squad is badass when azula mai and ty lee are all such perfect representations of women living under sexism. azula is the only woman in ozai's war room, and she is a smarter strategist and a more powerful firebender than the high-ranking men we see (e.g. zhao). the implication is that she has to be the absolute best to get a seat at that table. mai is treated as a prop for her father's political ambition, raised to stay quiet and out of trouble in a way that reeks of women being expected to be compliant in service of men. she's bored and checked out and has trouble expressing her feelings because she's so used to not being allowed to express anything. ty lee grows up lost in the shuffle, desperate for attention, desperate to please and contort herself into a shape that people find appealing, and that manifests as making herself into a stereotypical girly-girl, making herself seem inoffensive and non-threatening by playing on sexist stereotypes.

azula's perfectionism, mai's detachment, and ty lee's girly persona are all ways in which women react to and adapt to living in a sexist society. they overachieve to try to break the barriers, they check out emotionally, they learn to play the role people expect. azula and her girl squad are powerful women certainly but they are absolutely women living under sexism

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What are some Zutara fanfics you like?

thank you for asking anon! rubbing my hands together and laughing diabolically rn. most of these fics are completed, but i have a few incomplete or ongoing ones listed at the bottom.

The Color of the Stars by bluenebulae this is my zutara bible... i have read this 3 times, and i think it's still my favorite zutara fic. it diverges from canon during the day of black sun. katara and zuko are both captured and thrown into prison and after breaking out together, they become reluctant allies and travel the world in search of the gaang while also trying to warn the other nations about ozai's plans.

they call you refugee by akaiiko

an arranged marriage alternate universe where when zuko is banished, he leaves the fire nation with—actually, the summary does a pretty good job of explaining it: "Zuko goes into exile with a scar, a mission, and a wife." i think i cried the first time i read this.

refraction by caroes3725

this one's my post-war zutara bible. it is maybe the post-war swt ambassador/politician katara slow burn of all time. it is 200k+ words and it's all worth it, i promise! i prommy!!! read it now!!!!

Mending Wounds by FictionIsSocialInquiry

canon divergent fic where katara sees visions of zuko in the foggy swamp. except in these visions he is older, the fire lord, her husband, and he is gentle and loving, and katara feels sick to her stomach! one of my favs!!!!

lost and found by Smediterranea

hakoda discovers a young zuko, injured, and takes him in. beautiful alternate universe fic where zuko grows up in the southern water tribe with sokka and katara.

The Things We Hide by Lykegenia

katara is held in the fire nation as a political prisoner following the southern water tribe's defeat after an assault launched by fire lord ozai during sozin's comet. the swt, however, will not go down with a fight. love, love, love this one! it has painted lady katara, blue spirit zuko, a sweet romance, political intrigue, and betrayal!!! it's a fun time. also i love hama's inclusion in this :)

The Blackfish and the Dragon by ama

during the day of black sun, iroh takes matters into his own hands and becomes fire lord. shortly after, a marriage is arranged between zuko and katara in order to secure the peace. it's a beautiful arranged marriage au where everyone is so perfectly in character. i really think this fic is one of the best zutara fics out there with a natural and rewarding slow burn romance. and azula is there and she's perfect.

Smoke & Mirrors by sansonnets

blutara bible!!!!!!! that's all i got... blutara go CRAZYYY

so i can die where i met you by irridescence

canon compliant. zuko and katara, eighty years later. the fic is centered around major character death(s), so don't read if you can't handle it but i was sobbing like a fucking baby by the end of it. such a beautiful gorgeous fic that will haunt me forever.

if you don't mind incomplete or ongoing fics:

But Who's Counting? by halfhoursonearth

katara thinks zuko's going to need at least 100 healing sessions after the agni kai. lovely prose and characterization and it's so tender and sweet. just read it!!!

so let us melt, and make no noise by LittleLostStar

zuko is sent on a mission to bring back the heart of the last waterbender so he can restore his honor and return home. but when he nearly dies while in the south pole, a healer named katara saves him and nurses him back to health. (the author describes this as a kinda-sorta frozen AU, and i think it's a pretty good description haha). it's an incredible AU with so much mystery and intrigue and tension!

forgetting is a kind of mercy by nerdylizj

"Five years after Katara and Zuko go missing in Ba Sing Se, Kya and Lee are found living peacefully in the Earth Kingdom countryside." finally, i gotta plug liz's silly n goofy dai li brainwashing fic. it's so good. so painfully angsty. it's about the pain of remembering and about making hard choices and identity and parenthood!!!

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bloodbending!

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(Redraw/Edit) Listen, I love Kataang but… what if Katara ended up with Zuko? 🤨

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would you like a side of angsty, yearning zutara with your meal?

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Book 2 au with Zuko and Katara Lee and Huamei

Katara is separated from her friends, and so she's left to travel the earth kingdom on her own. She stumbles across Zuko, who is similarly travelling on his own. They decide that pairing up and travelling together would be best

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zutara fanfic recs bc absolutely nobody asked

PLEASE REBLOG AND TELL ME IF YOU LIKED MY RECS BTW :)

the art of holding on and letting go - teen and up - by evergreenonthehorizon

genuinely one of the best fics i've ever read. it's aang centric and it's from his pov so zutara isn't as prominent as you would have hoped but it's a modern au where they all go to the same high school and aang learns how to let go of his infatuation with the idea of katara rather than who katara is as a person. deeply underrated, please check it out.

we hold our hearts in silence - general audiences - by psychadelic_sya

it completely follows the canon timeline and it features geriatric and ancient zutara who meet again after many years and when you read this, please listen to last kiss by taylor swift on repeat. that's how you get the full experience. it hurts so so so much.

the colour of the stars - teen and up - by bluenebulae

it's a season 3 rewrite from the day of the black sun onwards where katara and zuko both get captured and they work together to try and find the gaang. it's pretty long but the slow burn is so well done, they absolutely nailed the characterisation and it might be my favourite fic ever. they learn everything about each other and the moments zutara shares makes my heart burn with happiness. cannot recommend this one enough.

figure it out - mature - by clearascountryair (uncompleted but ends in a good spot)

they aged up all the characters by two years and it's basically about ember island and what happened after southern raiders. it's a bit uncomfortable at times for some, because there's quite a lot of sex mentioned and featured and drinking as well but the messages overall and the lessons are really good. and it covers the non consensual kataang kiss and there's so many good takeaways. not finished, but ends up in a good spot.

the chemistry of cooking - mature - by smeditteranea

hear me out, hear me out, HEAR ME OUT, it's another college modern au (yeah, sue me, i love my modern aus) but it's really well done, the characterisation is done right, no hate to any of the characters whatsoever, supremely adorable, there's some smut but just scroll past that. so zuko and katara basically end up being lab partners in a cooking class which ozai seriously frowns upon. ozai runs this really morally bankrupt company and zuko works in it, and basically figures out that ozai is doing illegal dumpings and tries to report it.

BONUS:

i feel something (when i see you now) - teen and up - by glowgal

katara is an up and coming popular actor and is zuko's high school crush. they meet again and it's so adorable.

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As she watches Lee and Kya avoid each other's eyes from across the room, the phrase comes back to her, swift and silent:

"To hesitate is to lose."

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As Song treats the victim of an unfortunate interaction with a rare poisonous flower, her day takes an unexpected turn when it becomes apparent that the old man's nephew and her assistant have history.

A vivid history.

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Many people have already discussed the way Zuko and Katara are linked by the loss of their mothers. I and others have also meta'd about the differences in how they interact with their fathers, a comparison the show highlights in "The Awakening," where Zuko faces his father for the first time in years and is forced to repress his emotions, vs Katara being allowed to express her hurt towards her father and being treated with kindness and compassion by Hakoda. But another comparison between Ozai and Hakoda that I have not seen anyone bring up before is this one:

Both Zuko and Katara running to their dads for help upon discovering that something has happened to their mothers. Hakoda immediately stops what he's doing to let Katara take him to Kya, while Ozai does not even acknowledge Zuko. Zuko's angry "where is she?" to Ozai also implies that he knows his father is the cause of her disappearance. There's also an emphasis on the fact that Hakoda is defending the village when Katara comes to him whereas Zuko finds Ozai tending to his own wounds and refusing to acknowledge what his children might be feeling.

The father as protector of the family vs the father who divides the family.

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everything, everywhere, all at once

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GOD i wish they kept katara's burn scars from aang's mistake

I agree.

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You rise with the moon, I rise with the sun.

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excuse the tear stains on my keyboard through writing this but the flashback to irohs sons funeral where zuko comforts iroh and LEAVES FROM THE VINE PLAYS IN THE BACKGROUND has me literally sobbing