low blow!

to me, the funniest thing about “that’s rough buddy” isn’t the fact that sokka says something patently insane with zero context seemingly out of nowhere, or the fact that zuko clearly doesn’t know how to respond. it’s the completely incorrect use of the word “buddy.” zuko would obviously like to be friends with sokka, but sokka is not, in fact, his friend. this is the most time they’ve ever spent together, and it’s because zuko invited himself to tag along on sokka’s suicide mission. at this point in the episode, sokka still hates this guy, perhaps less than he did a week ago, but he still hates him enough that he didn’t bother forcing zuko to stay home, which means he still didn’t really care whether or not zuko lives or dies. which, considering that he had tried to kill zuko multiple times in the past, is not all that surprising. this entire episode is essentially just zuko forcing his friendship onto sokka while sokka is legitimately too depressed to care. so when zuko calls sokka “buddy,” there’s a spirit of dogged optimism characterizing that epithet, because in no possible realm would sokka consider zuko his buddy at this point in the episode. and that’s something we miss when noting the iconicness of this exchange, simply because, by the end of this episode, they are buddies, so in our minds looking back on these lines, the implication of friendship doesn’t feel out of place at all. and really, it isn’t out of place, but only because zuko’s tenacity and determination (in this instance, his determination to befriend sokka) has always hugely outweighed his ability to read the room.

yes, this is very true, and i think it’s where the misreading that zuko doesn’t respect sokka comes from. “the boiling rock” makes it clear that zuko respects sokka SO MUCH, but that he is REALLY bad at showing it. his attempts to demonstrate his admiration and loyalty to sokka either come off as patronizing and dismissive (“that’s rough buddy”), mean (“look sokka, you’re going to fail a lot”), callous (barging into sokka’s tent to ask him about the worst day of his life point blank), or downright silly (“take a bite out of the silver sandwich”). but it’s also clear that these moments are all misguided attempts on zuko’s part to connect with sokka, to give him advice because he wants to comfort him, to solicit his advice because he thinks sokka’s insight is valuable, to support him unconditionally. but much like how zuko’s failure of a “hello, zuko here” speech is only mitigated by a tangible action demonstrating his loyalty, in “the boiling rock,” zuko also puts his life on the line over and over again to help sokka, always following his lead no matter what and attempting (and sometimes failing) to inspire him when he fears that sokka has given up. it is his tireless physical support that proves his loyalty to sokka, because while zuko may often struggle with choosing his words, it is his actions that ring true.

did i even tell you guys how i pretended to know how to play an instrument for three years and only two people ever figured it out.

i don't mean i was like. telling people i could play guitar, i mean i was sitting in band class holding a french horn to my lips and looking at the music and not understanding any of it or knowing how to play a single note. for 3 years.

the two people who knew were my best friend who knew i was too stupid to play such a complicated instrument and the only other hornist in my section who had to desperately cover for me because he knew i had blackmail material on him. i only came clean this year in my senior speech and to this day people still call me mellophony and the no hit wonder.

can i get a hell yea if you’re still gonna be wasting your time on this website in 2014