#aangzuko

1. Aang/Zuko. Dorks making each other better through self-reflection: three seasons of crying about it, by me. Basically from the first appearance of the Blue Spirit I was hooked on this pairing, I think mostly because of how automatic and instinctive and easy their communication is when Zuko is a) masked, b) not saying a word, c) still trying to kill Aang. There’s just something that resonates between them, something (as I said before) that I think has to do with them being forged in similar kinds of fires, that fear and Duty and self-recrimination. From the first Zuko pulls up out of Aang this quiet, sad, reflective empathy, and Aang’s presence somehow cuts through all of the rage and bluster inside of Season 1 Zuko to strike straight at the very core of him where his doubt and conscience lie. And by the end of the series they get each other, Zuko has come around to this deep respect for Aang and Aang so clearly understands Zuko and has never, not once in all that time, tried to make him feel unworthy or pathetic or small. Which is kind of a rarity in Zuko’s life let’s be honest here.

2. Aang/Katara/Zuko. Point 1: threesomes are always better than love triangles. Point 2: Aang/Katara took me a while to come around to but they make each other laugh and they give each other room to grow and that’s important. Point 3: Look sometimes Katara and Zuko both need to yell about things okay, and you can’t yell at Aang, it’s not physically possible. Point 4: I really like the idea of Aang traveling around doing his Avatar thing and visiting his boyfriend the Fire Lord and his girlfriend the leader of the Southern Water Tribe and people being super confused by this arrangement and Aang just being like “look I am juggling hundreds of past lives here, I think I can manage two relationships thanks.”

3. Mei/Tai Li. Okay the reason I love this pairing so much is you can pinpoint the exact moment that they first really see each other. Before that Moment of Truth at the prison (probably one of my favorite scenes in the series), I think they both had private doubts about each other, the kinds of silent judgements and mistrusts that come with being in a toxic environment and being the muscle for an imperialist tyrant. Mei, I think, thought Tai Li was unreliable and a coward, that if it ever came down to it she’d look behind her for someone at her back and Tai Li would have run away or skipped off to pick flowers. And Tai Li thought Mei was untrustworthy, that she didn’t care about anything including however much damage she did in the world. And you can see the moment they realize they were wrong about each other, that Mei cares and Tai Li is strong, and neither of them want to be the bad guys any more. I love that moment of connection, I love that it happens while taking a stand and preparing to actually lose their lives over it. And I love thinking about how two people who are used to being accessories could start to make each other feel valued and important.

4. Sokka/Suki. Get it Suki, we all know you wear the skirt in this relationship except when he wears a skirt too. <3

5. Katara/Toph. I don’t know if I ship this in addition to Aang/Katara/Zuko or instead of it but I just really like their dynamic. Katara is so much about taking care and thinking things through, and Toph is like “that’s great sweetheart, give me a second, I’m gonna go smash some stuff and then I’ll be right back and you can finish telling me about this parliament you want to set up.” I like them operating so much in separate understandings of womanhood and personhood, but both challenging each other to be considerate and caring as they do. Also as I’m thinking about this I kind of really like the idea of adult Toph as aromantic, liking being physical with people and caring for and about people (often by punching them in the shoulder, what, it’s how she shows love) but not wanting any part of the narrative of committed/matrimonious relationship that she saw her parents enact so stiflingly. And I think Katara is really amazing at giving people space to be themselves, and would be okay with Toph needing that.