For Metas and Giggles

Do you like it?

Well, you like it because-

THIS IN REALITY IS A ZUTARA FANFIC.

Toph and Katara in LOK are both. So, so bad as a representation of women. They are literally the trad wive vs. the career woman archetype. You know, the one where you either get a family by sacrificing your autonomy or become successful by sacrificing your relationships.

(Notice how Aang is holding Katara as to associate them as an item? Notice how Toph is the only one who isn't making any physical contact with the rest of them?)

Katara, who is very traditionally feminine, gets to have a family, as dysfunctional as it is. Yeah, maybe the writing of the ship sucked, maybe we could have had better, but she did get to have a long, committed relationship to a man that she (according to the canon of the show) loved. But that's all she is. They say that she's a great healer? Casting aside the fact that that's not all there is to her, we barely get to see that side of her anyway. She's only ever been relevant as the Avatar's wife and mother of their kids. Who needs acknowledgement anyway? Certainly not a master waterbender who is the only reason the said Avatar is even alive and well in the first place.

Toph, who tends to reject traditional femininity, is the career woman in the stereotype. She gets fame, she gets respect, she gets agency. From a job that doesn't suit her at all, but she still does. But we don't see a single relationship work out for her. She has two kids from different people, who grow up with a neglectful parent largely because she prioritizes her work over them. The work in question is being a cop. She never gets a consistent partner to rely on and trust, but hey, at least she gets to advance her career in a profession she doesn't even seem to like all that much. What a win, am I right?

Both of these feel so wildly out of character for them too.

You're telling me that Katara - a master waterbender, a war hero, a fighter, and a person who passionately defied misogyny at just about every step she took to get where she is - would be okay with being reduced to just a housewife? Because I don't think she would be. It's like her literally fighting a guy for trying to get her to conform to a stereotypically feminine role or struggling with misogyny from even her own brother was never a thing.

You're telling me that Toph - the one who tried to reach out to her neglectful parents to reconcile, the one to give Iroh of all people valid advice, the "do you think friendships can last more than one lifetime" one - would choose her career over her loved ones? Because I don't think she would. It's like her being one of the most emotionally intelligent people in the show or having a strong (for better or worse) attachment her friends and family never happened.

I'm not saying that Katara can't have a family. I'm saying that aside from that she also deserves to be remembered for being a badass that she is, and not just a wife or a parent. I'm not saying that Toph shouldn't have had a job. I'm saying that she isn't the type of person to regard it highly enough to put it above her relationship with the people she loves. I'm saying that they deserve better.

Based on a reply to a Gilmore Girls clip

This scene takes place in Book 3: Fire, shortly after the Gaang reluctantly agrees to let Zuko teach Aang firebending.

Shelter

Did you say forced proximity? snowed in? One Bed? I gotcha covered ;)

There was one door, one hearth, one table, and (of course) one bed.

A narrow bed, barely wide enough for two if they tried very hard not to breathe at the same time.

After starting a fire at the hearth, Zuko took one look and started unrolling his bedroll on the floor without a word.

Katara, teeth chattering, snapped, “Don’t be an idiot. The floor’s frozen stone and you’re already shaking.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re turning blue, Zuko.”

“That’s just the light.”

She rolled her eyes so hard it hurt. “Get in bed, prince martyr. I’m not explaining to Aang why I let you lose your fingers to frostbite, and then you won't be able to teach him firebending.”

Zuko hesitated another three heartbeats (long enough for pride, short enough for survival) then kicked off his boots and climbed in, staying as far on the edge as humanly possible. Katara slid in on the opposite side, leaving a canyon of cold air between them. She pulled every blanket over herself like a fortress wall.

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