Din Din!

She's very cozy there

This will never not be funny to me. Like… yes Aang, tell us more about how you forgave the people who murdered the Air Nomads and the people who stole Appa.

I’m tagging this anti-Aang, even though I don’t think of it as really being anti-Aang as a character as being against some of the writing choices made on the show. It makes sense for Aang to hold this view about forgiveness, and it fits with his characterization. However, it was poor writing because the creators wanted to give examples that showed Aang experiencing trauma, and then forgiving the perpetrator of the trauma - and these examples don’t do that.

If Aang came face to face with the perpetrators of the Air Nomad genocide (impossible because they’re all long dead, but hypothetically), or the sandbenders who stole Appa, Aang would not be able to greet them completely neutrally. Aang might not choose to take revenge on them, but that’s not the same as forgiveness. The parallel also falls apart because Aang is in a different place from Katara; in Aang’s situation revenge would be impossible or unnecessary. As mentioned, those responsible for the Air Nomad genocide are long dead, so Aang can’t do anything to them. Aang may not forgive the sandbenders, but there is no purpose in seeking revenge because the main source of hurt (losing Appa) has been resolved. In Katara’s case the hurt can’t be fixed (her mother is dead), and her mother’s murderer is still alive. 

This scene also spectacularly fails to recognize the very real harm that Aang did cause with his anger. From demolishing part of a building, and nearly blowing his two friends off a mountain, to killing a buzzard-wasp, destroying a sandbender boat, and creating an environment so dangerous that his friend (Sokka) feels like he needs to evacuate himself, Toph, and everyone else from the area for their safety.

Aang: Yes, Sifu.

Pakku: *exists*

Gyatso: This is a wonderful reminder that no one is inherently good or evil. If the young Fire Prince can be enlightened, perhaps Ozai can as well. Zuko, perhaps you can tell us some things about your father, so we can better understand him as a person.

Zuko: Um.... Okay. What do you want to know?

Gyatso: What does he value most?

Zuko: Power, I think. I mean, he forced my mom to murder his dad by threatening to kill me so he could become Firelord. Power is a big thing for him.

Gyatso: Nevermind. Fuck that guy.

Zuko: He also gave me this scar on my face because I disrespected him.

Gyatso: I gotta go. Be back later.

*** later ***

“…Azula only lost to Katara because of plot armor”

You know what? I’m gonna let Piandao have the stage from here:

“…your weapon is an extension of yourself. You must think of it as another part of your own body.”

“…You must learn to use your sword to stamp your identity on a battlefield. Remember, you cannot take back a stroke of the brush, or a stroke of the sword.”

Oh, and look at Katara, all sparing Azula’s life without spending 5 episodes of preachiness about it! She could have let her drown. She could have stabbed her with an ice dagger. But she didn’t. Do people talk about this? No. It’s all about Aang and his lack of character development.

“Landscape painting teaches a warrior to hold the lay of the land in his mind. In battle, you only have an instant to take everything in.”

“Rock gardening teaches the warrior to manipulate his surroundings and use them to his advantage”

Katara uses her element like an extension of her own body, she is able to quickly survey her surroundings and take advantage of them, all the while considering the implications of her actions and choosing whether to take a life or not.

@trapcard, everything is a plot forwarding device. This isn’t real life. Not a single stroke of color in the show is there by accident. Every element, every word, every decision anyone makes through 61 episodes is intentional and there to further the plot. Azula has a mental breakdown. That is her character, that is her arc. Katara has canonically bested her twice, both when she was stable and when she wasn’t. In this fight, we see Katara being the epitome of a warrior the way Piandao has framed it - fluid, creative, fast thinking. And more importantly than anything else - she makes her own decisions, taking into account her surroundings and options. She doesn’t let them make the decisions for her.

You know what a plot armor actually looks like?

this:

Zutara Week Day 2: Disguised

Korra:

Fighting side by side. Trusting each other completely. Trying to protect each other. Casual banter in the middle of a fight. Their teamwork. Sparring each other to keep their skills sharp. Getting uncontrollably angry if the other gets hurt. Kissing each other when they’re victorious.

The purest form of human connection.

tiny hands in big hands

calloused hands in soft hands

cold hands in warm hands

hands with the perfect ratio to each other for hand-holding

platonic hand-holding

running their thumb over the other’s hand

dancing with their hands holding onto each other

squeezing hand for comfort and encouragement

holding hands across the table

happily doing everything with just one hand, if it means they don’t have to let go

not wanting to lose each other in a big crowd

possessive hand-holding

linking hands together during sex

grabbing hand to show them something

loosely holding onto each other’s hands, laying in one’s lap

only linking the pinkies together, not ready to let go completely

holding hands while skating

excitedly grabbing each other’s hands during a concert, jumping up and down together

playing with each other’s fingers

pressing the other’s hand against their cheek

holding hands while one is balancing on a small wall

grabbing the other’s hand to pull them back from something

holding hands under the table

only realizing it when they have to let go

standing in front of each other, holding both their hands

holding their hands above their head, fingers linked together

passionate hand-holding

grabbing the other’s hand so they don’t fall

holding hands while running through the rain

brushing against each other, linking fingers together for a second

grabbing their hand to grab their attention

not really paying attention, both doing something else, but still holding hands

bandaging the other’s hand and not quite letting go

holding hands while driving

grabbing the other’s hand to pull them back to them

unconsciously searching out each other’s hand while sleeping

not realizing they’re holding hands till someone points it out

swinging hands back and forth, skipping like children

holding hands in a museum to pull them to the next exhibition

letting go when there is an obstacle in their way and immediately grabbing each other’s hand again when they pass it

loosely holding onto each other’s hand

dragging the other with them, holding their hand

raising the other’s hand to their lips to kiss it softly

holding hands while jumping down from somewhere together

comparing hand sizes, then linking fingers together

he said, “you have to stop doing that.”

“i know, i know,” because it’s even more embarrassing to be embarrassed about writing fanfic, considering how many posts i’ve reblogged in its defense.

but i misunderstood his original question: “fanfic is just the genre. i asked what you’re writing about.” 

i did the conversational equivalent of a spinning wheel cursor for at least a minute. i started peeling back the setting and the characters, the fic challenge and the specific episode the story jumps off from, and it was one of those slow-dawning light bulb moments. “i’m writing about loneliness, and who we are in the absence of purpose.”

as, i imagine, are a lot of people right now, who probably also don’t realize they’re writing an existential diary in the guise of getting television characters to fuck. 

“that’s what you’re writing. the rest is just how you get there, and how you get it out into the world. was richard iii really about richard the third? would shakespeare have gotten as many people to see it if it wasn’t a story they knew?”

Something I’ve noticed a lot in the atla fandom (not directed towards op, just in general) - especially with regard to shipping - is how insistent people are on forcing labels on one character to be “yin” and the other to be “yang.” But I think what’s more important is how those two characters come together to balance each other.

Yin cannot exist without yang in the same way that yang cannot exist without yin, if that makes sense? It’s not yin or yang on their own that matters, but what happens when they come together to create a harmonious whole.

At first glance, you would expect Katara to embody yin with the  water/moon/feminine imagery and you would expect Zuko to be yang with the fire/sun/masculine imagery. But then if you actually look deeper into their personalities, that isn’t strictly true - Katara also exhibits elements of yang and Zuko exhibits elements of yin. Because they are complex, complicated characters and they can’t just be pinned down into one “type” of personality.

What actually matters is their dynamic together and how their personalities complement each other. That doesn’t mean they’re complete opposites because yin and yang aren’t about being polar opposites (which I feel like is a common misconception), but the similarities brought out in each other to strike a compatible balance.

In The Southern Raiders, for example, this balance can be seen in the way Zuko and Katara work together. Zuko takes on a more passive role in the background, giving Katara the support she needs to make the right choice but never choosing for her, while Katara takes on a more active role in this deeply personal journey for her. In contrast, their “roles” reverse in the final agni kai with Zuko being more confrontational in what is also a deeply personal fight for him, while Katara trusts in his decisions but is ready to jump in to provide support if he needs it.

So on their own? They might be expected to clash because of their similarities (or their differences, I’ve seen antis argue both). But when they’re actually together? They form a mutually supportive dynamic. A “push and pull” type of relationship, if you will. Zuko and Katara are both two sides of the same coin.

Zutara Week 2021 Day 3: Glowing

Happy Zutara Week Everyone!