#mild zutara
Link
Strength From Within (finally on Ao3)
So, I made a new pseud because I want to post SpyxFamily something eventually, so I put my old ALTA oneshot on there lol. So this is TECHNICALLY old and comes from here, but now it’s on Ao3 for the first time!
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The tragedy of Katara’s parentification
Sokka and Katara were both parentified, and it’s a profoundly life-changing thing for both of them. One of the saddest things in ATLA, though, is how Sokka sort of got to outgrow parentification, but Katara never did.
Sokka’s told to be the man. The provider, the protector. He’s not so good at the former (his hunting failures are a consistent source of comic relief), and he takes failures of the latter very, very hard. He doesn’t manage to save Yue, and that wrecks him. After Yue, he becomes extremely protective of Suki in a way that’s borderline offensive to her. He’s willing to do anything to protect his friends and his family, including something as irresponsible as breaking into the Boiling Rock. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Sokka is the only one of the Gaang who unambiguously kills. The rest of them may technically have clean hands because of cartoon logic, but Combustion Man is very dead, and Sokka is the one who killed him. We don’t know how he feels about it, because the show never goes there, but I have a pet theory that Sokka is so uncharacteristically (remember he was team “leave Zuko to freeze to death”) against Katara confronting Yon Rha in The Southern Raiders because he’s the only who knows what killing feels like and wants to protect Katara from it.
But by the end of the show, Sokka’s in a place where he can start to let go of his need to protect. Objectively, all his friends are unbelievably powerful and can take care of themselves, including his sister and his girlfriend. Suki is the one who saves him in the final battle, representing not only a reversal of his initial cartoonish misogyny, but also demonstrating that he is worthy of protection. And of course, he and his friends saved the world, so there isn’t really an enemy that he has to protect them from anymore. Sokka’s loved ones create the conditions under which his parentified behaviour is no longer necessary. Sokka would still have to take the first step to stop seeing himself as the one who has to lay his life on the line, but at least it’s possible for him.
But not Katara.
Katara had to take on the mom role after their mother was murdered, which meant she was responsible for domestic labour and emotional support. Sokka says in The Runaway that her role was to keep the family together. Unlike protection, that’s always a full time job regardless of the war. We see Katara spending more screen time than anybody cooking, getting food, mending, and generally doing women’s work. We see Katara giving everyone emotional support, including strangers and her enemy. We see Katara putting aside her own discomfort and her own hurt in The Desert because if she falls apart, they all die. Nobody ever showed her that she doesn’t need to be the only one who cooks, or that somebody else can be responsible for the emotional wellbeing of her friends, or that — god forbid — someone else can actually be responsible for her emotional wellbeing.
That’s why I never cared for the Ka/taang argument of “he teaches her to be a kid again!” Putting aside the fact that Katara ends up taking care of Aang a lot more as the series goes on, the whole tragedy of parentification is that you can never again be a child. That part of your childhood, your god-given right, is robbed from you. It is extremely precious and important to still be able to be a kid, but breaking free of parentification is not about seeing yourself as a kid. It’s about breaking free of being responsible for everyone’s feelings and behaviours.
For Katara, that responsibility is not problem of perception, but of reality. Unlike Sokka, who was told and shown that his loved ones are capable of protecting themselves, Katara has zero reason to believe that her loved ones are able to feed and clothe themselves and not fall apart emotionally. Between Toph and Sokka who emphatically don’t want to do this work, it all falls on Katara. Telling a parentified child that they just need to loosen up is akin to telling an overworked mother that she needs to just relax (“happy Mother’s Day! You get a break from chores, which you will catch up on tomorrow because nobody else is doing them”). It doesn’t accomplish anything if nobody creates the circumstances under which it’s possible to let go of responsibilities. A lot of Zutara fans, spanning all the way back to the early days of the fandom, like the “Momtara and Dadko” trope where Zuko also does chores. Why? Because even without the concept and language of parentification, many fans recognized that Katara’s performance of domestic and emotional labour is inequitable and probably very taxing.
Growing out of parentification is about more than just letting go of old expectations: it’s also about finding a new way to value yourself beyond the role you grew up with. I’ve said this before, but it’s very important to acknowledge that just because a kid is parentified doesn’t mean they’re actually good at being a parent. In fact, it’s probably a given that they’re not, because they’re kids performing roles that are developmentally inappropriate! Sokka remains a shit hunter; he becomes a decent fighter but he’s still miles behind his friends. A big part of healing from his parentification is finding another area — strategy, engineering, project management (what else do you call that schedule) — where he actually excels, to which he can dedicate his time and from which he can derive satisfaction and a sense of identity. For Katara, fighting for the oppressed and combat waterbending give her that. Crucially, however, Katara does not stop being a girl when she becomes a warrior. She’s still responsible for domestic and emotional labour. Unlike Sokka, whose protector duties were more or less relieved as the series went on and he found new ways to contribute to the group, Katara continued to perform her old role in addition to her new one (which is depressingly realistic btw, look up feminist theory around the concept of the second shift). Still, it’s important that she found these new ways to value herself and her contributions…
…which disappear in her adult life. Where’s adult Katara fighting for the oppressed? Where’s adult Katara enjoying her status as a master waterbender? Where’s Mighty Katara? Where’s the Painted Lady? Where’s the person who vanquished a whole Fire Lord?
What do we know about adult Katara? She’s no longer a rabblerouser or an ecoterrorist. She did not translate her desire to help the downtrodden into a political role, like being Chief or on the United Republic Council. She’s not known as the best waterbender in the world, only the best healer, even though her combat abilities are what she took the most pride in. Even as a healer, she established no hospitals, trained no widespread acolytes (except Korra, I guess?), and made no known contributions to the field.
What Katara is known for…is being a wife and a mother. The same role she was forced to take on at age 8. One which she performed for the next 80+ years.
#Self-proclaimed feminists who don’t see Katara’s trajectory as a tragedy…I want to know what you’re on because I’d like to use it to cope#Katara deserved better#anti kataang#as always my anti kataang posts are more#anti Bryke#very mild#zutara#pro Katara#pro Sokka#water sibs#They just give me so many feels#my meta
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Genuinely think some of these new fans posting things like “why do people hate Aang so much uwu meanies!!!” have absolutely no context of what non-canon shippers have been putting up with for the past nearly 20 years now.
We have been harassed relentlessly. We’ve seen these fans, and even the showrunners, make fun of actual children for drawing fan art. We’ve had misogynistic insults hurled at us constantly. I had someone literally spam me with kataang rape/“breeding” porn on Reddit after I said I liked Zuko and Katara together, when I was about 16 years old. I’ve seen my friends called racial slurs for being women of color who dared to like Zutara. I’ve seen kataang stans tell myself and others that we were lying about our own experiences of sexual abuse because we dared to say we felt uncomfortable with the language they used to defend their pookie.
So sorry, but if fandom is “ruined” for you because you saw an opinion about a fictional character you didn’t like, I struggle to have sympathy for you. You care more about the imaginary feelings of a fictional character than actual human beings.
#yes it gets a little bit hard to like a character when their stans treat you this way#even mild criticism of aang is treated like a crime at this point#genuinely i used to like him but you people made it impossible at this point#zutara#anti kataang#fandom salt#atla#avatar the last airbender#tw sa mention
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Thinking about Zutara and how they would get together in a canon divergence. Despite the popular belief, I actually don't think they'd struggle with their feelings for each other once their post TSR. Before, yeah, absolutely. Katara hated Zuko and Zuko was still mid-redemption arc and dealing with his character backslide. But I also can believe that they both had lingering feelings for each other that started in the Crystal Catacombs.
We saw how both of them acted when in their own romantic pursuits, Jet and Mai respectively. Zuko was pretty much all in in their relationship before it fell apart, and Katara didn't mask her feelings for him like that. Sure it wasn't an all out relationship, but it was pretty obvious where'd it potentially go had things not turn so bad for Jet.
So, by Ember Island Players, they're both pretty comfortable with one another. Katara comfortably teasing Zuko, also showing concern when the Iroh part of the play happens. Heck, Katara was pretty involved towards the end of his arc, between encouraging him to talk to Iroh and Zuko asking her to come with him for his final confrontation with Azula. (and also hello???? the lightning scene??? HELLOOOOO???)
(shoujo romance shit seriously)
Anywhizzle, we have two characters with feelings for each other and in a place where they have that comfort and honesty with each other. Despite how easy it would be for them to get together, I think both of them would hold off from getting together because of their own individual relationships to Aang.
Saying it now, Katara does not owe Aang a relationship just because he's had a crush on her longer.
And Zuko shouldn't back away from his feelings for Katara just because of Aang's crush.
Despite that, they would hesistate heavily about purusing their feelings for each other because of Aang.
Throughout the show, Katara has gone above and beyond to constantly accomdate Aang's feelings. She's repeatedly pulled him out of the Avatar state, she's constantly been there to comfort him throughout the show. The Desert episode alone proved that Katara is the stable rock of the Gaang who had to hold everything together. Other people have written stronger metas on her, but I'm gonna summarize it with: Katara puts others before her, a'lot. It's a part of her character. She cares, and often that means having to be the strong one in tough situations, even to her own detriment or safety.
Zuko is fully in the realm of yearning for a real friendship with Aang and the gang by this point. He offered up being a prisoner to them, that's a pretty bold move on his part. Zuko held a'lot of guilt over his past actions and went above and beyond to make it up to them. In the case of Aang and Zuko, it's very obvious Zuko cares about their relationship. The Zuko-Aang friendship really is underrated, but it really tells the narrative of second chances, seeing the good in people, and just strength of bonds between people.
Which leads to the major problem and the biggest obstacle in Zutara: their friendship with Aang.
I like Aang, but the writers definitely created a precedent with his character in regards to romance. That precedent being, he's...not that good with the idea of Katara having feelings for other people. The Ember Island players gave us this gem of a conversation between him and Kataraz:
And that was just two actors in a horribly done (yet hilarious) propaganda play. He knows the play is completely nonsense, but still got jealous enough that he'd go into the Avatar State if he could. Like, that's a pretty wild line to just drop, and then to that eventually be followed up with the attempted kiss when she just said she was confused. It's not a good look for Aang. The writers really began to drop the ball here with Aang's character. But that meta debate aside, this sets the stage that Zutara would have problems getting together because of Aang's feelings. Katara knows he has a crush on her, whether Zuko knows or not is up to headcanon. But, more importantly, she knows and because she knows, it would cause her hesitation in getting with Zuko because of how Aang would react.
Katara doesn't belong to anyone, Aang, Zuko or otherwise, but a 112-year old's first crush isn't an easy thing to get over. Maybe, Katara would feel some level of responsibility for his feelings for her, that urge to protect Aang even from himself. Even from her own desired relationship. There's the complicated question Katara would have to grapple with: that urge to protect Aang vs Katara being "take what I want, do what I want" person and just choosing to be selfish of her own feelings. She doesn't want to hurt Aang, but she doesn't want to keep herself away from happiness just for his sake, it's a complicated problem. For Zuko, even with how determined he can be to do what he wants, he's not callous (now.) If he knew about Aang's crush on Katara, I'd think he'd hesitate on the basis of knowing that a first crush is hard to deal with especially if it's unrequited. Worst, if said crush ends up falling for the other friend.
As I type this, I'd think the Aang obstacle would be harder on Katara then it would be on Zuko, but both would feel that pressure of how Aang would react if he knew about their relationship. Zuko hadn't been friends with Aang long (an understatement), but Katara has. She'd feel the weight of his emotions and has more or less taken on the role of being his emotional balancer.
Now I think there's alot of avenues you can take with all this analysis, but I personally like the idea of a secret relationship blooming from this and the angst that comes with it. It'd be fine for awhile, but both of them have too much pride in themselves to want to keep it secret for long. How'd Aang react, I think might put a massive strain on the Gaang. It just feels thematically appropriate and sadly in charcater when you consider in the lore of ATLA never let go of his attachment to Katara and that whole scene from the Ember Island Players. Where'd it go from there, I think depends on the writer and how'd they interpret Aang's character personally.
Me personally? Idk. Either he'd get over it or he doesn't idk. I'll take either/or depending on the fic.
Either way, once Zutara passes that obstacle, I'd like to think they'd be a pretty strong and secure relationship.
#im avoiding work can you tell?#zutara#sheep writes a meta#atla#Zuko#katara#THIS IS ALL MY OPINION AND TAKES FROM THE SHOW#WROTE THIS IN A MILD FRENZY SO IGNORE ANY TYPOS
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...feeling a tad bit smug that the trailers confirmed netflix aint doing zutara..
#anti zutara fandom#the bad shippers have forever soured me on the fandom that i acutally getg mild joy knowing of the disappointment.#mainly about the annoying shippers not the good ones that dont make up conspiracys and aang is abusive or calling this teenage girl old eno#to look like an adult#the good ones which are so... few.. ... sigh
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It's exhausting reading a romance with the miscommunication trope in almost every sentence. I've read far too many fics that go something like:
"I need to tell you something."
"Oh?" Why is she avoiding looking in my eyes. She's probably going to tell me she hates me. He sighed, resigned to his fate.
"There's someone that I love."
Of course there is. Whoever he is the bastard doesn't deserve her.
"It's someone in this room."
Must be the servant in the corner.
"It's you. I love you."
His eyes widened in shock before he looked away sadly. She probably just means she loves me as a friend. She could never love me like I love her. Unfortunately since he was looking away he didn't see as she licked her lips seductively and make kissy faces at him.
"I want to marry you one day." She said firmly.
Hope burned in his chest briefly before being extinguished. She probably means just a loveless political marriage so she can still keep the servant as a lover.
"Let's have sex right now."
"Okay, I'll leave so you can have sex with the servant. Bye!" He then immediately jumped out the window onto a passing vehicle, disappearing into the city before any clarifications could be made.
The woman he loved stood blinking in confusion as feelings of sadness and rejection swept over her. Of course he wouldn't return her feelings she thought, while the servant pinched his brow as his headache increased after watching this dance for a year already.
#writing#romance#tropes#miscommunication#reading a zutara fic right now#My Heart Burns For You#it's fucking long#over 900k#mild spoilers#they've spent the first quarter of the fic flirting and drooling over each other while somehow thinking the other isn't interested#95% of the side characters know they love each other but these supposed smart characters are suddenly dense#it's exhausting#they end up practically dry humping at several points but for some reason don't think the other sees them romantically#it's a fantastic fic but for gods sake just talk you fucking idiots#personal
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hnngh i'm getting to the point where suki and sokka break into the fire nation palace to get zuko out and. honestly upon rewrite it just... isn't necessary and actually doesn't even make much sense. i'm trying to swing it, because i said i wasn't going to be deleting anything, but it really doesn't fit or accomplish anything except tease some of the sukka relationship, which could simply be done in a different way. it just doesn't follow that a) zuko would go back into the palace to face ozai at all, b) any of the others would actually go after him, and c) it would be that easy to infiltrate and get him out. none of it tracks.
sorry to anyone who really enjoyed that scene -- it certainly had its high points! -- but i think it's gonna have to go. 🫤
#zutara for ts#objects in space rewrite#i think it's going to get replaced with a scene of the four of them escaping the city#that can accomplish the sukka set-up and mild comic relief while also pushing the story forward#and expanding on how deep azula's power runs
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Zutara SlowBurn FanFiction: Personal Favs, part II
· DESTINY IS A FUNNY THING by Megara Pike | Published: 2020-08-21 | 198K Words | 45 Chapters
ATLA Season 3 rewrite, fills in a lot of blanks between canon scenes. From the Southern Raiders to Sozin's Comet through coronation and aftermath. Growing friendships, bonding, being there for each other, a carnival & a cave, epic spirits' appearance on the Ember island, sparring, nightmares, assassination attempts, political ruses, and covert operations. Lovely, sweet. Exciting plot.
· ATLA Book 4: Ashes by elayne_cypher | Published: 2018-10-27 | 306K words | 34 Chapters
This action-packed story picks up right after Ember Island Players and continues well after the war. Zuko is facing many challenges as a new Fire Lord. Romance, tough decisions, rebels, traitors, out-of-body experiences, secret headquarters, angst, teamwork, fire jets. The story has a bunch of OCs.
· Refraction by caroes3725 | Published: 2020-09-09 | 215K Words | 37 Chapters
After breaking up with Aang, Katara needs to figure out her place and role in the patriarchal world. As determined Katara stubbornly bulldozes her way through Fire Nation political scene, her feelings for Zuko grow. Diplomatic visits, Gaang reunion, bonding with Kanna, insights into the life of Caldera city, stuffy politicians, cute correspondence, tropical storm, women supporting women, assassination attempts, personal boundaries. A sweet well-written coming-of-age story with a healthy measure of slow-burn and mutual pining. Katara and Zuko are both POVs, but the story mostly follows Katara. Bonus: Mai is NOT a clingy resentful idiot, but a smart person and a good friend. Some explicit language here and there, a bit of mild smut.
· I Asked You First by halfhoursonearth | Published: 2020-10-03 | 142K words | 22/? Chapters
Ongoing, incomplete. Post Southern Raiders ATLAS3 rewrite. Mostly canon-compliant with blanks filled in between familiar scenes. Zuko and Katara develop a close friendship built on trust and sharing each other’s fears and hopes. Includes mentions of implied child abuse, Lu Ten’s diaries, exploring Avatar Roku’s legacy, sharing a balcony, heart-to-hearts, a hot spring under the stars, an actual date, and artbending. It’s incomplete, but what we have is bliss. Slowburn, mutual pining. Zutara-centric, but also explores the personalities of Team Avatar and their relationships.
· Katara Alone by cablesscutie | Published: 2020-05-31 | 21K words
Katara is not an “unnecessary accessory to a more powerful man”. After the war, she is willing to forge her own path as she turns to people who need her the most on her journey of self-discovery. Features character exploration, correspondence, exploring outback villages of Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom, sweet reunions, and new firebending skills.
· THE PHOENIX AND THE DRAGON - THE COMPLETE SERIES by JasmineTeaLatte | Published: 2021-06-11 | 100K words | 31 Chapters
This story picks up after The Ember Island Players. Zuko and Katara get to know each other during a late-night conversation by the campfire. In this story, you will find healthy boundaries, protective Sokka, a dash of Taang, sparring, funny banter & lots of flirting.
· HESITATE by tiffaniesblews | Published: 2020-07-11 | 22K Words | 12 Chapters
This story picks up right after Zuko's coronation and spans two years afterwards. Zuko & Katara talk, share a few beautiful moments, write to each other, and reunite for the 2nd anniversary of the war ending. Very sweet, fluffy story about two sweethearts figuring out their feelings for each other.
· LIKE WE'RE MADE OF STARLIGHT by Naladot | Published: 2021-11-28 | 5K Words
Katara leaves her post as the ambassador to the Fire Nation to take up a new one as the ambassador to the Northern Water Tribe. Her absence makes Zuko realize that he's got an unfortunate crush, which he is determined to keep secret. Unfortunately for him, subtly has never been one of his strengths—especially when he arrives in the Northern Water Tribe and she keeps taking him on what seem to be dates.
· FIGURE IT OUT by clearascountryair | Published: 2021-12-20 | 35K words | 13 Chapters
After choosing not to kill Yon Rha, Katara rethinks her sense of self and others' perceptions of her. Or, In which Katara learns that there’s a really big difference between being kissed when you don’t want to be and being kissed when you do. Aged-up 3B/Ember Island AU.
- I FOUND YOU by that_turtleduck | Published: 2020-11-01 Completed: 2024-02-24 Words: 157,541 Chapters: 28/28
After divorcing Aang, Katara uproots her family and travels to Caldera. There she finds comfort, kindness and support from an old friend. Katara tries to find her footing as an independent political figure. Great story & relationship dynamic of Momtara & Dadko in their early 30s (Ember island, diplomatic meeting, dancing, turtleduck pond, letters). Delicious slow burn with rewarding spicy resolution in the end (explicit open door). Titters on the side of Anti-Aang.
Here’s a link to Part I of my personal favorites.
Here’s a link to Wholesome Zutara Short Stories.
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a wound to close, the whole thing open
zutara month, day 2: journal/diary.
summary: when katara searches the attic of ember island, she comes across a journal, hidden away on an old bookshelf.
warnings: implied/referenced child abuse wrt ozai's treatment of zuko. what's referenced here is emotional abuse and i would say at show-canon levels.
other notes: title is from gracie abrams' "camden". also, this fic is very much 'picture taken moments before mild disaster', because i imagine after the end, katara still finds ozai's baby picture, thinking it's zuko, and her thought process is 'well that was sad but look at cute baby zuko!' oops!
Katara knows she’s wrong to snoop, but it’s just so hard to resist now they’re somewhere a young Zuko once lived for stolen weeks of golden summers at a time. For so long, she’d never wondered about him much at all—she’d had, after all, no reason to want to know the boy who chased them around the world in his pursuit of capturing Aang—but things are different now.
First, there had been the catacombs of Ba Sing Se, and she’d caught another glimpse of that boy, another side of him. Wearing Earth Kingdom robes two sizes too big for him, with grief and sympathy that matched hers shining in his eyes, saying strange things about destiny and curses and seeming so lost.
Katara had spent long weeks after the fact wondering whether any of it was true as she struggled to capture sleep on that stolen Fire Navy ship.
Of course, that was far from the only anxiety on her mind. Wondering when Aang would wake up, if he would at all… Sokka’s growing plans for the invasion, and what it could mean for all of them… being with her father for the first time in years, how half of her wanted to light up at the comfort of it but the other couldn’t dare because he went away and what if it happened again?
And Zuko…
She would turn to her other side, her chin resting on a flat hand, and wonder about him. He’d seemed so sincere, but Katara had wondered often how that could be the case when just moments later, he was catapulting rage and fire in her direction.
But then he’d come to them and begged for a chance to prove himself.
And even before she wanted to, far before she felt ready for it, she’d started to come to know things about him. How he would get up at dawn every morning—rising with the sun, she’d thought bitterly—to practice his own firebending forms before his lessons with Aang. How he’d sometimes frown when making the first batch of tea for them around a campfire and then make a second and always seemed to light up when their meals had a little extra spice to them.
How he would sometimes squirm just a little and hesitate a beat and sometimes even bristle before smiling shyly when the others teased him, as though it took a moment to steady his footing and catch up to the fact that it was only teasing.
She had started to know him, to really know him, before she’d wanted to, before she’d forgiven him, before she decided it was safe to let the distance between them shrink.
But now they’re friends. And with the comet looming in the coming days, with things a little tense and strange between everyone since that disaster of the play, and with the vestiges of Zuko’s childhood right here, it’s hard not to be curious.
And, as she reasons to herself while setting the cooking pot of solid silver atop the bookshelf, at least she has deniability.
The shelves are lined with old books, with gold thread traced through their spines, and old scrolls with white parchment coloring yellow, with shiny maps, and…
Katara’s brow scrunches as she catches sight of what seems to be an old journal, bound by leatherskins, poking out from behind one of the old tomes, clearly meant to be hidden away.
She reaches for it. It’s such a small, delicate thing, really, but it feels heavy in her hands.
When she flips to the first pages, she recognizes the symbols for Zuko’s name, written out in a long, intense, careful scrawl. She’s never seen his handwriting before, but it matches what she might’ve guessed it would look like, teetering between bold and delicate.
Katara flips past the first pages, which seem to mostly consist of Zuko practicing his letters, and comes across what seems to be a draft of a letter he’d written to Iroh, certain lines crossed out or words respelled after an ink-permanent error. He asks after when Iroh will return from the war—and she shudders to think that the kindly old man who'd helped them on more than one occasion had once been much different, the terrible Dragon of the West, laying siege to Ba Sing Se.
But in another line, Zuko writes to his uncle about a festival and paper dragons. Her heart swells to think he was once so young and even playful.
Atop the right corner of the page, there is a tiny, shaded-in sketch of a blooming fire lily. Katara smiles.
She flips through more pages, most of which are much the same as the first several, but then pauses. On this one, there are dark patches—the kind that she can tell came from water drying on the parchment, and it’s now wrinkled. Once, she might have been able to salvage the page with her bending, but the water has long-since dried up and left only deterioration in its wake.
It’s…
The page is tear-stained. He’d cried when writing this.
Gulping, Katara squints her eyes to read his small script, so much shakier than the previous pages had been. She can’t read most of it, for the smears and the wrinkling of the page, and she’s not sure she even wants to, anyway, because what she does manage to scan through makes her feel a little sick, her stomach clenching.
—don’t know what I can do, he had written, and it’s all too easy to imagine a much younger version of her friend with tears in his eyes, sobs wracking his shoulders, a lonely figure in a dark attic. — to better, to not so weak.
There's a series of words Katara can’t make out, but she does catch Father and love.
And then, one shining beacon of hope:
But Mom says—
The writing stops there. She will never know what his mother used to say.
She flips through the rest of the journal, but the pages are hauntingly blank. There are no more entries after that.
Katara places the journal back where it was tucked and has the vague sense that she’s back where she started.
A strange guilt gnaws at her. Somehow, she thinks she understands Zuko both better and worse than she did before.
#trigger: child abuse.#trigger: emotional abuse.#trigger: abuse.#zutaramonth2024#zutara#atla#katara#zuko#my fic#a wound to close the whole thing open#day 2: journal/diary.#zutara month#one day i will write something more explicitly romantic for one of these prompts. maybe. anyway
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WIPS || More Zutara FA
(As promised. Based on 2 of the zutara month prompts)
I wanted to get the rough sketches in first. Probably did make things a bit too difficult for myself with the angles and the wolf (istg animals are so hard to draw) but I'm also excited to see how this will look once it's rendered. Just need to trudge through the lineart phase next.
I was excited to draw the princess mononoke au one but ngl, working on the second wip was a more enjoyable experience since the only concept I wanted was something simple and cute. The pose is a menace because of the foreshortening but manageable. It probably helps that I was in a better headspace when I started working on it. The day prior to that, I was going through one of my bad, more temperamental days where I just felt off and couldn't draw a single line without giving it up bc it looked "ugly". Made it through the sketch for the princess mononoke au but couldn't last for the lineart.
On the other hand, the second wip was mostly seamless. Had to keep redrawing Zuko and Katara's legs but it was still a relaxing session overall.
Here's me hoping that I'll be in a good headspace tomorrow so I can work for a longer time while uninterrupted. Well, as uninterrupted as my mild adhd coded brain can allow 🤞.
#zutara#its a joy to draw fr#wip#wipart#zutara fanart#fanart#zutara month 2023#every month is zutara month#katara#zuko
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this one's for all the kataang shippers that got a little sad every time they saw absolute husband aang slander in a zutara fanfic.
OR: the common zutara trope of "zuko helps katara escape an unhealthy relationship with aang" is flipped entirely and completely on its head.
...
The liveliness of this mountaintop temple was nothing like the cold quiet that she had felt in Zuko’s castle these last few years. After she and her friends had saved the world, ending the Fire Lord’s reign, Katara had found herself at a crossroads. Although it made the most sense, she couldn’t bring herself to return back home, to the Southern Water Tribe. The memories were… too much.
Sokka had extended an offer for her to join him at the Northern Water Tribe, where he planned to find a teacher to aid him in mastering the traditional non-bending fighting styles of their people, but Katara just couldn’t bring herself to go back there, either. Toph and Aang were both headed to reconstruct important cultural monuments destroyed during the war, including the Air temples. She had considered coming with them, she really had, but ultimately… she made a different choice.
...
So she had stayed with Zuko.
Through his breakup with Mai, she had been the one he came to.
Through his first year as the Fire Lord, she was at his side. Attended every meeting, talked through his ideas, dragged him out to social events when he felt so in over his head that he would sit paralyzed in his room. That closeness had turned into something else the first night that he had kissed her.
...
And after what felt like years of quiet complacency and mild agreement, Katara felt her temper awaken, flicker. She calmed herself, reasoned that she didn’t know what he was doing with them. He could be checking for threats on her life, for poison sealed into an envelope. She held fast onto that tiny scrap of belief that he was still the man she had married, trusted, loved and been loved by.
Until that last thread of hope and trust was pulled taunt and then snapped entirely when Katara slipped into his office and found them.
There were entire drawers of letters with her name on them.
...
Her attention drifted to the bottom of the bag. To Aang's scrolls. The ones she still hadn’t let herself read.
...
Katara,
How’s the fire palace? Started any underground dance clubs yet? I guess they’d be pretty tricky to start right under the nose of the new Fire Lord. Is Zuko adjusting well? I’m a bit worried about the burden of dismantling an entire empire falling squarely on his shoulders. Do you think I should head back, stick around for some peacekeeping? Give me any reason to come to be with you help, and I will.
Yours, Aang.
...
(Fire Lady) Katara,
I heard by word of mouth from a few Fire Nation travellers that passed through the Western Air Temple that you and Zuko had gotten married. Congratulations are in order, of course, but… Sokka, Toph, your dad and I never got our invitations. Was it a Fire-Nation-only event, or something? Your dad is pretty broken up about it. Sokka and I tried to console him, but he’s fairly upset, and honestly? I’m worried about you, Katara. This doesn't seem like you. You don’t sound like yourself.
Yours, always, Aang
...
She selected a third scroll, dated only a month before.
Katara,
I can’t deny that I’m concerned about how you’re doing. Especially considering that the Katara I know would never shut down every single opportunity to see her friends. We don’t mean to be overbearing, but we love you. So much. If all the new duties that come with being wife to the Fire Lord are too much, please, please, talk to any of us. Talk to me. I care about you, Katara, I always have, and I miss my best friend.
Forever yours, Aang.
Katara slid the scroll closed before her tears could drop onto it, and she quietly packed the papers away. She reached up, rubbing those tears away furiously the way she did as a child whenever Sokka called her a crybaby. The attempt to hold the tsunami of emotion back was fruitless. She doubled over, shoulders shaking with sobs.
She knew where she would go once the cargo ship reached the land.
♥ the rest of the (completed) fic can be found here!! ->
youtube
#no hate to zutara#just not my cup of tea#aang is a GOOD PARTNER#and i STAND by that they have such a sweet relationship#makes me so sad that people have to go against his character entirely in order to make him and katara a bad match#atla kataang#kataang#atla fanfic#atla fandom#ao3#avatar the last airbender#writing#ao3 recs#ao3 works#ao3 link#ao3 writer#confessions#oneshot#fluff#eventual romance#atla sokka#katara#aang#toph beifong#kataang fanfic#clairo#bags by clairo#Youtube#trope flipping#quillthrillsatlafic
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There was a post I've seen about whether Mai brings the worst in Zuko. I feel this is the best place to address it.
What does it mean that Mai brings the worst in Zuko?
That everything you see Zuko doing after they re-connected that you don’t like you can safely blame on her. That’s very convenient position. Of course, it was Mai’s own fault that Zuko was angry, rude, jealous, and exploding into violence at littlest prompt. Before he met her, Zuko was unfailingly polite and mild-mannered soft boi. // sarcasm, obvious for anyone who watched AtLA
It means "Boy misbehaved, his girlfriend MUST be the one to blame" (so much for "Zutara are the feminist shippers" right?)
Zuko was being way too jealous and possessive? Mai must have given reason to feel threatened by other guys. Zuko is a naturally impatient, impulsive person? Mai should have talked some sense into him. Mai DID try to talk some sense into him and he reacted poorly? Well, that's just how Zuko is and she should have known he would take her advice as provocation, no one to blame but herself.
It really is such an insane, sexist double-standard. We see Zuko lash out and mistreat his uncle ALL THE TIME, yet no one says Iroh "bring out the worst in Zuko."
Seriously, IMAGINE the backlash Maiko fans would get if they took the times Zuko threatened Katara and used that as proof that SHE is bad for HIM because she "brought out the worst in him."
Zuko often acts like a dick in the show because he is 16, a spoiled prince, AND an abuse victim that is trying cope but doesn't know how to do it in a healthy way yet. To imply his bad behavior is Mai's fault is disrespectful to BOTH characters and to the message of Zuko's healing/redemption arc.
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Update
I have metas planned, especially for Zutara month, but they're probably aren't going to be ready by the end of May. I've been diagnosed with mild depression and everything seems incredibly hard. But I try to write as much as I can. Hope you can undetstand.
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i feel like this is not necessarily a hot take more like a mild one but honestly katara & aang will never do it for me like zutara does
this is one of the only times enemies to lovers has ever worked for me
#💬 :: — chatting !#** MINI RANT **#don’t get me wrong katara and aang#are the cutest ever i love those two together#i want a relationship like them someday!#but man my zutara heart#my heart is always with zuko and katara#not saying they should’ve been together#more like i like the idea of them being together over aang and katara being together#for storyline purposes i don’t mind katara and aang#but like i said i love zutara and the idea of it idc!#the whole dynamic is so complex and their admiration for each other#is literal fanfiction material like it’s so good
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20 Questions For Fic Writers
I was tagged by my dear friend @thevampireauthoress on this post ! I tag all the fic writers who follow me and see this because I want to see what you guys are up to!!
1. How many works do you have on AO3?
Five! I write every day but only started posting fan fic a year ago and I have more I'm cleaning up to post!
2. What's your total AO3 word count?
36,380
3. What fandoms do you write for?
A Lot. If post about it odds are I've written something about it in some form or another.
The ones I have public fics for are DmC: Devil May Cry and ATLA. I frequently write for World of Warcraft (mostly ocs) privately though and have been making my way back to TF2, Borderlands, and Bioshock works lately.
4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
Since I have only five I can give the whole rundown asdfghj the Zutara fics are, unsurprisingly, the heavy hitters
An Inexact Science
Detours
Pinky Promise
Crossroads of Catharsis and Contemplation
A Series of Mild Prophesies
Also the stats chart cracks me up:
5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?
I try to! I get to most of them! Sometimes when a fic is older and someone just leaves a short little 'this was nice!' or whatever, I don't respond but other then that I do. I get very excited when anyone likes any of my works asdfghjkl
6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
Uh...probably Swan Song, which is yet to be posted. Swan Song will definitely probably have the solidly most angst filled ending.
7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
Just limiting myself to what's already posted on AO3, anything in the Circumnavigators of Celestial Bodies series so far has had pretty happy endings. It's not tinged with the like dramatic irony of anything in Drafting A Swan and both fic's thus far in Circumnavigators end on fairly positive notes I think
8. Do you get hate on fics?
As of now, no
9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?
I have but I haven't published any of it yet and I'm not sure I will ever. My favorites to write are definitely monsterfucking related, followed by more general kink but like monsterfucking is the best to write.
10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?
I am an avid lover of crossovers, particularly crazy crossovers. I feel like I have several contenders for the most crazy.
First up would be the massive multi fandom high school au my girlfriend and I developed containing like every video game we liked at the time which I still sometimes write because I find the character dynamics fascinating but I doubt, due to the highly niche nature of this crossover, that it'd ever see the light of day (if you ever wanted August Borderlands and Rachel Amber Life Is Strange to talk on the roof of a trailer in the trailer park they both live in though, I am the gal to ask I guess because boy do I have that and I will provide)
Second up would be in a similar vein but like somehow even less attached to any of the serial numbers qualifying it as fan fic. That one is set in a Bioshock AU where Rapture lasted until the 80s somehow under different leadership. It is also a massive multi fandom AU but this time with gang warfare under the sea in a very AU'd version of Rapture. Similarly, it will never see the light of day with the serial numbers attached because it is just so niche as it is that like...I have no idea who would want to read that asdfghjkl I rarely write it anymore despite loving a lot of the concepts and dynamics, and I feel like it'd just be more effective to just rip off the remaining serial numbers and let it be free if I ever wanted to publish it somewhere.
Third craziest is perhaps less crazy but just very weird. But I have an ongoing series of fics where Brigid Tenenbaum from Bioshock 1 and Booker Dewitt from Bioshock Infinite just sort of hang out in this space beyond time and space and just get very cerebral about their oddly parallel lives and similar traumas because a hill I will die on is that they are the parallels of one another between those games, not anyone else. They're very written 'For Fabdante' so they are not very polished and I call them 'Bioshock Void Fics'
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Not that I am aware of
12. Have you ever had a fic translated?
Not that I am aware of
13. Have you ever co-authored a fic?
When I was waaay younger yes! Those are really old and locked away on fanfiction.net though.
14. What is your all time favourite ship?
Vergil and Kat/Verat from DmC: Devil May Cry. They are my everything.
15. What is a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
I never want to say never because I do intend to finish these things but here's two:
I have this ATLA fan fic tentatively titled Avatar Champloo which isn't exactly a crossover, more just like an Avatar story featuring the Ba Sing Se kids (Jet, Zuko, and Jin) that plays homage to the vibes and general essence of Samurai Champloo, extrapolating on the already very heavy Samurai Champloo vibes of ATLA. Samurai Champloo is like one of my all time favorite shows so living up to it has been a tall order for me and I fear I will never finish this fic asdfghjk.
I have a few Zelda/Zelgan WIPs that I fear I will never finish. One being a very long one shot based off the idea of a Zelgan romance from the perspective of a bodyguard Link which I'm really fond of, but just have a lot of trouble editing. To give perspective, it was the first fic I ever considered publishing on AO3. And it's still not done to satisfaction for me and thus, not my first fic on AO3.
Obligatory Swan Song (my really long multichapter DmC: Devil May Cry, Verat based, prequel) mention. I don't doubt I'll finish it one day exactly, but when that day will be is far beyond my comprehension asdfghjk
16. What are your writing strengths?
Uh...ngl I have no idea lmaooooo I like how I handle small moments, I guess. Most of what I like to write is small moments between people, and I think I'm pretty ok at that. I'm good at rambling.
17. What are your writing weaknesses?
Writing multichapter things, I feel. Because I like small moments too much, I struggle to keep things relevant I feel. The biggest issues with Swan Song, I think, are just there being a lot of useless scenes. I struggle a lot with knowing how long scenes should be in something thats more then a one shot and how to transition between those scenes effectively.
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in fic?
I don't know any other language confidently enough to write it, so it's not something I ever do nor have an opinion on. I do write a lot of multilingual characters, and when I do I just tend to write the dialogue in italics then notate that the character is now speaking another language in the descriptor so that the reader knows what the italics mean.
19. First fandom you wrote for?
Probably ATLA when I was a waaay younger. Writing Circumnavigators has been a return to my roots, I suppose, asdfghjk
20. Favourite fic you've written?
My favorite posted fic is definitely Crossroads of Catharsis and Contemplation. It's got everything for me and is exactly the type of thing I love to write the most.
Unposted? Depending on how it goes, I might have a runner up that is a preboot DMC fic which is a grunge band AU told through excerpts from a biography novel and the interviews within about said grunge band. Similarly, it has everything for me and is exactly the type of thing I love to write asdfghjkl
Thank you again for tagging me!! And once again, I mean it when I say please count yourself as tagged by me if you want to answer these because I really, really would love to see what you guys are writing!!
#fabtalks#fab talks#i talked a lot here asdfghjk i have thoughts#but that fucking kudos chart never ceases to make me laugh its so funny#when you write for both the ship that invented ship weeks but also a defunct 2013 reboot with a fandom of like 12#long post
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You realize that when people call Zutara fans "toxic" they mean you 90% of the time right... and it ain't because you hate aang and mai, sis. You're just extremely rude and shitty to people and never mentally aged past 7th grade and take it out on all the actual teenagers that interact with you
A few things:
If I'm so rude and shitty to people as a general rule, one wonders how it is you even saw my (totally innocuous and not really deserving this level of vitriolic response unless you have a vested interest in reading everything I say and do in the worst faith imaginable, but I digress) post, since surely you would have had me blocked by now, to avoid potential interactions? Curious.
'never mentally aged past 7th grade' is a very funny allegation, considering I'm not the one camped in someone's inbox yelling at them completely unprovoked, which strikes me as far more middle school-esque behavior.
If I'm the worst form of 'toxicity' you have encountered in this fandom, then count yourself lucky, you absolute fucking walnut. I've gotten sent death and rape threats for mild Aang criticism, and I've been accused of horrible things for the crime of enjoying the most vanilla ships imaginable, nevermind what gets flung at me for my spicier entertainment--believe me, if the worst you've experienced is me being 'rude' to people, you have it easier than most!
And as a final point: I've only been active in the atla fandom proper since 2018 or thereabouts. The fanwars and fandom hostility were legendary long before I ever watched the show, nevermind became involved in the fandom. And in my experience, the toxicity with which the fandom is currently rife didn't really start picking up speed until 2020--when atla got put on Netflix, and the former VLD fans caught wind of it and brought that brand of vitriol with them, for which I definitely wasn't responsible.
Anyway, considering the fact that I reserve my snippiness for assholes, I'm not really taking your wank all that much to heart. I will happily engage in meta discussions and disagree with people who are fandoming in good faith, but yeah, I'll be an asshole to crosstaggers and people who attack me or my friends first--that's just how I'm built.
Luckily, this is tumblr, and if you never want to see or hear from me again? The block button is right there.
#atla#atla fandom problems#salt for ts#this did make me laugh i have to admit#like honey if i'm the most toxic part of fandom you've ever experienced?#you got off SO easy#come and talk to me when you can't breathe without getting ppl ranting and raving that your existence ruined their lives#anon hate party#Anonymous#asked
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