If You Were Serious About That Third Wheel Energy Ask Thing...bottom Left, Zuko + Katara/Aang?

If you were serious about that third wheel energy ask thing...bottom left, Zuko + Katara/Aang?

yeah anyways, sokka took the pic

another OFMD commission 🏴‍☠️💙

Had some thoughts about fanfic!Katara this evening, which I'm sticking under a readmore because I don't actually want to contribute to Katara fan wank, but I also have no chill and like to share my Opinions on things.

Honestly I like Katara as a character in canon. I just don't like the way fandom so often seems stuck between the extremes of, "Katara is a terrible monster who is mean and unjust towards the sweet helpless child Zuko," or, "Katara is a perfect angel who did no wrong and had only a perfectly proportional amount of anger towards real things that Zuko 100% did."

What about instead: Katara is a young character with both a lot of valid anger and a strong core of compassion. Sometimes she makes mistakes or lets her anger lead her into disproportionate levels of paranoia and dismissiveness towards other people's feelings. Sometimes she is incredibly compassionate in difficult and dangerous situations because she cares deeply about people who are suffering in any situation, even total strangers from the nation that she hates. She always cares deeply for her friends and family, which sometimes leads to over the top protectiveness but is always rooted in love. Sometimes she gets self-conscious or insecure or afraid and lashes out with disproportionate threats, but she is no less "perfect" or "evil" just for that than any other character who does the same.

How about Katara who gets to be treated like a human being? One who is young and compassionate and strong and fallible and angry and learning. One who is capable of loving and hating with equal ferocity, and one who is still learning how to navigate those parts of herself in a way that doesn't cause her to lose sight of the kind of person she wants to be.

Zuko

Zuko, that magnificant Bastard

He doesn’t manage to complete his own “mission” the way he wants.  He doesn’t capture the Avatar.

But once he gets into a new group of friends, what’s the first thing he does?

HE HELPS EVERYONE ELSE COMPLETE THEIR OWN QUESTS.

He helps Aang learn fire bending.  He helps Katara seek closure for her mothers death. He helps Sokka rescue his dad from prison.

Okay think about that.  Zuko has a shit relationship with his own dad, but he isn’t jealous of sokka and hakoda, he doesn’t take that episode to mourn what he doesn’t have (at least not out loud).  He just helps sokka out.  Just

He is a bigger person than I am.  mother fucking Zuko.

(source)

honor™