- "Don't worry, Aang. You still have canon."— Caption for the Fan-Preferred Couple image, which, naturally, shows Zutara and a frustrated Aang.
After some time away, I've decided to resume my liveblog. This return may not necessarily be permanent, nor will the updates necessarily be regular, but I've found that I'm not entirely content to let it stay as it is. Liveblogging this fic also serves as an interesting study in various headcanons and fan interpretations, some of which I end up having to do in my fan fiction.
Here's a brief recap. After Zuko joined the Gaang, Katara decided to stalk him to learn his weaknesses, but gradually learned many things about him. After Zuko helped her find her mother's killer, Katara put aside her hostility toward him, and started taking an interest in him, even if she is hesitant to admit it. At the same time, she knows about Aang's crush on her, and ignores it, in the hopes that it will go away. But after Aang presses her on her feelings and kisses her during the intermission of BITI, she may no longer be able to do so.
This is a fairly brief 102-word summary, of more than 100,000 words so far. Granted, it takes out the B-plots and character development, but it goes to show how much can be considered extraneous.
Katara and Zuko, hearing Aang's scream, run to him. Zuko, as the faster runner, takes the lead, with Katara enjoying the view, so to speak. Katara realizes that Aang is still shaking, and considers hugging him, but is still mad at him and has no desire to send the wrong impression, so she refrains from doing so.
Toph notices that Aang is having nightmares again, and Aang asks to work on "swirly firediscs," a form of firebending that Zuko said he wasn't good at(I have to wonder whether the author makes up a new form of firebending every time Aang's training comes up, since I don't remember seeing anything like it in the show), and reminds Zuko of how he wanted Aang to spend every waking moment training (obvious hyperbole). Zuko, not having been part of the Gaang before the invasion, is confused by what Aang is saying.
Katara decides to silently communicate to Zuko not to humor Aang; Zuko gets the unspoken message and refuses Aang's request, disappointing him. The other Gaang members try their alternate approaches. Sokka gets out his "Wangfire" beard, with Katara being surprised that he kept it around for so long, but Aang says "no thanks." Toph offers backpounding services, but Aang refuses, again, and possibly for good reason. Naturally, Katara's turn comes next, and Aang looks to her, but Katara decides to withhold her yoga services- which she reminds us hadn't worked before- until after she's no longer mad at Aang; I hope the author isn't implying that this is yet another ploy for Katara's attention. Suki gives Aang a hug and an idea- tea that induces dreamless sleep- which seems to work the best. Aang accepts and Suki enlists Zuko's help in making it.
Katara realizes that any chance of kissing is off, and she can't exactly let off steam with Zuko, either. She then speaks to Aang for the first time in this scene, hoping the tea will help.
The next morning comes, and it's implied that Aang is the only one who had trouble sleeping. Sokka points out that the "I Love Willies" (ILW) song makes it hard to take the play seriously, and the others agree. Toph starts singing it, and Sokka hopes she will sing anything else, since she's too young to do so. Zuko points out that it's "indecent," but Katara realizes that pointing it out is counterproductive for Toph.
Aang is still asleep, and Katara wonders why, given that he was an early riser before the invasion, at 4 a.m. (again, I wonder how the Avatar-verse knows the exact times). Katara suspects that Suki's tea is working well, but it turns out that it's working better than it's supposed to be, because they put some purple sun poppies in it, having tried everything else short of building a "koala sheep cloud bed" (whatever that is, it's apparently infeasible for them to make it). Katara's glad they don't have to deal with Aang's behavior while sleep-deprived, even if Toph has to poke Aang awake with his glider. Aang had no unpleasant dreams, but he mutters something to Zuko before his "enthusiastic practice" begins.
Katara watches along with Suki, who, unlike her, is not focusing on shirtless Zuko, and wants to talk with her. Meanwhile, Toph is annoying Sokka with ILW and Katara suspects that Toph doesn't like ILW as much as the reaction it gets, and a possible solution is to sing it with her; either she'll get tired of it or she'll find it uncool. Katara refuses, finding it bad enough when her stage version sings it, and Suki decides to let Katara get back to watching the practice.
Katara doesn't just see Zuko without his shirt on, though, but notices Aang being rude to him, making small comments at every opportunity. Zuko is putting up with it the best he can, even though it is clearly getting to him, and he is clenching his fists, taking deep breaths, and counting to ten. When they take a break, Katara asks Zuko if he wants to switch with Toph, while Aang looks over in their direction. Surely Katara has some idea about what Aang's problem is at the moment; Did she think it was really a good idea to have a secret conversation with Zuko about it?
Unfortunately, Katara and Zuko are distracted. Suki apparently decided to unilaterally go with her plan to sing ILW with Toph, and both are singing very loudly. Zuko concludes Toph's busy and decides to ignore Aang's behavior as best as he can. Zuko, in an uncharacteristic display of optimism, finds Aang's newfound aggression to be a good development, and in an equally uncharacteristic moment, Aang calls Zuko "lazy bones" and tells him to get back to training.
Katara goes to make lunch, and finds Suki singing alone, apparently having broken Toph of her desire to sing ILW, causing Katara to be impressed with Suki.
It's pointed out that "things came to ahead" at lunch. Zuko asks someone to pass the fireflakes and Aang proposes that he take it, like he takes everything else. Zuko finally snaps, and hauls Aang out into the courtyard for a talk. After a moment, the others follow them and eavesdrop on them.
Zuko demands that Aang come out and say whatever he has to say to him. Aang angrily says that "she" was his, and he saw her first, sounding more like a 5-year-old than a 12-year-old. Naturally, everyone knows who he's talking about- Katara. If it wasn't obvious enough, Zuko argues that Aang can't just claim Katara (with Katara agreeing), and Aang says "Why not! I'm the avatar! Roku said I should get any girl I want! And I want Katara!"
When I first saw the Entitled to Have You trope on Aang's section of the characters page on TV Tropes, I had thought that someone had perhaps exaggerated his attitude (Roku meant it as a joke when he mentioned how he met his wife). It's quite shocking to hear this fic's version of Aang express this attitude so brazenly and openly.
Katara is apparently just as shocked, viewing it the same way she would view a canoe crash, unable to stand looking at it but unable to look away.
Zuko sarcastically mentions that Roku's time was 100 years ago, and things have changed since then, and then goes into a similar version of Katara's "boundaries and respect speech." Aang mentions how Zuko's the worst person for this kind of advice, which Katara mentions is out of date on a lesser scale, being a few months ago (Has it really been that long since the fic began? Since the Day of the Black Sun?) , and her attitude toward Zuko had changed since then, causing Katara to wonder whether Aang will use it every time Zuko says something he doesn't want to hear (given Zuko's sense of tact, that will happen a lot).
As if on cue, Zuko tells Aang that he can't just have Katara. Aang then comes up with an alternate solution; firing Zuko as his firebending instuctor, until he says that she belongs to him. Zuko, understandably, refuses, and goes on about how Aang's being a brat and is being ridiculously unfair. Aang goes even further, saying that he should never have taken on Zuko as his teacher (if he's going that far, he should also reconsider Toph's question- who else will teach him?) and accuses Zuko of "ruining everything." Zuko begins a rebuttal, accusing Aang of going crazy over a "stupid play," but is cut off mid sentence by an air blast to the face, before Aang quickly runs off.
There are times when characters act so obnoxiously that I want to punch them in the face, such as when, in Boys Und Sensha-do, Akio had the gall to claim that Maho, who sacrificed her own happiness to become heiress so that Miho would not have to, was not doing enough to support Miho. But, oddly enough, when the characters seem to be acting out of character, my anger is transferred from the characters themselves to the authors who write them this way.
Zuko starts yelling and shooting off fireballs until he notices that the others are watching him, looking at Katara when asking his question. Sokka tries to downplay it, but Toph admits that they heard all of it.
Suki proposes looking for Aang. Sokka suggests giving Aang some space. But Zuko, as usual, is unwilling to indulge Aang's childishness, with Sozin's Comet so close; one would think that this would be a good time for the others to mention their plans regarding waiting until after Sozin's Comet passes, or for Zuko to bring up how Ozai's planning to kill everyone in the Earth Kingdom. Sokka, to everyone's surprise, decides to break from the schedule. Toph then goes out to find Aang and knock some sense into him.
While Toph is doing so, Zuko apologizes to Katara, who doesn't hold what he said against him, and is kind of glad she said it. This is because Katara doesn't think she has it in her to have a full-blown argument with Aang; she's snapped at him five times, and never shouted at him the way she's sometimes shouted at Sokka, Zuko, Toph and her father. So because she couldn't say the "boundaries and respect speech" herself, she's glad Zuko did it for her, even if it resulted in quite the fight.
As usual, it's shown that Katara's walking on eggshells around Aang and is unable to have any meaningful communication with him. It seems clear that the author is using this as a point against their being a couple, but I'm not sure whether this is meant to say more about Aang or Katara.
Zuko spars with Sokka, while Katara points out how boys beat each other up with swords to work through stress.
Meanwhile, Toph has gotten to talk with Aang, while training him in earthbending. Like with firebending, Aang does better at it when he's in a foul mood, and imagining the rocks as Zuko's face.
Toph takes that remark as a good way to segue into what she wanted to talk with him about- he can't blame Zuko for the fact that Katara doesn't return his feelings. This is advice that any jealous party in a Love Triangle needs to hear, but it naturally doesn't stick very well, and Aang asks whose fault it is. Toph says it's no one's fault; he can't help the fact that he loves her, and she can't help the fact that she doesn't love him romantically. They can, however, be Just Friends.
Aang says that Toph doesn't understand what he's feeling, and Toph gives him a punch in the arm. I have to wonder if the author thought to mention Toph's crush on Sokka. Toph then says that he'll have to find a way, because he's the Avatar, and he's responsible for the entire world. As annoying as it is when Aang seemingly sees his status as the Avatar as a way to get the girl he wants, it's possibly worse when his friends seem to take for granted that he'll save the world.
Toph asks for Aang's glider, and once she has it, tells him to "find some other way to feel." Aang gets "pissed off" rather than depressed, which Toph concludes is a start. She then says the next step is to get over the idea that he owns Katara, an idea no girl likes. While the entire idea of Aang thinking that he owns Katara is distressingly Out of Character, Toph really was the best person to make this. Toph chides Aang over calling Katara "ma'am," (although he usually only does it when he's being scolded), but says he can't necessarily expect her to kiss it if he stops entirely. Toph's third suggestion to Aang, no more palatable to Aang than the ones before it, is to apologize to Zuko. Aang gets angry again, and asks for his staff back. After being refused, he storms off.
Toph walks up to Katara and smugly remarks that Katara should be grateful to her, although Katara struggles to understand why, as Aang will be in no mood to apologize to Zuko, and she knows there's a fine line between tough love and being bitchy. Toph reassures her that Aang will think things over, and that if he tries to run off again, she has his glider, and he won't get far.
Later in the afternoon, while Katara is cooking, Zuko reads LATD to Toph again, and, by skipping the naughty bits, progresses through the story quite quickly. Sokka and Suki are going for a swim- in other words, the various things they (the ones who can't help Aang with his bending training) do when they don't need to be in a scene at the moment.
Aang then approaches Zuko, and Katara dreads what he'll say, because she believes Toph will be vindicated. Aang apologizes to Zuko, having been angered by seeing him and Katara together in that play. Zuko accepts the apology, but then reminds Aang that the play isn't real. and Aang tries to insist that he knew that. Toph then goes into all the various things the play got wrong. Zuko insists that Katara's not a floozy, something that Aang has a surprisingly hard time accepting, and insists that nothing happened between him and Katara. Toph's disappointed to find out that he's not lying.
Aang's mood has improved by dinner time and he apologizes to everyone, and even takes the initiative to pass the fireflakes to Sokka. They talk about how out of touch with reality the play is, joking about all the things they found amusing. But then Aang points out how weird it was to put Katara together with Zuko, since the two don't get along.
Katara is then put in an awkward situation. Denying that she has feelings for Zuko would be a lie, but telling the truth at this point would make things awkward with Aang once again. She also has no desire to confirm the suspicions of her fellow Gaang members, so she denies it, and Zuko claims Katara isn't his type, either. Toph doesn't seem fully convinced, though, so Katara emphasizes that everything about her and the guys in the play was made up.
Sokka, however, reminds her that she did "get it on" with Jet, and how he used to tease her about that, and desire veto power for any guys she gets together with. Katara says she "just" kissed Jet, although Sokka says Jet would have gone farther if Katara hadn't turned her back on him after he blew up the dam, as Jet had apparently confided in Sokka that he planned on "knobbling" Katara.
Apparently, this doesn't sit well with Zuko, as the wall sconces flare up and set the curtains on fire, which he has to put out (wouldn't that fall to Katara, the waterbender?) He makes an excuse about not liking women being viewed this way, and the use of the word "knobble". He then proposes picking Katara's boyfriends for her, leading to an argument.
Katara, however, has to wonder about Jet, especially if he said what Sokka says he did. She knows she wasn't his first girl, but also remembers that she refused anything beyond heavy petting in the treehouse. She recalls that he was willing to wait, and wonders if he said that to charm her, and knows that people like him can be manipulative, and that his being handsome makes it harder for her to figure out his true colors.
But Katara realizes that there were reasons for her attraction to Jet- his charisma, his leadership and his caring for the younger Freedom Fighters. She concludes that perhaps he was merely engaging in "stupid male posturing." And while his hatred for the Fire Nation leads him to do terrible things, he's not necessarily a bad person and "didn't deserve to go out like he did."
Katara then remembers her grandmother's advice; that actions matter more than words. Given that Jet said sweet things and did terrible things, she knows what to think about him, but doesn't think the experience was bad, per se. On a lesser note, she notes that he claims to have experience with women, but wonders about whether this is true, given that he doesn't seem to know much about tongue kissing, and while nipples can be good, they shouldn't "revolve." With those missteps at first and second base, one hasto wonder how third base would have gone.
But in spite of all that, Katara believed him and was heartbroken when he showed his true colors. She hates his actions, but can't bring herself to hate him. I don't remember them going this far (although I do recall a spark between them), but this was a touching look at Katara and Jet.
Zuko and Katara are doing the dishes. Zuko is grumpy, and quite transparent about it in spite of his efforts to conceal it. After some pressing, Zuko says that it's about Jet.
Katara attempts to explain her infatuation with Jet, as someone who isn't related to her, 12 years old or bald (I get that the author doesn't like Aang being two years younger than Katara, but why does Katara bring up the baldnness?) Katara assumes that Zuko doesn't know anything about Jet, and is surprised to find out that Zuko has met Jet and knows that he's a jerk, especially since he told jokes about Fire Nation soldiers that were killed in the invasion of the North Pole. Katara concedes that it "did sound like a Jet thing to say," but tries to bring up Jet's not so bad qualities, only to find that Zuko isn't willing to hear them. Katara gets annoyed, wondering about Zuko's choice of Mai (who hardly compares to Jet), and believes she doesn't have to justify herself to him.
Katara then suggests that Mai is nothing but a grump, which is why she thinks she and Zuko go together so well. Zuko replies that Mai never tried to flood a town full of innocents. Katara counters that Jet never turned down a hostage deal for his baby brother; there's a fair number of interpretations for why she did what she did, and I personally find the most convincing one to be that she didn't think that the Gaang would harm her brother, but Katara can be forgiven for not having the evidence necessary to consider them. Zuko says Mai never attacked his uncle, causing Katara to wonder if Zuko considers that a virtue for her, but then realizes that it is a reason for Zuko to hate Jet, and wonders why Jet would do such a thing.
Katara asks to hear about it, but Zuko refuses to tell her, because she's being "impossible" at the moment, prompting Katara to say that Zuko is even more impossible. Toph walks in to get a glass of water, calls them both idiots, and walks off.
Katara goes to bed, angry about Zuko and Mai, but then has a nightmare about Zuko's death and suffers a "stalkery relapse," unable to sleep and wanting to make sure Zuko's still alive. Katara, satisfied with seeing Zuko alive and cutely asleep, and not wanting to be seen as a stalker, tries to leave, but accidentally steps on a floorboard and wakes Zuko up. An awkward moment follows, with Katara defusing it by saying that she came to apologize. Apologizing wasn't Katara's original intention, but she's glad that she did it. They are fighting a war, and she wants them to be able to fight well together, and in the worst case scenario, not die on bad terms with each other. She then gets Zuko to tell her his story.
Zuko makes tea in silence- the thoughtful, rather than grumpy variant- and says that his crazy stalker from Ba Sing Se was none other than Jet. Katara, who heard it earlier while eavesdropping on him and Toph (which leads to a bit of redundant exposition) is surprised that she and Jet have this in common, if little else, but it turns out that Zuko did this for a very different reason. Jet suspected that Zuko and Iroh were firebenders- they were, but they were refraining from doing so, much to their personal comfort, to keep their identities safe in an enemy city. Jet tried to force them into firebending, culminating in him attacking Iroh, and Zuko and Jet's Sword Fight in Ba Sing Se.
Katara is momentarily distracted thinking about shirtless Zuko sword fighting again. Zuko then gets to the part in which the Dai Li come in, and points out how "You don't mess with the Dai Li." Jet, however, was stupid enough to start a fight with the Dai Li agents who responded to the fight, resulting in his arrest and apparent death at Lake Laogai.
Zuko blames himself for that outcome, saying he should have called the guards (In the Avatar-verse, that's a bit of a surprising conclusion to reach, considering how often the characters fight in self defense), and because he fought Jet out of anger over his threatening his uncle and his present situation, Katara's "boyfriend" is dead.
Katara reassures Zuko that Jet was not her boyfriend, and his fate is not Zuko's fault. Zuko says he didn't like Jet, but didn't think he deserved what happened to him, a sentiment not unlike what Katara had expressed. Katara tells Zuko that with Jet's paranoia and obsession with revenge against the fire nation, even if the guards deterred him without arresting him, it would only have been a temporary solution. Zuko's cheered up, and Katara feels the "good indigestion" again, but finds herself questioning that feeling.
An author's note follows, thanking the readers.
It points out that Toph's singing ILW is her way of dealing with BITI. Sokka and Suki are the most easily able to shake it off, so that leaves Aang having trouble with it, a bit like he did in "Nightmares and Daydreams", as he's also feeling the pressure of the impending showdown with the Fire Nation. The author compares it to being stressed out before a test after slacking for all semester, which seems to be a bit of an odd comparison. As my mom often says on the eve of a test, "either you know it or you don't"; perhaps Aang has what it takes to defeat Ozai or he doesn't, and training won't affect his chances all that much.
But training also won't stave off the nightmares, nor will a (herb-induced) good night's sleep, even if it's something they didn't try last time. It's something of a refreshing twist to see that the solutions the characters come up with in the fanfic for problems they faced in canon don't always work.
And sleep, lack thereof, or what Aang goes through while asleep are not his only problem. There's the tension between him and Katara, and the fact that Katara tries to avoid talking about Aang's crush on her, while Aang "is a bit passive aggressive," so rather than talking with each other about it, Aang takes it out on Zuko, whom the author believes he sees as a rival for Katara's affections, having seen many small moments between them. The author doesn't specify any of those moments, and it seems like very flimsy evidence. Perhaps Aang is upset that Katara has her eyes elsewhere, but he doesn't seem to consider Zuko a rival.
Aang's passive aggression clashes with Zuko's plain aggression, and sets him off. Aang believes that Zuko owes him for letting him be his firebending teacher, while Zuko repeats Katara's "respect and boundaries speech"; it seems clear who the author favors in this argument.
The author points out that the rest of the Gaang knows about Aang's feelings, and makes it explicit that Toph's unrequited crush on Sokka is why she's the best person to help Aang work through his unrequited crush on Katara (and that since she knows Katara's listening, it's for Katara's benefit, too), telling him what he needs to do, limiting his movement, and even teaching him a slang term for sex.
Toph succeeds in getting Aang to swallow his pride and apologize. However, Aang still thinks he has a chance with Katara, since she's not with him, but isn't with Zuko, either.
The author says that Aang needs someone to explain it to him that the play is not real, and she's unsure why he thinks it's real. I have an explanation; Aang is able to mostly shrug off the parts that he knows aren't true (e.g. he knows he isn't a woman), while getting merely annoyed in the process. However, he doesn't know where he stands with Katara, which is why the part with her and Zuko bothered him so much. He then wanted some form of reassurance that he and Katara were a couple, the kiss scene followed, and he didn't get it.
Here, he seeks his reassurance by saying that Zuko and Katara are unlikely to get together, which leads to Katara denying their relationship, which leads to Zuko having to deny it as well (due to thinking he imagined everything that happened last night), which leads to the author apologizing to the readers.
Unfortunately, Zutara seems to be falling into the same trap that many fictional couples are falling into- endless Will They or Won't They?, past the point at which it's reasonable doubt over the other's feelings and to the point at which it seems as though the author is deliberately dragging things out. Unfortunately, given the nature of this series (as well as, to a lesser extent, the fact that there's a third installment in this series) it's unlikely to be resolved within the show's timeline. Perhaps Aang isn't the only one on whom Katara has a bad habit of using "avoiding the issue" as her primary modus operandi for matters of romance.
The author mentions that she hasn't talked much about Jet until now, which is understandable, since he's been dead for about a season now (although the author only says that it's "a good possibility" in Katara's mind). Katara's more charitable about him, recalling the good things about him and the possibility that he did, in fact, like her. She's thus defensive when Jet comes up in the argument, and Zuko does a poor job of hiding his dislike and jealousy of Jet, which gives Katara reason to come forward with her feeling the same way about Mai. Apparently, Zuko doesn't know about Mai giving up Tom Tom, which will come up later. Given how the story goes, I don't believe it will be good for Mai.
Toph knows the two of them are lying through their teeth, but the author reassures us that Zuko and Katara won't stay mad at each other for long (if only the same were true for Katara and Aang). So then comes the scene in which Katara finds Zuko, and reassures him that what happened to Jet wasn't his fault, as she often does, just like how she often imagines him in a prisoner outfit.
Unfortunately, some of these authors' notes read like plot synopses of the chapter from the author's POV, so I may cut down on the commentary on them somewhat, save for when the author brings up a specific point to which I feel the need to respond, or an insight about the characters that wasn't shown in the chapter itself.
The next chapter will deal with fallout from the Siege of the North, and a decision regarding Aang.
What I liked
- Katara's discussion about Jet, and her evolving feelings regarding him.
- The way Suki dealt with Toph's singing ILW.
What I didn't like
- Aang claiming ownership of Katara.
- The Belligerent Sexual Tension between Zuko and Katara seems to be going nowhere.
- Some author's notes seem to merely summarize the chapters, and this was one such example.
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