Avatar 3x12: In which Zuko gets beaten up (again) and what can explode will explode.

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Zuko is so painfully awkward. It's hilarious and sad. What's interesting, though, is that I thought, after season 2 Zuko, that Zuko in the Gaang would be sullen, more quiet. Now I'm getting a sense that this prediction was wrong... if anything, Zuko's doing what he always does when he wants something: he's trying to hard. Of course, we won't know until next episode what his day to day interactions with the team are like, but I'm guessing he'll be like he was this time: earnest enough to give you a toothache, but awkward enough to stub your toe on. It's going to be a challenge for him, but I'm happy that he keeps looking to his uncle for inspiration. Now only if we knew what happened to Iroh!

How did combustion man die? Did he explode himself or fall? That part confused me.

Watching Toph crawl away from Zuko was possibly the most sad and uncomfortable scene of this entire season so far--by far the hardest thing to watch. I actually wanted to stop, even though I didn't. That was much worse than the bloodbending. Toph afraid and helpless is something a fan should never have to see.

Still, this greatly satisfies my desire for Zuko/Toph OTFriendship. [high_born] I've thought since Toph was introduced that she was the most likely to understand Zuko's upbringing and his frustrations. And I was right! Toph made the first overtures of friendship, and even though she got burned, she's realistic enough to understand that it was an accident, and still supports his joining the group.

Sokka as the nervous host was amusing.

Zuko and Katara.... awesomeness. She made the allusion to their conversation in the caves, which was a hanging plot thread that I was hoping would get resolved at their next meeting, and it was. I love her death threat. Katara is badass like nobody's business. I totally agree that of the group, she'd be the first to make a death threat and mean it. (Sokka would be second.) I think it's partly their hard childhoods, partly the fact that they're children of a warrior, and partly the fact that Katara, in her heart, has potential to be vengeful, self-righteous, and a more than a little bit ruthless. She understands that someone needs to give Zuko this message, and she's the one to do it. How war changes people! Katara right now is growing up very fast, and is quite a different person from the girl at the South Pole. She's a leader, a bodyguard, an advisor, and a fierce warrior. I'm proud. You tell it to him, girl. (What a queen you'd make!)

From a shipper standpoint, I've no complaints either. I like friction, helps with the UST! There's not really any UST yet, but there's plenty of time for that later. Now I want to see these two work out their issues and become trusted companions, first.

From the other side of the shipper argument: I thought Katara was going to talk to Aang about their personal feelings, but it was all business. That's one of the things that hampers this pairing: they're always worried about business! It reminds me of cop shows, where the two partners are attractive people but each puts work first so any progress they make is agonizingly slow, and their relationship is always sacrificed to the mission.


EDIT: I just remembered another thing I loved... the fact that Appa likes Zuko. He licked him twice even. That's the seal of approval right there. And Zuko took it so well! He just endured and didn't even comment, or make the grossed-out faces that Sokka makes when that stuff happens to him. Sokka's retort about animal cruelty was pretty choice, too. One of his best lines this season. (although his deadpan "Not really, since you followed us all over the world," line was pretty good too.)

Comments

[muffytaj.livejournal.com]

Combustion man, from what I could make out, exploded himself (hence the flying arm), and the ground underneath him, which resulted in his corpse falling so they wouldn't have to show it on tv.

The Toph crawling away thing was also really hard to watch. He's just burnt what were essentially her eyes, and seeing her so helpless, and so... well, blind, was quite horrifying.

But oh man. I am so pleased with Zuko and Katara's interaction. There is a real sense of betrayal there, because Katara BELIEVED in him and he turned on her. Mmm, tension.

Also, dork!Zuko is one of my favourite Zukos, and I am loving the awkwardness of his attempts to fit in. So much love.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I love that Zuko goes so strikingly back and forth from passionate eloquence (his speech to his father about the lies of the FN) to bumbling, pathetic, and insecure speech delivery. These two extremes are also representative of Zuko at his most sincere moments, an odd duality to say the least. But Zuko's character traits are, as Mai said on the beach, pretty extreme anyway.

There is a real sense of betrayal there, because Katara BELIEVED in him and he turned on her. Mmm, tension.

Do you feel a fic coming on?

Random exhausted fic! Next one will have more sexual tension, I promise.

[muffytaj.livejournal.com]

Silence is their new companion. When the others are around, it is less obvious: light chatter masks the undercurrents tugging the two enemies. But when they are alone, the silence is all emcompassing.

They are enemies because she declared them so. They are enemies because he remembers his actions. He cannot overcome the barriers of the past, the wall between them built of I thought you'd changed and I let you in. Katara trusts only once, and she cannot forgive him for wriggling into her heart, then hurting her.

She had believed in him, and reached out for him, and he had turned on her.

He knows. He knows all too well the pain of betrayal, of opening yourself to someone and being burnt; it was a lesson his own family taught him. But he does not know how to heal such a hurt. So he stands at the edges, and waits.

He waits for her hostility to lose its edge, contempt becoming mixed with familiarity. He is humble, which at first only whips her into an even greater frenzy, but her fire burns too bright and she quickly runs out of fuel.

He waits whilst the two of them prepare dinner in absolute silence, words pressing against his tongue, demanding he explain, apologise, excuse himself. He waits until her body loses its rigitity, and she relaxes into her bending of the soup.

He waits for her to once again see him as human, something that can be touched without violence, warm and soft with a heart that has been scarred like hers. He waits for a chance to redeem himself, and does not stop to ask why it is so important that she understand him.

He waits until she needs some rice, and passes it without comment to her, a simple gesture, perfectly timed.

She grunts a begrudging thank you, and the silence begins to crumble.

Silence Is

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

This is absolutely perfect. Exactly how I see them interacting post-Western Air Temple.

I love the image of Zuko having to bit his tongue to not make it worse.