I Am Supposed To Have The Energy… To Do Stuff...?

All girls should have a sword

academic rivals who use their last names to refer to each other will always be supreme

The way Hyacinth is one of the youngest of the bunch yet the most observant one

BRIDGERTON — 1x04 | 2x05 | 3x03

I edited the photo so it looks digital

Gojohime is funny bc Gojo's personal feelings regarding Utahime have a surprising amount of depth when you look into his actions, while Utahime's totally annoyed and unimpressed attitude towards Gojo is hilariously simple minded

Gojo: *100% trusts her to not betray him, relies on her to find the mole, relies on her ability to strengthen his cursed technique (literally everyone else would get in his way if they tried helping him), calls her weak but counts on her anyways, always goes out of his way to tease her on sight bc he loves their banter, turns off his infinity around her showing how she is one of the few ppl left he can relax around*

Utahime: he an annoying ass bitch

Hello! (First I wanted to say I'm sorry if you've answered this before, and if so could you please direct me to it in your response?) but I was wondering what you thought of Zuko's betrayal toward Katara in The Crossroads of Destiny, if it felt in character or not for him, if not, how do you think it should have been written differently? On the same note, what are your (specifically Zutara related) thoughts on Season 3? Is there anything you would have written differently, and if so, how? Personally, I always felt dissatisfied with S3 in general, although it was still overall enjoyable. I don't even personally dislike kataang, but maiko disgusts (and I mean REALLY) disgusts me.

i know there are many who argue that zuko's choice in CoD was character assassination, that it was meant to torpedo zutara, that it was too sudden etc etc... but personally, i've always felt that it was both in-character and necessary for zuko at that point in his arc.

i can understand how on first watch it seems like too much of a turn-around, given how zuko's arc seemed to be heading, but i think this ignores two things: firstly, that the path to redemption isn't linear and secondly, the real context of the choice that lay before zuko in CoD.

it's one thing to give up on chasing the avatar and accept a quiet, humble life in ba sing se; it's another entirely to actively turn traitor yourself and work against your nation and your family. part of the reason zuko was able to reconcile himself to being lee the tea shop server forever is because it was essentially a path of passive neutrality: he was helping neither the avatar, nor the fire nation. it was the best option available to him, a grey area that allowed him to find some measure of peace without forcing him to pick a side.

azula's coup, however, destroys any chance zuko has of ever going back to that life. he's been dragged right back into the conflict, and this time there's no question of staying out of it. one way or another, he'll be forced to fight, and the only choice left to him is who his enemy will be. azula, his own sister, offering him everything he's ever wanted? or aang, the boy he's spent years hunting, who embodies everything he's been taught to oppose?

and so naturally, when confronted with a dangerous unknown, he chooses to go back to what's familiar and what he spent most of his life believing he wanted. remember that zuko is also a victim of a lifetime of abuse and indoctrination in a moment of extreme psychological stress, and it's no wonder that he picks what he sees as safe and easy (zuko isn't actually safe in the fire nation ofc and he knows that, but it comes back to the case of the devil you know vs the devil you don't), though he himself is aware deep down that it's the wrong choice.

from a character perspective, zuko also needed to go back to the fire nation to realize how much he's changed, and that the home he'd always yearned to return to didn't actually exist, and probably never had. had zuko actually gone with the gaang in the book 2 finale, i think a little part of him might have always wondered about the what-if of it all. ultimately, i think it strengthens zuko's redemption for him to backslide and then actively make the choice to change and still try to do better, further proving the show's message of how it's never too late to do the right thing.

the only thing i would have changed is how zuko's arc in the first half of book 3 is handled, because while i do get what the writers were going for, i think it was a wasted opportunity to get insight into the war from the fire nation's perspective. it would've been cool to see zuko learning about the gaang's exploits and slowly putting the pieces together about who was likely responsible for it, allowing us to see the effects of their actions from the other point of view.

book 3 was definitely the most unsatisfying of the series, because the season as a whole is the least cohesive and well-planned of the three, and coming on the heels of the near-perfect book 2, the disparity is even more obvious. it's somewhat masked by the fact that it does have some of the best individual episodes of the series, which is probably why many people overlook how weak the season is as a whole.

i actually wouldn't change anything zutara-related other than letting them have ONE conversation and a hug post-agni kai (as they deserved) because that entire arc was just *chef's kiss*. my problems with book 3 stem almost entirely from the finale and aang's overall arc, but that's probably too long to get into here so tldr: less magic pointy rock, lion turtle, and half-assed relationships, more letting go of katara, confronting grief over air nomads, and found family with hints of an actually well-developed romance for the future.

sigh, to think of all we could have had.

I wanna drink your words like wine

“what radicalized you” bro EMPATHY

This is where I post from

2.07: Zuko Alone

“My name is Zuko. Son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai. Prince of the Fire Nation, and heir to the throne.“ “Liar! I heard of you! You’re not a prince, you’re an outcast! His own father burned and disowned him!”

[Zuko offers the knife to Lee.] “It’s yours. You should have it.” “No! I hate you!”

3.08: The Puppetmaster

“Then you should understand what I’m talking about! We’re the last two waterbenders of the Southern Tribe. We have to fight these people whenever we can, wherever they are, with any means necessary!”

“I won’t! I won’t use bloodbending and I won’t allow you to keep terrorizing this town!” “Congratulations, Katara. You’re a bloodbender.”

I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I’ve always felt that Zuko Alone and The Puppetmaster are similar in the role they play in Zuko and Katara’s respective character journeys. 

In Zuko Alone, Zuko learns the consequences of war and begins to question what he was taught about the war from the Fire Nation. He realizes that even actions of kindness aren’t enough to undo decades of oppression from the Fire Nation. 

Likewise, The Puppetmaster shows Katara the complexities of war and how it forced Hama to invent bloodbending, and turn to hurting innocent people for revenge. Katara - who has always believed in the absolute goodness of her people in the war - realizes it’s not always that simple. 

Both episodes also examine themes of identity and what it means to each character - Zuko’s identity as Prince of the Fire Nation and Katara’s identity as a waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe. 

Even though Zuko has spent most of the episode hiding his identity, when he’s put in a position where he has to reveal it, he proudly declares himself as Prince of the Fire Nation - and quickly gets a reality check from the townspeople, who reject him because of his status. In contrast, Katara has spent most of her time embracing her identity and connecting with Hama over it. But Hama turns her identity against her - she tries to use Katara’s heritage as leverage to convince Katara to turn against her ideals. In the end though, Katara stays true to her principles and refuses to harm innocent people. 

Despite this, by the end of the episode, the identity of bloodbender is forced onto Katara - a title she has never wanted. Similarly, Zuko is forced to confront the reality that he is no longer seen as a prince, but as an outcast from his family (and from the town).

Neither of these episodes have a happy ending, but Katara and Zuko have each gained a new perspective on the war and the events that transpire in these episodes have ramifications for their future actions. 

(Of course, there’s also the obvious sun and moon parallelism and similarities in scene framing used in these episodes, which just further ties them together).