me: the entire foundation of mai and zukoās relationship was built on how miserable they were together, and how they would just sit there and hate the world togetherā letting their misery fester as they enabled each otherās depressionā and I think thatās really unfortunate because they would work so well as friends if they werenāt trying to make their dumpster fire of a relationship work. similarly, what makes zuko and kataraās dynamic so compelling is that they share the same flaws, only as opposed to maiās apathy and misery, itās kataraās rage and guilt that zuko identifies with. they both share trauma over having lost their mothers, and both in a similar way (sacrificing themselves for them) and they both cope with their grief through rage, often misplaced. in the southern raiders, they both act deeply insensitively towards sokka by acting as if his grief over his motherās death is somehow less valid simply because he is a lot quieter in his coping mechanisms and doesnāt project his rage & guilt onto everyone else. katara and zuko have a deep & profound friendship, but if they were to be in a relationship, they would only bring out the absolute worst in each other thru enabling each otherās rage and emotion-driven decision making. conversely, when they go to the boiling rock, it is shown that sokka and zuko make an excellent team, as they balance each other perfectly. sokka thinks big picture, and plans ahead, but zuko will charge into situations, and account for the details of the plan, such as when he breaks the lever for the gondola. in that same scene, we see zuko jump off the platform and sokka catch him without any communication that either was going to do so. zuko later catches sokka from slipping off the side of the gondola. when theyāre fighting azula, again they fall into wordless trust with zuko on the defense blocking azulaās fire, while sokka takes the defense, using the opening zuko creates by protecting him to charge at azula with his sword. throughout the entire episode, zuko supports all of sokkaās decisions without question, telling him that itās his call to make when he wonders whether they should stay another night, which is the kind of trust sokka always needed to receive as the leader. when sokka is about to give up because heās afraid of failing again, zuko inspires him and even encourages failure, a lesson that sokka still needs to learn, especially after the shame he feels after losing the invasion. throughout the episode as well you can see the steady building of their friendship, and theyāre shown to trust each other unconditionally. the next episode, zuko asks sokka to recount to him one of his most traumatic memories in excruciating detail, and even though sokka could easily say fuck no, he tells zuko about the death of his mother because it is important to him that zuko and katara get along. zuko also genuinely smiles a hell of a lot more than he does pretty much any other episode, even though the situation is incredibly tense, because he enjoys sokkaās company, even when heās in prison. zuko and sokka have a lot in common, a lot of the same experiences struggling with limitations of masculinity and feeling worthless compared to their prodigious younger sisters. and thatās not to mention that they have a lot of interests in common, such as swords, and the arts (sokka likes to paint & draw, zuko is a theatre kid etc), not to mention they share a similar dry, sarcastic, offbeat sense of humor. as opposed to zuko and mai, who are two miserable people who make each other miserable, zuko and sokka are two miserable people who make each other HAPPYĀ
