#nofandomtags

[becca-reads]

y'all okay if I just..... *hyperfixates publicly*

[becca-reads]

My headcanons can be sorted into two rough categories

This headcanon slots nicely into canon and brings depth to the existing story while explaining certain aspects that intrigue me

I don't care what canon is or says. These are my blorbo dolls and I will play with them as I see fit. Now pass me those canon-destroying-scissors.

I care equally as much about both categories, and will let go of none of my headcanons, no matter how much they contradict each other.

[becca-reads]

No but actually another a:tla thing. Bc I have had this angsty headcanon for a long time (since we saw Zuko and Izumi in Korra) that Zuko has had this lifelong issue with romance. He's not good at it, doesn't let himself feel it, doesn't want it to be a huge force in his life. He has a responsibility to the Fire Nation. It falls to him to rebuild it in a healthier way, to restore it to a less nationalist place. It is his burden and his alone to abandon the faults of his family legacy. He and Aang serve as foils in that way: Aang is consistently being told he needs to prioritize other things and is consistently pushing against the idea that he can't save the world while maintaining relationships and love, while Zuko is consistently being pushed at by people trying to get close to him and telling him that he can in fact have it all and he consistently pushes against this idea and doesn't let hardly anyone in, at least not really. And idk, maybe it comes from a deep-rooted need to protect those he cares about. Maybe it's because he decides as an adult to be the protector he needed as a child, and sees part of that protection as protecting everyone from himself. But again he just does NOT let anyone get too close to him romantically, for fear of someone getting hurt.

The one relationship he did try having (with Mai) ended up the object of intense focus on his part, and he micromanaged the relationship into a place of unviability because of his extreme anxieties. He can't reconcile the idea of effortlessly giving both his nation and his love adequate attention, and obsesses over giving exactly 50% of himself to the Fire Nation and Mai respectively, lest he risk being either a shitty partner or a shitty Fire Lord. Neither of which he's willing to let happen. This becomes a self fulfilling prophecy, and Mai can't take it and leaves. After that, Zuko may have a fling here and there in his youth, but never settles down with any of them. He never risks hurting another person with his self perceived toxicity, and above all never lets anyone come before his duty to the Fire Nation.

Eventually, he ends up in a political marriage, mostly to produce an heir to the throne. Which he and his wife do. And don't get me wrong he treats his wife well, and it's not like he's entirely cold with her, but they're both aware of what their relationship is. They have an amicable marriage and navigate leading, coparenting, and everything else pretty easily. But even so he keeps her at arm's length, and while he's sad when their relationship ends (either through death or divorce) it's clear to anyone with eyes that it's more platonic grief than anything. He's sad at losing someone he spent a life in comfortable partnership with, not losing a love. I like to think that sometime during Izumi's adolescence Zuko's wife finds someone she IS romantically interested in and is like "Hey, I did the thing. I've upheld my end of the bargain. I deserve to go be happy" and Zuko is basically like "Yeah, that makes sense, let's get divorced" and everyone involved is just super chill about it.

He focuses his affection on his daughter, to whom he is an ACTIVE and doting parent. He wants to make sure that she always feels loved and cared for and supported completely, and makes sure to raise her with better ideals than his father raised him with. He tells her the truth of her family/national history. He takes her on many a diplomatic restoration trip to rebuild places the Fire Nation previously destroyed. He decides against having more children because he doesn't want there to be that sibling rivalry he had with Azula. He doesn't want to accidentally continue that cycle, and the only way he knows how to guarantee it doesn't happen is to not have more children to begin with. After all you can't beef with a sibling that has never existed. Actually that's probably not true but for these purposes let's say it is. In fact, he is often quoted later in his life as saying the two great loves of his life were his country and his daughter and that he is happy to have spent a lifetime in their service.

Idk, I'm just fixated on this idea that the reason we never see Zuko truly settled down with anyone is because even though he does heal some of his familial trauma, he never really truly heals all of that interpersonal-connection part of him and thus never lets himself have a great love, even though he has chemistry with literally everyone he interacts with. (In the messy version of this headcanon I like to think that most if not all of the Gaang have at least harbored a crush on Zuko, but have also all witnessed his insistence that he can't lead and have a relationship and all just quietly let that crush fade into the background, never to be thought of again. I also like to think that at least one member of the Gaang tried to push past his issues and he FORCEFULLY shut it down.)

[becca-reads]

I've decided that, since we have very little knowledge of what happened in those 10 years between a:tla and the new movie, that Kataang cooled their heels somewhat quickly post-finale (one of those "let's revisit this when we're older" deals). And in that time Zutara accidentally flourished but crashed and burned bc of Zuko's self-destructive tendencies and belief that he doesn't deserve nice things (it happened when Katara was like "we've been circling each other for too long not to acknowledge what we feel for each other. We should stop being pussies and nut up and date" and Zuko was very "I have to prioritize rebuilding the Fire Nation, and can't do that if I'm focused on a relationship. And also, what would your people, who you are a leader of and important to, think if you dated a man who leads the country who oppressed you?" and he wouldn't hear any of Katara's reasoning for why he was not only Wrong™ but also being Dumb As Shit™). But by the time he realized that Katara was right and he was being dumb (probably like a couple years post-'breakup') Kataang had gotten back together and were serious, and he knew he couldn't be a homewrecking asshole just because he came around to his feelings too late. So he respected them and never brought it back up. And that's why 1) they don't talk to each other in the movie (too much pain and awkward tension) and 2) why Aang is SO INCREDIBLY SENSITIVE about people mistaking Zuko and Katara as a couple and also is a small/minor motivator for them getting married pretty quickly but neither of them like to think about that. Bc he KNOWS that they had a thing and that Katara did love Zuko. Like he also knows Katara loves him and wants to be with him for the rest of their lives. But he's also VERY aware of what Katara and Zuko had and it still irks him a little that apparently they have enough spark still for people to perceive it.

this headcanon also plays nicely into my headcanon that zuko is consistently denying himself romantic love and affection out of an extreme sense of duty and worry that he can only break the cycle of familial violence through extreme diligence and excessive micro-managing of his romantic relationships, which never goes over well with his partners

The best part of this headcanon? It's bookended pretty neatly by canon (currently) so I can play with my little blorbo dolls in my head without having to squirm around and drastically change existing canon if I don't want to.