I can get into something without a male, and something without a female...but without a female is a LOT harder.

Same here.

Zuko only wins because he lets me say "high strung, emotastic angstmuffin" and be proud of it.

Plus, he's such a plot-moving force. I mean, he wants the Avatar, and he's going to do damn near anything in his power to get that, and instead of whining about about he's doing this for his mother, or he's going to win 'his own way' he's sneaking into Fire Nation fortresses and driving his ship through storms and sneaking into the North Pole.