#Pro mai

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

i've seen zks be like "if we were self inserting we would've been doing so with mai since she's such a blank slate character" but the thing is mai *does* have a personality, it's just an unconventional type of personality they can't personally relate to as much as they can with katara or jin

Katara also has a personality - one zutarians constantly disregard for the sake of self-inserting. Hence them constantly going on and on about how "No 14-year-old girl would go for a bald 12-year-old instead of the hot, older guy with a cool scar."

I wouldn't even say Mai's personality is unconventional, it's just personality that sexism says girls should not have. Being all nurturing and soft and vulnerable with someone else doesn't come easy to her, she doesn't react with too much emotion to most things, yet she will speak her mind when something isn't to her liking - and most things are not to her liking because, despite her apathy, she's not exactly someone people would discribe as "easy going". If Mai was a guy, especially a conventionally attractive one, she would be super popular, much like her boyfriend who could be a real bastard sometimes.

You just have to look at all the zutara fics, fanart and meta that constantly make Mai out to be an uncaring, cruel, and downright abusive person for doing things like not pretending to like something just because her boyfriend was the one to get it for her, or getting cranky, or asking Zuko to get her food, or simply getting mad at him when he unfairly accuses her of liking someone else... and then act like Katara is the "better woman" for supposedly being super easy going and "only wanting love"

Zutarians want a doormat girl that they can use to not only ship themselves with Zuko, but also to CONSTANTLY suck up to him. Katara just happened to be the one that was there from the start and, more importantly, didn't actually interact with Zuko that much, so she doesn't ruin their fantasy of "ideal girlfriend for precious boy Zuko" (extra ironic considering that, if Katara really was that passive instead of stubborn and strong-willed, Zuko would fucking hate her).

Because Zuko and Katara are rarely seen truly talking to each other and having to deal with their clashing personalities/goals, zutarians just pretend the negative scenes were "repressed sexual tension" to ignore the simple fact that these two characters genuinely hated each other - Zuko hated her for being a foreigner that dared to put up a fight against his nation's imperialism, and Katara hated him because imperialism killed nearly everyone in her tribe, including her mom - and then hyper focus on the few positive scenes, taking them out of context to make it romantic.

More importantly, they can pretend that they were TOTALLY thinking about each other during all those scenes in which they're dealing with literally any problem, as if Zuko and Katara were each other's "saviors", even though their arcs have nothing to do with each other -and since these are the overwhelming majority of the "scenes with zutara subtext" they are PERFECT for people who like self-inserting because they are completely blank slates.

But Mai? There are entire episodes in which her romance with Zuko is a super important part of the plot - and she speaks her mind regardless of whether Zuko likes what she has to say. She can be bossy, she can be cranky, and she is her own damn self (which Zuko canonically likes). More importantly, the show doesn't take the easy route of "every problem in their relationship is caused by something outside of their control, like the war or an obviously evil romantic rival that is totally coercing one of them into a relationship" - aka the lazy excuses Zutarians use to justify why their ship was never canon, let alone endgame.

Mai's personality is not easy to erase because she has an actual dynamic with Zuko, something Katara didn't have until the very end of the show and thus it naturally didn't get fleshed out enough to threaten the idealized version of it zutarians came up with in their heads. If Mai had been a one-off character like Jin, with only enough time to be charmed by Zuko's cluelessness, they would LOVE her.

[jade-kyo]

Mai truly is for us emotionally repressed girlies like

Her whole character arc is like she’s emotionally repressed and was never allowed to express herself so she puts up all these walls and acts like she doesn’t care about anything and is so closed off.

And then her whole arc culminates with her loudly and proudly declaring the love she feels so deeply for Zuko. she expresses just how deep these emotions go, she is willing to die for him. Because she cares so much. Her emotions, her care, her love are so strong that they overpower her fear. Not just her fear of Azula but her fear of expressing herself, of stepping out of line, of standing for what she believes in. Which at this moment is Zuko- she doesn’t even fully understand what he’s doing, but she knows she trusts him more than anyone else. More than the fire nation propaganda and brainwashing, more than Azula, more than her parents. She knows Zuko has a good heart, she loves him for it, and she trusts it.

And that trust and love empowers her to finally express just how deeply she feels.

I don’t know if I’m articulating this very well but as someone who has always struggled to express myself Mai is just so fucking good and powerful to me.

[bring-mai-flowers]

“Mai is so bland and expressionless” TO YOU

To me she is hilarious and I understand her perfectly

[tachiha3]

Mai's Crimes :

Being goth

Sighing

EATING

Having a not good childhood

Talking to a male that is not her boyfriend

Being angry at being wrongfully accused of cheating

Not jumping up and down in glee because her boyfriend gifted her something he picked up from the ground

Poking boyfriend in shoulder

Joking with boyfriend

Being angry at being dumped over text

Allegedly having sex with boyfriend

Not unlearning years of propaganda in five minutes

Joking with boyfriend AGAIN

Not liking when boyfriend yells

Throwing a sheet of paper at boyfriend

Sitting in a pallenquin

Asking for stuff from servants

[leantailean]

the most beautiful couple🖤

[toph-bi-fong]

I will defend these two and their unlikely friendship.

[prying-pandora666]

Being Pro Mai but Anti-Maiko Is So Frustrating

Seriously, I can’t stand Maiko. I’ve never liked it as a ship at all. I think Zuko is too controlling and that’s not good for Mai who has a traumatic past of being controlled by her parents for their political benefit. I think Mai is too emotionally repressed and disinterested in politics and Zuko needs someone who can emotionally support him as he dedicates his life to the reconstruction of his nation.

AND YET!

I don’t know why people can’t just be normal and say “I don’t like this ship”. Why does it always have to turn into “Mai is abusive, evil, manipulative, sociopathic, etc”???

I find myself defending a ship I don’t even like, at all, because the sexist accusations against a fictional teen girl are just that insane.

I’ll take a Maiko shipper who can respect my dislike of the ship over a Mai basher any day!

[atla-confessions]

In the beach episode Mai told Zuko that he shouldn't use his past to justify being toxic and violent and taking out his aggression and vitriol and anger on people who haven't hurt him while also expecting them to automatically excuse and forgive it because of said past.

And people call Mai abusive for that.

That's so wild. She's just correct. At this point they're just mad because Mai holds Zuko accountable and wants him to grow as a person because she loves him and knows he can be better. And then they blame Mai for somehow forcing Zuko to do the bad things she explicitly put her foot down to call him out on?

X

[hello-nichya-here]

Hello, whats your opinion on this as a mai fan

I think this person is either misremembering the show or deliberately mischaracterizing what Mai, because what they're claiming she revealed on The Beach is the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of what she actually said.

She doesn't say "My parents used me as a pawn in their game to get close to royals" or "My parents never wanted me to learn anything about combat." She tells us that her parents will let her do whatever she likes - as long as she BEHAVES. As long as she's invisible. Out of sight, out of mind. They don't care what she does, as long as it doesn't affect them, as long as she's quiet. And that's what she says in an attempt to DOWNPLAY how bad her relationship with them actually is and how it affected her emotionally.

When Mai is complaining that she doesn't like Omashu because there's nothing for her to do, her mom doesn't try to talk to her about activities that could keep her busy/entertained, or show any concern about how she's adapting to moving to a whole new country, to a city where she doesn't know anyone. Instead, she ignores her daughter's attempts to talk about her feelings by reminding her that this is important for her father. There's no attempt to make this situation benefitial for her as well, it's all about how she needs to be grateful that someone else is happy about it.

Yes, when Tom-Tom is "kidnaped", they won't stop panicking, and are overjoyed when he's brought back safely. But there's not a word on them being concerned over Mai's well-being when she's leaving in a potentially dangerous mission. They don't show up to congratulate her at any point after she helps the Fire Nation conquer Ba Sing Se, even though that is a legendary feat. Favoritism much?

In book 3, literally the only adults we see in her home are servants, and considering one needs an airship to go to the island where the boiling rock is, it's pretty safe to say her uncle can't be dropping by too often. They let their 15-year-old daughter live in a different country, without any adult acting as her guardian - that's how much they don't care about her.

And speaking of her uncle, yes, he is doing a good job of being an attentive family member (is aware of her situation with Zuko, immediately lets her out of prison the second he knows he can get away with it) - but using that to claim "Thefore her family life is fine" is absurd because, again, that's her UNCLE, not her parents. By that logic, Zuko shouldn't be complaining about his family either, after all he has Iroh and somehow that is supposed to cancel out being raised by freaking Ozai, riiiiiiight?

And speaking of Zuko, there's a reason why, in a finale where everyone is being reunited with their family and friends, even when the travel time doesn't make any goddamn sense, Mai's happy ending involves a heartwarming reuining with him, and he's delighted to see her - but there's still nothing about her parents. Their daughter was sent to prison for life, then her boyfriend became Fire Lord giving them THE perfect chance to come rescue her, and they STILL are nowhere to be found.

For fuck's sake, AZULA showed more love for Mai than her parents did. Girl was clearly happy to see her again, and even gave her a "hug" that wasn't that touchy because Mai doesn't like it. In "The Lost Adventures" we find out that she was also the one who pushed for her and Zuko to get together (though that also ties into her knowing that was the only way to make Zuko come home despite his guilt over what he did to Iroh). Even on The Beach, she's the one who first connects the dots and realizes that Mai is always so aloof because she's used to being told to shut up when she says something inconvenient.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying her parents had no political ambitions (the Yang comics leaning into that was one of the few good things about his writting). Obviously they were happy that their daughter was best friends with the princess and dating the heir to the throne, and I'm sure Mai didn't appreciate being treated more as asset than as a daughter.

But her complaint was not about that. It was about how her parents are simply not part of her life at all. She's an outsider looking in. She can stand next to them and do as she's told, or she can leave. What she can't do is actually engage with them, mean anything to them, expect anything from them, rely on them at all.

Mai's parents are neglectful to a degree that, in the real world, could potentially have them lose custody of her because she consistently has to turn to literally anyone else instead of them whenever she needs anything.

Is it really any wonder she had a soft-spot for Zuko, aka the boy that is always disregarded by his father, to the point of literally being kicked out of his home, and is actually openly pissed off about it and will let everyone know it?

[loveontherocks]

clownery transcends decades…

[iminaworldofpureimagination]

this is a 100 percent.. mai haters how ya gonna be calling girl a toxic gf when she goes out of her way to save her mans life? makes no sense

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

I'm in my Maiko feels today, and I gotta say: we don't talk enough about the fact that Mai is too shy to say she loves Zuko to his face.

On The Headband she says "I don't hate you." On The Beach she says "I care about you." In the finale she says "I actually... kind of like you." The ONE time she full on says the word LOVE, is at The Boiling Rock, when she's talking to Azula.

She can call him her boyfriend, act flirty, make out at any time, say he ripped her heart out with the break up letter and jokingly "threaten" him to never do it again... but she just can't say "I love you." She literally started blushing when she tried in the finale, and couldn't get the right words out.

It's such a cute little detail. She's not used to expressing how she feels, so she doesn't know how or when she should say it.

She'll 100% just let it slip someday, in some casual conversation. Zuko is gonna stare at her all wide-eyed and happy, and she's just gonna feel her very soul screaming in agony and embarrassement.

[jade-kyo]

They could never make me hate Maiko when Mai was willing to die for him and Zuko looks like a dopey puppy every time she is involved and Mai will let her walls down around him and Zuko is the only one who can earnestly make her laugh and Mai threw mud at him when they were kids and Zuko was so ready to jump to her defense when Azula lit a apple on fire on her head and Mai can touch his scar like it’s not even there and Zuko thinks she’s so beautiful when she hates the world and Mai trusts him so implicitly that she’d betray her nation, friends, and family for him and Zukos only regret when leaving the fire nation was also leaving her and Mai tries her hardest to work past her own issues to support him in his struggles and Zuko genuinely loves it when she expresses herself and Mai who doesn’t like hugs will be so cuddly and touchy only with him and Zuko knows she doesn’t need anyone to protect her and Mai loves him more than she fears Azula…

Maiko the ship that you are… they could never make me hate you

[azulas-daddy-kink]

In light of all of the anti-Maiko posts I've been seeing...

I'm sorry but I cannot take ANY criticism of Maiko (or Mai as a person) seriously when it comes from Zutara shippers. Your arguments are invalid because you're incapable of being objective, we all know you're just trying to twist anything and everything in support of your ship.

Ship what you want, please just be normal about it. Read your fics and draw your art in peace, stop creating shipping discourse for a show that ended literally 15 years ago. It's pathetic.

Maiko is canon. Kataang is canon. Zutara isn't canon and never will be. Get over it.

[leantailean]

Mai and Zuko

I just think a lot about how much comfort and joy they bring to each other.

[tachiha3]

Everything is temporary but shippers of "feminist ships" calling other female characters fat as an insult is permanent.