#Zutara rant

[maybecordelia]

I’m just gonna rant rn

aang and katara are rlly cute together but i absolutely do not see them falling in love like that or just AT LEAST not that soon (aang being 12 and katara being 14) tbh I see them more like younger brother older sister vibes. BUTTTT zuko and katara are so flawless omg just by watching the show you can just tell how in love they are LIKE IT IS CRAZYYY and literally even in the show they were making jokes abt it then zuko LITERALLY SACRIFICES HIMSELF FOR KATARA???? like after that for sure they’d end up with eachother right… RIGHT??? but no. they dont. and im PISSEDDD. now zukos future wife WHO ISNT KATARA has to look at the scar on his chest every single day for the rest of her life knowing full well that her goddamn husband sacrificed himself for another girl LIKE ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

[ziezii]

was going through the zutara hashtag on tiktok only to stumble upon anti zutara posts under them 😑 and not to mention all the KA stans coming in the ZK edit comments and typing nasty shit 🤦🏻‍♀️ and this is why I never click on the comment sections anymore, ppl are just rude for no reason

[kachuusha]

kind of a rant I guess?

anyway, the way zuko and katara's dynamic was developed by the writers was just so compelling. from the parallels, their individual arcs and how they converged? I'm not surprised that the fandom is still going strong 20 years after the show began airing. however, its popularity appears to have made the creators bitter to the point that they'd do everything to dimiss said development and made sure the two would never be seen in the same frames in the succeeding official works (lok for example). now you have some fans acting as if they never became close and that they remained enemies.

I'm afraid this might also become the case for the upcoming film. which is a shame because they have one of the best developed dynamics in the show. while zuko and katara ultimately did not became romantically involved in the canon storyline, it is still canon that they bonded and became friends. they were together in one of the most important moments of their lives. it's unfortunate that the creators seemingly want to ignore and undo all develoment because plenty of fans saw so much potential in zutara rather than just shipping the official endgame pairing.

I understand I can't force everyone to see the vision but then again their bond is undeniably present in the primary material. my critique is more on how the creators approached zuko and katara's relationship in the succeeding works like lok as well as the comics. considering some of their statements in reference to zutara and its fans, I get this feeling that the creators' treatment of their relationship in the sequels may have come from a place of bitterness.

[eponastory]

Uh... no. She's not.

If anything, it's the Kat*angers who said "Aang is a real man because he got Katara pregnant three times" proving that he is apparently an Alpha Male.

There is nothing more misogynistic than saying a man is a man for getting a woman pregnant.

[zutaraism]

honestly it's baffling that the creators are even surprised that there are fans who thought zuko and katara would make a great pair when canon zutara has:

narrative and visual parallels

a monumental scene where they connect over losing their mothers because of the fire nation, eventually leading to katara offering ti heal zuko's scar using a sacred water that she has been saving for something important

zuko letting katara touch his scar

zuko respecting katara's autonomy and accompanying her to confront the person who killed her mother and was never judgemental on how katara should deal with her trauma

katara listening to zuko when he expressed his worries about meeting his uncle again after ba sing se

zuko forsaking his life and his claim to the throne by taking a bolt of lighting to protect katara

zuko and katara are depicted to be supportive of each other. they represented harmony and balance which is essentially the essence of the series. but yeah sure it's only "dark and intriguing!!"

there's nothing surprising about these two being shipped when the potential had always been present in the canon narrative.

[thatbookgirl1118]

I cannot for the life of me find the original post (tumblr is a hellsite) but this was sent in an atla gc:

@the-badger-mole

and tbh i always kinda felt like kataang was weird exactly because of that one-sidedness??? like there's one episode of katara maybe sort-of seeing aang as a love interest (when the fortune teller tells her she'll marry a powerful bender), but then the rest of the show is her being passive in the relationship or actively pushing aang away (like their second kiss). and then at the end she just randomly decided "okay i like you i guess."

whereas aang got a bunch of pining moments and you actually believed he was in love with katara.

and most of their relationship was about how she helped aang - he did contribute to her character development over the course of the series especially as a bender of course but it didn't feel as emotionally/spiritually deep as katara's literal one episode sidequest with zuko.

but then someone else wrote "I would argue the opposite? Kataang is where Katara choose the peaceful nomad which subverts the trope presented where zutara is where she chooses the strong protector/combatant. Aang as a character is a subversion of the typical hero while zutara is like,,, coloniser romance idk"

and honestly... i kinda get that. aang was problematic in a lot of ways, but he was definitely a subversive protagonist, and i can see the power of allowing the woman to choose the pacifist vegetarian over the extremely obviously hot jock badboy. this is an incredible oversimplification of their characters of course, but the point stands.

Basically, Kataang is the ship we all logically want - the sweet, friendship-based, seemingly subversive one. But Zutara is the one that actually makes sense in the story, with these characters, not their tropes. Aang is subversive, but he and Katara are also kind of terrible for each other - he isn't mature or selfless enough for Katara, who needs someone to force her to take care of herself because she's always the one taking care of everyone else (wonder what that's like). That's why she and Zuko are so perfect, because he not only takes care of her, he makes HER prioritize herself. Aang... does not. He's pretty selfish, which yes is partially due to his immaturity (I personally don't count Korra as canon because it treated ALL the og characters terribly so I'm speaking purely from his 12 yo self), but it's also just a basic incompatibility thing. And Katara is actually equally bad for Aang - she enables him waaay too much, and he needs someone who doesn't. Who forces him to stand up on his own two feet and take responsibility. She's too much of a mother, and her relationship with Aang is too mother/older sister-ish.

With Zuko, on the other hand? Katara started out HATING him, forcing him to prove himself to her instead of handing him everything she had like she tended to do with Aang and Sokka. He had to earn her care, and as a result he appreciates it way more and demands way less of it. He's a far less selfish character generally for the same reasons, and is much more mature/has a better understanding of life and gray areas. Southern Raiders is a great example of this - he's down for whatever Katara decides because he understands that there's no one right answer, unlike Aang who simply preaches forgiveness. I'm not necessarily attacking Aang about that either - I do believe that grudges eat away at a person, and taking a life does haunt you, so forgiveness isn't necessarily bad advice. But it's not what Katara needed. Aang is great as a friend, but I don't think he's what Katara needs from a romantic partner. Zuko just... is.

[hugsandnoregrets]

god i cant stand aang haters who like completely fail to give him the grace deserved of a 12 year old who has had his entire culture undergo genocide, is told the fate of the rest of the world not being destroyed is on his shoulders, and oh yeah, he has 3 months to figure it out - while simultaneously readjusting to an entirely new world and mindset. (and being told to succeed he has to ensure that his culture dies permanently by breaking an important cultural tenant)

he learned he was the avatar + ran away and went into a 100 year avatar state within like 72 hours. so when he woke up he was like still in week 1 of learning his new identity and everyone he knew in his life except like Bumi dying. this boy is literally in the first semester of middle school.

so sorry if he's possessive with katara + sokka a few times, so sorry if he's temperamental with losing the one connection he has to his culture, he kissed katara and then felt guilty and confused. he's a literal middle schooler with flaws.

idk why aang haters want to give zuko (and even sokka) the benefit of the doubt with every single one of their many flaws, but play up every instance that aang irritated them to turn him into a machiavellian entitled brat.

[turbent]

“This war between Zutara and kataang shippers has been going on for so long. Maybe all of you guys should calm down 🥺🥺🥺

Besides, zukka is the best ship and the solution to it all right?? 🥺🥺🥺”

Genuinely, please be quiet! And keep your BS out of the Zutara tag 😭

[thief-of-eggs]

Thinking about Zuko practicing hairstyles on Katara (for both his own benefit, and later to try on Sokka)

Thinking about them slowly but surely bonding through these little shared moments. Talking about their childhoods, their families, their memories.

Thinking about Zuko still asking to do her hair, even well after he’s mastered every style. Thinking about Katara coming to Zuko when she wants her hair done, thinking about her making excuses because she wants the peace that comes with sitting in front of him, closing her eyes as a touch so similar to her mother’s weaves through her hair.

Thinking about Zuko finding the sister he lost in those moments with her. Everything he wished he and Azula could be, he finds in Sokka’s younger sister.

[survivalove]

Honestly the loudest parts of the Zutara fandom and how it portrays its ship remind me of a lot of fans of shallow hadesxpersephone girlboss retellings. They claim to be feminists and yet prove they’re deeply misogynistic in so many ways. They try to project their own piddling modern American issues onto the main girl when it’s like forcing a circle into a square hole. It has the girls with their families and friends protrayed as holding them back/their man being the only one who ‘gets them’ or really cares : when a mere read or watch at the oldest sources/original canon material we have prove that to be laughably untrue. Katara is a girl who is suffering from the effects of an attempted genocide in being the last southern waterbender who will do anything to protect the people she has, who also love and care for her. Persephone is a kidnapped victim with a mother who loves her and she also loves and deeply wish to be together again. Excuse me if I think they have more pressing issues than the ones you have completely imagined for them. Their own mommy issues are weak and pathetic in comparison. But I guess they have to break K or P down into shallow pieces or else they’d never really ‘get’ them. Because even though they’re understandable by anyone with half a brain they’re not ´relateable’ to these people. I guarantee if Kya was alive and expressed disapprove for Zuko they’d bay for blood the same way such people do for Demeter.

loool the last part. so accurate

i think there’s a name for this phenomenon you’re describing called the cinderella trope? isolating the fmc and imagining the prince that swoops in and saves her from all her close family and friends that hate her

except katara’s loved ones don’t hate her at all

reminds me of how people try to dismiss sokka’s feelings in the southern raider for disagreeing with zuko

again i say, a lot of this removal of katara form her community comes down to the fact that not only would her family back home completely lose their minds over that ship, but that aang is actually loved by her family and her wider community.

i’ve even seen hcs of sokka bragging about his b-i-l being the firelord (why would he ever do that???) when it’s canon he brags about aang being the avatar. it’s like they hate ka but they want the dynamics they have even outside of the 2 of them. and if they can’t have it they act like those dynamics are not that important (aang and the swt)

[onceuponanavatar]

I'm not trying to be negative here, but I just want to get this off my chest. Obligatory "not all kat/aangers", because I know it's not all of them. So if this doesn't apply, then it's not about you.

When season 1 of netflix atla came out, it got a lot of criticism from all sides. Fair enough; I can see where people would have some issues. But as someone who did like it, scrolling online, it seemed like some of the harshest critics were kat/aangers. They were livid at the very idea that netflix could maybe—just maybe—entertain the thought of doing something different with zutara. Mind you, nothing was confirmed ever, but zutaras had (finally) gotten some positive interactions with people involved in the show, and yeah, we have a bad habit of getting our hopes up (silly us). And now, with the Toph casting announcement, I already see those same kat/aangers being loud online about how netflix better not *dare* to ruin her platonic friendship with Aang, but oh they already screwed up season 1 and are interacting positively with zutaras online (how dare they) so obviously they will ruin Toph too. And I'm just like??? No one at netflix has made any hint toward changing the Toph/Aang relationship as far as I know, but you're already getting heated over nothing. And even if they did? You guys have done nothing but bad mouth the show and try to ruin things for everyone who does like it. So why do you care what the show will do? You will either not watch it at all or watch it and complain anyway! Why would the showrunners want to cater to people who have been rude to them online, as opposed to fans that have been more positive and supportive? All that complaining, and they may not even change anything anyway! And even if they do and make taang or zutara canon, who cares? Let them do something different and explore new ideas! It doesn't change what happened in the original show! We will always have that.

Anyways, rant over. I hope that I was able to articulate clearly the point I wanted to make. I just get tired of the negativity and the closed-mindedness. We can never get anything new or different without a herd of people complaining, and it is exhausting.

[imlikereallycool]

Ppl(especially on tiktok) r insufferable when it comes to ships. They will get mad at you for shipping characters who are enemies or friends, shipping characters who never met or are the literal opposite of eachother, "thats unrealidtic" "it would be toxic" "but they have canon partners". THATS THE POINT Another point is that cuz its fucking funny, so stfu when you say they wouldn't/couldn't/shouldn't bee together LIKE THATS THE WHOLE POINT. I finf it funny to think of a person who is a neat freak be with a messy person. Like the only thing that should stop you is pedophilia and incest. Nothing else matters bc its not real, have fun and whimsy. Also fuxk purists.

[piggypie22]

Zukka makes no sense

Ok here we go…I hate zukka. Don’t get me wrong I absolutely have nothing against the people who ship them, you guys are alright. It’s just so…random. Like where in the world did this ship come from. They basically had that ONE episode, which mind you contains not even an ounce of romantic tension, in which Zuko helps Sokka rescue his dad and-wait-what’s that? Oh yeah his GIRLFRIEND! (Yes, I talking about the girlfriend Sokka is crazy in love with.) So basically zukka is built without a base foundation, it was pulled out of thin air. It is also common in this ship for Zuko to be portrayed as a uwu femboy and honestly completely out of character, if you watched one episode of Atla you would know he is the literal opposite. It is mainly shipped because people see two attractive men and go feral. I know that some people ship it because of the “red/blue” trope or the “enemies to lovers” trope, but you know what? Zutara does that. And it does it so much better.(they actually have chemistry and romantic subtext, what a concept). With this in mind I have seen SOOOOO much hate for the ship that makes sense: Zutara. Compared to its baseless counter part, which everyone seems to love and seen as the “pure ship” I just don’t get it.

If I get hate for this don’t care, I just telling the facts.

[kachuusha]

thing is, A wasn't even able to fully grasp K's grief in the southern raiders episode. he looked at from his own perspective based on how he was taught. perhaps he meant well but then again if them ending up together was set it stone from the beginning—if he was supposed to become her life partner, why wasn't he the person who accompanied her this journey? why wasn't he the person who understood her best? him not getting that she needed to find a semblance of closure? when K returned, he assumed that she forgave her mom's killer simply because she chose not to kill him, disregarding the K's complexity. in this journey, she had Z instead. and I don't think it only happened because the main characters each needed an episode with him. TSR worked because he understands the pain K was going through as he had been there. catacombs scene already hinted at this. TSR put things into perspective to me just how truly incompatible KA are. plus the fact that K did tell A that she knows he wouldn't understand? how was I supposed to believe that this relationship was ever gonna work? it doesn't help that there were other things left unresolved between them before we jumped to the ending scene cementing KA's endgame status.

[valariecomet]

Honestly seeing (mostly kataang and maiko shippers but not just them) say ppl need to move on from what Bryke did with book 4 air makes me genuinely mad.

When I first started watching the show I was basically bullied out the fandom for drawing Zutara fanart. I was either 11 or 12 at the time and it was during 2020. A bunch of people older than me were mocking me for my fanart, not even because it was bad (not that if they did it would have been justified) no, because it was of a ship they like. I was called a whole bunch of colourful names and slurs and got accused of some horrible things just for liking Zutara and it did affect me.

Now, imagine 12 year old me finding and watching Book 4, do you think that just because that was in 2008 it didn't affect me? No! Of course it did! If anything it made me feel worse, so much so I left the fandom for two years and I only got back into ATLA when I was 14, even then I have only recently started engaging with the fandom again. Just because it occurred in 2008 doesn't mean it doesn't affect people now and I'm sure I'm not the only kid who has been discouraged by that video. If you were a kid at the time or not, the video can and has had an affect on people.

Also, it's not like Bryke were kids when they did that, no, they were full grown adults using children's fanart to mock them. It was disgusting and the fact they have never apologized, as far as I know, is gross. It doesn't matter how long ago it happened because it happened and still affects people, I don't think people should be forced to move on just because you believe that it isn't a big deal or it was ages ago so they should be forgiven. If you don't care that's fine, but don't try to force people to feel different to how they feel.

If your a Zutara shipper who's fanart was in that video, I am genuinely so fucking sorry. That is horrible and I can't imagine how it could have affected you. I know if I was in your situation I would still be upset about it to this day because of how discouraging the video was. I know your probably not reading this but if you are I feel for you.

Also I'm writing this after trying for about two hours to complete the gosh darn pachinko machine level in super Mario sunshine so if I sound a bit emotionally charged it's because I have just spend the past two of so hours in agony ✌️

Edit: I forgot about the Azulaang and Tokka scenes in the video since I hadn't watched it in ages, you guys too I'm so sorry, that was so cruel for you guys too.

[zutaraism]

if you're a multishipper, then good for you. but it's not a necessity to ship both ZK/KA or other rivalling ships to realize that harassing fans in their safe space is wrong.

I'm so sorry, but I'm just tired because I keep seeing multis every now and then in the tags saying "just ship both!" as if that fixes everything.

some fans lacking decorum is the problem.