#i don't ship katara with anyone

[the-badger-mole]

@allnewalldifferentwildspider

I will say, I think it's interesting when people say that arguing that the finale and Kataang happening the way it was just giving Aang what he wanted is somehow us taking Katara's agency away. Katara was rightfully angry with Aang in her last two encounters with him. Giving her agency within that narrative would look like her actually having a conversation with Aang and telling him how she felt. I don't just mean romantically, I mean having an actual conversation where her conflict with him is laid out and resolved, like it would be in any healthy friendship, and much more a healthy romance. People can argue that they had a conversation off screen. That's fine. I will never tell anyone they can't headcanon whatever they please. It's none of my business unless they make it my business. Have so much fun. Don't even think about me or my opinions. They don't matter.

However, she never had that conversation. It's not in the show. It's not in the comics. It's not canon. The way her moment of "oh, I like him" was set up implied that she only considered him romantically because he ostensibly singlehandedly "saved the day" (he most certainly did not). There's never a moment where she gets to be vulnerable with him and have him help her carry her burden. No moment of why she might like him romantically (and also, may I add, we never see what, aside from her looks, Aang likes about Katara). Any "build up" of Kataang on her end is largely done through external circumstances and not the result of her coming to understand her feelings (this from the passionate girl who wears her heart on her sleeve for the entire series). They are also never again brought up by her- and the times it brought up by Aang in canon are disastrous (Lava Fissure Incident. EIP. Arguably DoBS). Katara never has a chance to confront Aang on his blatant disrespect of her culture, and it's never walked back- in fact, IIRC, in the comics, he supports the soft colonization of the SWT by the NWT.

I can understand why people have the headcanon that Katara and Aang had a deep conversation off-screen that resolved all their issues and gave Katara a chance to tell him she liked him and why. I think that if you ship them, you kind of have to headcanon something like that. But I do not think canon supports it. Their deep conversations center Aang and his feelings. Katara's feelings never seem to matter that much to Aang. He didn't even care that Katara and Sokka had lost their father to the Fire Nation after Hakoda sacrificed himself to save Aang's stupid behind. He wanted to go run off and play. Our hero, ladies and babies. There has to be a lot of head canoning to make Kataang work. I know because everything I hate about Aang and Kataang is canon. If I'm basing Kataang on the canon, it looks just like the glimpses we get in LoK, only with a lot less hero worship of Aang.

Don't get me wrong, all the overt romance in Zutara is pure headcanon. I recognize that and I love that for us. What's not head canon is that Zuko shows Katara a ton of support and respect in their short onscreen friendship. And at the risk of upsetting Aang's fans, I will argue Zuko showed her feelings more consideration than Aang ever did in the entire series.

[pro-sipper]

Fictional stabbing, torture, cannibalism, stalking, and murder are all fine but you draw the line at rape, incest, and underage ships?

Why???

I don't want anyone to get stabbed irl just like I don't want anyone to get raped irl and reading about either one of them isn't going to change my mind on that.

All of the above topics are dark and taboo things that make people uncomfortable. They also all have a right to be explored in fiction in all different ways.

Why is violence so normalized that even the most staunch anti can have fun playing with the dark themes of murder but when it comes to rape, exploring it in fiction makes you a criminal?

They always go for the old excuse of "you can portray this but only in certain ways or else you're normalizing/glamorizing/romanticizing/fetishizing it which is bad" but ONLY when it comes to sexual things.

Horror movies? You can woobify the killers, ship them together, joke about them, and write killer x reader fanfic til your fingers fall off. That's all okay, everyone knows that watching a horror movie or crushing on a fictional killer won't turn you into an irl murderer. Duh!

So why can they understand that for violence but not other controversial topics? If you can understand that watching a slasher movie or writing Billy Loomis x reader fanfic doesn't turn you into a murderer, then why do you think someone who reads for Billdip or ships Katara x Sokka is a real life sex criminal?

I doubt we'll ever get a real answer because there isn't one. It just boils down to "taboo stuff I can handle is fine and can be explored freely, taboo stuff I can't handle is gross and has no place in fiction".

[zukoshotleafjuice]

and if i say that aang and katara's romance overshadowed aang and katara's relationship, would that make any sense to anyone other than me?

people are so used to viewing this show solely through a shipping lens (a flaw that is almost entirely the fault of the creators) that it hardly leaves space for examining the frankly incredible katara-aang interpersonal dynamic. like, for katara, aang is almost akin to a god. especially in the beginning, for her he symbolizes hope and love and admiration and he is almost larger-than-life. a child and a god. she will protect him and rely on him because through him suddenly, suddenly there's a chance that maybe her mother's sacrifice wasn't for nothing. maybe if she can help aang, love aang, then kya dying was worth it. and for aang, too, katara is his whole world. sokka too, of course, but katara's are the first eyes he saw when he woke up a hundred years after everyone he loved had vanished. it's her that keeps him grounded when he's overwhelmed with grief that he doesn't even know how to begin to process, because it's almost impossible for a child's mind to comprehend the scale of loss he's experienced. he loses his family, and she becomes his whole world. yes, he is saving the world for the sake of the world, but really he's saving the world for katara.

idk. upon rewatch, it's almost like love isn't really enough to capture what these two have going on. it's sheer devotion. it's a strange amalgamation of worship and adoration and mutual deification. it's fucking fascinating and regardless of whether you ship them romantically personally i don't, really , the relationship is so so profound. the depth of their love for each other is really on another level.

romance is secondary to what katara and aang have. they're each other's person first.

[johnskleats]

is anyone going to tell the kat@angers that it's not feminist activism to argue Katara's arc in LOK is fine on the grounds that "some women want to be homemakers and that's okay!!"

Like you're not helping real women that way. In fact, most antis for the cannon ship ARE women. Many are homemakers themselves.

Katara is not a real woman. She is a fictional woman written by men.

Can the sensibilities and wishes of a girl change by the time she is a adult? Yes!

But as this is a textual character who, as per the text, rejects the societal structure of her fictional world (which mirrors our own) that women are and can only ever be docile homemakers (i.e. I don't want to heal, I want to fight; I will never turn my back on people who need me; let's start a prison riot; let's engage in vigilante ecoterrorism; let's pitch an absolute fit because the boys are not pulling their fair weight in the homemaking; let's confront my mother's killer at the absolute rejection and condemnation of the male figures whom I am to respect; etc) it is perfectly reasonable to argue that this end was not a natural course for her character.

Fictional characters are not real people. This means that they do not change their mind off screen. That is not an acceptable argument. That is called a "plot hole", which is a nonsensical change made at the convenience and contrivance of the writer(s), who in this case are men exhibited to not care for women or girls all that much. It is within THEIR character to write this way.

Regardless of who, if anyone, Katara ended up with, Katara tolerating disrespect, neglect, abuse of her children, giving up all of her former aspirations to live in the shadow of men, and dying as a mere footnote in history (and being alright with it!!) is not surprising given the absolute vitriol Bryke has shown toward female fans of their "creation". It was supposed to be a "boy" show. It was always supposed to be a "boy" show. The creators of Supernatural and Game of Thrones did the same thing. ATLA just did it first.

Arguing "not all women" is not activism in the face of what is really happening in this discourse. Sending death threats to real, actual women with feelings in defense of a fake pretend woman's fake pretend autonomy is performative activism, and worse, hypocritical.

Not all women agree with you. Not all women feel represented and find the outcome of Katara's story satisfactory. If y'all care about feminism and respecting women's choices so much, lay off the real life women you're so fond of harassing. Our views and opinions, while opposing your own, don't affect you.

[late-draft]

One, two, three... a couple of moments in narrative, or all of them viewed isolated, could be called "misinterpretation" and "an incurable case of shipping goggles" but when the events start piling up and staying consistent between each other, every new one adds context to the previous events.

Zuko keeps Katara's necklace for 10 episodes? Oh it's a plot device so he can track them. Zuko steadies Katara so she doesn't fall off of the shirshu? Oh anyone would fall off of it while paralyzed. Katara jokes about giving a kiss to Zuko for the necklace? Oh she's uh... teasing Aang to whom this completely goes over head? Iroh keeps encouraging annoying love songs during music nights on the ship? Oh it's typical content for sailors. Zuko randomly recites cringe poetry after basically ending a fight in a draw against Katara while he's clearly running out of time? Oh it's the Rule of Cool. Katara randomly defends Zuko's hairstyle when Sokka insults it? She's uhh... defending Sokka's hairstyle even though Sokka didn't insult his own hairstyle (honestly I have no other explanation for this one). Katara is in Zuko's personal space 5 minutes after they started talking without being on opposing sides? She's uhh just that much empathetic. Zuko smiles at her on the very same day they let him stay near them? Uhhh... He waits an entire night awake to apologize to her? Uhh he's just a master manipulator hiding his selfish motives he's really sorry and would do this for anyone. Katara's glued to his side since their hug? Uhh she's empathetic. Zuko plants himself next to Katara during the play and won't budge? Uhh he's just socially unskilled (for now due to abuse) and does't quite understand what Aang wants from him. Zuko intercepts lightning for Katara in slow motion? It's the Rule of Cool again.

All of these things are true, but it's also true that when viewed as a whole... the narrative is portraying something. Reality is everything, the purposeful and the pointless. But theatrical stories pick and choose what to show, and we are taught how to interpret shorthands. Good writing won't have pointless or unconnected events. Neither is it smart to over-animate irrelevant actions.

And I purposefully didn't even list any of the symbolism or outside events that don't "originate" from the characters themselves (other than Iroh's actions because it's hilarious).

[forevermore05]

I don't know if I've said this before but going is in the mainstream fandom as someone who likes Katara is actually exhausting because the bastardization of her character is just not acknowledged enough by the mainstream fandom. Like God forbid the person who has been keeping the entire group together has mental breakdown about her dead mother. It's also frustrating the amount of times I see women being the ones bashing Katara. The difference between everyone else and Katara is that their struggles and stories have been acknowledged. But Katara's is not fully unveiled until the end of the third season. You have just gotten used to her giving little hints of information of her mother which has clearly annoyed people. Then when she fully broke down you couldn't handle it. Of course when you ship her with Zuko it gets a whole lot more exhausting because now you don't have any idea what you're talking about to a lot of people outside of this community. I find it weird that people think that Aang is Katara's moral compass. That he brought her back to the good side. I want you to look me in the eye and look at her character in the past three seasons. Katara does not require anyone else to be her moral compass she is very morally strong even if she makes mistakes, she knows what she wants and she doesn't need anyone to tell her what she needs. For a lot of people villainizing Zuko for bringing her to the dark side you do realize that this is a side that needed to be addressed. She needed to be able to fully grieve because I don't think she's been able to do that for many years. A lot of people take the line that Zuko says at the end that he may have not known what Katara needed as a way to indicate that Aang has superiority. No that's not why he said it means that he's also learning alongside Katara. Maybe she did not need to murder him but address it in a different method. Zuko and Katara were in right in addressing her pain and bringing it to the forefront . To make this clear once again your shipping preference does not sway or invalidate your opinion on a character.

[sapphic-agent]

As a non-Zutara shipper, one of the worst arguments that came from the wave of Renaissance Kataang shippers was the claim that Zuko and Katara were "barely friends." Like, excuse me? Post Southern Raiders they're practically besties.

Katara opened up to him about exactly what happened when her mother was killed, something she's never done with anyone else (Zuko was also the only one who cared enough to ask)

When she sees Zuko betraying Iroh in the play she asks, in concern, if he really said that and he gives her an open, honest answer

Katara is comfortable enough to tease him about "baby Zuko"

He trusted her- over EVERYONE- to help him fight Azula. He trusted her to have his back (over Sokka, who people claim he's so much closer to)

He was ready and willing to die for her

One thing I absolutely cannot stand in any fandom is making shit up to disparage a ship you don't like and mock its shippers. Katara and Zuko worked hard to build a close bond of trust with one another, that doesn't deserve to be pushed aside because you don't like them together

[sokkastyles]

I read the recent post about why Bryke hate Zutara, and why they wanted Kataang to be endgame. I know they're never going to understand this, but a lot of the arguments against Zutara that Bryke and some antis tend to make always seem to imply that there's an appropriate way for Katara to experience romantic or sexual attraction (being attracted to Aang) versus an inappropriate way to experience that attraction (being attracted to Zuko or Jet or anyone who wasn't Aang in Bryke's head). I just really dislike the way Bryke always seem to push the idea that if Katara, and women in general, are attracted to someone who ends up being a terrible person, it's somehow their fault for being attracted to that person rather than that person's fault for being a horrible person. It's really slut shamey honestly. Even Bryke saying that people who ship Zutara will end up having terrible relationships and saying that Zutara would have never last because it was just dark and intriguing is so weird to me. It all just reeks of the same misogynistic idea that women don't know or understand what they want but they'll come around eventually. I just, I don't like the fact that girls and women's desires and perspectives are never taken seriously when it comes to romance.

Yep. That's why these types of antis backtrack on Zuko's redemption arc when a relationship with Katara is in question, why this isn't really about Zuko or about protecting Katara from the "colonizer" like they claim it is. It's not about those things at all. It's about the Nice Guy belief that women don't actually know what they want and aren't capable of choosing a romantic partner for themselves.

In reality, relationships like this that are built on a total dismissal of and lack of respect for one half of the pairing are MUCH more likely to be toxic or abusive. Which is why the claim that KA is "so wholesome" in comparison to zutara is an immediate red flag for me.

[demaparbat-hp]

I’m sorry, but don’t you feel bad for your fav ship cuz’ like, a lotta Zutara fans are obnoxious and hate Aang and Mai for no reason. It just, kinda ruins your ship and makes it one of most hated ships in the fandom cuz’ of them. You’re the one of the few sane Zutara fans and I’m proud of you. Stay this way through your entire journey.

Oh! Thanks! I, uh, I'm glad you believe me sane 🤭

Honestly, there are terrible people in every fandom, but those are just a loud, small minority. Most of us are just here to share our love for these characters and their world.

The ZK fandom is, sadly, very well versed in ship wars and fandom hate and...well, we all know about it.

That being said—I don't let fandom wars or toxic behaviour from fans on any "side" dictate how I enjoy the og series or ZK.

People have vastly different takes on ATLA. Some may not like Aang as a character, or Mai, or Katara, or Zuko, or Sokka—and that's okay! We all have our own ideas and our own ways to interact with canon and the Fandom.

But things get out of hand when someone sends you death threats using anonymous asks, or calls you horrible slurs, simply because you enjoy something (I am talking through personal experience here).

I support discourse. I support metas and takes and headcanons. I support those who say "Well, I understand why you like this couple/character, and I respect that, but I don't like them because..."

And that's the thing that's sometimes missing—respect.

I know what my stance is regarding ZK, and Kataang, and Maiko, and this senseless hostility. And I will always defend it, but that doesn't mean baseless insults need to be part of my vocabulary.

I can't tell anyone how to engage with fandom—and I'm not trying to! These are my own personal views on this matter, and I hope everyone understands the intention and meaning behind them.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

What do you think of people saying “Kataang had a downward spiral in book 3.”?

I saw that video called “get in losers we’re stanning zutara.”that claimed that, along with many other people who are anti Kataang.

"The people who ship the two characters that barely interacted the entire show and hated each other for 90% of it think Kataang not always agreeing means the ship is having a downwards spiral" And? Why should we care?

I genuinely don't see how anyone could think book 3 Kataang was bad. Literally my one criticism of it is the forced Ember Island drama that so clearly only existed because of that stupid rule of "Main couple can't get together until the last second of the last episode". There were so many sweet, meaningful and even ICONIC moments happen that season.

Aang staring at Katara in awe when he learns that she literally brought him back from the dead. Katara making it very clear through her talk with Hakoda that she doesn't WANT to separated from the people she loves (bringing closure to Aang's Guru conflict).

THE HEADBAND DANCE AFTER KATARA IS JEALOUS THAT AANG IS GETTING SO MUCH ATTENTION FROM OTHER GIRLS!!!!!!

Aang immediately crushing on the Painted Lady and helping Katara blow up a factory. "You're my forever girl." The kiss before the invasion and Katara cuddling up with him after it. Katara trusting Aang's instincts when he says he wants Zuko to teach him firebending but it only happening after she gave him the greenlight because her opinion is everything to him.

KATARA THREATENING TO MURDER ZUKO IF HE EVER HURTS AANG AGAIN!!!

Aang letting Katara take Appa, one of the last connections he has with his pacifist culture, on a mission to kill someone (which he fundamentally disagrees with) simply because she needs to go on that journey and he KNOWS Katara will eventually realize, on her own, that she's not killer. Katara explicitly telling Aang that she doesn't think of him as a little brother she has to take care of.

KATARA CHOOSING TO KISS AANG AND BE HIS GIRLFRIEND IN A SCENE DELIBERATELY ANIMATED TO LOOK LIKE A COUPLE KISSING AT THEIR WEDDING!!!!!!

If that's a downward spiral, what does a winning-streak look like? Them still being together in every other post-show material that came out through the years, and being confirmed to have spent decades married, and having kids and grandkids?

Oh wait, they did that too, my bad.

Seriously, even before I grew to like Kataang as a ship, I would have been OVERJOYED if some of my non-canon and/or non-endgame ships in literally ANYTHING got even HALF the good moments Kataang had in book 3. Downwards spiral my ass, motherfuckers are just jealous.

[allhailnarusama]

Honestly, I think Katara having her scars (let's say for arguments sake that she can't heal them either with normal waterbending or with the spirit water. I personally don't subscribe to the idea that the spirit water would have worked on Zuko's scar but anyway) would have enhanced the parallels and connection between her and Zuko. Besides, I don't think she would have bothered to use the spirit water on her own hands. She wouldn't have thought it important enough imo.

It's pretty obvious that she and Zuko, as Aang's main teachers of those respective elements, are meant to compliment and parallel one another. Both were learners themselves when they started teaching Aang (Zuko had to relearn firebending from a different source. After that he was virtually a master). Aang's proxy teacher (Pakku) for water came after Katara started teaching him waterbending. Aang's proxy teacher (Jeong Jeong) started teaching Aang firebending before Zuko started teaching him.

Zuko being burned and thus scarred by the Avatar's main adversary, while Katara would have been burned and thus scarred by the Avatar. Heck, even the incidents themselves parallel one another in ways. Ozai purposefully burned his son's face and had no feelings of love or affection for him at all. Aang burned Katara on accident and definitely cared for Katara deeply.

In truth I don't think that her having scars would change the dynamics between her and either Zuko or Aang. She would do her best not to acknowledge them around Aang (coddling him as she always does) while with Zuko she could probably get him to open up about how he got his. Seriously is anyone else mad that Team Avatar never learns about how Zuko got his scar? I doubt he mentioned it to Katara or anyone else. :/

Katara's own marred hands being the first to touch Zuko's scar? Poetry (shipping aside).

Anyway, I just think it's a neat concept narratively. -insert Marge Simpson meme here-

[the-badger-mole]

I get the frustration around shipping within this fandom. No, really I do. It does take up a lot of the bandwidth in the conversations around the show. I don't blame the fans, though. This is really Bryke's fault. They may not have started the ships wars, but they definitely threw napalm on the bonfire. Add that and the fact that when you really look at it, the friendships- the relationships that were supposed to be the backbone of the series- don't really add up to much. The biggest mistake was trying to make Aang the heart of the group and have so much of the "friendships" hinge on him. The kid has zero empathy and nil desire to actually get to know his friends.

His closest bonds are supposedly Katara and Zuko. I've talked at length about how little focus Katara gets in their relationship, platonic or romantic. His interest in her is very shallow, and mostly focused on the fact that she's pretty and sweet. Any moment of real, in depth friendship between them is Katara supporting him and caring for his feelings, but the moment she needed him to give her the same energy, he compared the death of her mother to his losing Appa for a few days, and compared her desire for targeted justice to Jet trying to do a deep cleanse of an entire community which included children (and possibly other EK citizens). Then the episode ended with his continued misunderstanding of Katara with no attempt at getting to know her better.

His other major bond is supposed to be with Zuko, but I have many of the same criticisms (minus his hyper focus on how pretty Zuko is). Honestly, I don't think Zuko and Aang actually had that strong of a friendship. We know they were "best friends" by the end because the narrative says so, but aside from that moment after Pouhai, and their field trip to see Ran and Shaw, they don't have a ton to do with each other. Even their training together is glossed over. Zuko is more narratively tied to Katara, and he has a stronger "bros" vibe with Sokka, and even Jet, for a quick moment.

If I'm keeping it a whole buck, Aang isn't really a great friend to anyone in the Gaang. The strong friendship beats have more to do with how they are friends to him than the other way around. He doesn't offer much by the way of empathy, or even a desire to know the struggles of his friends. I know that's mostly a failing on the part of the writing, but I do like exploring that as a character trait of Aang. His negative traits are a lot more interesting to explore than his positive ones.

I love the stories that explore the friendships within the Gaang. I love writing stories that do those friendships. In particular, I think the potential Katara, Toph and Suki, and Sokka and Zuko friendships had so much potential. And I'm right. They do. But let's be real here. The major points of interest within the show are the ships. And i think it was partially by design. Who else remembers how hard the show's promo material pushed the Zuko/Katara/Aang triangle?

[dreamchasernina]

So since the fandom has come back to life and there is not enough Kataang content on this app I will start sharing my two cents. Yay.

I want to start off by saying that as the show was airing, I, as a 10 year old, did kinda ship Zutara. Let’s face it, that scene in the catacombs was a turning point for a lot of shippers. But that was before I saw the final season a couple of years later. When I rewatched the show as a whole, as a teenager I was over Zutara, honestly their interaction kind of felt awkward to me, because they were enemies for so long. So I was all for Kataang. Now, that I’ve rewatched it for like a 1000th time, as a 28 year old, I finally see Kataang for the amazing pairing that it is.

Anyway, I’m not here to hate on anyone, you can ship whoever you like, and I love Zuko so you will not see me slandering his character here. Plus I don't feel the need to hate dump on a character to make my ship feel superior (*cough* unlike some Zutara shippers *cough*).

Ok, so. I feel that when people think of Katara, and her part in the show, they remember her as the responsible one in the group, the "mother" of the group, the sensible and caring one. Yes, when Katara’s mother died she had to step in and take the responsibility of the mother in the family, like Sokka says in the Runaway, and that stayed with her throughout the show. But, I hate that that’s the only thing she’s remembered for, because that’s just the result of her trauma. I feel like most people ignore a very crucial part of her character. Yes, she is the responsible in the group, but when she gets a chance to just be a kid, that's what she is.

People forget about the fun loving side of Katara. The one that goes penguin sledding and remembers how she hasn’t done it in a long time because life hasn’t allowed her to. The side of Katara that gets obsessed with Aunt Wu’s prediction because she is just a regular girl who’s fascinated by her love life, and dreams about what her future husband might be like. The girl that tries flying on the glider with Teo. The girl that relaxes on Appa and lets the hippie girl braid her hair, completely forgetting about the next task in their journey. People forget the side of her that dances in a cave, forgetting about the war and just enjoying life. Let’s not ignore that whenever Katara has a chance, she just enjoys being a kid, not just a badasss waterbender travelling with the Avatar.

And when Katara brings that side out, you know who’s right by her side? Aang. He’s not just by her side, he’s the one initiating those little fun moments. Penguin sledding is his idea, he’s the one to remind her that even though she’s been through a lot, and has a lot of responsibilities, she’s still a kid. He’s the one to organize the dance party, in a middle of a war, in the enemy's terrorory, he still finds a way for them just to be kids. And she’s right there with him, dancing. He’s also taking part in her obsession with Aunt Wu, not belittling or making fun of her faith, but taking part in it. Also sitting right next to her in a flower crown and enjoying the music the hippies play.

You cannot ignore that part of Katara, the part that shines when she’s comfortable, the part that just wants to be a regular kid and have fun. And that’s the part that Aang brings out in her. He’s the Avatar, the weight of the world is literally on his shoulders, but he still finds a way to enjoy life and be a kid, even after going through the worst trauma you can imagine. And he’s there to remind her that even if you’ve experienced the worst, you can still find joy in the little things. She literally says in the first episode - Aang brought something we haven’t had in a long time - fun. And that’s what he brings to her, this light, and that’s why she’s so drawn to him.

Isn’t that what we want for Katara, after the war is over? To just let herself be a kid, not to miss out on that part of her life, now that she doesn’t have to worry about their survival? And the best person to bring this joy and childlike wonder back into her life is Aang. And that’s why I think that Aang is truly the best one Katara could have ended up with.

[rifari2037]

First of all, Zuko had the choice to take Katara, Sokka, Suki, and Toph. Zuko also had the choice to asked for help to one or two of them. But Zuko chose Katara and only Katara without thinking twice.

Why?

I guess because Zuko trusted Katara more than he trusted the rest of the Gaang. So how could Zuko save the rest of the Gaang, if he himself chose Katara as the only one who could possibly be in that situation?

Second of all, well, Zuko would save anyone from the Gaang, but didn't even save Mai, the girl who was 'supposed to be' his girlfriend, from the same person, Azula?

It wasn't a life-threatening moment for Mai - or it could have been - but still, Zuko was 'supposed to' love Mai, right? She betrayed Azula for him, but he didn't do anything for her? Not even release her from the prison even though he was going to be a new Fire Lord?

Was that even make any sense?

When he saw Mai facing Azula, shouldn't he think, "I would not let my villain of a sister hurt someone I love who save me, whatever the risk!"

People mention Aang when Zutara is shipped because Aang was the main characters of the show.

Meanwhile Mai was so flat, not only in her gesture, but also as a character. She wasn't well developed enough to becoming the love interest of a complex character like Zuko.

She didn't have much role in Zuko's character development - if any. The storyline and his arc wouldn't change at all even if Zuko and Mai never dated. That's exactly why people often forget her and rarely talked about her.

Beside, was she really loves Zuko when she didn't really wanted to understand him and his struggle?

Even if she really loves Zuko, I feel sorry for this character because her 'supposed to be' lover treating her like she was nothing. He always forget her - even right after that moment, he didn't put much effort into her - while he waited all night for another girl's forgiveness, and honestly I doubt if he really loves her.

I don't understand about 'Mai is everything to Zuko what people describe Zuko to be for Katara', like, which part?

Yes, I agree that Mai was fascinating character, if only the writers had focused more on developing this character. She was so cool as Azula's trio, and in this elite group, her and Ty Lee's character could have been written deeper.

Mai deserve better!

[eponastory]

Ah, Sarcastic Chorus...

Let's break down the 'I'm going to fix you' argument for Katara.

First off, no one can 'fix' anyone. Going into a relationship thinking you're going to change somebody and make them different is going to make that relationship bad. It's not necessarily toxic, but bad. Why? Because it's not your job to 'fix' the other person. The only one who can do that is the other person. You can only 'fix' yourself.

A lot of relationships fail because of these expectations.

I'm going to talk about fanfiction here for a moment since I've been writing a Zutara story. Since Zutara isn't Canon (but we really wish it was) and all, I only have what does happen in Canon and what happens in fanfiction tropes I see a lot.

In the show we get these wonderful little moments where Zuko and Katara are fighting each other (book one), and it sets a nice theme of opposites attract. The motifs are there with all the color symbolism... it's nice. That does immediately set our brains to 'oh they are so going to get together'. There are a lot of nuances to that, and it's lovely.

I'm not going to lie, Katara is in that group dynamic of 'The Heart' role, and yes, it does put a little pressure on her character to care for everyone. It's my least favorite role for a character and it's a bitch to write when you want that character to be independent.

Anyway, back to Katara. She's the mother figure, the caring and nurturing one that has to help everyone else sort out their problems while she has to internalize her own. It sucks. It really does. So when we get to TSR in Book 3 and she is practically berated by everyone for not acting like herself... she gets pissed, rightfully so because she had to help everyone else with their bullshit until Zuko finally joined. This is where Zuko becomes a foil for her.

Just to be clear, a foil is basically a character that encourages change to happen within a dynamic. It can be a group or a pairing. Usually, that character had opposite goals or a different personality. Zuko started out as the antagonist, but when he joined the Gaang, he's now a foil for the entire group.

Back to what I was saying... what was I saying? Oh yes!

So Katara is rightfully pissed because she needs to deal with her trauma when everyone is suddenly 'this isn't who you are'. No, this is exactly who she is. She is very much like her element. Water is fluid, it can be calm and it can be a torrent... which is exactly the way she is written. It's always been her, she just put everyone else's problems above her own. Now that she has to deal with her problems, it's chaotic for everyone else.

And yes, she does have survivors guilt.

That is her main problem, so now she has to deal with it. And Zuko gives her that chance.

This is getting pretty long, so I'll try to wrap everything up here.

Zuko doesn't need to be 'fixed' he's already done that himself by himself. Joining the Gaang was essentially a fresh start for him (I use that term lightly) which is why he is so awkward when he goes to talk to them at the Western Air Temple (or is it Eastern? I don't remember ahhhh. Fibro brain!) And it's so cute and I just want to hug him. I digress, but it's great.

He's got a shitty past, but he is trying to change himself even further by accepting responsibility for what he did to them individually. In Katara's case, he has to work hard for her. It's lovely, and the payoff is great. I know for sure that is what I see in their relationship. He cares so much about her that he works hard to win her trust again. Why? Because she showed him compassion in CoD, and that struck a chord in him. Her strength is her compassion when he was taught by his sociopathic narcissist father that emotions like that are a weakness.

That my dear Kat*angers is why we love this ship.

It's a beautiful dynamic between them that I would have loved to see Bryke explore, but they just gave us the most vanilla bland version of a romance they could find by pulling a D&B (Game of Thrones writers) and subverting expectations. It sucks.

TLDR version.

Katara doesn't have to fix Zuko.

[zukosdualdao]

i know because of the enemies to lovers of it all, zutara is often paralleled/seen a similar ship to dramione. i'm definitely not here to disparage that or deny anyone their fun, but i don't see them as very similar dynamics except on a few surface-level points. on the other hand, while i don’t ship anything super aggressively in the hp universe, i've got a soft spot for harmione and i've recently been fascinated by two common anti talking points against them that i also see as really common talking points against zutara antis. (this is not to say that i think they are super similar ships either; they're mostly not.)

is the way people will insist that harry/zuko these ships, both of whom are abuse survivors with trauma, are "too dark" for hermione and katara and that they can't/shouldn't have to "handle" it. i always find these arguments very patronizing and rooted in misogyny, and also not great messaging on how they think about abuse and trauma survivors.

is how people insist that people shipping them devalues the friendship. a) i don't know how it does that when no amount of people shipping something non-canon changes the source material b) they have other friends anyway (why, for instance, does the canon KA or romione not devalue those friendships?) and c) saying that you like/thinking a couple could work romantically or find the concept interesting does not mean you don't appreciate the canon dynamic as is. i wouldn't ship zutara nearly as much if i didn't find their canon dynamic and eventually friendship so compelling.

what i find especially aggravating about these arguments is how often they're used by the same people and how they contradict each other? like, which is it? are they too dark and unhealthy or do you love the friendships between them sooo much that it devalues the very concept of friendship for anyone to ship them romantically (even though if you honestly find the dynamic that unhealthy, i don't know why you want them to be friends either.)