#maiko is endgame

[therossgarden]

If I had a nickel for every OTP I have about two childhood best friends who fell in love with each other in their teens without ever telling the other,

but were separated because of their century’s heaviest war,

just for one of them to end up mutilated and lost

while the other found themselves fighting for someone who was actually just exploiting them

and who they had to betray in order to set their lover free,

while proving to the audience their love through a sort of wedding vow that the fandom unanimously recognizes as an iconic line,

then proceeding to be reunited some time later

just for the writers to break them up at the end,

while still exploiting the love between them either for drama or to enhance other storylines,

leaving the fandom to wonder if the hints dropped in time were just random or actual confirmation of their love/happy ending,

I’d have two nickels.

Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice right?

[thena0315]

Kei Lo acting all high and mighty that he got the girl.....

.......only to realize that he really doesn't stand a chance against Zuko

[earfgoddesss]

one of these is not like the other.

((also moots, who wanna be the one other zukaang fan with me??))

[evercornelias]

#MAIKO: when you know, you know

[blluespirit]

was going through my drafts and uhhhh she had some points 💅

[billsbae]

okay what about the folklore love triangle but it's zuko (james) katara (augustine) and mai (betty)

I love making myself cry

[kataraslove]

for the shippers who say stuff like, “if zuko can’t be with katara, he should’ve ended up with jin!!! she was so much better than mai!!” let’s be a little honest here. would you guys really hold the same sentiment if jin and zuko had actually ended up together? because i have a feeling we’d get essay after essay about how the writers were the absolute worst for having zuko end up with an npc he spoke to in one episode instead of his “soulmate” whom he “sacrificed himself for.”

[juniperhillpatient]

Something interesting about this ATLA re watch that I’ve noticed is that a lot people in the fandom’s perception on the romance between Mai & Zuko is often completely skewed. And so is the perception of Mai as a character.

I’ve seen parts of the anti Maiko crowd cry that Mai is abusive, & I’ve seen some Maiko shippers argue that Mai is mean & that’s what Zuko needs - someone who doesn’t put up with his bullshit & calls him out.

I admit that I started to think maybe they bickered more than I recalled & that was their dynamic. It fits Mai’s aesthetic to be a bit mean, after all. But really? Other than “The Beach” which I haven’t gotten to in my re watch, where they get a little annoyed with each other before quickly making up, that’s not the dynamic at all.

The “I just asked if you were cold, I didn’t ask for your life story” scene that always gets taken out of context ends with Mai reassuring Zuko that he shouldn’t worry & hugging him!

She’s actually incredibly understanding of Zuko’s admittedly dramatic but also genuine anxiety expressed in this scene about going home.

The other Maiko scene that I’ve gotten to in my re watch is the two of them having a romantic picnic, cuddling, & making out.

Oh yes, she’s so snappy & mean here. Right.

I’m not saying that Mai can NEVER be mean - but it’s usually not directed at Zuko & if it is, it’s when they’re both getting on each other’s nerves. Sure she’s snarky, but she’s also got a sweet side that tends to often be reserved for Zuko.

I don’t actually even care if my ships are “healthy” so this isn’t a “everyone should ship Maiko because it’s so healthy” post. Everyone should ship whatever they want because it’s a free country. This is just a post discussing the canon versus fanon dynamic - & especially the canon versus fanon characterization of Mai because the difference is stark.

Mai is a snarky goth girl who hates the world, it’s true, but I think it makes her more interesting & three dimensional to remember that she absolutely does have a soft side.

[darklinaforever]

Me, when I see people shipping Gwyn & Azriel (Gwynriel), Elain & Lucien (Elucien), Sophie & Fitz (Sophitz), Shuri & Riri (Shuriri), Jon & Sansa (Jonsa), Wednesday & Xavier (Wavier / Wenvier), Elora & Kit, The Doctor & Donna, Feyre & Tamlin (Feylin), Stiles & Malia (Stalia), Katniss & Gale, Glimmer & Adora (Glimmadora), Dawson & Joey, Addie & Henry, Finn & Rey (Finrey), Rhaenyra & Harwin (Rhaewin), Rhaenyra & Alicent (Rhaenicent), Daemon & Mysaria, Daemon & Laena, Daemon & Nettles, Ross & Rachel (Roschel), Mal & Alina (Malina), Mai & Zuko (Maiko), Katara & Aang (Kataang) :

[peony-pearl]

I hope it’s okay to add this here (these are purely opinions here; I’m not 100% sold on Maiko but like I want to love them but this is my opinion on that!) but even at the end of the show, imo, Zuko and Mai’s relationship didn’t seem like it was going to support much more tension.

When they got together Zuko had just made a life altering decision that ended a 3 year banishment. He was going home, but so were all of those emotions that went with it - nervousness about seeing Ozai, turning his back on Iroh, watching Azula potentially strike down the Avatar, and Mai kind of continuously dismisses his worries - then again, all she’s been taught is to bury her own emotions. Her parents have only ever pressured her to behave and be still. I do think she wants to help Zuko, but I think she’s excited to have her old crush back home so she isn’t bored/lonesome. Except Zuko is a bundle of constant nerves and self-loathing. He isn’t totally the awkward kid she crushed on; he’s angry. He’s volatile. She can never really get him to relax. He’s constantly moody while she rarely shows a change in her own moods.

And then he betrays the Nation. Just like that. So quickly. He’s sorry for what he’s doing to her, but he’s doing what he feels is right. He’s coming into his own, he’s changing, and finding himself through his journeys with the Gaang. Unfortunately, Mai is left behind in more than one way: when Zuko leaves, and then when she’s imprisoned for betraying Azula to PROTECT Zuko. We don’t see Mai until the finale, and until this point she’s been faithful to the Fire Nation, but in betraying Azula that seems to be shorthand for her ‘turning good’ (which idk seems kind of cheap but it gets the message across I suppose.)

And then when they see each other again, Zuko is legitimately happy to see her, but... it seems so strange after all of the change we’ve seen Zuko go through. All of the times Mai told him to stop worrying were basically holding him back from the choice he eventually made to join the Gaang and help stop the war. Mai returned, a bit more chipper than usual, but after everything we’d witnessed, I kind of feel like their reunion was stunted.

I want to like Maiko more than I do; Mai still cared for Zuko, even after his eye had been horribly scarred and he was gone for 3 years, she was happy to see him going home; but Zuko had such a transformation and so much of it happened away from her as well. Without her acknowledging his new outlook, it seems like she’s sort of skirting around the issue again (which isn’t the case; the episode/show was ending and they were wrapping things up) but the way they chose to do so seemed like it kind of undermined everything Zuko had worked to accomplish and with her as his other half, the most emotionally charged thing she said was ‘don’t ever break up with me again’. This was played as the big zinger for their canon ship while he and Katara had fought side by side and they saved each other’s lives and Katara held his head in her hand as she saw he was alive and they had that huge emotional buildup over the whole series.

I mean, yeah ‘don’t ever break up with me again’ is played for a giggle, but for two people who were already getting over emotional/anger issues, I think letting Mai show Zuko a more emotional side (especially given he almost died) would have been a great step for both of them to show some changes on both parts. Having her react to his injury and that she’s thankful he’s still around, and that someone was there to save him and that she can tell he’s more confident, more proud; and that he could finally show tenderness to her and promise her that he will be more open and communicative - I think a moment with them showing emotional changes that stemmed from growing from their harsh upbringings would have been nice.

BUT again that’s totally my 2 cents XD

Do you support Zutara?

You guys keep asking me this! Haha.

I’ve never shipped it myself but I respect all the incredible fan art, fanfics, essays, videos, and other works the fandom has made. I think everyone should enjoy whatever ships they like and not be shamed or harassed for their hobby. Be it Kataang, Zutara, Zukka, Sokkla, Azutara, etc.

So yes, in that sense I “support” Zutara as much as I do the canon ships.

Except for Maiko. They made them toxic and incompatible in the comics. I just can’t abide that being canon anymore in a series aimed primarily at children. Both Zuko and Mai are wonderful and deserve better than that.

Still support the fans that enjoy it, though.

[azulaaaaaaah]

rating every zuko ship (cause that mf is shipped with everyone)

CLICKBAIT!!! this isn’t every zuko ship just the main ones i immediately lied lol. idk if any of these are hot takes or not but please don’t crucify me (might do a part 2 where it’s azula ships)

Jinko - Zuko/Jin

6/10

awwww it’s cute (for what it is)

and what it is was one singular date that was never really mentioned again

i really appreciate how jin is so unperturbed by zuko’s awkward angst and just genuinely likes him

howevvver she’s kinda one dimensional (as she’s only in like an episode) and i just don’t see this going anywhere longterm

less a ship, more a vehicle for zuko’s character development lol

Jetko- Zuko/Jet

3/10

jet being zuko’s first gay encounter is canon in my eyes

don’t ship them however cause i hate jet with the fire of a thousands suns

similar issues to jin as well where their interactions are extremely limited so personally have no clue how this could be a long term thing

Maiko- Zuko/Mai

5/10

i am so impartial on this ship it’s not even funny.

i get that it’s canon. i get that izumi looks suspiciously like mai so it’s endgame. i just don’t see HOW?? it feels as if the writers realised zutara was becoming popular and were like ‘OH SHIT WE GOTTA DEFUSE THIS SITUATION SOMEHOW’

their relationship is basically just mai being a cold asshole and zuko being an angry asshole and there’s no change or development between EITHER OF THEM

however when they’re cute they’re cute !!!!

‘i love zuko more than i fear you’ COLDEST LINE EVER

however again it’s like - you had a crush on him as a kid. he was BANISHED. you dated for like a month as teens. you argued the whole time. he left again- and shortly after you saved him from prison, but then you were imprisoned partly due to his actions. you get back together again, he becomes the ruler of a country, and then you’re surprised it’s isolating him/making him even more of an asshole???

on the other hand we as a society need to admit that zuko is weirdly possessive of her (ig that’s a positive if ur a booktok romance girlie but im not). like if i was mai i wouldn’t put up with that toxic shit either

at the end of the day, i honestly don’t care that they’re canon lol- but i think they’d probably best as a bitchy best friend duo

Zukaang - Zuko/Aang

1/10

not round here partner. not round here

my first issue is the age gap is objectively extremely weird if examined in canon. leaving it at that

i get that this is grumpy x sunshine in a way the other ships aren’t to me- but we’ve only ever seen these two characters interact with each other when there’s (again) A WEIRD AGE GAP

they are bros in the least homosexual way possible

the cherry on top of this situation is: isn’t aang the reincarnation of his great grandpa? isn’t that giving slight, uh, inc*st vibes??? imagine if people shipped korra and jinora isn’t that just WEIRD???

Zuki - Zuko/Suki

8/10

is this my most controversial take ???

i am a sucker for bodyguard x royal family dynamics guys

and the fact that this is girlboss x malewife is even BETTER

suki seems the most competent at handling his pissy ass in a way the other people on this list aren’t

like she’s real. she’s not sugarcoating his situation, BUT SHES COMPASSIONATE !!

i don’t like throuples typically but suzukki is even eliter than this, which removes the whole ‘going against the bro code’ element that arises from them being together

also i feel like if you haven’t read the comics this doesnt make sense At All so please do

-2 points for the lack of tangible reason to ship them lol

Zutara - Zuko/Katara

7.5/10

okay this one makes the most logistical sense to me within canon (solely examined as a zuko ship not overall)

it really seems as if they were gonna make this canon and swerved circa book 2

LIKE CMONNNN OG ENEMIES TO LOVERS WHERE THE GUY ACTUALLY HAS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND ISN’T JUST EVIL? FIRE X WATER? ITS INTRIGUING

something about this makes me uncomfortable though. (despite the age gap which again a little weird)

something about katara potentially becoming the fire lady is so… icky. she’s a waterbender. the fire nation tried to systematically erase her kind. her mother is killed by the fire nation because they think she’s a waterbender. and katara…. what, becomes part of the royal family? it just seems wrong, and like something she wouldn’t be into

also i feel like their arguments would be a little too NUCLEAR. there’s like, a 50% chance of divorce

she deserves a better ending than that is all i’m saying

to paraphrase the hunger games: katara has plenty of fire herself. SHE NEEDS THAT DANDELION IN THE SPRING MAN

(i’m a kataang truther)

Zukka - Zuko/Sokka

9/10

my zuko related otp!!!

bros to lovers guys, where zuko falls first but sokka falls HARDER !!!

ik this will never be canon and im happy with that. i know there’s not even a whisper of romance between them in the show, but i just think it’s c u t e .

sokka (like suki) is very likely to call zuko out on his shit, but less likely to lose his own shit (like katara)

this in my heart of hearts is 10/10 however is still problematic in a similar way to zutara

his mother is killed by the fire nation and he (presumably) becomes consort ?

however though, i would still say it’s not as ruhroh as zutara bc firstly, sokka isn’t a waterbender, and secondly, ‘consort’ is a lot more open to interpretation than i think fire lady is. in my opinion a consort ≠ a fire lady, just like irl a consort ≠ a queen. it kinda means he can still be ambassador to the southern water tribe/a leader of his own people, while just so happening to be married to the fire lord.

overall i can’t help but stan a friends to lover ship cmOn now

[piece-of-mined]

Honestly, I don’t want the live action to just be a shot-by-shot remake of the animated series. That would be pointless imo.

I’m excited to see that they have 8 hour-long episodes planned. (Which totals a longer runtime than season 1 of the original.) I’m looking forward to seeing a slightly different interpretation of the series.

i honestly think that the live action atla series will be really good. from the trailer, it looks promising. also, as a diehard sukka shipper, i'm so so so excited to see a new portrayal of that relationship, especially since the episode "warriors" is likely about the kyoshi warriors. i'm so excited to see how they expand suki's character! give me all the suki content !! also, this might be an unpopular opinion, but i can't wait to see how they retell the book 1 story. i absolutely love it as is. it's flawless to me. however, it'll be really cool to see how they potentially rearrange some of the storylines and add in certain characters (kyoshi, ozai, azula, etc.) that didn't originally appear until later. i'm so curious to see how they rework the story to fit the format of eight 1-hour long episodes.

[firelxdykatara]

I too ship Zutara and think they should have been canon. Although for me it's important to know how such a rewrite would go down. I tried to think, and I'm lost.

After Mai betrayed Azula for him, will he just go "sorry, not interested"? He isn't obligated to date her because of this, but her redemption hinges on Zuko and I don't see it being satisfying if he ends up rejecting her after this.

I thought the solution would be to rewrite her arc in boiling rock to make her have a moral realization, but then the problem with Maiko is practically solved. Their relationship wasn't salvaged by her redemption because last time they talked, Mai still didn't understand what's wrong with the Fire Nation and only changed because she loved Zuko. So how do you make it both satisfying & logical?

With Kataang the problem is the Chakras. The problem with the original (in my opinion) is that after he opened his chakra, letting go of his attachment to Katara, he's still attached (forcing a kiss on eip). Should TCoD get rewritten so that Azula shoots him before he opens it? Then why wouldn't he just open it later? Maybe the chakra would be locked so he feels as though he doesn't need to overcome his attachment just yet. In that situation, how would his chakra even unlock? The stone thing felt like nonsense, so how would I do it?

So yeah I have no idea how to approach this. How would you? (Thanks)

I've been rotating this ask in the back of my head like a rotisserie chicken for a few days--it's interesting because I don't generally stop to think like, how would I write them out of these relationships, I either ignore the relationships completely (which isn't hard, they were barely footnotes in the cartoon) or play a little bit with jealous exes or something. Thinking about like, In A Perfect World where Bryke wasn't in charge of ATLA post-canon (because if zutara had been canon, you can be sure they would've made us regret it) is interesting, and I do have thoughts on how I'd handle their relationships in a rewrite.

(this got long, so the rest is beneath the cut)

Assuming you mostly want to keep canon intact, I think maiko would be the easiest to work around, given how little relevance their relationship has in canon. The problem with maiko as an endgame ship is that it was not set up that way--if it had been, it would not have begun entirely off-screen and their whole relationship would not have been a study in misery and utter inability to connect emotionally. His relationship with Mai was there to showcase just how much he had changed and how little he fit into the life he had been so sure he wanted more than anything since his banishment. It worked very well to highlight Zuko's growth--how that contrasted to Mai's lack of it and why she could not understand him even at his most open and vulnerable--and did not work nearly so well when she was shoved back with him in the epilogue, after he'd quite literally forgotten her existence (he never mentions her again after Boiling Rock, not even to say a word of mourning, considering he'd have every reason to believe she was killed for defying his sister).

I don't think you can fix this by giving Mai some moral realization, because there simply is no room for it. As @araeph says in the essay I linked:

As a character, Mai is very useful to the story during Zuko’s return, because she represents everything that Zuko gains by sticking by his father. A girl who cares about him; the ability to indulge her; the authority he has over others at the palace; we see it all in his interactions with Mai. But this makes Mai a tether to a life he has long outgrown. Her function is not to advance Zuko’s character development, but to obstruct it, which also unfortunately means that Mai gaining a full understanding of Zuko’s trials would be disadvantageous to the story. If she knew everything about him and still wanted him to stay, it would give Zuko more cause than he should have to remain in the Fire Nation, but if she knew and encouraged him to leave and join the Avatar, it would rob Zuko of the triumph of making this decision on his own. In other words, there are good narrative reasons for keeping Mai in the dark; it just doesn’t make their relationship any stronger.

The seeds of a genuine redemption arc (one that includes some sort of moral realization and change to her moral framework) for Mai would have to have been planted far earlier than five episodes from the end of the series, but doing so would have of necessity detracted from Zuko's own character arc and the realizations that he makes despite his attachment to Mai (or more specifically to their relationship, which I feel like he was clinging to more out of a sense of abject loneliness he couldn't shake rather than genuine feelings and emotional connection).

So, in my mind, since we're tackling this with an eye towards getting rid of maiko with the fewest ripples to the overall story anyway, the easiest way to do this would be make one slight change to the end of the Boiling Rock two-parter--have Ty Lee (who had always been the least gung-ho of the trio about bowing to Azula's whims and had to be textually threatened into joining her in the first place) save Zuko's life, and then have Mai (who showed the most genuine affection for Ty Lee anyway) save Ty Lee. I love Zuko more than I fear you always fell flat for me as some epic declaration of love, anyway, since a) Zuko is not around to hear it, and b) unlike Ty Lee, she never showed much fear of Azula to begin with, so it wasn't a very high bar to clear. It was a cool line that was entirely unearned, and I don't think it would be missed, there would be some cute mailee crumbs this way, and a throwaway line of getting them released from the prison after the war ended could wrap up their presence in the story pretty nicely.

Now, kataang is a little trickier, if only because the last leg of Aang's character arc is almost completely derailed by his refusal to let go of his possessive attachment to Katara, to the point where he never naturally reopens his chakras, he has to have the Rock of Destiny hit him in just the right place, and the deus ex lionturtle there to give him a way out of having to make a hard moral choice. (I've maintained for years that if you work the final act of your main character's overall arc in such a way that it could have been solved by one good session with a chiropractor, something got fucked along the way.)

The thing about Aang's chakras is that, narratively, his whole thing with Guru Pathik and leaving his training early to save his friends was basically his version of Luke running away from his training with Yoda on Degobah because of his Force vision, only to find out that his friends were in the process of rescuing themselves and then losing his hand because he hadn't completed the most crucial part of his training. What's missing, therefore, from the last act of Aang's character arc, is the return.

See, in Star Wars, Luke pretty explicitly makes the wrong choice when he chooses to prioritize saving his friends over attaining enlightenment and fully mastering the Force. It was the only choice he could have made, but it was still the wrong one--because, like Aang, his friends did not actually need him to save them, he actually almost makes it harder for them to get away by requiring them to save him because, like Aang, he loses a battle in a very critical way. This was a lesson he desperately needed to learn, and it is clear he has learned it by the time he makes it back to Degobah and witnesses the end of Yoda's life, his own enlightenment having already been reached.

But Aang never goes back to the Guru.

And the text refuses to allow us to sit with the fact that he made the wrong choice in prioritizing his attachment to Katara over his ability to master the Avatar State. He is actually narratively vindicated about it, because the plot bends itself into a pretzel so that he doesn't have to spend any time during the last book trying to reopen his chakras and regain access to the Avatar State, handed both in the final battle with no excess effort on his part, and handed the girl into the bargain. (The girl who never even wanted him, so far as we can tell from all the lack of cues she gave him that she actually returned his feelings.)

And I think this could have been solved with a few scattered scenes. Let Katara actually have some agency in her own romantic relationship (or lack thereof), insofar as noticing Aang's advances and clueing the audience in to how she actually feels. Let Aang struggle with the fact that he can't reach the Avatar State, that his mastery of the elements is in limbo because he can't access his full power, rather than ignoring all of this until the end of the show. If we're trying to keep the shape of the last season roughly the same, let Katara confront Aang about the invasion kiss.

This would have been the perfect time to establish that Katara actually does feel some type of way about Aang prior to the epilogue, and it could have saved us from the exceedingly cringey EIP kiss that Aang never apologized for. How it comes across now, of course, is that Katara basically pretends it never even happened, to the point where she doesn't even know what Aang is talking about during EIP until he reminds her--the death knell for any shot their relationship had at looking requited, because I can tell you, as someone who's been a teenage girl, if someone I had conflicted but burgeoning romantic feelings for had kissed me, I would not have completely forgotten about it only a few weeks later--and we never get any indication as to what she actually felt about the kiss (which was not mutual, despite what Aang's dialogue in the EIP scene implies) except for the fact that she looked away and frowned afterwards. (A change mandated by Bryke, who wanted to leave her feelings completely ambiguous; the original storyboards had her smiling to herself.)

So, with an eye towards wrapping up Aang's puppy love crush and establishing Katara's distinct lack of romantic feelings for him, have her talk to him about the kiss. A good frame of reference for this would be Meng's conversation with Aang in "The Fortuneteller", where she finally realizes that he doesn't like her in the same way she likes him. Katara and Aang's conversation about the invasion kiss could be a callback to this, with Aang having some important realizations--that just because Katara doesn't share his feelings doesn't mean she loves him any less, and just because he can't have her the way he wanted doesn't mean he has to love her any less, that she doesn't belong to him but that's ok, because she's still his family and they'll always have each other's backs. Which could have functioned well in helping him take another step towards unblocking his chakras. Going back to the Guru directly may not have worked, since by this point in the story we're hurtling towards the final confrontation and Sozin's Comet, but let Aang reflect on what the Guru told him with new understanding granted him by his experiences throughout the first half of the season.

To keep the stakes high and up the suspense, obviously, he shouldn't have fully unlocked his chakras and the AS before the final fight, but the seeds could be planted--little moments like a talk with Katara about the invasion kiss, maybe a little more empathy and understanding from him about why Katara needs closure in TSR, etc--and then, during the final fight, rather than hand him all the answers on a silver platter, have him almost lose. He still can't go full Avatar, he's out of time, he still doesn't know exactly what to do about Ozai given his own pacifism and desire to preserve that part of his culture--he tries to fight but he's pretty quickly overpowered. Idk how I would've animated this, and maybe it wouldn't have looked as cool for the final fight, but the true climax of the finale was the Zuko and Azula agni kai anyway, so it hardly matters--I'm picturing him doing the rock-shield thing and going into a brief meditative state, where he finally achieves the enlightenment necessary to unlock the AS on his own, no rock of chiropracty necessary. And at this point, I'd give Ozai a Disney Death, since leaving him alive causes more problems than it solves and it's not necessary for Aang to kill him for him to die--they're fighting on a mountain ffs--but if you don't want to change that part then him figuring out energy bending as part of becoming a fully realized Avatar would at least feel more earned than the lionturtle just handing it to him. (And that could've been foreshadowed better by seeding the idea for it earlier in the season.)

After all of that, particularly if you up the emotions during the agni kai and have Zuko and Katara kiss there (or something less explicitly romantic but still tender, like a brief forehead touch), it'd feel pretty natural to have a just friends ending for Aang and Katara. Maybe a brief, slightly awkward but ultimately amiable conversation if Zuko and Katara had a ~thing at their final fight, and then the final shot of the series could be the gaang all together, maybe zutara holding hands or Katara resting her head on his shoulder or something, but since they already kissed there wouldn't feel like a need to end the whole show on romance, something which I've always felt missed the point of the series.

And then, y'know, after that, the world's your oyster! This is how I'd do it if I were trying to keep the bulk of the final season intact. Of course, breaking it all down to its component pieces and rebuilding from the ground up is also an option, but that'd probably be a longer post lol.

[fruittarts-with-rosepetals]

I swear if maiko doesnt end up being endgame in the zuko\avatar movie,ill be just as unlikeable as zuko's tea

[the-badger-mole]

How old do you think Katara and Zuko would be if they did get together in canon?

Personally, my gut says mid to late 20s (25-27 at the earliest and 27-29 at the latest) because I can't really visualize them getting together in their late teens.

Let's pretend that Kataang and Maiko didn't become endgame in the season finale for the sake of this ask, as well as ignoring the comics entirely.

Depends on the story. I could see them getting together at any age. I even like the idea of Book 1 Zutara. I have written stories where they get together right before the comet, right after the Agni Kai, a few years later. I even have one where they don't get together until they're in their late 40s/early 50s. Their chemistry is good enough that I think they just need one halfway decent reason.

I firmly believe that had the show ended with them, it would've still made narrative sense. Had they kissed at the Agni Kai, it would've felt earned, and it would've matched their impulsive streaks. I know there are those who felt it would've been rushed, but I disagree. The only reason I think it might have felt rushed is because of how recently they became friends, but I don't think it would've taken them that long to realize they were attracted to each other. Especially not Miss Heart-On-My-Sleeve Katara. which is why I absolutely think that she was trying to let Aang down gently in eip, but Bryke wanted their baby boi to have his prize🙄😒

[lady-iskra]

This on-and-off game between Maiko doesn’t do both characters any justice. If the new A:TLA comic were about how Zuko and Jin run into each other in Ba Sing Se—instead of the new Maiko one—with a premise hinting at a Jinko endgame, I would directly buy that thing as soon as it’s available for pre-order. They both really deserve a chance, as they had a load of chemistry in the few minutes they shared together on-screen. That’s of course while hoping they all stay in character, and it won’t be another one of Bryke’s so beloved relationship dramas.