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burst-of-iridescent · 2 years ago

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the official zutara dissertation (p.6)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Now that we have discussed both Zutara and Kat.aang from a Watsonian and Doylist perspective, we will do the same for the second half of the canon pairings: Mai and Zuko. In this final section, I will prove that Mai.ko’s relationship was incompatible, dysfunctional, and did a disservice to both Mai and Zuko’s character arcs, as well as the themes of the show overall.

BOOK 6: THE DUMPSTER FIRE OF MAI.KO

Why Mai and Zuko don’t work in canon

1. Mai and Zuko have fundamentally incompatible character traits.

Zuko’s fundamental character trait is empathy. Mai’s fundamental character trait is apathy. Zuko is fiercely emotional, expressive and cares deeply about others, even strangers he doesn’t know. Mai is reserved, closed-off and barely seems to care about anyone, even her own family members. It’s true that opposites attract is a common romantic trope, but successful execution of this trope lies in the fact that those differences are compatible in a way that betters both parties, whereas Mai and Zuko’s do not.

Zuko and Mai are canonically unable to reconcile these differences between themselves. Zuko wants Mai to be more open and expressive, calling her a “big blah” and telling her “I wish you would be high strung and crazy for once instead of keeping all your feelings bottled up inside” (Book 3: The Beach). Mai finds it impossible to live up to these expectations, sarcastically apologizing for not being “as high strung and crazy as the rest of you” and yelling at Zuko and Azula to leave her alone when they press her into expressing herself (Book 3: The Beach). Zuko cannot accept Mai as she is, wanting her to fundamentally change herself, while Mai is unwilling to make this change and unable to understand the need for it in the first place.

While these conflicting traits would create a dysfunctional relationship in any circumstance, it is particularly unacceptable when both parties are about to become rulers (of a nation recovering from war, no less) – a position that demands compassion and empathy. When Mai doesn’t even seem bothered about her own brother being kidnapped (Book 2: Return to Omashu), how is she supposed to care about the people of the Fire Nation? When Mai was ready to order around servants for the fun of it (Book 3: Nightmares and Daydreams), how is she supposed to dedicate her life to serving others?

2. Mai does not truly know or love Zuko for who he is, bringing out only the worst in him.

With Mai, Zuko plays the role of what he believes to be the “perfect” Fire Nation prince. He is lazy, spoilt, and obedient to his father and the Fire Nation – all of which is entirely antithetical to who Zuko is at his core.

The Zuko who relentlessly hunted the Avatar for three years with dogged determination, discipline and effort, who stood up for an enemy village, who spoke up in a war meeting at thirteen to save innocent lives is not the Zuko who lounged around eating fruit tarts and silently sat by while his father planned to slaughter millions – and yet the latter is the Zuko that Mai “loves”, even though this is the complete opposite of the person Zuko is, or should be. Zuko himself admits as much, even outright telling Mai that though he was finally the son Ozai wanted, he wasn’t himself (Book 3: Nightmares and Daydreams).

If she genuinely loved Zuko, Mai should have realized this and pushed Zuko to stay true to who he is – but she never disagrees with or disapproves of Zuko’s behaviour in the Fire Nation. In fact, in most of their scenes she seems to enable it, encouraging him to laze around and dragging him into nihilistic self-indulgence and pessimism with her. The Mai that we see with Zuko is undoubtedly Zuko as the worst version of himself.

Zuko is an idealist, someone who never gives up, who believes in doing the impossible, and at the end of the show he is in a position where he desperately needs those qualities to recover from a century of war and change his country. The last thing he needs is someone who cannot share a similar vision, who “hates the world” (Book 3: The Headband) and can only react to it with cold indifference at best. (Hmm, I wonder if we know another female character who always chooses to see the best in the world and actively works to improve it?)

Ideally, a good romance has characters be drawn to each other because they see and love one another for who they are, but neither Mai nor Zuko are able to do this. The Zuko that Mai loves is completely unlike the person he really is, while Zuko wants Mai to be the opposite of who she truly is.

Ultimately, this makes their relationship impossible to buy, because neither appears to like or even know the other for who they really are, and everything we are shown of their personalities and dynamic seems to suggest that there is no reason they would even fall for each other in the first place.

3. Mai and Zuko cannot truly connect with or understand each other, making their relationship appear shallow and based purely on physical attraction.

The incompatibilities in Mai and Zuko’s personalities makes it impossible for them to connect on a deeper level, forcing their relationship to remain shallow and stagnant.

Mai’s lack of desire to express herself means that she does not open up, and in turn frequently cuts Zuko off when he tries to. In their very first scene together, when Zuko tries to discuss his worries with Mai, she tells him that she “didn’t ask for his whole life story” (Book 3: The Awakening) and promptly shuts him down. This pattern continues to be sustained throughout their relationship, with Mai failing to understand why Zuko is upset not to be invited to the war meeting and even glibly insinuating that he should be happy not to go, given the incident that occurred at the last one (Book 3: Nightmares and Daydreams).

When Zuko needs comfort or reassurance, Mai’s response is to either kiss him and just tell him to stop worrying (Book 3: The Awakening) or suggest that he abuse his power over his servants (Book 3: Nightmares and Daydreams), which in and of itself proves just how little Mai actually knows Zuko if she thinks that would genuinely cheer him up. Mai cannot meaningfully support Zuko, because she doesn’t truly listen to or understand his concerns in the first place.

This, coupled with the fact that Mai never really opens up about her own feelings and thoughts, makes it impossible for them to truly connect on a deep, intimate level. This restricts their relationship to be characterized by kissing, flirting and fighting, none of which seem to indicate a genuine, lasting love on either side. Ultimately, this leaves the impression that the only thing really holding Mai.ko together is pure physical attraction, and nothing more.

4. Mai and Zuko’s dynamic is toxic, and would make them both miserable in the long run.

Mai and Zuko are fundamentally incapable of giving each other what they need in a relationship.

Zuko, an abuse survivor, needs a partner who wears their heart on their sleeve, who can be both kind and direct, who understands him without excusing him. He does not need a partner who orders him around by making him get food for her, or repays his efforts to do something nice for her with ingratitude (Book 3: The Beach). He does not need a partner who puts his life in danger for her own petty grievances (Book 3: The Boiling Rock, Part 2), or who belittles and “jokingly” threatens him to stay in the relationship (Book 3: Sozin’s Comet Part 4).

Zuko’s dynamic with Mai reveals a severe lack of communication, sensitivity, and support. While this would be frustrating in any circumstance, it is particularly toxic given that it repeats many of the patterns of abuse that Zuko endured in his childhood. The last thing Zuko needs is to spend a lifetime with another distant loved one who seems impossible to please, who leaves him struggling to figure out what they need from him and makes him feel small and inferior.

On the other hand, a lifetime with Zuko would also mean unhappiness for Mai – not only because Zuko wants her to be someone she’s not, but because the role of Fire Lady would be extremely suffocating for her. As someone who apparently grew up with parents that stifled her (Book 3: The Beach) and is bored very easily, having to spend the rest of her life dealing with the rigid, tedious machinations of politics and ruling would be torture for Mai. Coupled with her inherent lack of emotional qualities necessary for the position, becoming Fire Lady would spell disaster for Mai, Zuko, and the country as a whole.

The Narrative Failure of Mai.ko

1. Zuko’s development at the end of the show has outstripped Mai’s and having them reconcile is an insult to his character.

When the show ends, Zuko has completed his redemption arc and is unquestionably a hero. He has unlearned the nationalist indoctrination he grew up with, made amends for his mistakes, and is nothing like the person he used to be in the Fire Nation.

Mai, however, has undergone none of this growth. She is never shown to question the Fire Nation, disapprove of Fire Nation imperialism or disagree with the Fire Nation’s actions. In their last interaction before their final reconciliation, she still believes that Zuko is a traitor, accusing him of betraying his country and clearly not understanding why he defected (Book 3: The Boiling Rock, Part 2).

Mai ending up with Zuko when she is never shown to grow out of her beliefs or actually work against the Fire Nation on her own terms makes absolutely no sense. She and Zuko are on entirely different paths, and it took Zuko – someone far more empathetic than Mai – years to turn against the Fire Nation. It does Zuko a disservice to suggest that he would willingly be with Mai when he knows that she, at this point, does not share his ideals or beliefs, and has a much longer and more difficult journey ahead of her to get there (it’s also questionable if she ever does really get there, given that she doesn’t appear to care about people she’s not personally involved with).

Had Zuko never defected and instead turned into yet another war-mongering Fire Lord, Mai would have stayed with him. When Zuko has a complete perspective change and pivots in the opposite direction to who Mai originally believed he would become, she still stays with him. Mai ending up with Zuko when he has undergone such a huge change and she hasn’t, loving two entirely different and essentially contradictory people, is utterly nonsensical.

2. Mai’s characterization is retconned to justify her redemption.

“I love Zuko more than I fear you!” is certainly a cool line... except nothing about how Mai is set up until The Boiling Rock earns that statement from her character.

Mai is more than eager to join Azula when she comes to recruit her, even when she finds out that they’re going to hunt down Zuko. At this point, Mai has no reason to believe that Azula will bring Zuko back to the Fire Nation safely, but shows no hesitation about potentially capturing and hurting Zuko, even smiling when Ty Lee says “It’ll be interesting to see Zuko again, won’t it?” (Book 2: Return to Omashu)

Mai defies Azula on multiple occasions with no concern, which implies that she is either unafraid of Azula, or does not believe that Azula will punish her even when she disobeys her. She refuses to enter the sewers to fight Katara and Toph, saying “she can shoot all the lightning she wants at me, I’m not going in there” (Book 2: The Drill) and releases the Earth King’s bear without a fight despite the fact that she is clearly supposed to be on guard (Book 2: The Crossroads of Destiny).

Unlike Ty Lee, there is never a moment before her betrayal where Mai seems scared of Azula – and the animators do add moments of Mai breaking her apathetic façade (such as when Ty Lee hugs her), so they could certainly have done the same in other scenes to show that Mai is secretly afraid of Azula and doesn’t agree with her actions. As it is, there is no distinction made between what Mai does out of supposed fear of Azula and what she does of her own agency, and this makes her redemption and characterization unbelievable.

3. Mai’s redemption is unsatisfactory and undermines the importance of redemption as one of the show’s major themes.

Apart from her retconned characterization, the only other build-up to Mai’s redemption is her betrayal of Azula to save Zuko – except this betrayal doesn’t happen because she experiences growth and rejects the ideology of the Fire Nation of her own will, but because Zuko switches sides, for some reason Mai doesn’t even understand.

If the writers truly wanted to redeem Mai’s character from the start, she had to be shown to distance herself from the Fire Nation in some way, or at least participate in Fire Nation militarism only under duress (as the show did with Ty Lee, which is why her redemption is far more believable). Instead, they characterize Mai as an outright villain, and then try to redeem her at the last minute.

This is particularly galling given the emphasis the show places on restitution as a part of achieving redemption. Zuko’s redemption is satisfying because he doesn’t immediately earn it after one good deed – he has to genuinely see the error of his ways, and then make amends for the hurt he caused. Yet, despite the fact that Mai also hunted the Gaang all over the world seemingly of her own volition, and showed absolutely none of the growth Zuko went through, she’s automatically redeemed because she saved Zuko and his friends once?

Unless Mai magically saw the light while in prison (which isn’t canon, and off-screen character development is not development in any case), neither Zuko nor the Gaang should be comfortable being around Mai at the end of the show, let alone playing pai sho with her in a tea shop. Team Avatar’s easy acceptance of Mai, and Zuko’s willingness to take her back, is a slap in the face both to Zuko’s hard won redemption and to the importance the show places on earning redemption.

4. Making Mai.ko canon undercuts the entire narrative purpose of their relationship, which was meant to illustrate why Zuko made the wrong choice in returning to the Fire Nation.

The reason why Mai.ko is so dysfunctional is because the audience is supposed to see that it is wrong. We are not meant to root for Zuko to find happiness with Mai, because Zuko’s arc in the first half of book 3 is intended to prove that his choice to return to the Fire Nation was 100% the wrong one.

Everything about Zuko’s time in the Fire Nation is supposed to make him uncomfortable and miserable, to show him without the slightest hint of doubt that he is not where he’s meant to be. His relationship with Mai is another seemingly “perfect” aspect of this life that is supposed to make him happy, but does not because it is fundamentally wrong for the person he truly is. When Zuko decides to defect, the decision is supposed to be clear, no longer something to struggle with, because he finally realizes that everything he thought he wanted is not what he really wants. He has changed too much for that, and the fact that he does not want those things any longer is good.

Making Maiko canon after this completely undercuts both this arc and the severity of Zuko’s choice to side with Azula, making it seem as though it’s not all bad that Zuko betrayed Iroh and Katara because he got to reconnect with the love of his life, when really it was unequivocally the worst mistake Zuko ever made. It adds ambiguity to Zuko’s decision to turn traitor, insinuating that he had to “give up” Mai to do the right thing, when the point was that he didn’t really have to give up anything because he didn’t want any of this any longer, and so it was not a struggle at all.

Nothing about his time in the Fire Nation was right for him, and both Zuko and the viewer were supposed to realize that, because that is what drives home the impact of Zuko’s wrong decision in the Crossroads of Destiny, and what proves that Zuko has changed for good. Portraying Maiko getting back together as something positive hurts both this narrative and Zuko’s character development as a whole.

Ultimately, Mai.ko does not work because it is a shallow relationship attempting to force together two fundamentally incompatible people, cheapening and undermining both Zuko and Mai’s characters and arcs. It’s evident that it was not intended to be endgame until extremely late in Book 3, because the set-up, development and progression of this ship is entirely unsalvageable – and only makes Zuko and Katara’s relationship appear even more perfect in comparison.

#anti maiko #the official zutara dissertation #zutara #yes i know this is mad late i am so sorry #but in my defense i fucking hate mai.ko #pretty much done now! just the conclusion left #ty for sticking it out if you made it here

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burst-of-iridescent · 2 years ago

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the official zutara dissertation: conclusion

This dissertation set out to prove that Zutara, rather than Kat.aang and Mai.ko, should have been the endgame ship of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It has discussed why Zuko and Katara would make a good couple within the text, how the narrative was setting them up for a relationship and why a Zutara endgame would have served the themes and messages of the show, as well as the arcs of all the characters involved, better than the canon relationships did.

Many have argued that Zutara is too complicated, too deep, too much for a kids’ show - that much of the subtext and narrative and analysis that really makes Zutara brilliant cannot be easily understood by children. But the reason that Avatar: The Last Airbender still stands the test of time today is because it did care about those very things, because it took difficult, complex issues and still managed to make them meaningful, nuanced and understandable. If ATLA could depict imperialism, colonialism, redemption, genocide and war, I see no reason why it could not have pulled off an enemies-to-lovers ship literally coded in the DNA of the show.

In conclusion, Zutara should have been canon because it would have fixed almost all of the narrative, thematic and character problems I have discussed over the course of this dissertation, and elevated the show to near perfection. The choice to deny Zutara of the ending they rightfully deserved is thus undoubtedly one of ATLA’s biggest flaws and its greatest loss.

But as Dante Basco, Prince Zuko himself and captain of the Zutara ship, put it: “Sometimes the feeling of what could have been is stronger than what actually happened, because the memory of perfection lasts longer.”

Though Zuko and Katara’s story ends in tragedy, it is this very tragedy that still makes them so fascinating all of these years later ‐ because the final element of Zutara’s brilliance is the idea of what might have been, in what has been left solely to our imaginations. In the greatest of ironies, therefore, it was only by leaving the story of Zuko and Katara unfinished that it was able to become the beautiful tale it is today ‐ more powerful and compelling, perhaps, than it could ever have been in canon.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Araeph, 2017. Araeph’s Greatest Hits, Vol. 2. https://at.tumblr.com/burst-of-iridescent/araephs-greatest-hits-vol-2/zfcozrmeby19

Certified Bi Fangirl Disaster, 2020. The Cave of Two Lovers foreshadows the Zutara interactions in the Crossroads of Destiny. https://at.tumblr.com/theotterpenguin/645662327005478912/p30gsur9gexe

DevilDogDemon et. al, 2021. The Effect of Kataang on Aang’s Character Arc. https://at.tumblr.com/burst-of-iridescent/devildogdemon-juldooz-atla-negromouthandafro/hs2r37t0uipp

FunFanFin, 2017. How Zutara Fulfills The Show’s Key Themes. https://at.tumblr.com/funfanfin/dentist-open-up-me-wellokay-so-not-only-does/pnwuyp5pxxc4

Marsreds, 2017. It’s called the Cave of Two Lovers, not the Cave of Two “Treasured/Close/Platonic Friends”. https://at.tumblr.com/marsreds/its-called-the-cave-of-two-lovers-not-the-cave/njy7bj7qkoko

My Bated Breath, 2020. Wants vs Need - A Comparison Between Kataang, Taang, and Zutara. https://at.tumblr.com/my-bated-breath/wants-vs-need-a-comparison-between-kataang/vvhl7irrdk69

RoyalTeaLovingKookiness, 2019. The Romantic Framing of Zutara. https://at.tumblr.com/royaltealovingkookiness/i-think-the-anon-who-sent-the-zuko-lost-azula-in/rpfdg8oxfmfq

SneezyPeasy, 2021. Get in losers, we’re stanning Zutara. https://at.tumblr.com/sneezypeasy/get-in-losers-were-stanning-zutara/0x2mbtmsp3xu

SneezyPeasy, 2021. Why Aang’s Lines Sound Preachy in The Southern Raiders. https://at.tumblr.com/sneezypeasy/why-aangs-lines-sound-preachy-in-the-southern/q78urhuqp6lm

SunMoonTurtleDuck, 2021. Why Zuko Had To Take Azula’s Lightning for Katara. https://at.tumblr.com/theotterpenguin/its-true-zuko-would-have-taken-the-lightning-for/ki6rg04v45h2

TheMomentofDavyPrentiss, 2017. Why I Believe Katara Canonically Had Romantic Feelings for Zuko. https://at.tumblr.com/themomentofdavyprentiss/why-i-believe-katara-canonically-had-romantic/m7a6x8a521n8

TheOtterPenguin, 2022. A Counter Argument to “Zuko Would Have Taken The Lightning for Anyone!” https://at.tumblr.com/theotterpenguin/why-is-zuko-would-have-taken-the-lightning-for/amyfkr6oaz45

#zutara #zutara meta #the official zutara dissertation #and we're done!!!#this series has been so fun to write and seeing everyone's reactions made me so happy #i hope this was as enjoyable to read as it was to make <33 #and also shoutout to all these amazing metas and sneezy's god tier zutara video #anti kataang #anti maiko #ana out *drops mic*

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burst-of-iridescent · 11 months ago

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ana's meta masterlist

Pro-Zutara:

the official zutara dissertation: part 1 | part 2

zuko, aang and taking lightning for katara

zutara and romantic coding

"you rise with the moon, i rise with the sun" is a zutara line

zutara and thematic significance

zutara vs jetara

zutara parallels in the awakening

zutara's narrative culmination

zutara in the crossroads of destiny:

azula vs katara

love as resistance in the catacombs

zutara in the southern raiders:

the true source of katara's anger at zuko

katara bloodbending before zuko

the narrative relevance of zutara

zutara and bloodbending

zutara's narrative symmetry

why zuko had to betray katara in ba sing se

Anti Anti-Zutara:

the official zutara dissertation (p.3)

"zutara would face too much opposition from their countries"

"zuko and katara are a colonizer/colonized ship"

"zuko and katara would fight all the time”

"platonic zutara is better than romantic zutara"

"fire lady katara is racist"

“zuko would’ve taken lightning for anyone”

“katara is too traumatized by the fire nation”

“shipping zutara is amatonormative”

ATLA Ship Criticism:

the official zutara dissertation: part 4 | part 5 | part 6

why mai.ko was never intended to be canon

mailee is a better ship than mai.ko

how kat.aang could've been fixed

kat.aang's lack of trust in the southern raiders

emotional labour in kat.aang

kat.aang’s narrative imbalance

comparing katara and aang's parenting

the fortuneteller does not foreshadow kat.aang

ATLA/LOK:

azula/katara parallels

katara's choice in the crossroads of destiny

was zuko's betrayal in-character?

zuko's comments in the southern raiders

zuko's comments in the southern raiders (pt. 2)

zuko is not a “bad boy”

zuko’s treatment of aang in sozin’s comet

sokka didn't feel inferior to katara

did mai fear azula?

comparing mai and toph

azula vs zuko: the tragedy of narrative foils

should aang have killed ozai?

sexism in the water tribes

thoughts on the atla comics

writing a final battle: kung fu panda vs atla

gratuitous violence in the legend of korra

The Hunger Games:

zutara and everlark parallels

zutara and everlark parallels (pt. 2)

gale's arc in the hunger games trilogy

the myth of humanity's inherent evil

the ending of lucy gray

Squid Game:

individualism under capitalism

the ethics of billionaires

#zutara #anti kataang #anti maiko #zutara meta #been intending to do this forever but i'm on this hellsite so much that going through my archives took an eternity lmao #anyway here's a collection of patented ana rambles

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zvtara-was-never-canon · 1 year ago

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Hello, I' ve been reading your blog for quite some time and its existence makes me feel better both in general and especially when I get really annoyed and frustrated by crazy zutara shippers (not the sane ones, of course).

I would like to add some observations I made and haven't seen here. I've read many pro-zutara metas, both mentioned here and the ones I accidentaly found myself, and I notice one thing. The shippers often (always?) claim that Katara and Zuko MUST be together, but almost never say that they actually WANT to be together. It's the shippers who want zutara to happen, but not the characters themselves. And these people complain that in kataang Katara has no voice!

Literally: Zutara shippers: In our ship Katara can finally voice her wants and needs and be heard, both by Zuko and us, since we all respect her so very much! Katara, voicing it: I am not Zuko's girlfriend! *seriously, that was the scene used as proof for this pro-zutara statement in one of the metas mentioned in the ask recently* Zutara shippers: Ignore that, she's in denial.

It became even better in the so-called "official dissertation" (gosh, there are so many lies and misinterpretations, I could talk about every single one of them, if you want) where the author wrote just that: "Sure, Zuko and Katara expressed no explicit romantic interest in one another in canon" just admitting: "I typed a six-part post explaining how this pairing, both participants of which don't want to be a romantic couple at all, should be canon".

Oh, yeah, that is a BIG thing with zutarians. It's exactly because they know that Zuko and Katara don't actually have feelings for each other, that they have to find other (often super convoluted) reasons for this "romance" to happen.

The Fire Nation HAS to be the "feminist" nation while everywhere else is a hellhole where women are nothing but property and baby-makers. The Fire Nation HAS to suddenly only be able to peacefully co-exist with the rest of the world if it suddenly stops being racist over night, being not only okay with the Fire Lord marrying the daughter of lider of a tribe they consider inferior and barbaric, but actually seeing her as the ONLY option for bride.

The Gaang, Katara's family and tribe, and basically every male ever, all NEED to see her as basically their maid and not actually care about who she is, so Zuko will be the only decent option for husband. Zuko NEEDS to be a billion times more traumatized by everything he went through while Katara is the only one that, by some miracle, can "fix" him just by existing so she'll be forced into the role of wife/caretaker/therapist, otherwise she'll psychologically destroy him.

Aang and Mai (as well as other characters like, say, Jet) NEED to be completely selfish, uncaring, abusive, evil tyrants that will inevitably become such unbelievable threats that they just HAVE to be killed so the possibility of Katara and Zuko so much as having ANY positive feelings towards them, let alone choose to be with them, is just no longer on the table.

Zutarians know they HAVE to make Zuko and Katara basically be forced into a relationship with each other, because it's very clear that they'd never pursue it willingly.

And somehow, that's "true love" instead of, at best (and this is me being VERY generous here) a mutually benefitial arranged marriage with no real feelings involved, or at worst just two people giving into despair and never, ever finding real happiness in this relationship they feel trapped in because said relationship was a big mistake.

#anti zutara

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zvtara-was-never-canon · 1 year ago

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This is the official Zutara dissertation…lmk when you read the Maiko one LOL

https://www.tumblr.com/burst-of-iridescent/703823048018739200/the-complete-official-zutara-dissertation

I refuse to read any of this. Just the titles alone scream "Not only will you not find a single logical argument in any of these, you will lose IQ points and want to drink bleach to end your own misery"

#anti zutara

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burst-of-iridescent · 1 year ago

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rereading the Official Zutara Dissertation (again) and i just wanna say that literally this essay is SO well-written and the dynamics are analyzed so well it's teaching me SO much about writing!! "the symbolic, narrative, and thematic significance" section in particular is not only an INSANELY thoughtful analysis but also functions as such a good tutorial for how to craft meaningful relationships that tie into the core themes of the story. one billion out of ten you are so galaxy brained for this

aaa i don’t even know what to say afjeksks thank you so much!!! this is so kind of you 🩷 i’m really happy you loved that section because it was my favourite to write as well! zutara was just woven into the story so well goddamn it why were we robbed 😭

i hope you’re having the best day/night ever i am sending you so much love <33 thank u again for this ask it made me smile on a very bad day & i am truly so much more appreciative for that than i can say ❤️

#coming back to tumblr to see this was such a lovely surprise #beloved mutuals 🩵

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burst-of-iridescent · 2 years ago

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I was trying to read your pinned post on Zutara but I am only to read part 1, 2 and 7. Whenever I click the other links it says this post doesn’t exist or something, I was wondering what’s wrong. Have a nice day btw.

that’s so strange. i just double checked all the links myself & i was able to access the posts. i’ll link them again here, do let me know if you’re able to see them now!

i hope that works for you, anon. have a nice day too! <3

#if anyone else is facing this problem please lmk!

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burst-of-iridescent · 1 year ago

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I'm really sorry if this is troublesome, but would you happen to have any anti m.aiko and or anti mai dissertations written? Her character has never, ever sat right with me and it's so refreshing seeing other people bring up concerns I have trouble voicing. Like, I was literally a ten year old kid watching the show back in 2006 and felt frustration and anger at her for being so damn apathetic, spoiled, overpowered, boring and getting with Zuko in the end.

hi anon, it's no trouble at all! i'm always down for some good m.ai and mai.ko salting.

here are a couple of my own metas on why mai.ko doesn't work and the problems with m.ai's character:

and here are some of my favourite metas on the issues with m.ai and mai.ko:

Mai Never Knew the Real Zuko

A Comparison of M.aiko and Jinko

The Double Standards of M.aiko

if anyone else has good metas to add on, please do so!

#anti mai #anti maiko

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zvtara-was-never-canon · 1 year ago

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Any thoughts on the official zutara dissertation? It's so.. bad. Is the only way I can put it, and so easily debunkable

The what now?

#anti zutara

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burst-of-iridescent · 2 years ago

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the official zutara dissertation (p.1)

or: i yell about zutara for 16k words straight, because i have nothing else to do with my life.

This essay will explore the canonical dynamics of Prince Zuko and Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, the subtext and foreshadowing in the narrative, and the themes of the show. It will argue that Zutara becoming canon would have developed and completed Zuko and Katara’s character arcs and exemplified the themes and narratives of ATLA. It will also show that Zuko and Katara’s canon relationships did a disservice to their characters and those of their canon partners, were poorly developed, and ran contrary to the messages and themes of the show itself. For these reasons, this essay will prove that Zutara should have been the endgame ship of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

(Includes bonus frustrated commentary.)

BOOK 1: WHY ZUKO AND KATARA ARE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER

1. Zuko and Katara share the same fundamental moral compass and core values.

They are both empathetic and compassionate people who are angered by the injustices of the world and want to right them. While all the members of Team Avatar are good-hearted individuals, none of them share Zuko and Katara’s need to help, even at their own expense. Sokka and Toph are pragmatists who focus on the big picture (ending the war), while Aang’s desire to help is inextricably tied to his duties as the Avatar, rather than just Aang himself as an individual.

Zuko and Katara, however, are fundamentally different from the rest of Team Avatar in this regard. Their need to help, no matter what the cost, forms the basis of their personalities and character arcs. Katara’s empathy and compassion are demonstrated multiple times throughout the series, such as when she willingly lets herself be captured in order to save imprisoned Earthbenders (Book 1: Imprisoned) and refuses to abandon a suffering Fire Nation village even when it puts them behind time for the invasion (Book 3: The Painted Lady).

In both of these instances, Katara’s motivations are at odds with those of her friends. They want to move on; she cannot leave people in need. They want to do the safe thing; Katara insists on doing the right thing. Katara’s drive and desire to help is unmatched by the rest of Team Avatar, who only follow her lead because she cannot be swayed from her decision. Katara’s entire character can be summed up with “I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me!” (Book 3: The Painted Lady) because that is the kind of person she is – someone who will never abide injustice or suffering if she can do something about it.

Similarly, Zuko’s entire character arc is kickstarted by his compassion, when he speaks out against sacrificing soldiers when even seasoned generals did not (Book 1: The Storm). It is this decision that led to Zuko’s banishment, and it is a direct result of Zuko’s kindness – a quality that Zuko tries to bury to earn his father’s love, and which he ultimately realizes is a strength, not a weakness.

Even in his time as an antagonist, there are plenty of hints at Zuko’s true empathetic nature, one that resurfaces even when he tries to stifle it: Zuko putting his own life in danger to rescue his helmsman (Book 1: The Storm), sparing Admiral Zhao in the Agni Kai although he knew Zhao would never have returned the favour (Book 1: The Southern Air Temple) and attempting to save him even though Zhao had tried to kill him (Book 1: The Siege of the North Part 2), exposing his true identity and risking his safety to protect an Earth Kingdom village (Book 2: Zuko Alone), reaching out to Katara with genuine kindness though she was still his enemy at this point, and had been yelling at him just moments before (Book 2: The Crossroads of Destiny).

This is a non-exhaustive list of Zuko’s moments of compassion, but they indicate who he is at his core – someone very similar to Katara, someone who cannot leave others in a state of need with an easy conscience. Neither Zuko nor Katara have an obligation to help, the way that Aang does as the Avatar, but they both choose to do so anyway because that is who they are. Zuko and Katara would work well together because they share core qualities, ones that shape their personalities and desires, and can thus understand and support one another’s motivations and decisions. This would have made them perfect rulers for the Fire Nation and great world leaders overall, as they would fight for those who needed their help and would never abandon any of their people to fend for themselves.

2. It is with each other, and only each other, that Zuko and Katara can be fully and completely themselves.

Katara’s role in much of the show is a motherly one, putting her needs and feelings second to take care of those around her. With Zuko, however, this dynamic is reversed. This is not to say that Katara does not care for or support Zuko – she does. For the first time, however, this support is returned to her. Zuko sees her at her most vulnerable in the Crystal Catacombs (Book 2: The Crossroads of Destiny) and turns to comfort her, to tell her that she is not alone. This is the first time someone reaches out to help Katara, the first time she is in a position where she is receiving emotional support instead of providing it, and it is telling that it is with Zuko – someone who, due to their history as enemies, Katara does not feel the need to coddle, and can meet on an even keel.

After he joins the Gaang, Zuko consistently puts Katara’s needs first – accepting that her anger at him is justified, asking her what he can do to make it up to her, trying to earn her forgiveness. He makes the effort to get to the root of Katara’s hurt and anger, even when she’s not giving him much to work with, and gives her all the agency in the situation, never putting his need to earn her forgiveness over her needs. We don’t ever see any other member of the Gaang give this much thought or consideration to Katara’s feelings. On their hunt for Yon Rha, Zuko supports Katara absolutely and unconditionally. He sees the full depths of her rage and grief, the lengths she is willing to go to for vengeance, her willingness to use bloodbending – and instead of condemning or judging her, he accepts all of it without question.

Katara does not suppress her needs for Zuko’s sake, the way she does with the rest of the Gaang, and is not shoehorned into the position of his caretaker or mother. She is allowed to break out of the role of emotional backbone, a role she often assumes to her own detriment, as the person who gives and never receives. With Zuko, Katara can be herself in all her aspects – the grieving daughter, the fierce warrior, the caring friend – and is a far more multi-faceted and complex individual because of it.

In return, Zuko finds in Katara someone who has seen him at his absolute highest and lowest. All of Team Avatar have seen (and fought) Zuko as their enemy, but it was Katara who witnessed the true depths of his feelings about his scar and Katara who was betrayed by Zuko, an integral part of the worst mistake he ever made. Out of all of Team Avatar, only Katara truly witnessed Zuko at his lowest point, his decision to side with Azula, and still chose to forgive and befriend him.

Furthermore, Zuko does not need to hide who he truly is with Katara, or become someone he is not, as he is forced to in the Fire Nation. He can open up to her without fear of being manipulated (like Azula) or shut down (like Mai), and she validates and soothes his worries without coddling him. Katara sees Zuko in his entirety – at his best and worst, his strongest and most vulnerable – and accepts and supports him through all of it. Zuko and Katara are thus able to be themselves in all their aspects with one another, creating a relationship based on mutual understanding, acceptance, and trust.

3. Zuko and Katara have the deepest and most intimate non‐familial relationship out of all of Team Avatar.

Apart from sharing character traits and motivations, Zuko and Katara are both marked by similar foundational events that sent them along parallel arcs – the loss of their mothers – and this enables them to understand one another on a far deeper and more intimate level that no one else can hope to achieve.

But Sokka lost his mother too! Aang lost his people!

Yes, those are both horrible, traumatic losses. But they are not Katara’s loss. Losing Kya marked a turning point in Katara’s life as the moment she was forced into the role of mother in her family, a role she should never have been burdened with. Not only did she take on this role, however, she did it so efficiently that Sokka admits to no longer remembering his mother’s face, because Katara is the only motherly figure he can picture (Book 3: The Runaway). Katara, a traumatized child, had to deal with the grief of losing her mother and, at the same time, assume that position to keep her family together, at the expense of her own childhood and well-being. Neither Sokka nor Aang had to deal with these deeper layers of trauma because both of them were looked after, and looked after well, by Katara – and for that reason, they will never understand her pain.

If her own brother and canonical love interest don’t understand, how could Zuko? Because, just like Katara, Zuko’s loss marked a turning point in his life and changed him fundamentally. Just like Katara, Zuko’s loss of his mother meant the end of his childhood, leaving him exposed to the cruelty of his father and sister. Ursa’s disappearance signified the start of Zuko’s path to becoming someone he didn’t want to be and should never have been, just as Kya’s death pushed Katara into a role she should never have been forced to take on. Ursa sacrificed herself to protect Zuko just as Kya sacrificed herself to protect Katara. Zuko and Katara’s losses, both significant aspects of their characters and foundational events of their childhood, parallel one another and give them a unique understanding of each other. It is significant that Zuko is the only person Katara ever fully opens up to about her mother’s death and the pain it has caused her because it is a loss that mirrors Zuko’s own, and thus enables them to connect with one another.

Zuko and Katara’s interaction in the Crystal Catacombs is the perfect illustration of this, because it is their shared loss that leads them to see each other for the first time as people instead of enemies. Their mutual pain allows them to become deeply vulnerable and intimate with each other as they have never been with anyone else. Katara is the only person Zuko opens up to about his conflict over his destiny and the first person he allows to touch his scar. In return, Katara offers her precious spirit water to heal him – her staunch enemy – with no hesitation and is the first one to genuinely believe in Zuko’s capacity to change, which is why his betrayal later affects her so deeply (although Aang is the first person to reach out to Zuko in Book 1, he is also utterly unsurprised when Zuko tries to capture him in return, in contrast to Katara’s genuine shock and hurt at Zuko’s betrayal – indicating that she’d trusted him where Aang had not). As Zuko is the only member of the Gaang to truly empathize with Katara’s trauma, it is thus fitting that he is the one to help her find closure from it.

The Southern Raiders tackles the deepest trauma of Katara’s life, and it is not with Sokka, her brother or Aang, her canonical love interest – but Zuko. While there are some issues with the writing, it’s unsurprising that Zuko takes Katara’s side rather than Sokka and Aang’s, because the lingering effects of Katara’s trauma and her desperate need for closure to the event that has haunted her all her life reflects his own, and so he can empathize with her in a way they never can. Zuko, who did confront the man responsible for the loss of his mother and made peace with his trauma, understands better than the rest of Team Avatar why it is necessary for Katara to do the same, as he knows first-hand how cathartic it can be.

Zuko and Katara’s arc in the Southern Raiders is based on the intimacy that already existed between them from the Crossroads of Destiny, but within the episode itself, this intimacy only grows deeper. Zuko sees the “darkest” side of Katara and accepts her regardless, while Katara separates Zuko once and for all from the title of enemy and sees him once more as just Zuko, a boy like her, someone worthy of her affection and friendship. It is the episode of their reconciliation because they both break out of their defining roles for good in one another’s eyes and embrace each other for who they truly are, having seen each other at their best and worst in a way no one else ever has.

After this, Zuko and Katara’s relationship just gets more intimate, natural and comfortable. They spend the final episodes of the series together, often positioned right next to or parallel to one another. They adopt co-parental positions in the Gaang (Zuko has Peak Tired Dad energy), comfort one another, offer support, and have complete trust in each other. Katara looks to Zuko to take the lead when Aang goes missing (Book 3: Sozin’s Comet, Part 2), and Zuko turns to Katara for reassurance right before he goes to ask his uncle for forgiveness. Zuko has no hesitation in asking Katara to accompany him to the final Agni Kai and she in turn completely trusts his judgement in choosing to fight Azula on his own (Book 3: Sozin’s Comet, Part 3). They fight together in beautiful harmony, protecting each other and working side-by-side with seamless efficiency (Book 3: The Southern Raiders, Book 3: Sozin’s Comet, Part 1). We never see Katara fighting with any other individual in such perfect, wordless synchronicity, and the only other person who has this sort of bond with Zuko is Iroh, the person he loves most.

(Also, the parallel between Zuko waiting outside Katara’s tent and Zuko waiting by Iroh’s bed for both of them to wake up??? This boy’s love language is clearly I-will-stay-up-all-night-to-earn-your-forgiveness-because-you matter-the-most-to-me-in-the-world.)

Book 3 brings Zutara closer just as it separates them from their canon pairings, culminating in the final deepest layer of connection and intimacy in the finale as Zuko literally sacrifices himself to save Katara – and then does a heel-face turn and shoves them back with their canon partners (seriously, what the fuck). While their canon pairings would never have worked without some serious rewriting, making them endgame at the very moment where Zuko had never been more distant from Mai and Katara from Aang, while Zutara had hit their peak in terms of intimacy, understanding, trust and emotional connection, only drove home all the more why Zutara should have been endgame instead.

#zutara #zutara meta #the official zutara dissertation #i'm finally dropping it yall #buckle up this is going to be long as fuck #we have like. 5 more parts to go #oops

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burst-of-iridescent · 2 years ago

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the official zutara dissertation (p.3)

Part 1 | Part 2

Now I’ve proven why Zutara is superior, I’ll address the most common anti Zutara arguments (aka, the most ridiculous shit I’ve ever heard in my life).

BOOK 3: DEBUNKING ANTI ZUTARA ARGUMENTS

1. People only like Zutara because they’re dark and intriguing. In actuality, it’s a shallow relationship based purely on physical appearance.

First of all, I find it hilarious that Zutara is the shallow ship when Mai.ko is canon, but we’ll get into Mai.ko later. Second, kindly read the 2k words I wrote here about how Zutara connect with and understand one another on a far deeper level than any romantic relationship in the show, and if it’s “dark and intriguing” for two characters to have parallel character foundations and journeys, to support and comfort each other, and forge a relationship based on mutual respect and trust… sign me up, y’all.

(Also, yeah Zuko and Katara look good together. Sorry you can’t say the same about the mother and son, or the emo goth wannabes).

2. Zutara would be toxic because all they’d do is fight.

Zuko and Katara fought (physically) for much of the series because, shocker, they were on opposing sides of a war. They didn’t have petty fights for no reason (*ahem* Maiko), they were literally enemies, and it was that history that drove the two (2) big emotional fights they had in the whole series.

The first time they “fight”, Katara is yelling at Zuko in the Crystal Catacombs (Book 2: The Crossroads of Destiny) about how evil he is for chasing the Avatar and makes a bunch of generalizations about him. Then Zuko gets pissed and yells back and they blow up into a giant argument – oh wait, what’s that? She opens up to him? He sympathizes with her? She immediately stops being hostile the minute he reaches out?

The second Zuko and Katara see each other as people and not enemy combatants, they instantly connect. Katara apologizes for yelling at him and the interaction that follows is tender, open and vulnerable, with both Zuko and Katara genuinely listening to and bonding with one another. Toxicity? 404 Error: Page Not Found

The next and last time they “fight” is in the Southern Raiders, following Katara’s hostile treatment of Zuko from the moment he joined the Gaang. First of all, Katara’s anger here is entirely justified because Zuko betrayed her personally. The rest of the group hadn’t been vulnerable with Zuko or trusted that Zuko had changed, so none of them were hurt by Zuko’s decision to side with Azula. Katara, however, had genuinely believed in Zuko, offered to help him, and opened up about her deepest hurt to him – and he’d thrown it back in her face.

Zuko accepts Katara’s anger without complaint, knowing that he deserves it, and works to earn Katara’s forgiveness. He teaches Aang firebending, helps Sokka to rescue his father from prison, and fights Azula to let the rest escape. When he confronts Katara in the Southern Raiders, it’s because he genuinely wishes to understand why she still mistrusts him despite everything he’s done to prove his sincerity. He’s frustrated but genuinely trying to make amends and wants to know what Katara needs in order to accomplish that.

Both of these fights stem from legitimate grievances Katara has against Zuko, mistakes he’s made that he does need to atone for. However, what’s more interesting is the way Zuko reacts to Katara’s anger both times. He doesn’t mindlessly yell at her, get defensive, or escalate the situation. In the catacombs, he is sullen and moody until she reveals the true depths of her pain, at which point his own anger bleeds away and he reaches out to her with genuine compassion. In TSR, he is calm and contrite, willing to listen and making the effort to understand where she’s coming from so he can resolve the issue. (So toxic, amirite?)

Given that the majority of Katara’s anger at Zuko in the series stemmed from either his position as her enemy, or her hurt over his betrayal, I find it very hard to believe that they would ever “fight” on a similar scale in a future where they got together – a future where both of these conflicts no longer exist. Their canonical approach to disagreement sees them both willing to apologize, to work things out, and to try and understand each other, making it likely that any arguments they do have would be resolved in a healthy manner. Moreover, after Zuko and Katara have put their past behind them for good and established their friendship, they never fight again – and, in fact, grow closer.

Their intimacy and connection, the similarities in their personalities and motivations, and the evidence of their canonical response to disagreement, especially Zuko’s (a desire to understand and a clear evaluation of the situation to find a solution) is more than enough proof that this argument against Zutara is, frankly, bullshit.

(And if we want to talk about fighting, guess what Kat.aang and Mai.ko are doing in much of book 3? *looks pointedly at The Beach, The Southern Raiders, The Ember Island Players, Sozin’s Comet and the multiple unresolved arguments dropped in favour of a last-minute kiss, because that definitely solves everything.)

3. Zutara is a colonizer/colonized or oppressor/oppressed ship.

I’ve disproved this (factually untrue) argument in this post but to add on: Zuko turned traitor against his country, at threat to his own safety, and risked his life multiple times to bring the regime to an end because he knew he was on the wrong side of the war. Zuko fought against his own family and nearly died to protect Katara. Zuko and Katara, together, helped to overthrow Fire Nation imperialism and bring about a new era of peace. No true colonizer has ever, or would ever, do that.

Should Zuko and Katara get together, they would do so after the war. As the daughter of a national leader and a war hero, Katara would likely hold just as much power as Zuko, if not more, given that the Fire Nation is now in a position where it must offer reparations and concessions to the other nations. She would be entering the relationship as an equal and would, in fact, gain additional power by becoming Fire Lady, not subjugate herself under a tyrannical regime.

4. Katara hates Zuko/Katara is hostile to Zuko/Katara doesn’t care about Zuko and so she would never fall in love with him.

I see we’re just watching the show with our eyes closed now, lmao.

Even when they were on opposing sides of a war, Katara offered to use her special spirit water to heal Zuko’s scar. Even when she still hadn’t forgiven him, Katara reached out and put herself in danger to save Zuko’s life by pulling him onto Appa’s saddle. (Book 3: The Southern Raiders). Katara and Zuko’s entire relationship arc in Book 3 is based on the fact that they formed a genuine connection in the catacombs.

And once Zuko gains her forgiveness? Katara shows him nothing but unconditional love, trust and acceptance. She throws herself into his arms when she forgives him (Book 3: The Southern Raiders), banters with him, looks worried for him and tries to comfort him (Book 3: Ember Island Players). She fights by his side readily, invites him to join the group hug, and teases him about his baby pictures (Book 3: Sozin’s Comet Part 1). She notices that he’s frightened about facing Iroh, and encourages and supports him with a loving, tender smile on her face (Book 3: Sozin’s Comet Part 2).

She agrees to go with him on what may well be the last day of their lives, reassures him, and trusts his judgement completely when he wishes to fight Azula himself (Book 3: Sozin’s Comet Part 3). She looks absolutely horrorstruck when he sacrifices himself for her, screams his name, and immediately tries to run to him, completely forgetting about the powerful firebender in her path. She cries from pure joy when she’s able to heal him, and then stands by his side in support as they look upon a defeated Azula (Book 3: Sozin’s Comet Part 4).

Whether you see that as platonic or romantic, it is utterly undeniable that Katara loves Zuko very, very much.

5. Katara would never want to be Fire Lady because she hates the Fire Nation.

One of Katara’s major arcs is understanding that the Fire Nation is not all-consuming evil, that it is worth saving and worth helping, and it is solely those in power and their militaristic ideology that is to blame, not the people or the land. Katara never shows an ounce of discomfort in the FN, actually enjoys FN climate, risks her safety and the invasion itself to help its people, and appears excited to wear FN clothes, but I guess that was just a figment of my imagination.

6. Katara would have to give up her culture to become Fire Lady.

Firstly, someone kindly explain to me what exactly it is that Katara would have to sacrifice about her culture. She can’t dress in blue anymore? She can’t eat Water Tribe food? She can’t wear her hair loops? What aspects of her culture, exactly, would Katara have to “give up” in the Fire Nation?

Secondly, since this argument is so concerned about Katara’s culture, let’s look at what happens to her in canon – oh wait, two out of three of Katara’s children show absolutely no connection to their SWT roots? Her oldest son spends his whole life wishing he were an airbender and giving no fucks at all about his waterbending heritage despite the fact that, as the child of a mixed family, he should have valued both cultures equally? Huh, ya don’t say.

Before you say the same would have happened to Zutara, let me point out that Zuko’s arc is about unlearning this exact ideology (that one nation is more important than others) whereas Aang, at the end of the show, still prioritizes Air Nomad ideals over those of the other nations (refusing to kill Ozai because of Air Nomad pacifist values), despite being the Avatar. Yeah I see why Katara’s culture barely got a passing mention in that family.

7. Zutara had no canon romantic build-up, and Katara is just supposed to be Zuko’s surrogate little sister.

Sure, Zuko and Katara expressed no explicit romantic interest in one another in canon, but it is entirely wrong to say there was no romantic build up. Many of Zuko and Katara’s scenes together are full of romantic subtext and framing, which the writers and animators left in for some reason (cough they were supposed to be canon):

Zuko draping a betrothal necklace around Katara’s neck (Book 1: The Waterbending Scroll). The exact same message would’ve been communicated if he’d just dangled it before her, but instead the animators went to the extra trouble of creating a scene where he holds it up to her throat despite knowing full well that it was a betrothal necklace, and the implications that came with that

Katara touching Zuko’s scar (Book 2: The Crossroads of Destiny). Seriously, what the fuck is this romantic ass framing for a non-canon ship lmfao Zuko closing his eyes to lean into Katara’s touch? Katara’s thumb resting on his lips? The soft, swelling emotional music in the background? It was entirely unnecessary for them to even make contact when they could have just ended the scene with Katara saying “I can heal you” and Zuko nodding to give her permission before they get interrupted, but the writers chose to give them the most intimate scene in the whole show and then went ah yes! such platonic besties :)

Zuko covers Katara’s body with his own to protect her from rocks (Book 3: The Southern Raiders) in a perfect example of the Suggestive Collision trope, which is then followed by the Please Get Off Me trope, both of which are used specifically to create romantic tension. Really feeling the sibling vibes here guys

Zuko and Katara exchange the classic “ew wtf there’s no way I would ever fall in love with you” awkward look (Book 3: The Ember Island Players), used in literally every romcom ever to communicate denial of actual romantic feelings

Zuko pushes Aang out of the way to sit next to Katara, and Katara gives him a side glance before tucking her hair behind her ear (Book 3: The Ember Island Players), in a perfect set up for a love triangle. This is then furthered when Aang becomes jealous at the idea of Zutara in the play, even though Zuko and Katara had expressed no explicit romantic interest in each other at this point

Katara is conveniently “confused” right after watching the play (Book 3: The Ember Island Players) where she expressed romantic interest in Zuko and none at all in Aang. If she did love Aang shouldn’t this have been the point where she realized it? Also, this is the first time Aang and Katara talk about their kiss at the invasion despite it being six whole episodes ago? When they literally had a big chunk of time alone while Sokka and Zuko were at the Boiling Rock to have this discussion?

Zuko and Katara being framed almost identically to Sokka and Suki, the established canon couple, throughout the four-part finale

Zuko and Katara blush and fervently deny being romantically involved (Book 3: Sozin’s Comet Part 2) in a classic illustration of the She Is Not My Girlfriend trope (TV Tropes even points out that this is particularly common on shows where kids and preteens are the main target audience... interesting), which is usually meant to imply that there is, in fact, genuine romantic feelings present

THAT. FUCKING. LIGHTNING. SCENE. The sudden slow-motion, the dawning horror on Zuko’s face, the slow, sad violin music in the background, the desperate race to intercept the lightning before it got to Katara, the long, drawn-out, dramatic NOOOOOOO! as he literally jumps in front of her, the zoom in to Katara’s face of utter horror as she realizes what has happened to Zuko? All of it ties into the classic Taking the Bullet trope, making use of every visual storytelling trick to communicate romantic love. Zuko valiantly struggles to get to Katara, and Katara screams his name and runs to him with her hand outstretched like every cheesy romantic movie death you’ve ever seen. There is romantic coding plastered all over this damn scene, and if you don’t believe me, just substitute Sokka in Zuko’s place and tell me that doesn’t feel like we took a right turn into sweet home Alabama.

If you are going to include this many hints at romance to fool your audience into thinking that a ship will become canon, you cannot then *surprised pikachu face* when people actually think the damn ship should’ve been canon, especially when backed up by emotional intimacy, beautiful symbolism, narrative parallels and character and thematic significance.

#zutara #zutara meta #the official zutara dissertation #we are officially done with the zutara section now yall #coming up next: kat.aang salt aplenty #anti kataang #anti maiko

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burst-of-iridescent · 2 years ago

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the official zutara dissertation (p.2)

Part 1

Now that we’ve examined why Zuko and Katara would be a good couple in-universe, I will prove that the narrative sets them up to be the perfect couple by intertwining their character arcs, and that the symbolic and thematic significance of Zutara would have made for a better story.

Warning: this will be long.

(Because the amount of stunning symbolism and narrative set-up to Zutara that was absolutely wasted makes me want to smack a bitch, so I need to scream about it.)

BOOK 2: THE SYMBOLISM AND NARRATIVE SIGNIFICANCE OF ZUTARA

The Symbolism of Zutara

1. Tui and La

Tui and La, the spirits of the moon and ocean in the Northern Water Tribe, are represented in the show in the form of black and white koi fish constantly circling one another, clearly inspired by the Yin and Yang symbol drawn from Taoist philosophy. Here is the definition of Yin and Yang:

“A concept of dualism, describing how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected and interdependent.”

Yin, the black side, is associated with water, the moon, night time and femininity while Yang, the white side, is associated with fire, the sun, masculinity and daytime.

Out of every possible representation of two spirits the writers could have come up with, they chose to present them as Yin and Yang, a philosophy regarding seemingly contrary elements that are actually interconnected and complementary, elements that explicitly represent femininity and masculinity, water and fire, the moon and the sun – and then emphasized the importance of balance, unity and harmony between these two elements. Zuko and Katara fight in the sacred oasis where the actual physical manifestations of these symbols are located, with Zuko saying “you rise with the moon, I rise with the sun” just to make the analogy absolutely 100% clear, and the show still went oops, they’re not canon?

(God, I’m in pain.)

Then we get this statement: “Tui and La have always circled each other in an eternal dance. They balance each other…push and pull…life and death…good and evil…yin and yang”. (Book 1: The Siege of the North Part 1).

This is perfectly illustrated in Zuko and Katara’s arcs. Katara starts off as a hero and Zuko as a villain, and they both personify the symbolism of yin and yang through fire and water, the moon and the sun. Katara is a waterbender, an element explicitly linked to healing and life, and Zuko is a firebender, an element explicitly linked to destruction and death (Book 1: The Deserter). They go on to subvert these dichotomies in book 3, with Katara learning that water can be used for evil and bring destruction (Book 3: The Puppetmaster) just as Zuko learns in the same book that “fire is life” (Book 3: The Firebending Masters), and with Katara confronting the darkness within her as Zuko embraces the good within him. All of this perfectly ties into the key idea of yin and yang, that of two opposing sides that are more similar than they initially appear, and exemplifies the key theme of the show – that “things that you think are different and separate are actually one and the same” (Book 2: The Guru).

2. The Painted Lady and the Blue Spirit

The inherent symbolism in Zuko and Katara taking on spirit personas from each other’s nations and wearing each other’s colours is obvious, but it’s more than that. Both characters secretly take on these personas to achieve their personal goals, which usually diverge from those of their companions. Both of their introduction shots are almost identical, having them shrouded in darkness and appearing out of the gloom to invoke a sense of mysticism and otherworldliness for both alter egos.

Furthermore, both of these personas represent a form of moral ambiguity for Zuko and Katara, allowing them to take actions that would be considered uncharacteristic of their real selves. Zuko uses the Blue Spirit ego to steal and commit treason against the Fire Nation, neither of which would be expected from a Fire Nation prince, while Katara uses the Painted Lady ego to help a Fire Nation village, even though no one would expect her, an enemy of the Fire Nation and a victim of Fire Nation atrocities, to do so. The personas of the Blue Spirit and Painted Lady free Zuko and Katara from the constraints of their real identities and the expectations associated with them, allowing them to pursue their own desires freely.

The Painted Lady and Blue Spirit also parallel one another because they represent the “good” and “evil” in Katara and Zuko, respectively. The Painted Lady exemplifies the best of Katara – her compassion, her power, her unwillingness to leave others in need even at her own cost. In contrast, the Blue Spirit exemplifies the worst of Zuko – his selfishness, his recklessness, his willingness to hunt and capture Aang. It’s not a coincidence that Zuko’s metamorphosis (Book 2: The Earth King) takes place immediately after he finally gives up the persona of the Blue Spirit for good. This additionally ties back to the symbolism of Tui and La, directly representing the “good” and “evil” of the two elements and adding an additional parallel between Zuko and Katara.

3. Oma and Shu

Allowing the benefit of doubt, let’s assume maybe an entire professional writer’s room simply didn’t see all this symbolism. They were making shit up as they went along, didn’t intend to parallel Zuko and Katara, and I’m just reading into things like the stupid Zutara shipper I am.

Except there’s the matter of one little episode called the Cave of Two Lovers.

The one about *checks notes*

Two lovers…

From opposing sides of a war…

Who built a path to be together in a cave of glowing green crystals?

(Oh, look at that. They even colour-coded it for you, just to make it super explicitly extra clear. How nice of them.)

Why the hell would you include a legend about two forbidden lovers, with a war dividing their people, who find a way to be together in a cave of glowing crystals, even colour-coding them in red and blue, if this wasn’t meant to be foreshadowing? And why throw Zuko and Katara in a cave of glowing green crystals, dressed in the exact same shades as Oma and Shu, and have them form their first real connection if this wasn’t supposed to be a parallel?

Ba Sing Se clearly had other prison cells, because we saw Sokka and Toph get thrown into them. But Zuko and Katara get the special cave treatment because ~ reasons ~ ?

(If anyone dares to tell me that this was not set-up for Zutara, or that it was actually meant to represent Kataang, I’m going to throw you into the sea.)

The beautiful symbolism of Zutara stretches from their elemental opposition as fire and water, and the sun and moon, to their parallel identities as the Blue Spirit and Painted Lady, to their representation in the form of Tui and La as seemingly contrary elements that find balance with one another, to literal in-universe lore about two forbidden lovers divided by a war. All of this symbolism ties in to character arcs, narratives or both, and/or is set up as foreshadowing that would have been brought to fruition by making Zutara canon, deeply enriching the overall story of ATLA in the process.

Well, there’s symbolism all over the place in ATLA! That’s why it’s such a good show. You can draw parallels between Zuko and every member of Team Avatar, and Aang and Zuko have the most direct visual parallels and symbolism. So, following your logic, should they be the endgame ship?

The difference is that this sort of symbolic connection makes sense for the narrative positions that Aang and Zuko occupy as protagonist-antagonist and eventually protagonist-deuteragonist. They are intended to be paralleled this way because they are the two defining characters of the show, and the best protagonist-antagonist relationships are supposed to show the audience that these characters are similar, that they could have been the same and it was only the tragedy of their circumstances and/or choices that set them on diverging paths. Zuko and Katara, however, don’t have this narrative relationship, so all this symbolism was for…what, exactly?

(Oh yeah, they were meant to be IN. FUCKING. LOVE.)

The Narrative and Thematic Significance of Zutara

1. Zuko and Katara’s arcs serve as parallels to one another.

Just as Zuko’s travels help him realize that the Fire Nation is not inherently superior and every nation is equally valuable and important, Katara’s travels help her realize that every nation has its own issues, bringing her into direct conflict with both the sexism of the Northern Water Tribe and the corruption of the Earth Kingdom. This is true for all of the characters to an extent, but the narrative makes it especially personal for Katara, because for so long, her grief led her to view the Fire Nation as the only monolithic evil in the world. Katara has the closest ties to nearly every story thread aimed at humanizing the Fire Nation and breaking down the “Fire Nation = evil, everyone else = good” idea that is initially set up.

It is Katara who first witnesses Zuko’s compassion and kindness, who sees that there is good even in the Fire Nation prince she’d considered the personification of evil. It is Katara who is personally affected by the suffering of a Fire Nation village and insists on helping them to her own detriment. It is Katara who bonds deeply with both Jet and Hama, two characters that represent the person she could have become if she’d allowed rage toward the Fire Nation to consume her, and who serve to teach her that there is no binary of “good” and “bad”.

Just as Zuko unlearns Fire Nation indoctrination and comes to see that the Fire Nation is not a paragon of greatness, Katara learns that the Fire Nation is not irredeemable evil and that there is good in it just as there is evil outside it. They are reflections of one another, undergoing contrasting but similar journeys that ultimately lead them to the same realization – that all four nations are equal and have their own strengths and weaknesses, discarding their original prejudices once and for all.

2. Zuko and Katara’s arcs are intertwined at every turn, giving their relationship perhaps the greatest narrative significance in the show.

Zuko and Katara’s arcs are inextricably woven into each other’s from the beginning, coding their interactions into their character development and the overall plot so deeply that it becomes impossible to remove the Zutara moments from ATLA without significantly changing the show itself.

Apart from the actual protagonist, Katara is the only one to engage Zuko in sustained, close combat multiple times. Katara is the first (and only) person to offer Zuko absolution from his past, and the first person from the opposing side that he opens up to. Katara is linked to Zuko’s lowest moment, just as Zuko is to Katara’s. Lightning redirection, the most difficult technique of firebending, is taken from waterbending, and Zuko and Katara’s last combat moves in the entire show are taken from each other’s bending disciplines.

Katara and Zuko are the only characters to have a monumental, pivotal interaction in every finale. They go from fighting one another (Book 1 finale) to a tentative, potential friendship and betrayal (Book 2 finale) and then finally come full circle as they fight together and for one another (Book 3 finale).

It is not a coincidence that Zuko sacrifices himself for Katara instead of any other character, because his sacrifice would not have held half the emotional weight it did if it hadn’t been for Katara – the person with the most reason to hate him, who had once despised everything about him, who had been betrayed by him, and still chosen to forgive and care for him. His sacrifice is a satisfying conclusion because it is for Katara, whose arc is woven so closely into his own, and taking lightning for her is his final act of restitution, the moment he has truly and finally become the person he was always supposed to be. It is the culmination of his redemption arc, and it is tied inextricably to Katara.

Intentionally lending narrative weight to Zutara in this way, by building upon their existing connection and parallels, makes their relationship so integral to the story that you cannot remove the most emotionally charged, intimate Zutara scenes (the Crystal Catacombs, their reconciliation in the Southern Raiders, the lightning scene in the final Agni Kai) without fundamentally changing both of their character arcs and weakening the story as a whole. Zuko and Katara’s arcs are intertwined and dependent on one another throughout the show in a way that no other relationship (even their canon ones) is and making them endgame would have paid off all of this build-up, completing their individual arcs as well as their journey together.

3. Making Zutara canon would have exemplified every core theme of the show and strengthened its overall message.

Let’s look at each individual theme and break it down:

Redemption is always possible, and open to anyone who makes the effort.

Despite having perhaps the greatest reason to hate Zuko, as she is the person hurt most deeply by his betrayal and his family’s war, when Katara sees that Zuko is truly remorseful and genuinely trying to make amends, he earns her forgiveness. Katara’s reconciliation with Zuko is the final step in his complete integration into Team Avatar, symbolizing that they have left all of their past conflict behind them for good, and his sacrifice for her is the fulfilment of his arc, bringing his story full circle. Making Zutara canon would’ve embodied the message that it is possible to redeem yourself and move past your mistakes if you are truly willing to put in the effort to do so.

There is complexity to the world, and to people. No one is as they first appear.

With each other, Zuko and Katara don’t need to put up appearances, and a significant part of their journey together is learning to see past their initial judgements of each other to the complex, flawed human beings they truly are. Making them canon would’ve perfectly conveyed the idea that the world and those in it, are far more multi faceted than you think, and very often people are much more than we initially give them credit for.

“Things that you think are separate and different are one and the same. The greatest illusion is the illusion of separation.”

As mentioned in the Tui and La section, Zuko and Katara are the perfect example of two characters who seem, at first glance, utterly different – from their positions in the war and their goals to the dichotomies of sun/moon, water/fire, life/death, good/evil – but are able to look past these initial differences to discover that really, they are not so different after all.

Who better than these two to symbolize the idea that you can find kindred spirits even in the places you’d least think to look?

Conflict does not last forever. There is always hope for healing.

Reconciliation between bitter enemies? Forgiveness and atonement after causing hurt? Learning to find closure and heal from past wounds? The idea that you need not carry your past trauma with you forever, that separation and conflict and hatred does not last? The message it is always possible to find peace and unity, even when it seems impossible?

Making Zuko and Katara canon would’ve hit every single one of these beats and ending on the possibility of a relationship between them would’ve perfectly symbolised the world to come – a new world that could and would heal from the scars of war, one built from peace, harmony and love.

(do you know how fucking hard it is to write a romantic relationship that perfectly ties into character arcs, parallels, symbolism and theme, bryke??? do you?? because you fucking had it and then you threw it away for?? your nice guy self insert??? fucking hell i hate it here –)

A Zutara endgame would thus have fulfilled both Zuko and Katara’s character arcs, deepened the existing symbolism and parallels between them, and exemplified every key theme of the show, making it a richer and more compelling story with additional complexity, depth and nuance.

#zutara #zutara meta #the official zutara dissertation #this is so long lmfao i am so sorry #we're only at part 2 of 7 again i apologise #i just have too much to say about these two

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burst-of-iridescent · 2 years ago

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the official zutara dissertation (p.4)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

So far, we have discussed why Zuko and Katara would have been a good couple, how the narrative set them up for a romance through symbolism, narrative arcs and theme, and rebutted the most frequent arguments for why they wouldn’t work.

Now we turn to the last aspect of the show that, ironically, proves how great Zutara is as a ship: the canon romances. In this section, we will dissect the reasons that Katara and Aang do not work in canon, and how this helps to enhance the perfection of Zutara.

BOOK 4: THE TRAGEDY OF KATAANG

1. Kataang is fundamentally imbalanced.

There is no give-and-take between Katara and Aang. Katara is always the one giving emotional support while Aang is always the one taking without providing anywhere close to the same effort in return.

Katara pulls Aang out of the Avatar State when he is filled with rage and grief over the loss of his people (Book 1: The Southern Air Temple), and again when he is devastated about losing Appa (Book 2: The Desert). Katara encourages Aang when he thinks he cannot master earthbending (Book 2: Bitter Work), soothes his guilt over running away (Book 1: The Storm), and comforts him when he is worried about Bumi (Book 2: Return to Omashu), when he is hurting over Appa’s loss (Book 2: Journey to Ba Sing Se), and when he feels like he has failed after the fall of Ba Sing Se (Book 3: The Awakening).

These are just the notable scenes I could find, excluding the dozens of small moments Katara looks after Aang. In return, there are, at best, three moments where Aang gives her emotional support: briefly standing in solidarity with her against Pakku, as well as resting a hand on her shoulder after Jet dies, and when she breaks down after her fight with Hama. The third one, however, also has Sokka with an arm around her, so it can’t even be considered a moment where Aang is the only one to comfort her, as compared to every moment listed above where Katara is the only one to comfort Aang.

In fact, Aang is the only love interest Katara has in the show that never expresses sympathy for her loss of her mother. Every other male character Katara is romantically linked to in some way (Haru, Jet, Zuko) – has a moment of bonding with Katara over the deepest trauma of her life. But Aang, her canonical love interest, doesn’t even give Katara so much as an “I’m sorry” when he hears about her loss.

When the opportunity arises for Aang to actually support Katara in the Southern Raiders for once, he is instead preachy and judgemental (“What exactly do you think this will accomplish?” “Katara, you sound like Jet!” “You do have a choice. Forgiveness” “The monks used to say revenge is like a two-headed rat viper”) and makes it all about him (“How do you think I felt about the sandbenders when they took Appa?”)

It is particularly insulting for Aang to compare Katara’s loss to his, not just because comparing grief is, frankly, insensitive, but also because Aang’s temporary loss of his animal companion is in no way comparable to Katara’s permanent loss of her mother. Comparing Katara to Jet, who Aang is fully aware manipulated her and broke her trust, is also an extremely hurtful and frankly inaccurate comparison to make. Instead of offering compassion and understanding to the girl he supposedly loves, Aang only makes things more difficult for her by deepening her hurt and anger.

What makes this worse is the fact that Katara has never once treated Aang this way, offering him unconditional love and acceptance even when he goes into the Avatar State or yells at her (Book 2: The Desert), while Aang presumes to dictate to Katara how to handle her grief and her trauma. Katara gets no help from Aang in this entire episode, at her lowest moment, when she is most in need of it.

This is, in fact a pattern that lies at the core of Kataang. It is primarily slanted in Aang’s favour, allowing him to benefit far more from the relationship than Katara does. The two established canon benefits Aang provides Katara are that he is a means for her to achieve her dreams (since he enables her to travel) and that he gives her hope. That’s great, but it’s in no way exclusive to Katara.

As the Avatar, Aang provides hope to everyone in the world who wants to defeat the Fire Nation. The fact that he helps her to travel and learn waterbending is great, but it is a benefit she receives from his role as the Avatar and his flying bison, not Aang himself as a person. There is nothing that Aang as a character gives Katara that she cannot get from someone else, and in fact she frequently gets more from other characters.

There was clearly an attempt at the start to establish that Aang helps Katara have fun and allows her to regain some of her lost childhood. This could have worked if it had actually been sustained, but it isn’t. Apart from one penguin sledding scene and one dance scene (which we’ll get into in the following section), Aang is just another person for Katara to look after, support and help, to her own detriment.

Kataang does not work because the emotional labour of the relationship falls primarily and heavily on Katara, a character who is already burdened with being the caretaker for everyone else, and who has assumed this role since she was eight years old. The imbalance in this relationship is particularly damning given that it runs contrary to the show’s key theme of balance and harmony, especially when one partner is supposed to be the embodiment of balance and is the literal protagonist.

2. Katara and Aang are unable to see and accept each other for who they truly are.

Aang’s idealization of Katara is fairly explicit, with multiple shots from his perspective where she is literally presented in slow motion and rose-tinted vision. This is a fairly common method of indicating romantic attraction in kids’ shows so I can let that slide, but the real problem is that Aang cannot, or will not, see and accept all of Katara. In fact, he tends to dismiss her anger and her darker side on multiple occasions:

When Katara challenges Pakku to a fight (Book 1: The Waterbending Master), Aang tries to deter Katara by saying “Katara, you don’t have to do this for me!” He instantly assumes that the only reason Katara would indulge in such violent pursuits is for him, rather than her own rightful anger at the sexism she is facing, thus reframing the situation around his needs instead of hers. Furthermore, the fact that his instinctive response is to dissuade instead of supporting Katara, despite knowing that she has already tried the diplomatic route, proves how Aang is more focused on dismissing Katara’s anger than understanding that why it might be justified and even necessary. He only supports her when she makes it clear that she will not be deterred (a rather frequent pattern in their dynamic).

When Katara is irritated at Toph for refusing to be a part of the group, and yells at her (Book 2: The Chase) Aang’s response is to go “No, she didn’t mean that!” (to which Katara actually says “Yes, I did!”). Instead of trying to validate Katara’s feelings to find a solution, Aang’s first response is to downplay or even erase her anger to play peacemaker.

Aang notices that Katara is upset with her father (Book 3: The Awakening), yet never bothers to get to the bottom of it or helps her deal with it after she says she’s fine (even though she is clearly not fine). In contrast, when Katara notices that Aang isn’t acting like his usual self on the way to Ba Sing Se, she makes it a point to get to the root of the matter and tries to solve it.

Aang says “You did the right thing. Forgiveness is the first step you have to take to begin healing” when Katara says that she did not kill Yon Rha (Book 3: The Southern Raiders), to which she frowns and tells him that she didn’t, and will never, forgive him. Aang still cannot see that his own beliefs are not what is best for Katara, that they take different views of anger and justice, and hers are just as valid as his.

Aang is in love with a shallow version of Katara, with the kind, gentle girl who takes care of him. He cannot reconcile his view of her with the Katara that can also be vengeful, furious and merciless. Aang sees Katara’s rage and Katara’s softness as separate, when in reality one cannot exist without the other. Katara’s kindness and compassion is driven by her anger and righteousness, and vice versa. It is what compels her to challenge the sexism of the Northern Water Tribe, to stand up for the imprisoned earthbenders, to help the Fire Nation village. Katara’s anger is an intrinsic part of who she is, and while Aang usually helps her with the actions she takes as a result of that anger (since it does benefit people), he is never shown to understand it as a part of Katara. Instead, he mitigates, downplays, or when all else fails, ignores it entirely.

Let it not be said, however, that Aang shoulders all the blame.

Katara also falls victim to idealization, unable to separate Aang from the Avatar, the person she has pinned all her hopes of ending the war on. Katara’s unwavering faith in Aang blinds her to his faults – running away from his problems instead of confronting them, being too playful and careless when he needs to be serious, being selfish and self-centred at times. Every other major character has taken Aang to task for these flaws, either scolding him for his mistakes or challenging him, except Katara.

When Aang burns Katara with his firebending due to his carelessness (Book 1: The Deserter), Sokka is the one to hold him to task for it. Katara, the one who was actually injured, and would have been permanently scarred, by his actions, brushes away his apology and tells him it’s okay. She does not scold him, or even express displeasure with him, despite the fact that she only got hurt because he blatantly refused to listen to her concerns or her advice.

When Toph criticizes the way Aang is approaching earthbending (Book 2: Bitter Work), Katara is the one who tries to persuade Toph to adopt a softer teaching method. She coddles and comforts Aang when he is upset about his lack of success at earthbending, both refusing to push him and attempting to dissuade Toph from doing so as well.

When Zuko scolds Aang for taking his training too lightly and challenges him (Book 3: Sozin’s Comet Part 1) Katara immediately leaps to Aang’s defense. Despite knowing Aang is nowhere near ready, and that the comet is approaching dangerously soon, Katara still excuses Aang instead of helping him to grow and do better.

Even when Aang is actively in conflict with her decisions, Katara still refrains from attacking his and telling him why he is wrong. She only defends herself, and her own choices. The one and only time Katara ever calls Aang out on his flaws is when he refuses to kill the Fire Lord, a matter of global importance where the lives of thousands hang in the balance. Even then, however, her indomitable faith is unshaken, and she never once doubts he will return, despite his track record of fleeing from difficult tasks (which it looks like he has just done once again).

Katara is never able to meaningfully challenge or confront Aang, usually enabling him when he actually needs to be pushed. This makes it impossible for Katara and Aang to meet each other as equals, which spells disaster not only for their interpersonal relationship but also for their future roles. As the Avatar, Aang needs a partner who can disagree with his decisions when necessary, who is capable of balancing out his worst qualities instead of enabling them, and can tell him when he is doing something wrong. Katara, at least in the show, is rarely (if ever) able to do this, and from whatever the comics and LOK tell us of their relationship... it seems clear that she never learned how to.

The sad thing is that Kataang could have worked. They are both idealists and optimists, sometimes to the point of naivete. They are both the last of their respective bending disciplines. Katara could have helped Aang to grow and heal from his trauma, while Aang could have helped her rediscover some of the childish playfulness she lost with the death of her mother and take the weight off the world off her shoulders.

Instead, the show created an imbalanced relationship that forced a teenage girl to play caregiver with no reciprocation, one where both parties saw the other through rose-tinted glasses instead of understanding and accepting them for who they really were.

Ironically, therefore, Katara’s canonical romance only serves to improve Zutara, as the imbalance and shallowness of Kataang perfectly juxtaposes and highlights the beautiful harmony, intimacy and depth that Zuko and Katara have in comparison.

#zutara #anti kataang #aang critical #the official zutara dissertation

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