#zutara evidence for the intellectual dummy

[vohalika]

Shipping comes in two distinct flavors, casual and competitive, and much like with video games, the casual shippers tend to have a lot more fun than the competitive ones fighting for canon. Sent from a competitive shipping veteran.

"you can't ship that, it'll never be canon!"

look, when I was your age, we shipped characters who never even met in canon. uphill. both ways. in the snow.

[whocalledhimannux]

okay, I just went to try and rewatch the “Zutara Evidence for the Intellectual Dummy” because I remember DEVOURING those like ten years ago and all but the first are “blocked in your country” on YouTube. any chance some tumblr soul with excellent forethought saved them?

[avatarfandompolice]

I'm trying to understand why Zutarians were so convinced their ship was going to be canon despite all evidence to the contrary. After watching "Zutara Evidence for the Intellectual Dummy" (ugh) I've determined that they effectively brainwashed themselves by heavily exaggerating every instance of Zuko and Katara being in the same episode, while also downplaying (or outright ignoring) actual character development between Katara and Aang. Your thoughts?

They’ve essentially convinced themselves to the point that they ignore any contrary evidence. They’re so set in their own ways that they can’t accept anything besides things that promote or confirm their ship, even if it’s just minor interactions between the characters the ship.

[starchildsteven]

What happened with the avatar fandom?

*sigh* How much time you got? In all seriousness it was just an awful toxic fandom overall. Mostly because of Zutara v. Kataang. These shippers were the worst I have ever seen and no fandom I have been in since has matched them. These people called you an abuse apologist if you shipped Zutara and a pedophile if you shipped Kataang. Zutara fans said so many misogynist things about Katara to justify their ship. Kataang fans accused Zutara fans of everything. Anything negative about the show was twisted to be blamed on the people who shipped Zutara. The fandom was consumed by shipping completely and there was no such thing as blocking it out or ignoring it or not engaging because it was in every corner of the fandom. That’s not even getting into all the child porn. Just so much child porn. I searched Katara and Toph once (as a 15 year old!) and the first three images were pornagraphic fanart of two girls my age drawn by adults.It’s hard to express how toxic this fandom is. College age Kataang fans bullied actual kids about how Aang would be devastated if Katara ended up with Zuko. Like how do you care about a fictional pre-teen more than a real life pre-teen? There is a video series (it was removed by the creator but you can still find it. It’s called Zutara Evidence for the intellectual dummy) about how the show was leading up to a Zutara ending and it’s almost scary how serious people took this. The creator was an emotional wreck when the series ended and Zutara didn’t happen. She disappeared offline and closed her accounts over a show. A group of people formed a team called the Zutara Project to redo the last episodes so it had the ending they wanted. I mean there is fanfiction and then there is asking Zuko’s voice actor to voice the character in your fan project for literally no money (supposedly he agreed but I never saw the proof). Maybe this all sounds like normal fandom trash but you have to understand it wasn’t so much WHAT was happening but rather HOW MUCH it was happening and HOW INTENSE it all was. It wasn’t like Steven Universe where you have your overly intense and toxic fans but most want to just enjoy the show. It was that usual same loud minority thing but it was the majority. It was all that toxic fandom stuff but it wasn’t just a small part. It was the whole damn fandom. And they are still at it today. Avatar the Last Airbender ended 10 years ago!!!

[sneezypeasy]

Not exactly a long-time fan as I basically left right after the show ended and only re-entered the fandom early last year, but there were these videos called "Zutara Evidence for the Intellectual Dummy" or "ZEFID" videos that I used to watch religiously on youtube as the show was airing 🤣 pretty sure they're taken down by now. Half of it was crack treated seriously but half of it was actually genuinely intriguing and part of what got me into the ship as the show was airing :)

I can't really vouch for their quality as I haven't seen them since I was 14, and I loved them then but based on other things I've liked at 14, I can't (always) vouch for the tastes of 14-yo me 🤣 it's hit and miss, shall we say 🤣🤣🤣

To the long time zutara fans on this site, I’d love to hear about your experiences while atla was still airing/pre-tumblr times!! If you have any videos or archived fourms, I’d love to hear read or watch them :)