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THIS RANT CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE NYCC TRAILER.

Right off the bat, I'm going to say I mean no disrespect to anyone in this guild. But I have a habit of being overly blunt and crude whenever I type something.

Firstly, what is the ship that you care about most/want to be canon the most?

ZukoXKatara, and don't look at me like that. I can tell you right now, I started out as a Kataanger and shipped them thinking that they'd be a good pair. But when re-watching Crossroads of Destiny I noticed how well Zuko and Katara got along, even if they were still considered "enemies." He even closed his eyes when Katara offered to heal his scar. I had just gotten into ATLA about a year and half ago?

Now, it's not going to be as much of a cliche as the reason you're thinking of. Katara and Zuko [again] were on opposing sides, and he closes his eyes in front of someone who he has fought against for almost two seasons. Their trust factor had to of deepened greatly for him to do this. When Katara heals anyone, doesn't she take out the water first? Why did she rest her thumb on his lip?

How much does canon matter to you?
Canon matters a whole lot, the Kataangers yell and scream how much their ship is "canon," at least the rude ones do. I know there are nice ones out there. Aang has kissed Katara, once in Day Of Black Sun and she looked away to the side as if she was greatly unsure of her feelings.

{Nightmares and Daydreams does not count as it was a DAY DREAM on Aang's part and it's what he WISHED would happen between himself and Katara.}

If you've seen the NYCC trailer, which I was there in person at the time. But Katara looked ambiguous the first time, and the second time she pulled away with a shocked look.

If Kataangers can claim canon for kisses that have remained ambigous so far, the Zutarian's can certainly say that Zutara is canon. When Katara runs into Zuko's arms, he is surprised at first, because she runs into his embrace with no warning but when she rests her head on his shoulder, he looks calm and happy. And this is just a hug!

Do you actively partake in the fandom for Avatar/your ship?
Of course I do! Avatar is the largest fandom that I've ever devoted myself too. Everyone I've talked to feels like family and they've told that right back to me.

Finally, what will you do if your ship becomes canon?
I'll go ballistic with excitement, people flack Zutara because it's Kataang's competition. but NO OTHER SHIPPING in ATLA gets this kind of bullshit! Someone I know described it all perfectly and it's exactly how I feel!

I ******** love Zutara. I love the fanfics. I love the fanart. I love the essays. I love the AMVs, I love most of the shippers--there are maybe a few 12 year olds who give my ship I bad name that I don't care for, but for the most part? I love this ship. I've spent three ******** years dedicated to this ship only to be put down AS AN INDIVIDUAL for having different tastes? WHAT THE HELL? ~ Anon

If Zutara doesn't become canon, I can live, but I'm happy that I got this far. As people called me "delusional" and "stupid" and I was "just holding onto a dream and onto a fanon pairing."

Katara will never, ever trust Zuko, she will hate him forever!

Tell that to the ******** New York Comic Con trailer of Zuko and Katara, alone together on a mission dressed in outfits like The Blue Spirit. They're sitting next together in TEIP [The Ember Island Players] and even practicing their fire and water bending together as comrades. And add all that along with this NYCC TRAILER SPOILERY screencap, okay?

Because when you hate someone you'll sit next to him,train with him, go alone with him and embrace him and he'll hold you back.
Riiiiiiggggghhhhhhttttttt. xp

Possibly more SPOILERS in this post, so yeah. That means the links have pictures with spoilers too,

See, Mike and Bryan had to of designed Avatar to go a specific track. But the characters were also meant to go along their own "track" so to speak and it might lead to another character. But Katara has two boys [Sokka doesn't count unless you're into watercest, which by the way; Ew. D:] in her life, Aang and Zuko. She is between the crossroads and could walk away from either one of them and take the path she wants too. Her choice cannot be "no one," as Mike and Bryan said by series end; she'll be with either Aang or Zuko.

Kataang Track
- Aang wakes up from the iceberg [When the ice shattered, did it not look like hatching egg? And who was the one who dealt the blow?]
- Katara and Aang lock eyes
- They become friends
- Aang develops feelings for her
- He tries to get her attention, but never does, or at least not the way he wanted. [Sort of like a "Mommy, look what I can do!" gesture.]
- Avatar Roku tells Aang "When love is real, it finds away."
- Katara has only blushed in a "crush" kind of way for Aang and this was in The Cave of Two Lovers. But they didn't kiss, because when the torch goes out and the crystals glow, it goes back to Aang and Katara, and they're the exact same distance from one another!
- In Dobs, again, when Aang was crying at the fact they had to leave most of their troops behind. Katara sits next to him, but Aang looks away as if not wanting her comfort. Click for that very screen cap

Something the Kataangers don't consider is the different circumstances of how Aang and Roku's training went.

Roku was away from pretty much the woman he loved for years while under going his Avatar training. He was able to separate duty and attachment from one another, but he got to be with Ta-min and they got married and had a family, but as he was selfish in trying to save the entire island which made up his home. Instead of escaping with the other residents, it cost him his life, even if it was because Sozin betrayed him and left him in the poison mist along with Fang, his spiritual dragon.

Aang hasn't had the hard-core training from a hard-a** teacher. Jeong-Jeong even though he was bitter, at the very least he gave Aang a lesson in fire bending with true discipline. But Aang, being a child still, he wanted to take the fast road and ‘wanted to shoot fire from his fingertips.’ His impatience caused him to lose control of that fire and he burned Katara as the end result.

While training under Toph,Katara and Zuko, Aang is missing the strict discipline that comes with the bending art. Aang has been seen in WAT ignoring Katara just to fly on his glider and shirking his duty as an Avatar. Even when Teo,Duke and Haru went to explore the temple, Aang ran after them, but Katara stopped him saying ‘they needed to talk.’ And still, he ignored her when it came to ‘responsibility.’

Zutara Track
- Zuko comes to the South Pole looking for Aang.
- When panning the crowd for "the Avatar," Zuko looks directly at Katara.
- His arm reaches through the crowd, and it looks as if he grabs Katara [instead he takes Gran-Gran, but he doesn't hurt her, which another Fire Navy soldier would have done so.]
- Zuko finds Katara's necklace on top of that floating rig. Hold on, each necklace has a different insignia. How does he know it's hers?

Princess Yue's

Katara's

- When he find Katara in "The Waterbending Scroll" he shows her that he has her necklace. And it's in perfect condition as the day she lost it. After this, why didn't Zuko just throw it away and tell this to Katara to get the upper hand over her and Aang?

- In Bato of the Watertribe, Sokka,Katara,Zuko,Iroh and Jun are atop the Shirshu. Katara is hung over the saddle and she is behind the young firebender. When the beast bucks upward, Zuko presses his hand on her back to secure her safety. But she's his enemy, so why would he care?

- In The Siege of The North, when Zuko and Katara face off against one another. Zuko defeats her with the rising of the sun and evaporates her water, thus knocking her out and taking Aang away.

- In Crossroads of Destiny, Zuko has his back to Katara and he is letting her rip at him. "Always following us trying to capture the World's last hope for peace?! But what do you care? You're the Firelord's son. Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"I DON'T?! How DARE you! You have no idea what this war has put me through, me personally! The Fire Nation took my Mother away from me."

"I'm sorry, that's something we have in common."

- Katara stops crying and glances back to Zuko. [Call me crazy, but in the episode The Puppet master neither Aang nor Sokka could stop Katara's tears, but Zuko can do it and when she is at an emotional state of being no less?]

- Fast forward a little bit and they're now standing at full height. Zuko goes into a little bit of digging into his heart and reveals all this to Katara while she stands in the back, listening quietly.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you before, it's just that, for so long now whenever I pictured the face of the enemy; it was your face."

"My face. I see,"

- Zuko has never been so aware of his scar, till now, in front of Katara! He always knew it made him "hideous" and must scare a lot of people. But then it didn't bother him, so why does he show self consciousness to his 'mark' now?

"N-No, that's not what I meant."

"It's okay; I used to think this scar marked me. The mark of the Banished Prince cursed to chase the Avatar forever. But I know now, I'm free to choose my own destiny even if I'll never be free of my mark."

"What if you could be free of it?"

"What?"

- This is not really a question as he acts too surprised! He is more surprised that she was actually listening to his story.

- At the ending of Western Air Temple, Katara is standing at the door to his room. Zuko looks over, and actually manages a small smile at her presence. After she gives him her speech. His shoulders go from upright, to being in a downcast posture as she slams the door.

Shoulder's Upright

Shoulder's Downcast

- In The Boiling Rock Zuko gets himself arrested [and beaten on by poor Sokka, no less. xp ] all for the sake of finding the chief of the Water Tribe. Doesn't it seem odd, that even if Zuko has never met Hakoda, he is willing to risk his own safety that Hakoda is reunited with his children?

- At the ending when they all come back to the temple, Zuko appears to smile after Sokka and Katara embrace their Father, now that they're back together.

If I missed anything vital, I'll just put it in another post some other time, but I've worked on this one for over 3 hours to make sure I didn't miss anything big. sweatdrop

One last thing, doesn't Zutara always end in a season finale? First they fought, next came them understanding one another along with Zuko joining Azula [jerk :<] and now him and Katara can be seen getting along togther in the up coming episodes. 3nodding whee wink mrgreen

what is the ship that you care about most/want to be canon the most?
TophxSokka. The chances of them going canon are way too slim, but I'd really like them together as a couple, and not just friends. It just seems like such a waste to me. Nobody can deny the special kind of interactions these two have (whether you view it in a romantic light or not), and that's what made me like this couple so much, because, again, I'm a sucker for character developement.

And I find it extremely funny that the first time they ocurred to me as a couple was around the begining of The Serpent's Pass episode. I was like "HELL YEAH!" by the end of it.

I've said before that I don't like Suki very much. She's nice and everything, but she just seems like and uninspired character to me. I want to see more in Sokka's relationship than just lovely-dovey, and occasional standing by each other in a fight or for support.
Let me put it this way: Suki is a strong girl; Toph is a strong person. Suki and Sokka fell in love in a couple of episodes; Toph and Sokka have been building bonds throughout two seasons. Suki and Sokka fight alongside each other occasionally; Toph and Sokka are a team.


Yeah, I don't have to defend it with the intensity Zutarians have to defend their ship, so I don't have a lot more to say. I do support Kataang, but that's become such a touchy issue that I just preffer to cheer from the sidelines. If I do get snippy at zutarians, is because of their arguments for zutara becoming canon. I don't mind if they support it, or want to find evidence. Just find some that isn't grasping at straws.

How much does canon matter to you?
A whole lot. I like the characters for the personalities they already have, not for how much I or anyone else bends those personalities to their will. I'm ******** picky with fanfiction and fanart.

But you can't blame me for liking this couple. Sokka spent half a season without a pressent love interest. One Episode in between, and then it's a long run until the last few episodes. During this time we see him develope a friendship with Toph that goes beyond teasing and joking; they trust each other with their secrets and feelings. There's just a lot of potential in them.

Do you actively partake in the fandom for Avatar/your ship?
Just in occasional discusions, read some fanfics, and maybe probably who knows fanart in the future.

Finally, what will you do if your ship becomes canon?
Rejoice. ...It's not trascendental, so I'll just be smiling for a while.

As far as I can see, this ship doesn't have a very big following, and I've never seen much fuss and fights about it (buncha bad fanfics, but there are bad fanfics for everything), so I'm pretty comfortable with that. I don't have to hide my face in shame like Kataangers or Zutarians have to, thanks to rabid fangirls.

I think that'd be it.



I think both rabid Kataangers and Zutarians are at fault for that. Something that confusses me about the Avatar fandom is how much people put enphasis on the shipping. It wouldn't be so terrible if they limited themselves to debates and discutions and just leaving the opposing team alone, but I've seen both Zutarians and Kataangers visciously attack each other, for no aparent reason whatsoever.

I for example, don't mind you liking Zutara. I find your reasoning coherent; I don't agree with it, but I know it's valid. But the way I see it, a lot of Zutarians are very outspoken, and very rude about it.
Kataangers are pussies who get butthurt.
All hell breaks loose, and the sane shippers get caught in the crossfire.

I agree with you in that the fervor of shipping in the Avatar fandom seems to outweigh any obsessive shipping of almost any other series. I've noticed that the people who ship Kataang seem to be more antagonistic and, frankly, louder than the Zutarians. Then again, I typically try to limit myself to communities of shippers who are calm and intelligent. I think it really depends on the age of the fan. I've talked with Kataang shippers who are reasonable people, and I've seen 12-year-old ******** Kataangs making fools of themselves on YouTube. I've also talked to one or two obnoxious Zutarians, even though most of us try to be reasonable.

Spoilers for the finale. Highlight at your own risk: I do find it entertaining how much of the Kataang fandom was butthurt at our not caring about the spoilers and continuing to ship Zutara. LINK CONTAINS SPOILERS AND FUNNY FANDOM WANK.

I enjoy cannon pairings to a degree. For example, I adore the short lived relationship of Pip and Seras in Hellsing and I'm proud it's the only cannon pairing in the show. However, I really like crack pairings too...Let's just say I own quite a bit of Greed/Riza artwork for Full Metal Alchemist.

In the case of Avatar, I do actually support half of the cannon pairs. I love Sokka/Suki and I enjoy Zuko/Mai...but I also like crack pairings such as Zuko/Toph, Zuko/Sokka, and so on and so forth. I like the art done for Zutara even though I'm not a fan of the pairing. In my mind, Jet died to prove himself to Katara so he's really the only person I think she should be paired with. I do realize that being dead, this hurts their chances at a relationship, but that's what fanfiction is for.

I only have an issue with cannon vs. crack when someone of a different view tries to force their ideals on me. While I will defend a Katanger if they are being attacked for liking that pairing, this will not stop me from slapping them if they try to tell me I'm wrong for liking Jet/Katara. It's all a matter of opinion and preference. I see it very similar to how I see religion.
It's what you make of it. A pairing is only as important as you make it in your own mind, but no matter how much it effects your life, you should NEVER try to force it on someone else.

At the end of the day, I'm not very active in the fandoms for my pairings because the fandoms aren't exactly big to begin with. Jet was seen as an a** so he is ignored and put down and very little art is ever actually done of him with Katara in a romantic sense.
And since Zuko/Toph is very much a crack pairing, very few people even consider it.

If I find art that matches my views, I will save it. If I run into art that is of a different pairing, I'll still save it if it's good [Zutara has such wonderful art].

But the important thing to be is that you shouldn't debate it. There is no debate. Everyone has right to like what they like. Respect it or get out.