Atla Fandom Critical - Tumblr Posts
Bro I always find it so annoying especially when they fight of ships! Like it doesn’t matter but you’re acting like it’s something worth going to war!!! It’s a kids show!!! I especially don’t like the katara hate. I can take valid criticism to her character or just the reason “oh I don’t like her” but people hate her for the most misogynistic reason! Like she’s a 14/15 year old girl what do you expect her to act like sometimes!
Atp I have to just stop consuming atla fandom content for good because bitches are constantly arguing over the same four characters. I’m trying to look at headcanons, fanart, and memes and then get hit with people in the tags gaslighting you into hating children JUST BECAUSE. Goes to show none of you deserve any of them actually!
“I don’t like-“ WE GET IT. For crying out loud that’s all your content on your page has been about for the past two years!
Double standards with Jetara and the other one.
Maybe I should expand on this differently, but the double standards people have with Jet and Katara vs Zuko and Katara is embarrassing.
“He almost made her kill innocent people. Things almost went horribly. She should never be with him for that.”
Zuko invaded her home. How do you think she felt? Her mom died because of her, and now the Fire Nation was back again because of her. The Fire Nation made it impossible for them to feel safe in their own homes. Where do you think Sokka’s paranoia comes from?
Zuko almost burned Sokka. Zuko almost harmed her grandmother. Zuko almost killed a child. Zuko took Aang away, someone Katara grew close to.
Katara’s grief is loss. Losing her mother. Losing fun. Losing a part of her culture. Losing her childhood. Losing her father. Losing security. Losing Kya’s necklace. Losing Aang. Losing trust.
It’s always loss. The first episodes established the characters, but a lot happened also.
Zuko does burn down a village. He almost kills the people in it.
Zuko again tries to take Aang. Again Katara has to fight to save the people she cares about. This time she can fight; she knows how to bend.
Yet she still loses Aang.
Zuko almost dies with Aang. That could have cost them the war. Zuko almost robbed a couple and only stopped because the woman was expecting.
I don’t know how to tell you this, but that is literally ‘not as bad as he could have been’. Pulling out a weapon on two civilians who had to flee their home because of the Fire Nation and now they’re being threatened?
Zuko almost captures Appa with plans to use him to lure out Aang. After all of Appa’s suffering.
Zuko completely sends an assassin after the Gaang to kill Aang.
Zuko almost did so much. And a lot of it affects Katara. But she forgave him so it’s all good. An apology is enough.
Not with Jet apparently. If he succeeded it would completely horrify Katara, but you can’t pretend it wouldn’t be the same with Zuko’s actions if not worse because Zuko threatened her loved ones numerous times.
Do you think she wouldn’t devastated if Aang died in the blizzard in Book 1? Or if Zuko or his crew killed someone from her tribe? Or if Zuko held onto the necklace and never returned it? Or if Combustion Man killed Aang?
Honestly I think she’d be worse.
I don’t think Zuko and Katara together would be toxic, and I have a lot of issues with Zuko’s writing. Katara has seen Zuko at his worst. If she ever chose to be with him, it would only be if he actually changed, so any actual toxicity probably wouldn’t exist.
My point is that it doesn’t make sense that Zuko and Katara are acceptable but Jet and Katara aren’t. It is literally canon that Zuko has done more harm to Katara than Jet.
If you hate both ships, it would make more sense.
I find it hilariously stupid when some Kataang shippers undermine the maturity gap between Katara and Aang by saying: "Oh I love that Katara is taller than Aang, and Aang is short cuz it breaks societal norms"
IT'S NOT LIKE AANG WAS BORN SHORT AND KATARA IS BORN TALLER,
Aang is shorter than Katara In This PARTICULAR AGE PHASE because He's A 𝙋𝙍𝙀𝙏𝙀𝙀𝙉, he still hasn't hit puberty yet, meanwhile Katara is already a teen and older
To examplify that, me and my brother who have the same age difference as Katara and Aang respectively, when he was 12/13 I was taller than him, but when he started to hit puberty he drastically changed and even became Taller than me
In fact when Aang grew up, he became Taller than Katara, as seen from the photo of Aang and Katara as adults which destroys the argument that "Aang is short"
The "Shorter dude/Tall gal couple" only applies to Zaheer and P'li because when they're both grown adults (*given also that Zaheer is older) P'li is taller than him
What's even funny is that Zaheer himself is actually tall (he's 6'1) but P'li is just a giraff
Regarding my previous post about Zuko's characterization I think this comment is good to reply to and explain my point further
I think there's a nuanced difference between "being out of character/mischaraterized" and "not being/acting like yourself"
The thing with Zuko and Mai is that their relationship existence doesn't make any sense to begin with whether it was narrative-wise or character/personality-wise (*I will deep-dive into this topic in another post bec I don't want to deviate from the original topic) back to the point, I think to explain my point I will use Zuko and Jin as an example to make it clear,
When Zuko first met Jin he was being cautious of his identity being known and assumed she might know he and Iroh are fire nation, Zuko was of course acting nervous in the restaurant because (aside from him hiding his identity) Zuko is not capable to socialise or really be socially open, I think the thing of "not acting like yourself" was better explained in his date with Jin, Zuko was actually acting in-character even when he's being Lee and he wasn't comfortable at first but the moment when Jin asked him to juggle is the moment he started to actually act like his 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚 self (*but he still wasn't mischaracterized back then) he started to be comfortable with jin because he actually liked her and became even more comfortable when they're alone at the fountain so the reason he had back then to not act like himself is now gone
From this we can know that Zuko is not the type of person who would be a "people pleaser" or try to not act like himself when he has no valid reason to or when he already loves/or comfortable with this person (*like with Jin)
Now let's see Zuko and Mai, the reason why this case is out of character even if we assumed that this relationship existence (somehow) made sense is that he has no reason to not act like himself with Mai, Bec he already knows her, she's not a stranger to him, and Zuko is not also the type of "playboy" as he's depicted in his relationship with Mai which is why I say it's out of character and a writing issue, also the other reason why it's out of character and not them shown as "not acting like theirselves" is because these moments are not presented as such
The writers presented these moments as them actually "acting like themselves" and to try to trick the audience into actually thinking this is "how Zuko and Mai really are" (*which is also the reason why the fandom mostly mischaracterize these two), the writers presented these moments as "look they're happy with each other and love each other" which is why it can't really be interpreted as "first relationships where neither of the two act like themselves"
But anyway thanks to the comment @thereslifeinhereyes and I'm interested in having these conversations even if we disagree
Just to start by saying that I'm both anti-maiko and a Jinko shipper (*I would say I'm a #1 hardcore shipper for it)
I will state the things that I agree and disagree with you in your answer:
"I think basing that opinion on his relationship with Mai is selling him short" I totally agree, infact I think it's more worse than people mostly seem to realise is that THE RELATIONSHIP ITSELF IS OOC AND DIDN'T MAKE ANY SENSE therefore they will act ooc and the writers themselves are aware that this relationship makes no sense hence why they write zuko and mai ooc 99% of the time when they're together
and regarding the seashell scene, I think it's dumb and ooc for Zuko and I will explain why, while I do agree with you that Jin will be content and appreciate any simple acts from Zuko (in contrast to Mai who is barely ever interested in anything) but I think the real thing we need to acknowledge in this critical engagement is that Zuko was literally mischaracterized awfully in "the beach" episode (*even the other characters had ooc scenes in the ep but this is for another post) so you can't really use this seashell scene as an example about how Zuko would act because it's already dumb and occ for him
And to explain why it's dumb and ooc I will use the Tale of Zuko as an example on how Zuko's characterization and awkwardness was actually in-character compared to the beach episode
So how did "The Tale of Zuko" portray his awkwardness right?
In the beginning of his date with Jin, Zuko had his hair done by uncle Iroh, since he seems to trust his uncle and always see his wisdom, he believes in his decisions and didn't really bother to pay attention if it's bad or good, and also because Zuko doesn't really have an experience (*and it's his first time) and is also anti-social so he handed it to his uncle and got along with it
In the restaurant is were things start to get nervous, Jin asks him questions and responds calmly then when the waiter came to them and referred to Jin as Zuko's girlfriend, Zuko exclaimed that she's not his girlfriend and pounded his fist on the table, and all the people in restaurant turn their eyes on Zuko and Jin, Zuko then realise he embarrassed Jin (*also a note Jin was described in the script as "nervously" slurping the noodles) Zuko of course wants to somehow cheer her up with a compliment but he doesn't know how or what to say but then said what came to his mind at the moment
PAY ATTENTION TO ZUKO'S BODY LANGUAGE AFTER, he fiddles his thumbs nervously and lowers his head and turns his view to the other side, HE RECOGNISED HIS BLUNDER AND HIS AWKWARDNESS and stayed silent until Jin moved the conversation, and Zuko wanted to respond more smoothly
Jin asks him about where he and his uncle came from, of course Zuko has to lie but he can't clearly think of a convincing lie that's why he seems to pause and talk slowly when he tried to bring up his travelling and circus story, so it's normal in this situation why he would be awkward which was pretty realistic actually when someone doesn't know how to lie
Then the moment Jin asks him to juggle is where things start to change, Zuko started to open up more to her and he doesn't want to disappoint her and refuse her request even tho he doesn't know how to juggle but tried to do it anyway so to not disappoint her but he awkwardly failed to do it
This segment really portrays his awkwardness more realistically within context and in-character for Zuko and doesn't trivialize his awkwardness or his temper (*unlike the beach episode)
At the fountain he gives her a gift which is a coupon- it's a simple yet a proper gift which Jin appreciated and Zuko said it was his uncle's idea, like I said before he trusted his uncle's decisions and since it's Zuko's first time and he doesn't have experience I would assume he didn't think of the idea of giving Jin a gift and he followed his uncle's advice by giving her this gift because Zuko is aware he might not think of a good idea for a gift hence why he followed his uncle's idea
Now let's get to the point on why the seashell scene was dumb and ooc for Zuko
The second he saw a random seashell he immediately gave it to Mai (*He didn't even give it a second thought?) I'm not saying a seashell would necessarily be a bad gift (*it would be a proper gift for someone who has a hobby and interest of collecting seashells) but it's actually trivial if you think about, I mean it makes no sense that Zuko would see it and think this might be a proper gift to give to someone, and out of all the people, he specifically gave it to Mai (who's uninterested and bored by almost everything)??? It's not like Zuko is still getting to know her for the first time, this scene makes him rather dumb and ooc
And the line "Don't girls like stuff like this?" makes it even worse, Why would he even assume that? And where would he get this assumption from? Even tho he also had no experience in his date with Jin but he still didn't display that kind of triviality or ignorance back then
What's really baffling to me is that the "Tale of Zuko" and "The beach" episode are both written by the same writer (Katie Mattila), but how was Zuko's character got right and nailed in the Tale of Zuko yet so awfully mischaracterized in the beach episode?? I will soon post a blog fully explaining the problems with the beach episode
"he'd be shockingly smooth"??? We saw him with Mai, he wasn't smooth. 🫤
I think basing that opinion on his relationship with Mai is selling him short. That relationship was bad because Mai didn't actually like him. She also didn't appreciate or reciprocate his small romantic gestures. That seashell thing? Absolute gold, and something that just came natuarally. But because Mai had a bug up her nose it went over like a lead balloon. That wasn't his fault. Like I said, Zuko in a relationship where his partner actually likes him would be smoother than a fresh jar of Skippy. I'm basing that on how well his date with Jin ended once he got out of his own head. Imagine if they'd been able to go out a couple more times. Jin would've melted over that lil' seashell. And that's exactly why I'm baffled by the amount of people who seem to think canon Maiko was the height of romance. She didn't seem to like the boy, and he felt it. And he acted accordingly. He was dating someone just like his father. Of course he was weird and awkward.
A certain twitter thread fueled my rage today... so now I'm just glaring at my ceiling and silently stewing
Ship whoever you want to ship, enjoy whatever media content you want to enjoy, but that doesn't mean you should project your fantasies on young actors!! those are REAL people, not animated characters!!
I feel so sorry for Dallas Liu and Zuko (for having terrible stans), but even more so for Thalia Tran, Kiawentiio, and Gordon Cormier because they do not deserve to have their actions grossly misinterpreted just so Zutara shippers can feed their false narratives.
Gordon is a minor, and both Thalia and Kiawentiio were minors at the time of NATLA Book 1's release. It is SO disgusting that they're making up stories about Dallas hating Gordon, and the fact that they were counting down the days for Kiawentiio turning 18??? I want to throw up
YoU oNlY liKe zUtaRa cAuSe zuKo iS HotTer tHan aAng 🙄🙄🙄
Not to quote literal Jesus... but "you said that".
Plus, man he's a firebender, he's literally hotter than anyone, he can set himself on fire. Lol.
“I think Zuko and Katara would’ve made a cute couple”
normal person irl: oh yeah, now that you mention it I can see it
ATLA fan online: Zutara fans are DELUSIONAL and so ANNOYING. There is NOTHING in the entire show that indicates anything romantic whatsoever. EVERYONE hates Zutara. Katara would never get with her colonizer and Zuko loves MAI. Katara and Aang are SOULMATES. You just like Zutara because they look good together. Well joke’s on you because Aang got Katara pregnant THREE TIMES —