RamblingToMyself

Ever since the second season of Voltron: Legendary Defender has come out, Kallura—Keith x Allura—has caused… quite the controversy, to say the least. Some have embraced the pairing, while others have rejected it. Nonetheless, there seems to be a consensus that the pair mirrors another from Avatar: The Last Airbender: Zuko x Katara, otherwise known as Zutara. The question is to what degree, and is the mirroring profound or shallow?

In this meta, I’ll explore the parallels between ATLA’s Zutara and VLD’s Kallura.

Note that while I ship these pairs, I will be looking at their relationships in an objective manner. How one decides to interpret these relationships, whether it be romantic or platonic, is up to that person. This meta isn’t meant to cause shipping discourse or convince anyone to ship anything. It’s only meant to evaluate the similarities between Zutara and Kallura.

Also note, spoilers for both shows will be discussed under the cut.

I was commissioned again to draw Zutara! 🎉Yay!!!🎉

Ever since I saw the screenshots, it's been nagging at me to draw them.

...obviously, I finally caved, though it's only a sketch. But ugh they look so good that I needed to contribute!

Since I’m on a 10 hour road trip and have nothing better to do, I went through screencaps of the episodes of book 3 and I noticed that the number of scenes where Katara does housework drastically decreases after Zuko joins the gaang.

In The Painted Lady, Katara is shown getting dinner for everyone while Sokka goes over his (extremely long lmao) schedule.

In The Runaway, when Sokka, Aang, and Toph come back from their money-making scheme, they return to Katara cooking. And leave all of the groceries/supplies they bought with her, so it’s natural to assume she’ll be the one dealing with them. Then, in a later scene, Katara is sitting next to the cooking pot and feeding Appa, while Aang eats in the background.

In Day of the Black Sun, while Sokka goes over the invasion plan, Katara gets him a drink. (Not exactly a chore, but it does show how she is responsible for taking care of everyone else’s well-being).

In The Western Air Temple, Katara is shown getting meals ready for Aang, Sokka, Toph, Haru, Teo, and the Duke.

In the beginning of The Firebending Masters, the night that Zuko joins, Zuko watches the group in front of the campfire, where Katara is serving everyone’s dinner.

And that’s it. We don’t see Katara doing anymore chores in the background after Zuko officially joins the group, except for when she makes watermelon juice for the group in Sozin’s Comet (although that seems like less of a necessary chore and more of just a special treat she made for fun).

I only went through the episodes in the final season, but there are many more scenes of Katara doing household work in the background in the other two seasons, usually all on her own. The only chore I observed the others doing this season, besides Sokka keeping everyone on schedule, was shopping - in just one episode.

Even though Zuko hasn’t been with the gaang for long, he’s the only other person we see serving the group.

Especially taking into account his behavior around Katara, it makes sense that he would be helping her out with the chores.

In The Southern Raiders, he’s carrying their bag for her, and later, he’s the one doing the packing. He tells Katara she should get some rest - literally the only time anyone in the gaang ever asks Katara to look after her own needs - and it’s shown later that they switched places and Katara looks more well-rested.

Given that part of Zuko’s arc involves working in customer service, I’m sure he’s very familiar with doing chores without being told.

Purely speculation on my part, but in this scene from Sozin’s Comet, the group already has their food and are eating while Katara was off in the attic. My theory? Zuko served dinner. Since she was looking for pots, Katara probably still does at least some of the cooking, but it seems plausible that Zuko might help out with prep, serving, and/or cleaning.

Unlike the first half of book 3, where Katara is often doing chores in the background, after Zuko joins, she has much more free time and seems more relaxed. She watches Aang and Zuko train (with Toph and on her own) and goes surfing at the beach.

Resting on Ember Island (and calling the shots on the best pillows ever designed by Agni).

More adult!Zutara by popular demand.

[ID: The image is splitted in two part horizontally. In the top there is Zuko without shirt, with his back toward us, his left arm extended and the right arm bended at the side of his head, bending colourful fire in a courtyard of the Fire Nation Royal Palace. His waist-length hair is half pulled up in a topknot. In the bottom there is Katara dressed in a light violet top and a shawl decorated with light blue gem and gold details, wearing her mother's necklace, two pearls necklace, moon-shaped earrings in gold with white pearls and a gold moon-shaped hair decoration. She's staring at him partially hidden by a red courtain. End ID]

I'm so happy I've got the chance to participate this amazing project for @south-asian-zutara with such talented and beautiful people! @that-turtleduck and @ai-manre 's story In the Embrace of these Moments is a great adaptation of the amazing bollywood movie Jodhaa Akbar, beta readed by @whisperingwinds007 and @hvitserker , and @airiustide art is beautiful! Go read the story and be sure to check the other art for this project, you will love everything!

Link to AO3