Loving the Cold

Also I’m really sorry if this comes across as mean or judgy. I really am just 100% curious as to your opinion, and I REALLY love your art

Hello, and thanks for asking!

Admittedly, I wasn't too invested in ships when I first watched ATLA. My main was Maiko, and that's because Mai was someone I admired and wished to emulate at the time for personal reasons. Time passed, I delved deeper into ATLA's narrative as a whole, found Zutara...and never looked back.

I never really had any issue with Kataang. It's such a sweet and comfortable ship, and I understand why people love it. It's just not for me (past experiences have shoved me into Katara's place in that kind of dynamic, and opened my eyes to a thing or two).

But other than that, it makes me sad that the writing didn't explore their potential. I say this as someone whose favorite ships are always, and I mean always, Partners (the person who understands you the most, the one who's at your side without question, always) to Lovers.

KA was that, for the longest time. But I feel like their dynamic, pure and genuine as it was, turned stagnant because—in-writing—the will-they-won't-they dynamic became an endless cycle up until the very end. The problem isn't the pairing itself, I think, but the way it was written during the final season.

It's the unresolved conflict of letting go, which would've been so deep and meaningful to see on screen.

Personally, I think of Kataang as a pure-hearted ship. But I don't think that getting in a relationship with each other would be the best resolution in-story, in-character.

And maybe I'm just projecting, but Aang growing to accept that Katara's platonic love for him is all he really wants and needs; and Katara learning to put her own needs and wants before everything else (flimsy predictions, her sense of responsibility to Aang)—I don't know, I think that's beautiful in its own way.

Aang deserves to be with someone who challenges him, who pushes him forward, who doesn't coddle him or put him in a pedestal for fear of doing him harm.

Katara deserves to be with someone she can lean on (as she so wished in canon), someone who would never abandon her or run away, who doesn't put her in a pedestal because they see only a side of her.

Both Aang and Katara deserve to be each other's person, each other's best friend—even if they're not each other's love.

That's the way I interpret their relationship, and the way I would like to see it develop. It doesn't necessarily means it has to be that way, or that you have to agree with me.

Okay here’s my attempt (forgive me if it’s lackluster akjsjshsjdhsj):

Um actually Zutara is a colonizer x colonized ship how dare you not ship Katara with her pseudo son-brother don’t you know putting her in a position of power over the nation that oppressed her people would be traumatizing for her and also Zukka is right there god you zutarians are so heteronormative

I’m sorry

He is a colonizer, alright.

Shirtless Zuko under the cut because I'm a human being and couldn't resist the temptation:

For instance, everytime Izumi takes a leave of absence from Firelord duties to come visit her retired parents in the SWT, she's met with the customary grilling '(I can tell u aren't getting enough sleep. Have you been eating enough? Has that one minister started bothering u again? im going to send a letter to his mother-')

Izumi's husband gets the full briefing as well ('next time you see her putting treaties on her bedside table, u need to bodily pick her up and drop her in a pond because I've tOLD HER SO MANY TIMES-')

Meanwhile the children are always so excited to go see Gran Gran and "Grumps". They get to spend the whole day exploring, fishing, sledding and getting in trouble around the village, overseen grouchily by a giant red dragon who is definitely NOT HAPPY at being turned into a glorified babysitter. When they get back, Katara tells the creepiest stories around the fire- old myths and legends, she'll save the war stories for another time- while they drink hot tea (made by a much more skilled Zuko). Sometimes they'll get to see them spar (still got it), and be in awe at first only to become disgusted when it inevitably becomes poorly disguised flirting.

When their cousins are there they get a tent all to themselves and stay up the whole night. Katara and Zuko told them to go to sleep, and they can hear them trying and failing to keep their voices down, but they don't mind really.

Aang and Katara are undoubtedly the confident, flirty ones of their relationship. They would bond over bagging two royal awkward losers lol.

Zutara in the middle of another resurgence:

Zutara fandom: *furiously writing new fic and making new art every day*

Zutara Nation :

You have no idea how much I laughed. Especially at the end. 😂