Tumblr Top Ships Bracket - Quarterfinals

Sokka & Zuko- The Invisible Winner of the Kataang/Zutara Debate.

Please don't take this as "Shipping War Bait", I'm doing a character analysis of ATLA about my opinion on which close Zuko relationship makes the most sense!

I feel like fandom treated Zuko/ Sokka as a crack ship but like?? That's never made sense to me.

Firstly I personally think that Aang will always remember how the fire nation destroyed his people. No matter how much he consciously says he forgives Zuko (& the fire nation) I would BET that unconsciously there's still something deeply hurt in Aang that can never truly be healed about that. As a result, Aang would not be able to LOVE Zuko as close as his other relationships. It's one of those hard to swallow pills but it's just how I interpret the characters. Aang's body has that bias, the deepest parts of his mind won't ever forget the horrific fact that his people are dead because of Ozai, and Zuko is Ozai's firstborn.

I know Aang's whole thing is that he preaches forgiveness, but here's the thing... We aren't always aware of how deeply our trauma affects us. Sometimes you don't hold a conscious bias against people... You hold an Unconscious bias. And to me, Aang holding an unconscious bias against Zuko, and not being as close to him, makes sense.

Toph could honestly work with Zuko, I think she's also a good contender for closest relationship. Though I see it in either a platonic or romantic sense (depends on the vibe). I think there could be a bit of 'fandom implicit bias' there in having Zuko and Toph constantly presented as platonic only. Like, Toph is disabled, she's blind... Do we ever question that maybe we don't like putting her with people romantically because she's disabled? Is Katara the one people ship Zuko with romantically- because Katara is more traditionally attractive? Toph is short, stocky, has short hair, is brash, and blind... Like, there's a chance she doesn't get the same treatment as Katara because she's not traditionally attractive in the way Katara is.... Something to think about.

-All that being said, I like Toph and Zuko as having a close bond either romantically or platonically. I think it's funny that they're both born rich kids, I think it's funny that they only have one fully functioning eye between them (and the comedy and hijinks that leads to). And they do work really well together throughout the show, Toph forgives Zuko when he accidentally burns her feet. And Zuko clearly appreciates how chill Toph is- she doesn't have PERSONAL bias towards Zuko as the son of the Fire Lord, in the way that the other three do.

Moving on to Katara, I have a similar sort of feeling there. It's made obvious that Katara SAW her mother die at the hands of the fire nation. It was traumatic, it was horrific, and because she was a child watching it- that is likely a DEEP core memory. In the context of the show, Zuko helps Katara find the man who killed her mother, because it's sort of a levelling of the scales. It doesn't even make Katara LIKE Zuko, it makes her neutral towards him. He helped her to basically right a wrong (that's her perspective). So yeah- for the same reasons, I've just never been convinced that Zuko and Katara could have a strong and intimate relationship because of the deepness of Katara's trauma. It takes a significant amount of time in terms of the show for her to even start talking and trusting Zuko at all. Doesn't FEEL like good romantic potential to me.

But Sokka, Sokka is the best fit of them so far. The thing is, Zuko and Sokka have a lot of different experiences- but shared values. Consider the things they've had to deal with, Sokka had to handle a huge level of grief & pressure as he quickly became responsible for his family and community at a noticeably young age. Then consider how that parallels (it is not THE SAME, but there is a PARALLEL) to Zuko's abuse & exile. They're both young men, they're both conditioned to think they should be a certain way (Sokka a warrior, Zuko a tyrant). Sokka is creative & inventive, which mirrors how Zuko has to create a new emotional source for his fire bending- once again, these are parallel elements of their characters, and demonstrate how they could relate to each other.

Sokka as a character is also slightly more separated from the association between the fire nation and the death of his mother- compared to Katara. Once again, she saw it happen right in front of her as a small child, Sokka was slightly older when the event happened, and didn't see it first hand.

There are some more generic elements of their characters that might suggest gay subtext; such as Sokka's hypermasculinity being a masking behaviour so no-one would think he's attracted to men. (Most people understand why that is; but if you don't know- leaning into very masculine things as a man, can make it feel like people won't question your assumed "straightness").

But I think what I've touched on is more relevant because it's very much tied to THESE specific characters, and how they interact, and how they could relate to each other.

TLDR; Zuko and Sokka work as a ship cos they have less things stopping them (barriers to intimacy & trauma to heal from). And they have probably the highest relatability to each other's lives, allowing them to trust each other and open up, compared to the other characters.

this was. A labor of love. i hope you all enjoy these along with my nonsensical commentary

ok yapping in ur inbox again but I LOVE THE PERCABETH JILY PARALLELS !!! def my fave jily variant, along with peraltiago from b99 and pipravi from agggtm.

i don't even necessarily think the characters have parallels. like sure, both lily and annabeth are smart and caring and have a need to impress people (their families, their friends, etc.), and sure, both james and percy are clever, funny, and deeply loyal, but i think the parallels come in more with their actual relationship.

jily and percabeth are so devoted, and yes they have flaws, but they care about each other. for both ships to work, there has to be a slowburn + individual character arcs, and GAH the mutual pining and obliviousness ?! they're also js very similar in the way they interact and joke around lmao

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YESSSSSSS!!! okay i love you i literally posted a video on my tt abt jily variants today so i think i manifested this ^_^ i wholeheartedly agree with everything you said i think we are practically the same person atp

biblically accurate gaang dynamics

GUYS I THINK THAT THE LA ATLA IS PRETTY GOOD GUYS LIKE.

YES, katara isnt angry enough but is it really 2010 bad? its also the writers fault not the actress like kiawentiio is SOOOO katara in all of the interviews etc

YES, ozai is hot BUT thats seriously doesnt excuse THE CHILD ABUSE!!!! yall can simp for him but dont condone his actions :))))))

YES, zuko is sassy af THATS HOW HES SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE. did we seriously watch the same show

SOKKAS' ACTOR IS NOT WHITE, like if he was and he got the role, it's the casting directors's fault. they didn't know what they were auditioning for, so i don't see why he would've lied about his background. plus, he really doesn't look white, like at all. and seriously, how would you feel if someone told you that you were lying about your race

YESSSS i think it was knobbly knees or smth. and YES harry is tall and has his growth spurt late in life 100%. also ik its not daniel radcliffe making him ugly cause the third movie was peak harry in cinema

pls no one come for me on this but i feel like james is just so white boy coded. like he exudes british white boy energy. he just. i respect all those who hc him as poc but hes like (in my brain) the definition of a white boy. like in my head him and lily are the most annoyingly cute white straight couple that everyone still loves. anyways thanks for coming to my ted talk.

i genuinely dont think that the fire nation is discriminatory and that the water tribes are insteaf. eg. mai ty lee and azula are some of the most respected people in the fire nation. and two of then arent even benders. they fight better than most. they went to school for this and we see female soldiers/prison guards etc. but then look at the northern water tribe. katara isn't allowed to fight. period. idek but the fire nation is 100% not sexist. i do think that being gay is discouraged but only because it is encouraged to have children to better the nation. and as the most technologically advanced nation, i think they're also the most advanced in thinking. so like my final thoughts: fire nation is not sexist or homophobic, they fully support either but just want more bending/powerful children. water tribes (definitely northern, less so southern) is a bit less accepting of these things/ignorant. nwt is definitely sexist and we also see that sokka has grown up amongst misogyny or whatever. also zuko is gay. btw. just. my boy aint straight. and sokka had his bi awakening in boiling rock (when zuko breathes fire cause ughhhhh) but didnt know it was his bi awakening (sokkas the definition of 'no homo but')

you: suck my dick me, an intellectual: inhale my richard

Sirius and Remus had two cats, a small mostly white kitten named Poppy and a grey tabby named Minnie. Sirius was the one to bring them home one day and to Remus’ surprise they were the first cats that ever let him pet them, they actually seemed happy to be around him, and Remus soon realized that while he thought he was a dog person, seeing that he was in love with a man who could turn into one, but soon realized that he was a cat person when he sat down to read with a cup of tea and Minnie laid right next to him and purred as he pet her.

Sirius loves calling them different nicknames, like instead of Poppy he calls her ‘Madam’ and buys her little bows and even went as far to dress her up as a nurse for halloween one year (Minnie was obviously forced into a witches hat). He calls Minnie ‘Professor’ whenever he sees her with Remus as he is reading and Remus secretly thinks it’s adorable.

Sirius insists on constantly taking pictures of the cats and Remus, as he thinks Remus with a cat on his lap is one of the cutest sights in the world, and one year made them have a photo shoot to make kitten Christmas cards. He sent one to McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey and both of them have it hanging in their offices at Hogwarts.

Neither of the cats like Peter, but Harry and Lily love them, so much so that one of Harry’s first words was ‘kitty’.

James thinks it hilarious that Sirius named them after McGonagall and Pomfrey. When he found out he laughed for at least an hour about it.

They can’t have kids, and while helping raise Harry is amazing, getting to come home to two cute cats that they get to call their own makes them feel like a big happy family.