Kait

Go Piss Girl This blog is for my wife

[kg-day]

"You're annoying for tagging posts properly and using your freedom of speech on your own blog" -these anons.

No, literally. And I'm pretty sure it was the same anon simply because those asks appeared in my inbox within seconds of each other.

[kg-day]

Liking Kataang is honestly exhausting. For me personally it’s like one of the only ships where I’ll watch or read canon material on it and be happy just to get online to see reactions about it and it’s just a bunch of individuals critiquing every single little aspect of it and even going as far as flat out making up shit, with so many people agreeing as well.

What do you mean Aang was wrong for telling the group they wouldn’t understand him wanting to bring back his dead people back?🫩

What do you mean Katara was reduced to Aang’s girlfriend and help and that it’s happening because of KATAANG when in the Aang(basically Kataang movie) she was the only one in the group who had any fight feats in the movie and to have their own thoughts and opinions shown as she disagreed with Aang and questioned Tagah multiple times OPENLY?🫩

Hard out here man.

Yeah, it's always been hard out here for those of us who ship Kataang. They have always been that ship for me, and seeing how much hate they receive is honestly so sad to me. They are so amazing! Absolutely foundational for me. But, honestly, after the movie — while there are people who are constantly going to find reasons to be mad at Aang and Kataang — Kataang is thriving.

And I agree. People are being willfully ignorant about the movie. I get having criticisms, but so many people are just parroting the same things that don't really have any basis in canon. Like with Aang saying what he did, I'm not sorry when I say that he was right. He was right, same as Katara was when she snapped at Sokka. Was it a nice thing to say? No. Was it said in a moment of high emotion? Yes. But that doesn't mean it is inherently incorrect. None of them understand Aang's situation. Yes, Katara has experienced similar traumas, and she can relate to Aang to a certain extent, but at the end of the day, there are still people and a culture in the Southern Water Tribe. She shares the loss of parts of her culture, but it's parts, not the whole; that is the difference. He isn't saying it to invalidate Katara's own experiences, but rather because it's the truth; they don't understand. How can they? Aang's experience is so singular. He isn't telling Katara that she didn't experience what she did, but that she didn't experience what he did.

As for Katara being "reduced" to Aang's girlfriend, I fear we will never not hear that from people. Katara has always been super affectionate with Aang; that hasn't changed with the movie. Oh no! Katara loves her partner, and they are super lovey with one another! How dare they! She has no agency despite still being a badass who can part the sea, revive herself and four others, and openly disagree with Aang and call him out when she needs to. Nope, none at all. She totally didn't receive recognition and appreciation from Aang or any of the others for all of the amazing shit she did. Nope, totally didn't happen.

I understand that there are issues with Katara's post-canon content, but I genuinely hate the way that people actively reduce what we do know about Katara and her life and legacy in order to push an agenda. No, Katara was not "just Aang's girlfriend"; she was a founder and councilwoman of Republic City, a waterbending master who trained two avatars, a member of the White Lotus, the best healer in the world, and yes, a mother and a wife (two things she has actively wanted since season 1).

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I believe in the women of Gachiakuta supremacy 🧎🏻‍♀️🧎🏻‍♀️🧎🏻‍♀️

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You’re annoying

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Stop putting anti zutara in the kataang main tag :)

When the post also deals with Kataang, I will put it in the Kataang tag. That's quite literally what it's there for. Most of my posts refer to BOTH Kataang and antizutara, so they will go in both tags. Most of my antizutara posts are me dismantling common zk talking points against kataang (or are only tagged antizutara for filtering purposes because I don't want to interact with their stans), and are therefore inherently pro-kataang. And if they aren't that, then they don't go in the Kataang tag. So, I will continue tagging the way I have been because I actually adhere very strictly to proper tagging etiquette :)

[kg-day]

Wait you’re leaving Tumblr?

No 😭. I just meant getting off of Tumblr for the work day.

But also, does this mean people would miss me if I left?

[kg-day]

Saying my piece and then leaving because WHY is that user back in the Kataang tag 🫩?? Please block them and report them if you have to (for spam or harassment idrc, just something because they are purposefully coming into the tag to be an idiot).

Anyway, all I want to say is the concept that zk being more popular than Kataang means that Kataang sucks is so fucking stupid. There are plenty of ships that are well written that are just not as popular because people prefer the aesthetic of another. And most of the time it's a healthy, well-written, friends-to-lovers ship that is being overlooked because people would rather see a toxic, poorly-written (or nonexistent), enemies-to-lovers ship. Off the top of my head there's Kataang, Stelena, and Romione vs ZK, DE, and DH. Popularity is not always a sign of quality. Some people just have shit taste 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Enemies to lovers, in general, is just more popular than friends to lovers. That's just the truth, and no amount of high-quality writing can change people's aesthetic preferences.

But also, friends to lovers >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[kg-day]

You know, it's interesting to me that Rebecca Kuang ships Zut/ara and apparently took inspo from their dynamic for her main couple in her Poppy War series. Especially interesting since the series has a fantasy version of the Second Sino-Japanese War in which Japan played a role in oppressing China. You could assume then that the ZK-inspired couple are on opposing sides, one on Fantasy China's side and one on Fantasy Japan's side, along with all the iffyness that a romantic pairing like this would entail. But that's not the case. The couple are both on Fantasy China's side, and they're merely academic rivals.

I know inspiration doesn't always mean a direct copy and paste when it comes to writing, but I guess it annoys me because it feels like it's a pattern with ZK's that they like the ship because it's "enemies to lovers," but just ignore the "oppressor/oppressed" aspects of it. Like, does it not register to them that the Fire Nation is oppressive and imperialist because the show doesn't explicitly show them murdering and torturing civilians? Or do they think that Zuko's redemption arc just completely absolves him of being complicit with his nation's actions?

Yeah, I have wanted to read The Poppy War because I've heard really great things about it, but then I heard that the main couple was based on ZK and was apprehensive. But from everything I've seen, they aren't even actually ZK, as you pointed out; they're the idea of ZK that their shippers have in their mind. Which is basically to say that they have the aesthetic of ZK if ZK were what their shippers said it was. Because writing it as a "bully/hate-to-lovers" storyline is so far off the mark. Zuko, whether we like to admit it or not, was perpetuating the cycle of violence against the colonized nations. Yes, he changed drastically and became a better person. And yes, he wasn't at the same level as characters like Azula or Zhao, but that doesn't negate what he did to Katara specifically.

I would actually have to read The Poppy War in order to have a fully developed opinion of it, but like I said, as far as I can tell, it's ZK in the way that Alchemised is Dramione. But to answer your question, it definitely is that they think that Zuko's redemption absolves him of everything. And listen, I love Zuko; people still talk about his redemption arc to this day for a reason, but that does not erase what he did. If you want to explore ZK as a dynamic, him being her oppressor (because he is 1000% acting in league with the FN at the beginning of the series, even while he is banished) is an important part of that dynamic. Her forgiving him and even being his friend is as important as it is for her character because of that dynamic. Taking that away fundamentally makes it not them. I once saw someone say that the main couple in the book was ZK if both characters were Zuko...so, not ZK? (And Zuko and Katara are actually way more similar than their shippers will admit because they are trying to force the yin-yang agenda too much, but Katara is different from Zuko in the ways that matter, so to say that both characters act like Zuko... that is not Katara).

And like you said, inspiration doesn't mean direct copy, but the thing about ZK is that they THINK that is what their dynamic is. They coddle Zuko to make it more appropriate that Katara "falls in love with him." They also view ZK's dynamic through the lens of "she's already forgiven him," so their baseline is a Zuko who butts heads with Katara (think TSR), but not one who actively harms her.

My final thought is that I truly do not hate ZK as a dynamic, so if you decided that, for all the reasons I like their friendship, you like them as a romantic couple, fine, but don't pretend their dynamic isn't what it is. You have to take all of their relationship into account if you want to recreate it.

[kg-day]

I'm literally laughing at the op who decided to come into the kataang tag to ask why we ship it because *insert every single stupid anti-kataang take that completely ignores canon and is just made up* and when they are given ample evidence disproving every claim they made their response is basically just "nuh uh, that's not true because I said so." "The fact that I can say it's one-sided means I'm right." Babe, I could say the sky is green, but that doesn't mean it's true. You can say literally anything??? The validity of a claim doesn't lay in your ability to make it, but to prove it???

Anyways, another day, another person who just needs to stop pretending they're acting in good faith and keep their nonsense where it belongs.

[kg-day]

"Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon have fans defending/actively shipping incest"

Me, who has never shipped any of the incest ships in either show:

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The head people at Paramount are making a huge dumb mistake by not letting the Aang movie be in theaters. Do they not realize how much money they would make?

I mean, it's been "fuck Paramount" in this house for years, but THEY want to make all the money for themselves. They want to force people to get a subscription to watch the movie rather than allowing any theater or third party to make money, too. They're gonna make money regardless, it just matters to them to not have to share the wealth 🤷🏻‍♀️

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I don’t understand the whole “Kataang is liked by men, therefore it’s bad” argument. Even ignoring that most Kataang shippers are women, all the male Kataang shippers I have seen are like super chill. Why are we putting pseudo gender roles on ships?

It's just moral grandstanding to try and prop up other ships. Instead of just...shipping what they ship, they have to prove why it's the correct choice. And instead of doing that by analyzing what happens in canon, they have to make arguments tearing down the "competition."

And personally, almost every man I know who has watched atla doesn't ship kataang, but zk, so this isn't even a correct argument. There are male shippers on all sides, and while I don't doubt that some of them are weird (I mean we have seen how the men in the cast and crew of atla have talked about Katara and the other female characters in terms of ships and just as characters; it's WEIRD), most of them are, like you said, super chill.

[kg-day]

Do you have an opinion on Zutoph? Personally, I dislike it because of the age gap although that does become irrelevant once they're adults. Even without that factor, it kind of just comes off as pairing the spares of the Gaang and people not liking Mai as Zuko's love interest, but still wanting to ship him with a prominent female character so they ship him with the only single female character left in the Gaang.

I actually don't mind Zutoph. It's definitely something I see more when they're adults because of the age gap, but honestly? I get it. I can see how it might come off as people just wanting Zuko to be with one of the "main girls," but from what I've seen, that isn't what shippers like about the ship. I mean it's atla, so most of the characters are gonna have parallels with one another, it really is just a matter of whose parallels you like more. For Zutoph shippers, they seem to enjoy the "damaged/no eyesight, rich kids who rebelled, used their personas to experience a sense of freedom to do what they want" parallels they've got going on. I don't mind them tbh. I ship all the canon couples and am happy with the endgame, but Zuko is truly shippable with basically every other member of the gaang.

[kg-day]

Okay, I know I said I needed to get off Tumblr for the day, but I have one last thought before I go. The whole "kataang is more likeable now because Aang is actually being held accountable" take is so fucking stupid. Because they think that Aang not explicitly saying "sorry" for certain things means he faced no accountability, and I have two rebuttals to that.

The first is that, in EIP, Katara yelling at Aang is her quite literally holding him accountable. Sokka yelling at Aang for burning Katara is him holding Aang accountable. Aang refusing to learn firebending as a result of that is him holding himself accountable. His calling himself an idiot and being willing to move on from Katara in the finale is him holding himself accountable. When Aang messes up, there is direct action and sometimes verbal reprimanding that holds him accountable. To say that he isn't is just blatantly wrong.

The second is that, I genuinely want you to take every instance of the characters stepping over the line and saying and doing something they shouldn't have, and then actually apologizing for it and count them. Because we never see Katara apologize to Sokka for what she said in TSR. We never see Zuko say "I'm sorry for what happened in Ba Sing Se" to Katara. We never see Aang and Katara apologize to Toph in the Chase. We never see Sokka apologize to Katara for all of his sexism. We never see Zuko apologize to Mai for yelling at her. The show rarely had the chatacters actually say the words "I'm sorry." What it does do is show them getting reprimanded and/or taking action.

So, why is it only Aang that we focus on? Why is it now that Aang/Kataang is "likeable" when they have Aang being mean to Katara in a way he never was, but it's okay because he says "I'm sorry." But him being her supporter and fan in the show isn't likeable because he doesn't say the words "I'm sorry" when he messes up despite clearly and actively still being held accountable by himself and others. I get an apology is important, but again, NONE of the characters say it save for a handful of times.

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While we're at it. I HATE when people use the "it's an adaptation, it's not supposed to be accurate" line as a "gotcha" for people who don't like adaptations. Y'all need to learn what an adaptation is. It's taking something from one medium and turning it into another. I have no idea where the thought that adaptations are meant to rewrite and change the entire story came from, but that's just NOT what adaptations are meant to do.

They can expand on the story, sure. They can omit things that just won't make it in/they can't do properly in the new medium. But to actively just make a new story when you are adapting a story that already exists is not what adaptations are for.

It's truly the "there's no ethical consumption under capitalism" of media. Just an excuse people use to avoid having to think critically.

Also, if you say "I just view it as it's own thing separate from the original" than I fear that is not an adaptation. If the way you have to enjoy something is by removing it from the original material that it is quite literally supposed to be adaptating, then I fear that is NOT an adaptation. You can enjoy it as it's own piece of media, fine, but don't tell people who don't that they need to because "it's not supposed to be like the original." The WHOLE POINT is that it is, and if the only way it stands on it's own is if people just ignore that, then it's BAD. I won't be looking at it without the original in mind because that is in fact how I'm supposed to engage with it.

[kg-day]

Seeing an egregiosuly wrong take about Aang, but then seeing that the op is one of those blogs, and I know exactly the sort of bs I'm gonna be seeing.

"Aang in the og series was absolutely not Katara's biggest fan"

Literally Aang in the og:

"Go Katara!" As she is fighting Pakku

Is ready to walk away from waterbending until KATARA tells him not to

"You're like a secret hero!" When he finds out she's the Painted Lady. Then proceeds to commit ecoterrosim with her.

Supports her plan to get imprisoned to help the earthbenders

Supports her continuously on her journey to becoming a waterbender, which includes calling her a waterbender when she is doubting herself and sifu when she expresses upset about him calling Toph that.

100% supports her going to face Yon Rah, and lets her take Appa. He just doesn't want her to kill someone.

"He keeps telling her she doesn't understand his pain at the loss of his people"

This is just straight misinformation. Aang COMPARES his pain to hers to REAFFIRM that he knows how she feels.

As for the movie, well, Aang is 100% right. NO ONE, not even Katara, can understand having your entire culture and people decimated. Katara can understand a lot of his pain, as she shares in it, but at the end of the day, her culture and people are still there. She got to help rebuild that, Aang will never get to do that. THAT is the difference, and he isn't wrong for stating it. (Just like Katara isn't wrong for saying what she said to Sokka).

"He doesn't understand that just because he likes her, that she has to reciprocate"

Except she does. Constantly. She kissed HIM in TCOTL. She's the one kissing his cheek, hugging him, holding him, holding his hand. She kissed him back during the invasion. EIP is the ONLY time she doesn't reciprocate, and Aang NEVER TRIES AGAIN AFTER THAT.

"He compared the loss of his mother to the loss of Appa'

"How do you think I felt when I learned what the Fire Nation had done to my people."

"In the original Aang does not talk to Katara [about his feelings] out of fear of having his masculine ego hurt"

This is just straight conjecture. Absolutely no basis in canon to say this.

Aang also tries SEVERAL TIMES to tell Katara how he feels, and is interrupted before he gets the chance to

Also, if we want to talk about "masculine egos" I think we need to look at Zuko and not Aang. Zuko was the one yelling at his gf because of his romantic feelings and his ego being hurt

No wonder so many of them like the slop that is NATLA, it reaffirms what they think of the show. Which is the complete opposite of what actually happens. Aang has never been, and will never be any of the things they say about him, but it's easier to be 30 years old and hate on a 12 year old because your ship never even approached being canon in any way than it is to just...get a fucking grip and accept that your personal preference isn't supported by the narrative.

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NATLA Spoilers

Seeing how blatantly zutara-pilled the NATLA is, is all I need to know that they fundamentally misunderstood the original. Aside from still just blatantly messing up the plot and characters, they also had to take something from Kataang in order to make it relate to zk. How they literally took Aang being the one who knows about Katara being the Painted Lady and gave it to Zuko? And ofc the cave scene 😐. Making it more personal can work for their dynamic and Katara being extra betrayed by him, but GOD the only lens it can be seen through is a ship lens which is 😮‍💨. Especially given that TCOTL never happened with Kataang. So now we have zk shippers out here making every zk theory canon, even when it was very much NOT about them to begin with (looking at you Oma and Shu).

The show has been shit since season 1, but it's just so clear how much letting zk stans write alters the canon. Oh? The whole show is a mess with characters and plots being wildly inaccurate and all of Kataang's major moments are being removed? Yeah, that's some zutara fan writing right there.

I also just wouldn't be happy to have my ship be canon (if they do because who knows, maybe kataang will still be endgame; there are still crumbs for them, the most important of which was the Tui and La parallel last season) if it came at the expense of literally EVERYTHING ELSE. Atp, this isn't ATLA, it's zutara fanfiction.