I'm sorry? Shipping zutara makes u morally corrupt??? Really??
Zutara.. The completely PG enemies-to-friends ship where one of them goes through probably the most detailed redemption arc in recent entertainment history which is constantly held up as the gold standard over traditional 'heal-turn-im-a-good-guy-now' arcs.... The one with the hugs and the pep talks..... That Zutara??????
In the whole history of romantic storytelling.... This is the deepest depths of immorality we can go to?? This is what they think makes a pairing "dark and intriguing"?????
When people say this, I just have to assume they are not well-read/widely-read OR that they haven't read any romance works by female authors. Because how is Zutara—the most vanilla of Enemies to Friends to Lovers ships ever—being falsely labeled as “dark and intriguing”? 💀 The detractors must live under a rock in terms of exposure to diverse literature, television, film, etc. Narrative parallels, symbolic dualism, thematic cohesion, and being canonically friends who’ve seen each other through conflict resolution, redemption, forgiveness, and atonement as well as helped each other mutually grow/change is “dark and intriguing”?
What kind of stuff are you reading to come to that conclusion, Bryan?!
Some things never change. Even on the ATLA podcast in 2023, Bryan is STILL clinging to the “bad boy” Zuko narrative that his own show dispels quite clearly.
I won’t fault Bryke for this too much, as Zuko is not even really a product of their minds to begin with 🙄 I guess it’s understandable they might’ve missed key parts of his character arc in canon (all sarcasm). Again, it cannot be understated that ATLA was a collaborative effort.
At this point, just add Bryke’s name to the list of people in this meme that like to conveniently feign amnesia whenever Katara and Zuko’s relationship, be it platonic or romantic, to each other is mentioned.
It won’t burn the house down if you let Katara and Zuko interact, Bryke. Or maybe it will. But Bryke couldn’t contain the inferno in 2008. They’re definitely not going to be able to contain it in 2026. Saltiest IP creators I’ve ever seen. And they just lie so freely and brazenly haha!
Their argument against Zutara ever being conceivable even in 2023 is so baffling to me because how are they even viewing Zuko as a character that Aang, Sokka, Suki, Toph, or Katara could ever even befriend…? Like…? Aren’t we supposed to — even in the most recent TLA movie — believe that they are all a very tight knit friend group?
How is Aang best friends with Zuko, by that same logic? The math is not mathing, making it so clear they are not the ones responsible for any of the powerful relationship dynamics, whether familial, friendship, or romantic on the show.
Yeah, the math is indeed not at all close to mathing. If Zuko is an unredeemed, terrible, just downright evil dude, then why is he friends with the rest of the Gaang?
The only explanations are:
- Bryke are genuinely selective amnesiacs in regard to Zuko’s redemption arc and forgot about their own show’s central theme of forgiveness/change for the better, all while letting the praise for the work their writing team did go to their heads and fool them into thinking they were actually the ones responsible for everything that is beloved about ATLA…(I think this second bit is unfortunately true)
OR
- Bryke hate the whole concept of Zutara with a passion because a rejection of KA is a rejection of their babysitter trope, older girl likes you back, Nice Guy™️, male-centric, male fantasy, wish fulfillment, and they hate the fact they will be haunted by a monster of their own making for the rest of their careers as long as they continue making ATLA projects because they can’t be normal about Zutara, and they are making a mountain out of a molehill because they are ignoring the huge elephant in the room…
