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jade-kyo · 6 days

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They could never make me hate Maiko when Mai was willing to die for him and Zuko looks like a dopey puppy every time she is involved and Mai will let her walls down around him and Zuko is the only one who can earnestly make her laugh and Mai threw mud at him when they were kids and Zuko was so ready to jump to her defense when Azula lit a apple on fire on her head and Mai can touch his scar like it’s not even there and Zuko thinks she’s so beautiful when she hates the world and Mai trusts him so implicitly that she’d betray her nation, friends, and family for him and Zukos only regret when leaving the fire nation was also leaving her and Mai tries her hardest to work past her own issues to support him in his struggles and Zuko genuinely loves it when she expresses herself and Mai who doesn’t like hugs will be so cuddly and touchy only with him and Zuko knows she doesn’t need anyone to protect her and Mai loves him more than she fears Azula…

Maiko the ship that you are… they could never make me hate you

#jadey speaks #atla #avatar the last airbender #maiko #atla maiko #mai x zuko #zuko x mai #zumai #pro maiko #maiko defense squad #Mai defense squad #pro mai #genuinely I don’t think people realize just how romantic they actually are #atla mai #atla zuko

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i-am-suffer · 2 months

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#atla #avatar the last airbender #atla mai #atla zuko #atla maiko #avatar maiko #pro maiko #maiko defense squad #atla ships #ship dynamics #relationship dynamics

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the-mind-of-ej · 2 years

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Reasons I ship Maiko.

Mai loves Zuko more than she fears Azula.

Zuko smiles when Sokka brought up Mai on the way to Boiling Rock.

Mai only has passion for Zuko.

Zuko has only ever loved Mai.

Mai properly shows emotions around and about Zuko.

Zuko regreted leaving Mai.

#atla maiko #maiko defense squad #avatar the last airbender #fire lord zuko

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jasontoddssuper · 1 year

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Very infuriating that Aang and Mai are seen as the bad atla love interest's when S///uki's 'pick me gf' ass is right there

#aang is one of the most based characters i've ever met and mai is a great example of how to write a female abuse survivor #meanwhile s///uki unironically says stuff like 'eyeliner sharp enough to kill a man' and there's colorism going on bc of her yue and sokka #yue should've been in the gaang instead of her she had so much potential but nah instead they just killed her💀LAAAAAAME #aang #mai atla #aang defense squad #mai defense squad #pro aang #pro mai #kataang #pro kataang #kataang defense squad #maiko atla #pro maiko #maiko defense squad #antisuki #antisukka #atla geekery #letters from summer

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punkeropercyjackson · 1 month

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I do NOT think it's fair for Zutara shippers to hate Zukka for a chunk of the fandom popularizing bad tropes and being mean-spirited like sorry not sorry but you're calling EVERY Zukka shipper misogynistic racists and queerphobes as if you're not the ones who came up with 'Fire Lady Katara' and 'Momtara x Dadko' and mocked Aang for trying to emphasize with Katara's mom dying with her by comparing it to him and Appa being the only living beings from what happened to the Air Nomads and call him all sorts of vile appalling shit that should NEVER be said about a fucking 12 year old because he's feminine and silly and not the perfect love interest 24/7 and takes pride in his tibetan heritage AND stripped Katara of all her accomplishments and nonconformity and layers and anarchism because you see her as worthless if she's not Zuko's arm candy while also making degrading comments about her sex life because she had kids with a guy you don't like with added anti-biracial kids propaganda as a bonus AND are so unsympathetic to Mai because she's Zuko but a girl so you're not into her that you unironically think she's a wench plus don't even actually care about Mailee seeing as it has way more evidence than Zutara on every level yet you only see them as a sidedish to prove you don't hate women AND even Zuko dosen't get speared because mans deadass ended the series with everything he'd ever wanted INCLUDING being a better dad than Ozai was to him to AANG but none of it matters apperantly because he choose what was best for himself after 16 years straight of abuse instead of some random ass crush you THINK he had for not even technically a year.You do NOT get to talk shit about Zukka stans,they're just a normal noncanon mlm ship fanbase with a small side of bad eggs,Zutaras are an entire rotten eggs ile from a supermarket that's been abandoned for almost 20 years because it never actually opened but old people who complain about 'kids these days' keep thinking it'll open one day despite it being announced a million times it never would and saying it's elder abuse in response

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forevermore05 · 9 days

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Zuko and his protectiveness over Katara backfired on the show

I think we're all quite aware of the fact that Zuko is canonically very protective over Katara

Exhibit A

When he saves Katara from falling rubble in the Western air temple.

Exhibit B

When he protects Katara from flames in that same episode when she is about to blood bend that fire nation soldier.

Exhibit C

The famous Agni Kai where he take lightning for Katara

Now why are these so significant? I think these are big gestures are to show Zuko's efforts to make amends after what he did to Katara. It could be argued these are very extreme ways of making it up to her because these came at the cost of his life. But this also goes to show his character development, as he is willing to protect Katara from danger. For me, one of the reasons why I ship them is because of his protectiveness. It's refreshing to see a character that has always been there to help and to be a support system to others be protected by someone else. I think it can be very fulfilling as a viewer. This effort that was made to write their relationship was so genuine, and it felt so heartfelt as the viewer, that it just made their dynamic one of the strongest in the show. Whether that be romantically or just platonically, their dynamic is probably one of the best in my opinion.

Now, with all that his protectiveness towards Katara immediately evaporate after the last Agni Kai which was pretty shocking, as they didn't get time to be able to talk about what happened. I feel like it removes a piece of genuineness from the show that the characters care for each other. And of course I know a reason why this could have happened is because, well, Kataang and Maiko exist. I think what made their dynamics so strong is because of their protectiveness for one another. Especially, Zuko's protectiveness over Katara. When it was removed in the comics, it felt like a bond had been destroyed because a big part of their dynamic was protecting each other and being there for each other, and having that level of communication. They were protecting each other through their communication and through their support for one another.

How I feel like it backfired on the show is that it created a bit of an emptiness in both of the characters. Especially when they interacted, it felt more distant in the comics, and it felt as if they were strangers. Zuko's writing, which leads to him being protective over her, is so poignant in their relationship that once it is removed it creates a hole in a way it makes his character feel more hollow in his relationship with Katara. It feels like an effort to create a divide and an erasure of their past and how significant his taking lightning for her was. A show that is built of meaningful character relationships took a piece of its own heart out and of its own show and stabbed it in front of all of us when it came to the erasure of Zutara. So they could push the canon ships. They were willing to remove that important element of character relationships for 2 poorly written couples.

I think it creates a level of ingenuity in this show. That is not shocking as many of Katara's other love interests met the same fate of ingenuity, whether that be Jet or Haru. Where she's never able to show her feelings about these people. Which I find quite strange seeing how the show aims to create depth and talk about feelings that actually provoke feelings in you. They don't actually go in-depth with what the leading lady's thoughts are about other people. For all the sake of keeping the focus on Kataang it costs the good writing for Katara to be able to feel complex emotions about the other male interests in her life. And it leads to a rough ending for a strong dynamic like Zuko and Katara that shows their desperation for Kataang at the cost of good writing especially for Katara.

#avatar the last airbender #zutara #zuko x katara #katara #zuko #zuko deserved better #katara defense squad #anti kataang #anti aang #anti maiko #anti mai #anti bryke #bryke critical

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vlackevil · 2 months

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“Zutara was planned” Bryke in a interview:

Zutara was never a option.

#anti anti kataang #anti zutara fandom #anti zutara shippers #anti zutara #anti anti maiko #bryke #avatar the last airbender #avatar #kataang #kataang defense #kataang defense squad

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avatarfandompolice · 4 months

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Still find it funny that both the Maiko Antis and Maiko shippers think their breakup in The Promise is the be-all, end-all of their relationship as though those two weren’t THIRSTING over each other through the entirety of Smoke and Shadow.

I especially don’t understand the pro-Maiko hate for S&S given that it’s arguably the most Maiko-centric piece of Avatar media we’ve ever gotten. And if by the end of it you’re thinking “There’s no chance. They already broke up. It’s over,” then you have literally no reading comprehension.

Mai breaking up with her current boyfriend after spending some time with a more mature Zuko? Nah, that’s nothing. Zuko literally going out of his way to find Mai to help him? Just acquaintances. The two literally holding hands while walking around with each other? Nope, nothing going on there. They’re definitely not into each other and never will be again :/

Just funny how both the shippers and antis will use the most mundane, out-of-context moments to prove/disprove things, and then when the narrative is punching them in the face they either ignore it or misinterpret it entirely.

#atla #atla maiko #maiko #Zuko #mai #atla mai #smoke and shadow defense squad

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homuraakemis · 3 months

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I keep seeing anti-Maiko people complain that Mai never had a redemption arc to learn about why the Fire Nation was bad, and that's why she shouldn't be with Zuko. And I think that fundamentally misunderstands what a secondary character is. Mai is not a main character. She is a secondary character. She is there to provide support to the narrative, she is there to fulfill her plot purposes and that's it. That doesn't mean she has no character development, but her character development is mostly related to her function in the narrative. In Mai's case, her main functions in the narrative are being Zuko's love interest, and being a key piece in Azula's downfall. Her character development is related to that: we have a girl who is closed off and suppresses her emotions who gradually starts to open up a little through her relationship with Zuko. We also have her feeling like she's always trapped by fear and by others expectations (by her parents and by Azula), and because of her relationship with Zuko, she is able to finally stand up to Azula. That's her character arc. That's what's relevant to her function in the story. Learning about how the Fire Nation is bad is not relevant to her main plot purposes in the story. There's no reason why it can't happen offscreen after the war, with Zuko teaching her about all the things he saw and learned about the Fire Nation during his travels. She is not a main character, the show doesn't need to focus on every single thing about her character. In case people forget, we don't get a "redemption arc" for Ty Lee either, because this is not important, neither Mai or Ty Lee are meant to be the focus of the narrative, we don't need to see them "learning that the Fire Nation is bad".

Another thing that people don't understand is that not every character has to be a copy of Zuko. People act like the only acceptable way for Mai to learn about the wrongs of the Fire Nation is by having a redemption arc like Zuko, but that's not really the case. It's not even feasible: Mai didn't go through the same experiences as Zuko, she wasn't forced to live as a commoner amongst the Earth Kingdom peasants, she wasn't forced to flee as a refugee, so she never really had the opportunity to speak to these people and see their plight the same way Zuko had. Of course Zuko is the one who gets the redemption arc, because he is the main character for which this arc actually matters to the story, but also because the circumstances of his story allow him to have this arc, while the circumstances of Mai's story don't. But that in no way means she is irredeemable or that she can't learn, it just means she will learn about the Fire Nation in a different way than Zuko did, probably through Zuko himself telling her about his experiences and the things he saw. And there's nothing wrong with that! Mai is not a main character, she doesn't need to have some epic redemption journey. She was a Fire Nation noble, just like Zuko, she was taught the same kind of propaganda that Zuko was, so of course she's going to believe in it and believe that Zuko is betraying his country when he tells her he joined the Avatar. But Mai is also not some cruel person, and she's also not a Fire Nation fanatic. If after the show Zuko told her about all the things he saw, she would listen. And in fact, the evidence we have is that she did listen to Zuko and she did learn about the Fire Nation: in the comics she works with Zuko against the New Ozai Society even after they break up. And if you don't want to use the comics as evidence, we have the epilogue of the show as evidence, in which Mai is shown to be on good terms with Team Avatar and playing Pai Sho with Suki. We don't need to see the details of how Mai learned about the Fire Nation being bad (she is not a main character, it's not relevant to the main story), we know that she did learn, we can fill in the blanks with our imagination.

Secondary characters not receiving a huge narrative focus and character development about every single aspect of their characters is not "bad writing". Bad writing would be if the show focused on every detail of every secondary character, because that would be losing narrative focus. Just because certain people don't like Mai with Zuko and use this as an excuse to say why the ship is bad, it doesn't mean that Mai not having a redemption arc is "bad writing".

Finally, this isn't a reason for her not to be with Zuko. Some people argue that Zuko would never want to be with Mai after his redemption because of her still believing that the Fire Nation was in the right, but people forget that if there's one person who knows what is like to have been brainwashed since childhood with propaganda about the Fire Nation, that person is Zuko. And Zuko was way more enthusiastic about the Fire Nation being right and the Fire Nation winning the war than Mai ever was. Why would he hold it against her that she believed in Fire Nation propaganda, when he himself knows what is like to believe in said propaganda? The most likely thing to happen is that he would want to teach her about everything he learned about the Fire Nation, he wouldn't break up with her just because she didn't magically unlearn an entire life of indoctrination.

#atla #atla meta #atla mai #atla maiko #mai defense squad #zuko #my meta #my post.

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starlight-bread-blog · 8 months

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Masterlist 🦋

A collection of posts I put the most effort in. Some are marked by emojies.

Decryption

💙 – Personal favorites

💎 – Partly/majorly dated

VIVZIEPOP (CRITISISM)

💙 Helluva Boss Is Mean To It's Audience

💙 Why Stolas is the Worst

(Tw: Sa) Ozzie and Valentino on consent

Stolas Is A Terrible Father

"Helluva Boss's Pilot Was About Characters"

"Blitzy" and Control

Why Stolitz doesn't work (and how to fix it)

Stella Being Abusive Is A Retcon

Blitzø And Messing Up (Critique)

Helluva Boss's Stock Villians

Stolas And The Biology Of Stolitz

💎 (tw) Angel Dust is Victim Blamed In Ep4

AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER

On Aang Sparing the Fire Lord

Zuko Unlearning Violence

The Last Agni Kai is a Tragedy

💎 Katara Isn't Irrational

💎 Defending Katara's Grief

ZUKO X KATARA (A:TLA)

What My Zutara Endgame Would Look Like

On Katara's Lines in Ember Island Players

Zutara in Ember Island Players

The Fortune in The Fortune Teller

"Katara Just Needed To Heal Zuko's Scar"

"Zuko and Katara Would Be Toxic"

"Katara Needs Aang to Balance Her"

Katara's Canon Interest in Aang

Mai's Redemption Wasn't About Her

💎 Speculation On Fire Lady Katara

💎 Zutara Shippy Moments

(ANTI) LOKI SERIES

Why Lokius Should Have Been Canon

Loki Shouldn't Have Died

What About Thor (Loki Series)

MIRACULOUS CRITISISM

💙 The Adrigami Breakup Was Hot Garbage

Why I Dislike MLB's Nino

OTHER WORKS

💙 #Bes Talk – Og Blue Eye Samurai posts

💙 ADHD Is A Disorder

Mean Girls 2024 Doesn't Understand Janis

Enemy Vs. Abuser: Catradora

The Blood Moon Curse Was Real

Notes On Fight Club

Charlie's Bullying (Critique)

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starlight-vixen-emiko · 11 months

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Aang and Katara and Zuko and Mai saw each other at their absolute worst and still loved each other dearly.

Whereas Zuko and Katara saw each other at their absolute worst and thought "Damn! Not my thing!"

#pro kataang #pro maiko #kataang defense squad #antizutara

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jade-kyo · 14 days

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Mai truly is for us emotionally repressed girlies like

Her whole character arc is like she’s emotionally repressed and was never allowed to express herself so she puts up all these walls and acts like she doesn’t care about anything and is so closed off.

And then her whole arc culminates with her loudly and proudly declaring the love she feels so deeply for Zuko. she expresses just how deep these emotions go, she is willing to die for him. Because she cares so much. Her emotions, her care, her love are so strong that they overpower her fear. Not just her fear of Azula but her fear of expressing herself, of stepping out of line, of standing for what she believes in. Which at this moment is Zuko- she doesn’t even fully understand what he’s doing, but she knows she trusts him more than anyone else. More than the fire nation propaganda and brainwashing, more than Azula, more than her parents. She knows Zuko has a good heart, she loves him for it, and she trusts it.

And that trust and love empowers her to finally express just how deeply she feels.

I don’t know if I’m articulating this very well but as someone who has always struggled to express myself Mai is just so fucking good and powerful to me.

#jadey speaks #atla #avatar the last airbender #mai atla #maiko #pro maiko #zumai #zuko x mai #mai x zuko #Mai #pro mai #mai defense squad #atla mai

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i-am-suffer · 2 months

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#atla #avatar the last airbender #atla maiko #atla ships #atla zuko #atla mai #pro maiko #avatar maiko #maiko defense squad #ship dynamics #relationship dynamics

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spark-09butghostfilesbitch · 3 years

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That's it, that's the post.

#mai deserves more love #mai defense squad #maiko defense squad #azula atla #maiko #mai supremacy

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jasontoddssuper · 1 year

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Sokka being 'taught how to respect women' by Suki is not feminism.It's not the job of girls to 'teach' boys how to treat them like people and the fact that y'all unironically think S*kka was well-written yet have the balls to bash Kataang and Maiko makes me wanna act up(/neg)

#ngl this ship makes me hate sokka and i already have suki as my least fave atla girl #atla crit #atla geekery #pro kataang #kataang defense squad #pro maiko #maiko defense squad #letters from summer #antisukka

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punkeropercyjackson · 2 months

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Yeah,no,Zutaras don't care about representation for anyone other than themselves.Because if they did,why do they

Call Aang white because they don't like him while knowing full well he's tibetan and come up with every insult in the book for him because he's a femme boy

Say Mai is a pick me and toxic because of her autistic-coding and trauma responses and dosen't 'deserve' Zuko even though he canonically finds the former attractive and has the latter too

Accuse Zukka shippers of being fujoshis who 'just hate women' for wanting Sokka to be bi and Zuko his boyfriend when most Zukka shippers are queer minors who only started the fandom because Atla got put on Netflix so that's how they found out it then instead of when it came out

And completely disregard Ty Lee as an even potentional love interest for Zuko by calling her 'too much of a bimbo' and 'stereotypically girly' for him when she was written with deconstructing that archetype in mind by giving her real emotions and what it puts girls through by misogynists who want to police how we present even if it's a healing/coping mechanism like in her case?

If moc queer or not love Kataang,they get called dudebros with no basis.If autistic women instead of just 'quirky nerds' love Maiko,they get strawmaned as 'creepy alt girls who're trying too hard'.If gay and trans people love Zukka,they get the classic 'these FILTHY GAYS are RUINING our HETEROSEXUAL SPACE' take.And if autistic queer girls who're femme in ways that aren't palpable to allistics and cishets love Ty Luko,we get told we aren't even worth considering romantic options because we're too 'stupid' and can't 'really have deep connections' that aren't being someone's annoying friend.You wanted Zutara to be canon because you're a woc like Katara and had a crush on Zuko?Cool,i feel the same way about Ty Luko and so do certain Maiko and Zukka shippers with their ships but none of run around cyberbullying school children and causing unnecessary infighting over it!So be quiet,not everything is about you and at this point we've proven we're too good to be near you so leave and don't forget to let door hit you on the way out♡

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