How We Quit The Forest

[redbrunja]

So, on atla_unspoiled, there was a poster talking about how, typically, Zutara shippers ship Suki/Sokka, and Kataang shippers ship Toph/Sokka. (Which I think is true, based on my totally unscientific experiences). She then suggested that this was because of the shippers looking for 'viability.' (Which doesn't make sense to me.) I think it's more likely the that similarity in character interactions and relationship dynamics is what makes it more likely for a Zutara shipper to like Suki/Sokka, and for a Kataanger to like Toph/Sokka.

(And of course, there all the various permutations of who ships what as a primary ship, and I KNOW that there are people who like Suki/Sokka and Kataang, and Zutara shippers who like Toph/Sokka, to name just two.)

Your thoughts?

Comments

[scriva.livejournal.com]

They both left their homes at age fourteen to follow the Avatar, and they've both made him the center of their lives, physically and spiritually.

YES! That's almost the same thought, I expressed on another forum a little while back, as one of my reactions to the NYCC trailer. The episode that really highlights these parallels is The Storm. Actually, if I ever shipped romantic Zuko/Katara, this would have been one of my starting points.

On the platonic level, I really love that Zuko has some connecting points with all the members of the gaang, which makes his bonding time with them so good, once the preliminary problems are overcome.

[tobu-ishi.livejournal.com]

There are a lot of episodes that highlight the parallel. :) I loved the sequence in The Awakening where Zuko and Katara were both being symbolically taken back under their fathers' wings. They did a magnificent job of contrasting the smothering, superficially civil interplay of submission and control masquerading as paternal affection between Zuko and his dark pater; and the loud, argumentative, confrontational, even teary, but ultimately open and loving reconciliation between Katara and Hakoda.

(And, yes, there's a fragment of Zuko's experience in each of them--Toph's escape from a life of porcelain, protected nobility that drove her crazy; Aang's feelings of failure in the past and determination to strive for honor and the good of the world in the future; Sokka's warrior upbringing. One of the aspects of the general ignoring-the-Gaang-Plus that especially disappointed me was losing the chance to see Zuko interact with Haru, Teo, and the Duke. Father/mother issues and learning to stand on your own two feet...physical scarring and learning to move beyond it...rebellion, repentance, and heck, knowing Jet...they had so much to talk about, but alas, it remains forever in the realm of fill-the-gap fanfic.)