I'm a non-traditional member on this site, being 33 and married with two kids (both boys). I love to write. I began as a fanfic author with Harry Potter stuff on Fiction Alley, mainly Astronomy Tower. I've really gotten into the Danny Phantom and Avatar cartoons, though, so I joined this site. I like the new Ben 10: Alien Force, too.
Other interests are music and theatre. I try to do one stage production a year. I was recently in a production of The Mikado as Pitti-Sing. I like to read, though I rarely have time for it anymore.
Ships supported: Danny/Sam, Ron/Hermione, Harry/Ginny, Kataang, Sokka/Yue, Sukka or George, Soko, Maiko. Basically, I might write almost any ship in Avatar that doesn't conflict with Kataang. Not into yaoi or yuri. It just doesn't grab me.
I was recently thinking about all the sexual imagery in the Bitter Work episode of Avatar and wanted to spend a little time talking about it here. Toph takes Aang's nuts and staff, which seems to me a not-very-subtle indication that she has robbed him of his masculinity through her teaching tactics. Only when he asserts himself and regains these things can he earthbend. This means that his earthbending is somehow tied to his masculinity, which might explain why I find him so sexy doing it. Although there may be some Taang supporters who will disagree with me on this, it doesn't seem to me that castrating a guy shortly after you meet him, even figuratively, is the best way to start a relationship. Just a thought. Carrying the idea a little further, since Toph is presented as the world's greatest earthbender, this implies that her masculine side is very strong. I'm not sure what that might mean for her shipping options, but it seems likely she needs a guy with a strong feminine side who doesn't need to wear the pants in the relationship. Anyway, in another part of the episode, Sokka gets stuck in a hole, another possible sexual allusion, though it's not as clear what it might mean. Maybe he's struggling with putting Yue behind him so that he can move on with another relationship. We never did get to find out what he learned there.
I am unabashedly a canon shipper, and I wanted to say that I really don't understand people who don't like the Kataang ship. It's so epic that it feels like the equivalent of not wanting Han Solo and Princess Leia to be together. I was actually around during the interval between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and though I was young, I do remember a lot of speculation for the final installment of that trilogy. However, I don't remember anyone going around hoping that Han would not get out of the carbonite so that Leia could run off with Boba Fett or Lando Calrissian or something. I suppose I understand, as a writer, wanting to play around with things like Zutara or Draco/Hermione to see if you can get it to work, but do you really have to hate Kataang or Ron/Hermione in the process?
Related to this, I don't get the Zutara ship. There is absolutely no evidence for this in the series, and it seems that the only way writers can get the ship to work is to totally change the characters. Zuko becomes an irresistible sex god, despite his apparent awkwardness with women and almost total lack of interest in physical affection. Aang becomes a really weak, childish character with nothing to recommend him, and Katara is willing to forget all of her past animosity and whatever feelings she may have for Aang to miraculously fall for Zuko. If you have to ignore canon to write your story, what's the point of writing fanfiction? You might as well be writing about original characters you made up in any world of your choosing. The point of fanfiction, as I understand it, is to explore a world that somebody else has created. The point I really can't get past is how anyone could want to be so cruel to Aang as to have Katara run off with Zuko. Aang has loved Katara since the beginning, and he has now finally said it out loud. There is simply no more room for arguments that it is some kind of childish crush. He is so sweet and adorable that I can't imagine actually intending to cause him that kind of pain. Not to mention that Aang would probably be so devastated by Katara's rejection that he wouldn't be able to fulfill his duty as the Avatar. Some writers give Toph to him as a sort of consolation prize to assuage their consciences, but this, too, has no canon evidence and usually is written with little development.
I will concede that Zuko is not a completely bad character, but can anyone honestly see Katara, an emotionally demonstrative person, with someone so uncomfortable with physical contact? Zuko may be four years older than Aang, but he still has a lot of emotional growing up to do. His hormones have been noticeably absent throughout the series, and he scarcely seems to know what love is, let alone being able to express it to anyone. Aang, by contrast, accepted Katara's affection and returned it early on. In addition, he knew quickly that he was in love with her. He is completely comfortable with that and has already considered the possibility of marrying her.
Opposites attract is usually an argument used for Zutara, but that looks only at their elements and not their characters. In fact, Zuko and Katara are quite similar. They both tend to have quick tempers and be single-minded in pursuing a goal. Both are stubborn and bull-headed, demanding that everyone around them see things the way they do. Both have lost their mothers and have been separated from their fathers for an extended period of time.
Aang is a far better complement to Katara. He is cheerful and playful where she is serious and focused. He is easygoing and even-tempered, while she is quick to anger. He encourages her to reach for the sky, while she helps to keep him grounded. Aang allows Katara to indulge her maternal instincts where he is concerned, but he can also assert his masculinity when he needs to, and she automatically backs off when he does so. I think this was excellently shown when Aang took charge during the dance in The Headband. Any time one of them gets angry, the other responds with calm support and tries to placate them.
I've noticed that Zutarans seem to compliment any Zutara fic, even if the writing is poor, everybody is completely out of character, the author virtually ignores the entire second season, and the premise is highly improbable. Apparently, the relationship overrides everything else. Granted, I've seen Kataang fans praise stories with some of these failings, but it seems far less universal.
Zutara authors also do not seem to understand Sokka. They usually portray him as a two-dimensional moron who's always thinking about food. In fact, Sokka is quite intelligent and has grown into a very capable warrior, even though he is silly at times. He has many levels, and I have learned from experience that he is one of the most difficult characters to capture, though I also find him the most fun. Anyway, the failure to realize Sokka's true worth and depth leads me to conclude that support of the Zutara ship demonstrates, to put it bluntly, a certain...immaturity. I'm not trying to insult those supporters, but it has not escaped my notice that they tend to be teenage girls, generally Zuko fangirls. There is nothing wrong with this, since I suppose most girls go through a bad boy phase, and a similar phenomenon has been observed with Draco fangirls in the Harry Potter universe. I wouldn't be surprised if many of these girls look back years later and can't believe how they felt at this time of life.
Zutarans also tend to say that no 14-year-old girl could be interested in a younger boy. I think this is coming from the perspective of people who are accustomed through the school system to being compartmentalized with many kids within a year of their own age. During the days of the one-room schoolhouse, I doubt such age differences mattered so much. In the Avatar world, this sort of separation by year doesn't happen. Besides, let's not forget that Aang was the first boy Katara had seen in two years who was over the age of approximately 7, excepting her brother. Compared to the little boys with which she was surrounded, Aang would have seemed almost like a man.
Kataang supporters include some teenaged girls as well, but there are also a lot of males ages 12 and up and women 18 and older. I think the boys and men understand what a 12-year-old boy is capable of feeling (and it is worth noting that the show is mostly put together by men), and the older women understand that a two-year age difference is not that big a deal. One of my friends actually married a man 4 years younger, and he was not quite 16 when they met, while she was already 20. So it really does happen.
Due to the popularity of my comments on the Kataang ship, I have decided to add my views on other Avatar ships, but more briefly.
Tokka: A fun relationship, certainly, but the most believable stories I've seen are about three years into the future. I don't really see Sokka developing much of an interest in Toph at their current ages. Toph is severely underdeveloped both emotionally and physically, even for a 12-year-old, so it sort of smacks of pedophilia at this point, my apologies to the fans. Besides, Sokka has shown a preference for older girls thus far. Ultimately, I don't believe Sokka will end up with a bender, especially one as powerful as Toph. I still don't think he's terribly comfortable around benders, even though he's learned to live with it, and I think he would always feel sort of inadequate deep down. Toph's attitude and personality aren't likely to help that, so I see them more as a pair of snarky friends. Toph seems to have a bit of a crush, but I expect that to fade, although it's clearly alive and well in the third season.
Toko: Also fun, and oddly, I like this one better than Tokka, although it has a few of the same problems. Both Toph and Zuko are from wealthy, priveleged backgrounds, but neither of them ever fit perfectly into them. This could give them great common ground on which to build a relationship. They are also both a little stunted in their emotional development, making them closer to equal on that front, and they are both benders. Zuko takes himself far too seriously, and Toph could help get him to laugh at himself sometimes. Her brashness could provide a refreshing counterpoint to his silent stoicism. It's a very interesting thing to consider, and I'm ultimately reserving judgment until they interact on the show, which we haven't really seen yet. Toph does like Iroh, though, and she doesn't have all of the baggage associated with fighting Zuko, which might make her more sympathetic to him than, say, Katara.
Maiko: This does seem to run deeper than I originally thought, although it would have been more effective if we could have seen more of Zuko's side of the relationship. He's talked about her and really seems to care about her, but he hasn't used the "L" word yet like she has. He did get jealous on Ember Island, but I interpreted that as mere possessiveness. Not to mention that they broke up and got back together. Does that make them a normal teenage couple? Still, it doesn't look like there's time for him to develop another relationship, so maybe they'll get reunited.
Soko: This is my personal favorite match for Zuko, even though I know there isn't much evidence for it. Song's only been in one episode so far, but she seemed to have a connection with Zuko. She's sweet, kind and understanding but not a replacement for Ursa. She's talkative, cheerful, and just a little forward as well, which might be just what he needs. She also seemed accepting of his stealing from her. That eye peering through the crack in the door was what really grabbed me about her. It also seemed too much to be coincidence that Zuko and Iroh meet two women about their ages in an episode called The Cave of Two Lovers. My view is that Suki was out of the picture for 27 episodes and still came back for apparently the express purpose of being a love interest for Sokka, so I don't think Song is out of the question.
Sukka (aka George): Why did I wait so long for this one? Obviously, it's canon, and I think Suki's the best match for Sokka. The one kind of weird thing is that she's only really in three episodes. I guess we'll have to see if she's actually still alive or not. Anyway, she's brave, a good fighter and leader, and loyal to the Avatar and company. She even appreciates Sokka's sense of humor, which isn't true of everyone. On the surface, they seem very alike, but Suki is less likely to see the worst in a situation, and she's more tradition-minded as opposed to Sokka's ingenuity. Anyway, they seem to bring out some of the best traits in each other, and there's definitely passion. The Boiling Rock! Enough said.
Ty Lokka: This one just makes me laugh. I think they could be a really fun couple together. Neither of them are benders, but they've found ways of making themselves useful in other ways. Ty Lee's airheadedness and cheerful disposition could be seen as a good complement to Sokka's intelligence and sarcastic pessimism. Ultimately, I think Sokka will need to find out what happened to Suki in order to move on, and clearly, there's no chance of them getting together while they're still on opposing sides. If she were to defect, there might be possibilities. My writer's instinct is that both this and Maiko are part of the show to give Mai and Ty Lee good reasons to abandon Azula.
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