#ladytortillachip

[shifuaang]

If you want to…Zukka! And Ursa/June 👀 (yes I really just want you to say more about them)

Hello friend!

Let's rant about Zukka for a moment, shall we?

I have a lot of issues with the ship itself, one of them simply being that I don't see the chemistry. Sokka liked Zuko for a total of seven episodes in the series and even then was using him as a punching bag most of the time. Most of their conversations are about their respective girlfriends. There are some ships that I genuinely dislike that are more believable and have more of a canon basis than Zukka. They should have stayed a rarepair.

But the main grievance I take with Zukka is with the shippers themselves.

This doesn't go for all Zukka shippers of course, but I feel like a lot of it is rooted in misogyny and the pairing of two mostly traditionally masculine, conventionally attractive men which happens a lot in fandom. As a result of this, they end up projecting A LOT of Aang's traits onto Zuko or Katara's traits onto Sokka and exalt Zuko and Sokka as the most progressive characters when Aang is the least gender conforming and Katara is the feminist heroine of the story. The people they're shipping simply aren't Zuko and Sokka in any capacity. And it's super frustrating how these shallow, fabricated versions of genuinely great, well-written characters have become so pervasive in the fandom. Zuko is not a pathetic femboy who needs a 'manly man' to take care of him. This, coupled with the spicy hot headcanon that 'Zuko taught Sokka how to read', offers a small insight into the racist takes that are unfortunately and uncomfortably popular among Zukka shippers.

They flood the tags and saturate every inch of the fandom even where they aren't invited. They have the mentality of 'our ship has explicit canon proof and if you don't like it, you're homophobic' and were the ones who started the 'Katara is a homophobe' headcanon. (Which a lot of them have backpedaled on and called a joke, but there are like pages of meta dedicated to it on tumblr.) I've seen them blame the writers of 'queerbaiting' them, and the false crusading for gay rights really bothers me.

Zukka shippers also HATE Jet, and there are a lot of Zukka fics that make Jet Zuko's abusive ex for no other reason other than there is canon evidence that Jet possibly had a crush on Zuko and Jetko was the main mlm Zuko ship before Zukka took over. They tend to sideline or demonize Mai, making her a surrogate for Zuko and Sokka so that they can have a kid or 'shipping' Mailee or [insert interchangeable wlw ship here] just to get her out of the way. They similarly sideline Aang and have a very limited understanding of his character, assigning significant Zukaang moments to Zukka instead (ie interactions with the Blue Spirit and rainbow fire).

So yeah, I generally really dislike Zukka sans a handful of shippers who liked them before the ATLA Renaissance and respect the fact that Zukka was only ever meant to be a fun lil crackship.

MOVING ON

Ursa x June is my next big brain venture! I'm so excited to write about them, and the possibilities are endless. I am always a sucker for reluctant travel companions falling in love. The tension, the yearning, the close proximities... I can't get enough of it! And I think June would offer and represent this sense of freedom, individuality, and authority that Ursa ached for growing up under certain restrictions and expectations. And June being Zuko's stepmom is honestly the funniest shit ever.

#anti zukka #just to be safe lol #ask meme #ursa x june #ladytortillachip #long post #rant