Avatar shipping
I forgot to discuss shipping in my last entry, so I'll ramble a bit more now. It's interesting, being 90% untainted by fandom, because I can draw my own conclusions.
I do know that there was a bitter rivalry between those who shipped Katara with Aang and those who shipped her with Zuko. From what I've gathered by the few spoiler-shy glances I've made at fansites, it was a shipping war to rival Harry/Hermione and Ron/Hermione. (And frankly, the canon clues are equally anvilicious in favor of Ron/Hermione and Aang/Katara, if you ask me.)
Knowing that there was a large, ardent following for a Katara/Zuko ship made me expect some real interaction, maybe a hint of chemistry between them, but as of episode 8 of season 3 I just don't see it. At all. They barely occupy the same place in space/time. The only time they weren't trying to attack/kill/capture each other was when they were both captured in the crystal cavern underneath the Earth King's palace, and sure, then Katara was relatively nice to him, but it wasn't in a romantic way. Katara, like Harry Potter, has a "saving people thing," and her basic human compassion kicked in at the sight of Zuko wallowing in his emoness.
Unless something major changes in the last dozen or so episodes, I see extremely little canon evidence for Zuko/Katara. Everything from episode one on has been clearly pointing to Aang/Katara.
Not that logic and canon evidence stops some shippers, mind you. ;)
I don't have any strong opinions on any other pairings. Toph obviously has a little thing for Sokka, but he's oblivious. Sokka/Suki (that's the name of that Kyoshi warrior he's courting, right?) is just sort of...there. I haven't gotten to know her well enough to care much. She seems a bit serious to be paired with Sokka's goofiness, but opposites attract, so...yeah, we'll see. I like Sokka for his comic relief, and his love life isn't of much interest to me.
In fact, the love lives of most of the characters aren't that significant to me. I'm interested in Zuko's just because he's my favorite character, but it's more important to see what choices he makes and what role he plays in the final conflict.
I do know that there was a bitter rivalry between those who shipped Katara with Aang and those who shipped her with Zuko. From what I've gathered by the few spoiler-shy glances I've made at fansites, it was a shipping war to rival Harry/Hermione and Ron/Hermione. (And frankly, the canon clues are equally anvilicious in favor of Ron/Hermione and Aang/Katara, if you ask me.)
Knowing that there was a large, ardent following for a Katara/Zuko ship made me expect some real interaction, maybe a hint of chemistry between them, but as of episode 8 of season 3 I just don't see it. At all. They barely occupy the same place in space/time. The only time they weren't trying to attack/kill/capture each other was when they were both captured in the crystal cavern underneath the Earth King's palace, and sure, then Katara was relatively nice to him, but it wasn't in a romantic way. Katara, like Harry Potter, has a "saving people thing," and her basic human compassion kicked in at the sight of Zuko wallowing in his emoness.
Unless something major changes in the last dozen or so episodes, I see extremely little canon evidence for Zuko/Katara. Everything from episode one on has been clearly pointing to Aang/Katara.
Not that logic and canon evidence stops some shippers, mind you. ;)
I don't have any strong opinions on any other pairings. Toph obviously has a little thing for Sokka, but he's oblivious. Sokka/Suki (that's the name of that Kyoshi warrior he's courting, right?) is just sort of...there. I haven't gotten to know her well enough to care much. She seems a bit serious to be paired with Sokka's goofiness, but opposites attract, so...yeah, we'll see. I like Sokka for his comic relief, and his love life isn't of much interest to me.
In fact, the love lives of most of the characters aren't that significant to me. I'm interested in Zuko's just because he's my favorite character, but it's more important to see what choices he makes and what role he plays in the final conflict.