Sharing Tea with a Fascinating Stranger

[attackfish]

Being as we are less than a month away from the beginning of Legend of Korra, and the shipping began long long before now, I have been thinking about my own shipping tendencies.   For too long, I have denied I have them, even as I have made my home in two of the most avid shipping fandoms known to humanity.  It’s true that gen fic is where my primary interest lies, and that in Harry Potter fandom, despite a fondness for the utter impossibility that is Snape/Black, I formed no allegiance to any particular pairing, and that in Avatar: the Last Airbender fandom, while I always come home to Maiko, I have never had a problem seeing any character I like with any other character I like.  In short, I sit on the shipping sidelines.  Us Maiko shippers have for the most part been content to let the Kataangers fight the battle against the Zutarans and only poke our much maligned heads above ground when certain members of the Zutaran camp (every group has their unsavories) start calling our girl an evil social climber who never loved Zuko and has a man face (man face?  What does that even mean?).  I don’t  feel the need to defend the pairing, but I do feel the need to defend the parties to it.

So I have been looking for a pairing that I can support to the point of fighting for it, a pairing that I could not see the world existing without, a pairing that I will scour every inch of canon for support for.  And I have found it.  Iroh/tea.

Now most people accept this ship, but I just can’t understand why so few people are as passionate about them as I have become.  Maybe it’s because it lacks the drama of a new relationship?  That’s a real shame that fandom can’t appreciate real, long term true love.  Iroh understands tea like nobody else.

And it’s a ship that lends itself so well to threesomes.  When Iroh shares tea with Toph, when he brews tea for Zuko...  Even Iroh playing Pai Sho with tea by his side.  There’s no need for shipping rivalry.

But the people who don’t accept this ship can be so cruel.  Those Iroh/lotus tile shippers are vicious.  In the face of all of the canon evidence for Iroh/tea, they will pick the most insignificant scenes, like the the time Iroh threw the tea Zuko made him out the window as evidence that the creators are really on their side.  Worse, some of them write whole fics with Iroh talking about how he secretly hates tea.  Seriously, people, if your ship is so great, back it up  Don’t tear down another ship because you don’t think your ship has what it takes.

So my fellows, I find I am not so above it all.  Let the shipping wars come.  In the end, Iroh/tea will prevail!

Completely seriously, though, one of the sweetest moments in the series is when Zuko tries to make tea the way his uncle likes it, and Iroh manages to down one cup, then pitches a second out the window when his nephew isn’t looking.  Aww, they try so hard.

Oh, and about the first two episodes of Legend of Korra released online?  All I got to say is, Byrke have got to be careful that the universe doesn’t collapse under the sheer weight of awesome.

Comments

[jade-mushroom.livejournal.com]

[[can only speak Chinese, so incoherent after read this]]

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

This is what happens when I post during the lull as the ibuprofen keeps my fever at managable levels

[fanficforensics.livejournal.com]

Iroh/tea is better, I agree. Lotus tile is so pushy and aggressive. It always thinks it's being so mysterious and secretive and important and interesting, but in the end, tea is what brings people together for threesomes. And I think ability to induce threesomes is an important quality to have in any ship.

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

I mean, I see where the Iroh/lotus tile people come from. All that build up, and then... but lookning back on it, I'm glad the creators didn't go that way. That episode where lotus tile goes off and hides, and Iroh searches everywhere, and the get tangled up with pirates? And then it turns out lotus tile was there the whole time? Iroh gets enough of that from Zuko.

[somariel]

*giggles crazily* I love this post!

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

I see from your icon that you ship Iroh/hair piece. Some things cannot be forgiven. I never want to see you again.

I would just like to note, I wrote this post while trying to bring down a fever. Apparently fever make me brave... or something.

[somariel]

I don't ship Iroh/hair piece, it just happens to be the only Iroh icon I have.

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Well, maybe I can bring myself to overcome my principles *snerk*.