I don't think it's the same user base at ALL that ships Zuko/Katara and Harry/Hermione. For one thing the girls are almost nothing alike (apart from being team mom sometimes but even that they don't seem to approach the same way -- Hermione is the stern, this is the law parent and Katara the overprotective parent.) so there will be an overlap of course but in general it won't be the same people who'll identify with them.
I can't talk for normal HHr fans but the harmonians I saw around were more about the "omg they're soulmates, perfect partners, and between the two of them they're an awesome pair made up of raw power and strength and smarts and strong-willed-ness and and and they compensate for each other's rare faults and magnify their awesome points" and it never mattered that Harry was never seen actively flirting with Hermione or vice versa, their bond was on another level so they never needed to be blatant about it.
Aang/Katara starts with Aang flirting with Katara and hoping for more from pretty much the minute we see him pop up, in a very "hugs and kisses and positive attention yay!" way. It's absolutely nothing like HHr, or only in the most basic "hero + most important female character" way.
Zuko/Katara is, well, based on the insane hotness, the clashes, the potential for drama (prince and peasant!) and the perceived equals-of-opposite-elements component, be it in strength/ability or in, once again perceived, mental age and maturity. Harry and Hermione have never clashed like that, or were ever so passionale love/hate about each other (fandom providing the love, yes XD). (also the hotness was never there for me but then again that's probably a matter of my personal mental picture -- none of the trio hit my "wowza" buttons. Then again most of JKR's characters don't really get that from me. I hesitate to say none because i might have forgotten someone! >__>)
I should add that at the start of the show I never really saw Aang's crush as something that would actually end somewhere -- the maturity difference seemed too blatant and Katara never seemed to be returning it and seemed to take on a mothering role instead, that came across like the crush you grow out of and not the one that gets somewhere. Was never thinking zuko/katara would end somewhere and never shipped it as more than a "hey, that's kinda hot and we don't have a lot of characters so far" kind of thing (and now i'm seeing how they don't fit more than how they do, anyway). But when Toph popped up I was all "oh, she's his age, treats him as an equal and doesn't (s)mother him AND they interact in a way that makes them both grow up!" and if at this point the show had gone with Toph/Aang instead it might have worked better for me. (of course after the first couple eps all the chemistry between them fizzled out. Boo. XD)
(My main problem with endgame aang/katara isn't aang's maturity anymore, though, because he does grow up into someone who is equally mature as katara (probably even more XD). I found it believable until a couple eps before the end, where aang makes a moves and katara goes all D: !! -- then after the end suddenly none of her reasons for reacting that way matter anymore or are even mentioned again, just in time for the end of the show kissyfaces. It was clumsily executed.)
Also, Draco = Zuko... well, Zuko was never described as petty or a coward, and converting him to the side of Good was a huge part of the plot. Not so much with Draco. I don't think you can compare Dramione and Zutara that way, if only because we saw a lot more of zuko's motivations onscreen, so of course he would be a lot more prominent in fandom as well. He was the antihero, draco was just the school bully the hero outgrows.
Anyway. I did actually understand your comment about what we ship = what we like personally and if the show doesn't provide we twist/rewrite it, but then my fingers started throwing out other stuff XD;; sorry.
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Date: 2009-11-15 11:21 am (UTC)I can't talk for normal HHr fans but the harmonians I saw around were more about the "omg they're soulmates, perfect partners, and between the two of them they're an awesome pair made up of raw power and strength and smarts and strong-willed-ness and and and they compensate for each other's rare faults and magnify their awesome points" and it never mattered that Harry was never seen actively flirting with Hermione or vice versa, their bond was on another level so they never needed to be blatant about it.
Aang/Katara starts with Aang flirting with Katara and hoping for more from pretty much the minute we see him pop up, in a very "hugs and kisses and positive attention yay!" way. It's absolutely nothing like HHr, or only in the most basic "hero + most important female character" way.
Zuko/Katara is, well, based on the insane hotness, the clashes, the potential for drama (prince and peasant!) and the perceived equals-of-opposite-elements component, be it in strength/ability or in, once again perceived, mental age and maturity. Harry and Hermione have never clashed like that, or were ever so passionale love/hate about each other (fandom providing the love, yes XD). (also the hotness was never there for me but then again that's probably a matter of my personal mental picture -- none of the trio hit my "wowza" buttons. Then again most of JKR's characters don't really get that from me. I hesitate to say none because i might have forgotten someone! >__>)
I should add that at the start of the show I never really saw Aang's crush as something that would actually end somewhere -- the maturity difference seemed too blatant and Katara never seemed to be returning it and seemed to take on a mothering role instead, that came across like the crush you grow out of and not the one that gets somewhere. Was never thinking zuko/katara would end somewhere and never shipped it as more than a "hey, that's kinda hot and we don't have a lot of characters so far" kind of thing (and now i'm seeing how they don't fit more than how they do, anyway). But when Toph popped up I was all "oh, she's his age, treats him as an equal and doesn't (s)mother him AND they interact in a way that makes them both grow up!" and if at this point the show had gone with Toph/Aang instead it might have worked better for me. (of course after the first couple eps all the chemistry between them fizzled out. Boo. XD)
(My main problem with endgame aang/katara isn't aang's maturity anymore, though, because he does grow up into someone who is equally mature as katara (probably even more XD). I found it believable until a couple eps before the end, where aang makes a moves and katara goes all D: !! -- then after the end suddenly none of her reasons for reacting that way matter anymore or are even mentioned again, just in time for the end of the show kissyfaces. It was clumsily executed.)
Also, Draco = Zuko... well, Zuko was never described as petty or a coward, and converting him to the side of Good was a huge part of the plot. Not so much with Draco. I don't think you can compare Dramione and Zutara that way, if only because we saw a lot more of zuko's motivations onscreen, so of course he would be a lot more prominent in fandom as well. He was the antihero, draco was just the school bully the hero outgrows.
Anyway. I did actually understand your comment about what we ship = what we like personally and if the show doesn't provide we twist/rewrite it, but then my fingers started throwing out other stuff XD;; sorry.