#anti-aang

[the-badger-mole]

It is baffling to me how Kataang shippers interpret that couple. How can you be a fan of Katara in specific and see how little agency she got in that relationship yet still be satisfied with how that whole mess turned out. Katara never gets to express her feelings.

Let that sink in. Katara, who challenged a waterbending master with decades of experience on her, who started a prison riot and freed captive earthbenders, who went out of her way to help a village of Fire Nation citizens. Who made a flower hat for a really cute guy she was into. THAT girl didn't get to express her own feelings for Aang. After their last two disastrous encounters- one in which he violated her consent after she tried to let him down easy said she was confused. After he had opened a lava fissure in her face because she didn't want to talk about his feelings for her. She didn't even get to speak. Her final line between the Agni Kai and that final scene was about Sokka's drawing.

She doesn't get to talk to Aang about how his treatment of her upset her. She doesn't get to express what changed between EIP and the finale. She doesn't get to confront Aang on his habit of running away when things get tough. She doesn't even get to hear what Aang likes about her (I mean, we the audience know that he thinks she's pretty, but beyond that?). The way the finale sets up Kataang it makes it seem like Katara is only into Aang now because he's Th3 r3@L H3r0!!!! (lies, but that's another rant). It makes her look either like she feels obligated or she's incredibly shallow (which, we know she isn't). But somehow this feels like a satisfying culminating moment for Kataang shippers???

And let me be clear, I don't care. I don't care if you are reading this now and you like both Kataang and Aang. I don't care if you truly do think their story is the height of romance. I am not here to debate you on the story merits of Kataang vs Zutara or change your mind on anything. You can like or hate whatever you want in good health as far as I'm concerned. Just know that if you try to argue with me, this is my opinion; Aang is fetid trash. Kataang is somehow both the most boring and the most toxic relationship in the show (yeah, I'm including Maiko). All trying to argue with me will accomplish is to stir up more examples in my mind about why Kataang is a terrible ship and Aang is an awful character/friend/SO/father, so jump into my inbox if you want that. But wouldn't you rather go talk to your fellow shipper fans about it?

[night-heron-writes]

The way ATLA should have handled the non-con EIP kiss was Katara reminding Aang that she fished him out of that iceberg and she can put him back if he doesn’t shape up

[emletish-fish]

Hey! I’m rereading worst prisoner and I was wondering if you had any plans for it? Also if there is any way to get you the rights to atla so that you can be in charge of cannon since your version is the only one I am willing to accept lol

Ah, The Worst Prisoner!

I do love it.

I want to finish it.

I know exactly what is going to happen.

But, full disclosure - I've hit a wall of writer's block with the next Aang-centric chapter. We've spent a lot of time with the Fire Nation kids, and I got many queries/requests to catch up with the gaang, so I promised I'd write the next chapter from their POV...

(and I normally try and keep my promises, and I knew what was going to happen, and all these events were happening concurrently, so I figured it would be easy)

And...

Nothing

I love Aang as a character. It's a pivotal chapter for him when it comes to reconciling himself with his past/his beliefs/how he wants to BE as an avatar... so I really want to get it right. It's a chapter I probably feel more perfectionist about.

(And this is probably due to the 10+ years of Aang discourse. So I do want to be really clear in this chapter. I love that lil dude, and he was done so dirty by canon. Aang is a character were you can clearly see that there were huge squabbles in the writers room about him because the end of his story does not match the set-up AT ALL, and I have never seen a character be done a greater disservice whilst being given their so called happy-ending.

Like, wants and needs Bryke?!

It's a super basic story-telling construct.

What the character wants vs what the characters need are meant to be two different things, and the narrative tension comes from them being pulled between the two. Shoving what they want in their face and never giving them a skerric of what they actually need isn't a happy ending.

Aang wants katara.

Aang needs to forgive himself and get closure on the loss of his people, reconcile himself with his beliefs, gain some self actualisation and control over himself and his powers, rebuild his found family (because the air nomads weren't 1950s american boomers all about the nuclear family. found family was their whole jam?!) and be able to confidently move forward in his role as the avatar rather than running away from it.

but sure, lets give him NONE of that. Aang gets not one ounce of closure, not a single drop of working through his fears and doubts to overcome them and become stronger for it. Aang gets a magic rock and a kiss then Bryke call it a happy ending?!

And that's not even my biggest gripe!

My biggest gripe is that Aang was the character I actually saw a lot of myself in. I'm a pacifist. I will build my own canoe and paddle to the other-side of the globe to avoid an awkward conversation with someone. I totally got that aspect of Aang's character and between season 1 - 3 and a half, I didn't actually mind the way he would run away from problems because the narrative was clearly set up to DEAL WITH THAT AS A CHARACTER FLAW. Like, I was pretty sure there was going to be a satisfactory resolution.

I'm a pacifist but I totally support BLM, and the Eat The Rich Brigade and Extinction Rebellion, even when they aren't using pacifist means. Without any exaggeration - billionaires are completely happy for a shit ton of us to die just so their stock portfolio can go up a quarter of a percent. Systematic Racism isn't going to be solved by a gentle approach because white-supremacists/facists want to kill everyone who isn't like them. How do you embrace non-violence in a very violent system?

It's the tolerance paradox in a children's show.

It's really meaty, weighty stuff that Aang's entire story was set up to deal with.

He is a pacisfist who is shoved against his will into a situation were he has to kill a dictator or the whole world will burn.

like wow, what a conundrum.

Damn, I was expecting some really great self-discovery and philosophy and drama and beautiful coming of age/coming into his own for Aang.

and instead...

magic rock.

An emotional, spiritual, meaningful and impactful personal conundrum with extremely high stakes all revolving around the pacifist dilemma that was set up from the very beginning of the entire show - pretty much something that could have been the centrepiece of the entire series. The main philosophical questions of ATLA - how to choose peace in the middle of a war? what is the price of justice? what is the importance of mercy?

and the answer we were given was ....

No think to hard... No life lesson for you here. Magic turtle and magic rock solve all your problems. by magic.

Like, Damn.

Yeah, I'm still salty about this.

Aang was done so dirty, y'all.

But do you know how hard it is to be a Zutara shipper and an Aang fan?

Like, I genuinely like Aang.

And I honestly feel that so much Aang criticsm/Aang hate is railing against Bryke shoving their creepy nice-guy fantasies onto the character and completely derailing his story so they could animate their weird creepy fantasies...

That's a rant for another time.

But anyway, the Aang-hate seems more about the weird writing than Aang himself, and people can't seperate the character from the writing. (and like, fair. I get that. Bryke couldn't either, because they animated older Aang, AN ASIAN MONK, to look exactly like one of them - a midwestern white dude. Like, we knew they were over-identifying, but c'mon people! seriously. I'm pretty sure that's racist.)

But anyway, the ATLA fandom is still WILD.

For saying things like "Aang should have gotten what he needed, not what he wanted. I think it would have been a better story if Aang was allowed to work through his grief and build a found family/ Aang's story would have been better if it dealt with his spiritual conundrum/ Aang's beliefs are closely modelled on buddism and so an american style nuclear family as a happy ending doesn't make much sense for him. Aang was a 12 year old child who's entire narrative was about coming into his own as the avatar and having him french kiss someone as the end point was a disconcerting choice for me," - has gotten my inbox overflowing with hate. I've been called a nazi, told to kill myself and had someone try to dox me.

all from Aang stans?!

So yeah, writing Aang-centric chapters makes me apprehensive.

Like, I'm a person too?

Dealing with an inbox overflowing with unhinged hate stresses me out.

Like, I still have the occassional Aang stan getting all up in my grill on my Cobra Kai fanfics comment section yelling at me?!

(Cobra Kai is a VERY different story to ATLA. Yeah, they both have martial arts in them and talk about balance, but.... beyond that, the characters/story-structure/arcs are very different. Like, these characters would not fit into each other's worlds.

Like, can you imagine the sheer amount of chaos Johnny Lawrence could create if he had bending?

my god. the mind boggles.)

So yeah. Whenever I have an Aang-centric arc, I get nervous about pressing 'post' cause I don't want to invite an avalanche of weird abuse.

But you asked if I have plans for worst prisoner and damn straight, I have PLANS!

So many PLANS

And one of those plans was to start to un-tangle Aang's spiritual conundrum in a way that I felt was personally satisfying.

(Spoiler alert - The Worst Prisoner will contain no magic rocks. Aang is going to have to work through this problem on his own).

But because these plans involve Aang not always getting what he wants and having to work for what he needs - I've hit a bit of a block. Past drama/discourse/series of unhinged abusive messages has made me a little wary of opening the can of worms again.

So there has been a massive delay in chapters because I really don't want to be misunderstood this time.

But I know exactly what I want to say about pacifism/justice/mercy/Aang's dilemma this time.

But, yeah, writing it is hard because every second sentence I'm like 'Is this going to bite me in the ass?'

I'm toying with the idea of just finishing Zuko-Finally-Escapes/Fire-Sibling Dysfunctional Relationship Shenangins Arc instead.

That one is easier to write now.

(To be honest, everyone bags Azula fanatics, but I have only ever been threatened with violence from Aang stans? And there is like a weird ironic disconnect for me there because Aang is the easy-going, happy-go-lucky pacifist and Azula is.... the very opposite of that. But yeah, I'm less nervous about writing fire nation drama, simply because people who really jive with Zuko, Azula, Mai or Ty Lee seem to have mastered the art of reading something they disagree with on the internet and then scrolling past and continuing with their day?)

So if the next chapter is Zuko-centric, you will know what I have decided to do.

(Honestly that is looking more and more likely at this point).

But if the next chapter is Aang centric, then... um, three cheers for me.

I would have solved one of Aang's challenges from the series, and stopped avoiding the unpleasant drama.

So that would be some fun character growth for me.

If you have made it to the bottom - my apologies for the rant.

[mfshipbracket]

[caramel-ribbons]

I just watched Avatar for the first time all the way through, and yeah, it’s great, but the one thing that surprised me was how different Katara was compared to the fandom interpretation I’d seen and internalized before watching.

Like, before you watch Avatar, you’ve seen all these memes about Katara and her mom, and based on those memes, you assume it’s one of those lines you have to get used to hearing at least once every episode. But then you watch the show and realize that she only talks about her mom maybe five or six times per season and you also realize she only brings her up when she’s trying to comfort someone or empathize with them because that’s how she processes her grief and that’s one way she connects with people.

Or you hear the infamous line, “then you didn’t love [our mother] the way I did” and you prepare yourself for one of the worst character assassinations ever only to see the scene after nearly three seasons worth of context and realize she was kinda right. She’s been the mother, the nurturer, the comforter. She’s been patient, gentle, and accommodating where everyone else has gotten to be insensible and reckless and childish, and the one moment where she allows herself to feel her grief, suddenly she’s this evil bitch and not, y’know, a 14 year old girl whose been thrusted into adulthood in a way no other character has. A 14 year old girl who should be allowed immaturity and raw emotion and anger instead of the patience and grace she’s been forced to extend to every character without even the smallest amount of gratitude or even consideration in return.

Or you see all of the clips where Katara puts Aang in the “friendzone” and you expect to have this wishy washy back and forth where Aang is putting his feelings out there only to have Katara neither commit nor express any clear reciprocation or rejection. Then you watch and realize that, as cute as the ship is initially, that there’s never a point where Aang returns any comfort or grace to Katara despite her always doing this for him to the point of coddling. That for as much as Aang says he loves her, he never seems to outgrow his perception of her so he can recognize her as someone who feels grief, anger, and pain as much as she expresses love, kindness, and maturity. And instead of having moments where he learns to see her beyond her strength or compassion, you’re instead given moments where Aang forces his feelings onto her, both romantic and non-romantic, and Katara is expected to just…shoulder those feelings the way she shoulders everyone else’s.

Katara is the most misunderstood character in the show. As much as people recognize the complexities of Zuko, Sokka, and Azula, they struggle to do the same for Katara because they see her struggles as somehow lesser, and therefore, less deserving of sympathy. They can handle her so long as she’s being endlessly patient and loving and kind, but the moment her endless love, patience, and kindness runs out, she’s suddenly this annoying bitch who can’t shut up about her mother or reciprocate Aang’s feelings. But Katara’s trauma does matter as much as anyone else’s. No, she wasn’t banished from her kingdom. No, she didn’t lose her entire community, and no, she isn’t the only one who lost her mother. But the difference between her and everyone else whose experienced loss because of the Fire Nation is that she’s never given time to process her trauma. Aang gets to lean on Katara constantly. Toph gets to express her feelings to Katara, and yeah, Sokka also lost their mother, but unlike Katara, he isn’t put in the position of being a substitute for everyone’s parent. He even admits that he sees his sister as a mother. The only characters who ever comfort Katara or allow her to vent is Zuko and her father and that’s, like, three scenes in a show where the other characters are consistently given opportunities to seek out Katara for unconditional support.

The fandom interpretation of Katara has been so bastardized that even those who haven’t watched the show know her for this fanon version and not for who she is. She’s such an interesting character beyond her fandom limitations, though. She’s brave, hot-headed, and hopeful as well as gentle and caring. She wishes to learn waterbending, not only because she wants to fight in the war, but because she wants to continue her culture’s practices because, and people often forget this, she also lost an entire subculture within her already fractured tribe. And she wants to defeat the Fire Nation both because of her deep love and empathy for other people, but also because she wants to avenge her mother. But because some of the fans have reduced Katara to a bitch who constantly whines about her mother and friendzones Aang, you wouldn’t know any of this, and it sucks because she’s the only character whose been dumbed down to such an extent.

[katy-89]

save me characters who are still hated and mischaracterized in 2024 for the sake of a fanon ship save meeeee

[lilith-91]

Fanon:

Canon:

This man is a MALEWIFE

Another L for Aang's delusional haters

[k8lynjoy]

I'm so tired of people telling those of us who are upset about the LA atla remake that we are "being too dramatic" or are just "finding things to be upset about". We are allowed to be upset that something that we love so dearly has been butchered, AGAIN. If you liked it, then that's your personal opinion, but don't sit here and tell those of us who didn't that we're the problem.

I personally think the CGI, costumes, and sets all look terrible. None of it is immersive. Sure, it LOOKS like atla, but it doesn't FEEL like atla. The heart of the og is gone, and people are allowed to be upset about this. They've altered characters to the point that they aren't the character anymore (looking at you Aang and Katara), which is a huge upset for me personally because Katara is one of my favorite characters ever. So watching her be turned into someone meek and docile is more than a slap to the face. Not to mention them removing her as the narrator as if Bryke themselves didn't state that Katara is the person the story is being told through. And before you start telling me that Aang is the same. No, he isn't. Major parts of his development through season 1 (him coming to terms with the fact that he's the avatar and embracing that role, and him also accepting the fact that he RAN AWAY and how he is never going to do that again, which is also pivotal to his character later on) are completely removed. And don't even get me started on what they did to Kataang. Regardless of whether you ship them or not, those 2 are deeply connected to one another from the start, and their relationship is a big part of the show, so to see that butchered is heartbreaking for me.

This isn't just about them "making some changes" or it not being a 1:1 adaptation. I'm fine with adaptations that aren't 1:1. What I'm upset about is that the changes they are making are VITAL changes to characters and dynamics between characters. They're rushing through the plot and condensing the story (and I will scream if I hear one more person say that it's because they couldn't fit it all in with their runtime. The runtime is an HOUR LONGER than the og, so yes, they did have the time). The changes they are making make it evident that they do not understand the og show, and if you don't feel like that, fine, once again, that's YOUR opinion, just as this is MY opinion. So stop telling us we have no right to be upset and that we just want to hate everything. That's not true. What is true is that we are expressing valid complaints about another bad adaptation of something dear to us.

Edit: If you also come at people who are upset bc they were expecting a faithful adaptation and didn't get it bc "its not supposed to be the cartoon," you're missing the whole point. An adaptation is ADAPTING SOMETHING from one medium to the other, not rewriting it. "Yall expected it to be just like the cartoon." No, I expected a FAITHFUL ADAPTATION and was met with poorly written fanfiction.

[longing-for-rain]

Look I know people love to act like Zuko is the most dangerous, toxic, and temperamental character… but there is exactly one (1) male character Katara was canonically responsible for calming down from violent, destructive tantrums at risk to herself and it wasn’t Zuko… 🐸☕️

[yourhighness6]

Me, screaming into the void: I DON'T HATE MAI I JUST FEEL LIKE SHE NEEDED MORE DEVELOPMENT OUTSIDE OF ZUKO AND HER ARC SHOULDN'T REVOLVE AROUND HER LOVE INTEREST

Also me, still screaming into the void: I DON'T HATE AANG I JUST QUESTION WHETHER HIS ROMANTIC INTEREST IN KATARA BRINGS OUT THE BEST SIDES OF HIM AND FEEL AS THOUGH HE AND HIS DEVELOPMENT IS NOT ABOVE NECESSARY CRITICISM

[prying-pandora666]

I don’t know how to say this tactfully, but I’ll do my best.

If other fans online have convinced you to see the gentle, optimistic, empathetic, fun loving, whimsical, forgiving, wise beyond his years genocide survivor, as a sexist, racist, xenophobic, abusive, pro-colonization, sexual assault perpetrator who doesn’t care about anyone else and doesn’t understand trauma…

You have been LIED TO.

Please just think for a moment!

ATLA was banned in China from the beginning for a reason. Because they didn’t want anyone empathizing with a character based on Tibetan monks. Why? Because they are an actual oppressed and persecuted minority IRL. Their religious leader lives in exile. Their second most important spiritual figure is the youngest political prisoner ever taken (and to this day no one knows if he’s alive or dead!). China has actual prison and labor camps. Tibetan people get sent there for “re-education”.

Can you please think about what these “fans” are saying when they stomp all over this allegory in TLA and try to frame Aang as the oppressor?

Do you really think it’s appropriate or these people who call Aang all these horrible (and inaccurate) things are being in anyway fair when they call Aang “white coded”???

Even without the real world context, Aang is explicitly the only survivor of a genocide. The last of his people. He has lost more than anyone else in the entire franchise. There’s a reason he clings so hard to Appa.

Do you think it’s fair to compare a 12 year old misreading signals and trying to kiss a girl who already consensually kissed him before, and immediately backing off and giving her space when she says no, to rape?

Tweens and teens miscommunicating and trying to comfort each other with kisses, only to realize that’s not what their friend needed and immediately backing off is the same as having your body violently violated against your will? The same as having your “no” ignored?

How do you think this makes survivors feel? To see people use their experiences as a shield and cudgel for ship discourse? It certainly upsets me as someone who experienced intimate partner violence, let me tell you! And I know I’m not the only one.

And how is it in anyway feminist or pro-Katara to ignore her own agency and deep love she shows for Aang? Yes, that includes her own crush on him! It IS reciprocated!

Lastly, you don’t need to demonize Aang to ship whatever you want to ship. Please understand that the majority of these takes are bad faith and born out of bitterness and insecurity over a friggin FANON SHIP.

And none of it is necessary! You can ship whatever you want! You don’t need permission or excuses. You can just ship them! You can make your case for why you like another pairing better without misrepresenting what happened in the show and what these characters are like, let alone what they represent.

There’s already plenty to work with in the show as it is! Otherwise why bother?

I’m imploring fans taken in by persuasive and manipulative metas to please just think about it. Get off social media and rewatch the show for yourself thoughtfully.

It doesn’t need to be like this.

[the-badger-mole]

If you could fix aang as a character and make him a better well rounded character and hero of the story how would you do it? I love aang, but I perfectly understand why you don't like him. And the writing that was done for him in the show is so messed up. I wish he was written way better. Because for me Aang does have moments. But over all he has a lot of moments where he is toxic and it just drives me crazy.

I'd allow people to be angry at him. That moment in Bato of the Water Tribe, where he makes snide asides about the SWT culture and artifacts? Yeah, Katara and Sokka heard him. The village that had an anti-Avatar Day? That doesn't get resolved even after Kyoshi's grand appearance, because centuries of ill will doesn't just go away like that. Same with the two tribes in The Great Divide. Their interaction with Aang leaves a sour taste in their mouths, and Aang doesn't just get to lie his way out of conflict resolution.

I'm not saying this to be mean, but Aang's whole schtick is that everyone either loves him or is a villain, but if he's going to be an effective Avatar, he's got to learn to live with not being universally adored. He's got to learn that other cultures have value, even if their customs come in direct conflict with his own, because how is an Avatar who is a supremacist for their own native culture going to be an effective bridge for the different countries of the world? How does he illustrate the show theme of "the illusion of separation" if he can't even appreciate other peoples' points of view? How is he going to be effective at conflict resolution when he hasn't even experienced resolving his own conflicts?

Aang should also be forced to consider the war head on. I'm not talking about fighting lil' skirmishes and being chased by people. I'm talking about being forced to confront the war happening around him, and how it has affected the people he loves, and his role in it. I made a post here about how I wish it had been handled, but the tl;dr version is Aang should have been considering how to end the war and defeat Ozai WELL before the second to last episode.

Obviously, I Aang shouldn't have gotten with Katara, but I'm fine with his crush. Unrequited crushes are a part of growing up, and learning how to handle that disappointment is important. It think it would have been such a powerful moment for Katara and Aang to discuss their relationship and end with them still being friends even though Katara doesn't feel the same way about Aang.

If you're interested, scroll through my blog a bit. I've touched on how I'd improve Aang a few times. I would link more, but Tumblr is a garbage barge of a site, and their archiving feature reflects that. `

[katerina-q]

We know

Except on tumblr and TikTok

[elena--89]

Zuko and Zutara's STANS need to be humbled because it's getting boring

Glad that atla Twitter is waking up -_-

[starlight-bread-blog]

Katara's other canon love interests give her agency, and her pov.

And gets a moment where the two connect over similar losses.

Except Aang.

Kataang is framed entirely from Aang's point of view.

Even when he violates her boundries.

And is unable to handle Katara's grief.

But Zutara?

We get Katara's pov, and give her agency.

He saw her at her very worst, and wasn't at all hostile.

And Katara opened up to Zuko in the most significant way.

[punkeropercyjackson]

"We need to normalize kindness!"You guys can't even handle that making fun of eachother isn't a sign of love for everyone because some people can't handle it so it hurts their feelings and instead call them losers for it and prove their point that you're genuinely cruel