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You know what even if you don't ship weilin i think it's still very cute that their relationship developed from this weird little rivalry
To whatever the fuck this is
Im curious if they had any interactions between B3 and B4 or if this moment was just a spontaneous thing. Little rivals to friends to lover thing going on.
What's funny is that most of Bolin's interactions with the twins are just with Wei. Also Wei is very often the one standing closer to Bolin in group shots???
#like why is it always wei#wei is Bolin's favourite beifong twin i will hear no more on the topic#the begrudging blossoming of frienship and perhaps if the fates allow something more#more weilin propaganda#bryke let them kiss#weilin#wei x bolin#bolin x wei#bolin#wei#wei beifong#the beifong family#atlok#avatar the legend of korra#the legend of korra#tlok#legend of korra#avatar#rivals to lovers
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Many people seem to get genuinely confused, whenever we, zutara shippers, mention how underdeveloped kataang really is. Usually, they’ll brush it off as us being delusional, bitter and you know the drill. Their main response to that, usually is: “How, could they possibly be underdeveloped, they had 3 seasons!?!”
The thing is they forget that the amount of time isn’t as important as what you do do with it. Cuz, yeah, Aang and Katara did have 3 seasons, but their relationship still managed to feel rushed as hell. Heck, even Bryke, out of all people, admitted to it. Which mostly as to do with a bunch of things that I’ll get into right now.
Let’s start with the fact that, Katara never actually shows any interest in Aang.
Now, many of y’all will probably come for me by citing how the cave of the two lovers or even the Headband have moments of her showing interest in him, but all of them end up falling flat at some point.
The cave of the two lovers:
The argument here, usually is“if she didn’t have any interest in him, why would she kiss him?” or “why would she blush at the idea of kissing him?”. The former seems to forget this is a life or death situation and that we don’t really know for sure that if there were another way to get out if this, she wouldn’t take it. For the latter, I’d like to say that blushing can have many significations such as, embarrassment. Which, here makes sense when considering what she says and overall demeanour, after suggesting to kiss.
Like yeah, a fourteen year old girl blushing bcz she’s embarrassed at the idea of having to kiss, her friend, out of all things, cuz you know… awkward. Can you imagine that (pun fully intended)???
The headband:
This one is going to be a ride, but stick with me. The arguments can range from “What about her jealousy while Aang is dancing with other girls.” to “What about the way she looks at him during the dance.”
Here, is said jealousy being shown:
And said look being done:
Now, yeah, I can absolutely see why these two exemples would be used as a way to prove her interest, but let me remind you that this is the same episode where we have this happen.
Yeah, the same episode where Katara is acting all jealous and giving flirty looks to Aang is also the same one where she pretends to be is… mother. While, I could go on about how it wasn’t the best idea on the directors or whoever was in charge of the episode part if it was their way of giving a glimpse of Katara being into Aang. The issue is, them doing so wasn’t completely farfetched either, because up until now it’s been established that Katara can be very motherly and she acts that way with almost everyone in the gaang. More specifically, the one with who she does so the most is, Aang.
I mean, even the show makes a point of poking fun at their mother-son dynamic on several occasions all throughout the show (ie. the don’t-rub-your-eyes-when-you’re-speaking scene in “The runaway” episode). So realistically, the two exemples shown way above could somewhat work, but only if you decide to completely ignore what episode they take place in, one that hasn’t really helped at stopping the mother-son dynamic allegations kataang has been getting, for years, now.
So, back to the development aspect, I think it has always been stunted from the beginning, because, fundamentally, the ship as always been designed to be Aang-centric. If you’d like more insight on that I’d recommend checking @starlight-bread-blog’s amazing post on the issue. But also, that their lackluster resolution is way much more obvious, cuz both are leads in the show. Katara's existence in the show, isn't solely there to serve as some love inerest for Aang. Shocker, but she's actually a MAIN CHARACTER in the show, meaning that we spend three seasons where we get to learn about her battles, fears and aspirations, none of which seems to involve a relationship with Aang.
Like yeah, the reason why The Ending Kiss™ feels so unsatisfactory is, simply, because, Katara doesn't like Aang (at least not like that). Katara, likes Aang, because the show said so. Now, stick with me, cuz I can already feel some of y'all ready to jump at the screen. Within the show, name a single moment where she ever comes to thinking of Aang in a romantic way. One that doesn't involve any external sources, such as someone suggesting about it or because of the given circumstances she has to. The answer is none. The only time we ever get to see her voice her ACTUAL opinion about it, this is what she says:
That's not even counting how her overall demeanor, from the body language to her choice of words seems to suggest that she's actually trying to let him down gently. Also, may I remind you that at that point THERE'S ONLY 3 FREAKING EPISODES LEFT BEFORE THE BIG KISS™ and this is where there at in their relationship. Plus, within the 3 episodes that are left WE NEVER GET TO SEE THEM TALK ABOUT IT, EVER!!!
This obviously was part of Bryke’s horrible attempt at the will-they-won’t-they trope. Which ended up playing right in their face, cuz like I mentioned they themselves had to come to glaring realization that kataang was rushed. Now, it could’ve been it, the creators realizing their obvious mistake and if they could, trying to fix it by giving us what seemed like the natural progression of their relationship, which was for it to end.
Instead, we got comics!Katara and oooh boy…
Basically, they decided that they would throw away Katara’s meticulously built characterization in order to make her existence revolve around, Aang. I kid you not, when I say that she isn’t allowed scenes, lines and actions that do not revolve around her “sweetie”.
Remember how I said that, Katara likes Aang because the show runners said so. This is an example of this cranked up to a hundred.
Essentially, when you start thinking about where these two are in terms of growth, kataang is the antithesis to development itself. On one hand it validates the regression of one (ie. the dropped chakra plot line), while simultaneously, having to strip any previously built characterization of the other (ie. comics!katara).
On that note, I’d like to remind people, how important Katara is to the story. Without her, the entirety of the gaang would be dead. Without her, there would be no story. Without her, there would be no Aang.
She deserved to have a voice within her own relationship and not for it to be stolen by two grown men who were still stuck in their childhood fantasy.
She deserved better.
#atla#avatar#anti bryke#avatar the last airbender#anti kataang#zutara#pro katara#katara deserved better
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I too ship Zutara and think they should have been canon. Although for me it's important to know how such a rewrite would go down. I tried to think, and I'm lost.
After Mai betrayed Azula for him, will he just go "sorry, not interested"? He isn't obligated to date her because of this, but her redemption hinges on Zuko and I don't see it being satisfying if he ends up rejecting her after this.
I thought the solution would be to rewrite her arc in boiling rock to make her have a moral realization, but then the problem with Maiko is practically solved. Their relationship wasn't salvaged by her redemption because last time they talked, Mai still didn't understand what's wrong with the Fire Nation and only changed because she loved Zuko. So how do you make it both satisfying & logical?
With Kataang the problem is the Chakras. The problem with the original (in my opinion) is that after he opened his chakra, letting go of his attachment to Katara, he's still attached (forcing a kiss on eip). Should TCoD get rewritten so that Azula shoots him before he opens it? Then why wouldn't he just open it later? Maybe the chakra would be locked so he feels as though he doesn't need to overcome his attachment just yet. In that situation, how would his chakra even unlock? The stone thing felt like nonsense, so how would I do it?
So yeah I have no idea how to approach this. How would you? (Thanks)
I've been rotating this ask in the back of my head like a rotisserie chicken for a few days--it's interesting because I don't generally stop to think like, how would I write them out of these relationships, I either ignore the relationships completely (which isn't hard, they were barely footnotes in the cartoon) or play a little bit with jealous exes or something. Thinking about like, In A Perfect World where Bryke wasn't in charge of ATLA post-canon (because if zutara had been canon, you can be sure they would've made us regret it) is interesting, and I do have thoughts on how I'd handle their relationships in a rewrite.
(this got long, so the rest is beneath the cut)
Assuming you mostly want to keep canon intact, I think maiko would be the easiest to work around, given how little relevance their relationship has in canon. The problem with maiko as an endgame ship is that it was not set up that way--if it had been, it would not have begun entirely off-screen and their whole relationship would not have been a study in misery and utter inability to connect emotionally. His relationship with Mai was there to showcase just how much he had changed and how little he fit into the life he had been so sure he wanted more than anything since his banishment. It worked very well to highlight Zuko's growth--how that contrasted to Mai's lack of it and why she could not understand him even at his most open and vulnerable--and did not work nearly so well when she was shoved back with him in the epilogue, after he'd quite literally forgotten her existence (he never mentions her again after Boiling Rock, not even to say a word of mourning, considering he'd have every reason to believe she was killed for defying his sister).
I don't think you can fix this by giving Mai some moral realization, because there simply is no room for it. As @araeph says in the essay I linked:
As a character, Mai is very useful to the story during Zuko’s return, because she represents everything that Zuko gains by sticking by his father. A girl who cares about him; the ability to indulge her; the authority he has over others at the palace; we see it all in his interactions with Mai. But this makes Mai a tether to a life he has long outgrown. Her function is not to advance Zuko’s character development, but to obstruct it, which also unfortunately means that Mai gaining a full understanding of Zuko’s trials would be disadvantageous to the story. If she knew everything about him and still wanted him to stay, it would give Zuko more cause than he should have to remain in the Fire Nation, but if she knew and encouraged him to leave and join the Avatar, it would rob Zuko of the triumph of making this decision on his own. In other words, there are good narrative reasons for keeping Mai in the dark; it just doesn’t make their relationship any stronger.
The seeds of a genuine redemption arc (one that includes some sort of moral realization and change to her moral framework) for Mai would have to have been planted far earlier than five episodes from the end of the series, but doing so would have of necessity detracted from Zuko's own character arc and the realizations that he makes despite his attachment to Mai (or more specifically to their relationship, which I feel like he was clinging to more out of a sense of abject loneliness he couldn't shake rather than genuine feelings and emotional connection).
So, in my mind, since we're tackling this with an eye towards getting rid of maiko with the fewest ripples to the overall story anyway, the easiest way to do this would be make one slight change to the end of the Boiling Rock two-parter--have Ty Lee (who had always been the least gung-ho of the trio about bowing to Azula's whims and had to be textually threatened into joining her in the first place) save Zuko's life, and then have Mai (who showed the most genuine affection for Ty Lee anyway) save Ty Lee. I love Zuko more than I fear you always fell flat for me as some epic declaration of love, anyway, since a) Zuko is not around to hear it, and b) unlike Ty Lee, she never showed much fear of Azula to begin with, so it wasn't a very high bar to clear. It was a cool line that was entirely unearned, and I don't think it would be missed, there would be some cute mailee crumbs this way, and a throwaway line of getting them released from the prison after the war ended could wrap up their presence in the story pretty nicely.
Now, kataang is a little trickier, if only because the last leg of Aang's character arc is almost completely derailed by his refusal to let go of his possessive attachment to Katara, to the point where he never naturally reopens his chakras, he has to have the Rock of Destiny hit him in just the right place, and the deus ex lionturtle there to give him a way out of having to make a hard moral choice. (I've maintained for years that if you work the final act of your main character's overall arc in such a way that it could have been solved by one good session with a chiropractor, something got fucked along the way.)
The thing about Aang's chakras is that, narratively, his whole thing with Guru Pathik and leaving his training early to save his friends was basically his version of Luke running away from his training with Yoda on Degobah because of his Force vision, only to find out that his friends were in the process of rescuing themselves and then losing his hand because he hadn't completed the most crucial part of his training. What's missing, therefore, from the last act of Aang's character arc, is the return.
See, in Star Wars, Luke pretty explicitly makes the wrong choice when he chooses to prioritize saving his friends over attaining enlightenment and fully mastering the Force. It was the only choice he could have made, but it was still the wrong one--because, like Aang, his friends did not actually need him to save them, he actually almost makes it harder for them to get away by requiring them to save him because, like Aang, he loses a battle in a very critical way. This was a lesson he desperately needed to learn, and it is clear he has learned it by the time he makes it back to Degobah and witnesses the end of Yoda's life, his own enlightenment having already been reached.
But Aang never goes back to the Guru.
And the text refuses to allow us to sit with the fact that he made the wrong choice in prioritizing his attachment to Katara over his ability to master the Avatar State. He is actually narratively vindicated about it, because the plot bends itself into a pretzel so that he doesn't have to spend any time during the last book trying to reopen his chakras and regain access to the Avatar State, handed both in the final battle with no excess effort on his part, and handed the girl into the bargain. (The girl who never even wanted him, so far as we can tell from all the lack of cues she gave him that she actually returned his feelings.)
And I think this could have been solved with a few scattered scenes. Let Katara actually have some agency in her own romantic relationship (or lack thereof), insofar as noticing Aang's advances and clueing the audience in to how she actually feels. Let Aang struggle with the fact that he can't reach the Avatar State, that his mastery of the elements is in limbo because he can't access his full power, rather than ignoring all of this until the end of the show. If we're trying to keep the shape of the last season roughly the same, let Katara confront Aang about the invasion kiss.
This would have been the perfect time to establish that Katara actually does feel some type of way about Aang prior to the epilogue, and it could have saved us from the exceedingly cringey EIP kiss that Aang never apologized for. How it comes across now, of course, is that Katara basically pretends it never even happened, to the point where she doesn't even know what Aang is talking about during EIP until he reminds her--the death knell for any shot their relationship had at looking requited, because I can tell you, as someone who's been a teenage girl, if someone I had conflicted but burgeoning romantic feelings for had kissed me, I would not have completely forgotten about it only a few weeks later--and we never get any indication as to what she actually felt about the kiss (which was not mutual, despite what Aang's dialogue in the EIP scene implies) except for the fact that she looked away and frowned afterwards. (A change mandated by Bryke, who wanted to leave her feelings completely ambiguous; the original storyboards had her smiling to herself.)
So, with an eye towards wrapping up Aang's puppy love crush and establishing Katara's distinct lack of romantic feelings for him, have her talk to him about the kiss. A good frame of reference for this would be Meng's conversation with Aang in "The Fortuneteller", where she finally realizes that he doesn't like her in the same way she likes him. Katara and Aang's conversation about the invasion kiss could be a callback to this, with Aang having some important realizations--that just because Katara doesn't share his feelings doesn't mean she loves him any less, and just because he can't have her the way he wanted doesn't mean he has to love her any less, that she doesn't belong to him but that's ok, because she's still his family and they'll always have each other's backs. Which could have functioned well in helping him take another step towards unblocking his chakras. Going back to the Guru directly may not have worked, since by this point in the story we're hurtling towards the final confrontation and Sozin's Comet, but let Aang reflect on what the Guru told him with new understanding granted him by his experiences throughout the first half of the season.
To keep the stakes high and up the suspense, obviously, he shouldn't have fully unlocked his chakras and the AS before the final fight, but the seeds could be planted--little moments like a talk with Katara about the invasion kiss, maybe a little more empathy and understanding from him about why Katara needs closure in TSR, etc--and then, during the final fight, rather than hand him all the answers on a silver platter, have him almost lose. He still can't go full Avatar, he's out of time, he still doesn't know exactly what to do about Ozai given his own pacifism and desire to preserve that part of his culture--he tries to fight but he's pretty quickly overpowered. Idk how I would've animated this, and maybe it wouldn't have looked as cool for the final fight, but the true climax of the finale was the Zuko and Azula agni kai anyway, so it hardly matters--I'm picturing him doing the rock-shield thing and going into a brief meditative state, where he finally achieves the enlightenment necessary to unlock the AS on his own, no rock of chiropracty necessary. And at this point, I'd give Ozai a Disney Death, since leaving him alive causes more problems than it solves and it's not necessary for Aang to kill him for him to die--they're fighting on a mountain ffs--but if you don't want to change that part then him figuring out energy bending as part of becoming a fully realized Avatar would at least feel more earned than the lionturtle just handing it to him. (And that could've been foreshadowed better by seeding the idea for it earlier in the season.)
After all of that, particularly if you up the emotions during the agni kai and have Zuko and Katara kiss there (or something less explicitly romantic but still tender, like a brief forehead touch), it'd feel pretty natural to have a just friends ending for Aang and Katara. Maybe a brief, slightly awkward but ultimately amiable conversation if Zuko and Katara had a ~thing at their final fight, and then the final shot of the series could be the gaang all together, maybe zutara holding hands or Katara resting her head on his shoulder or something, but since they already kissed there wouldn't feel like a need to end the whole show on romance, something which I've always felt missed the point of the series.
And then, y'know, after that, the world's your oyster! This is how I'd do it if I were trying to keep the bulk of the final season intact. Of course, breaking it all down to its component pieces and rebuilding from the ground up is also an option, but that'd probably be a longer post lol.
#zutara#atla#m.aiko salt#k.ataang salt#atla canon rewrite#hey albert kim if you're taking notes on how to do season 3 of the LA................#Anonymous#asked
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How old do you think Katara and Zuko would be if they did get together in canon?
Personally, my gut says mid to late 20s (25-27 at the earliest and 27-29 at the latest) because I can't really visualize them getting together in their late teens.
Let's pretend that Kataang and Maiko didn't become endgame in the season finale for the sake of this ask, as well as ignoring the comics entirely.
Depends on the story. I could see them getting together at any age. I even like the idea of Book 1 Zutara. I have written stories where they get together right before the comet, right after the Agni Kai, a few years later. I even have one where they don't get together until they're in their late 40s/early 50s. Their chemistry is good enough that I think they just need one halfway decent reason.
I firmly believe that had the show ended with them, it would've still made narrative sense. Had they kissed at the Agni Kai, it would've felt earned, and it would've matched their impulsive streaks. I know there are those who felt it would've been rushed, but I disagree. The only reason I think it might have felt rushed is because of how recently they became friends, but I don't think it would've taken them that long to realize they were attracted to each other. Especially not Miss Heart-On-My-Sleeve Katara. which is why I absolutely think that she was trying to let Aang down gently in eip, but Bryke wanted their baby boi to have his prize🙄😒
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I've always hated it when Kataang shippers would say that "Aang taught Katara how to be a kid"....like what? Aang went penguin sledding with Katara in the first episode but he just wanted to have fun, he didn't care about Katara reconnecting with her inner child since he didn't even really know who she was yet. Katara also spends a huge portion of the series mothering Aang, that's not helping her be a kid again. That's putting an extra burden on her, and Aang never emotionally supports her like she does with him constantly.
What's even more ridiculous is that Aang is trying to get with Katara the entire time, so they never even had a proper "just friends" stage in their "friends to lovers" relationship. When Katara decides she wants to be with Aang, they make out way too passionately for a 14 and 12 year old. Bryke even said that their kiss scene in the end was supposed to "symbolize a marriage". When Katara is just 15 and Aang is 13, Katara even starts thinking about their future children together.
Uhh, how exactly is it that two kids diving into a long-term, committed relationship and them thinking about having kids when they're still kids themselves supposed to be child-like and carefree behavior? How exactly does Aang in the Kataang relationship help Katara to learn to be a kid like the Kataang shippers always claim? It seems to do the opposite and force Katara even harder into the parenting role.
The whole relationship is an insult to Katara as a character.
The “he let her be a kid” is total bs; people only say that because they go penguin sledding and Katara remarks that she hadn’t done it since she was a kid. “Aang reminded her…” no he didn’t, do you really think she forgot about penguin sledding? No, Katara didn’t forget; she was unable to do it because of the responsibilities placed on her. Acting like Aang did that for her was also silly. He spent the first half of Book 1 wanting to travel to various locations to goof off with animals, resulting in him getting in situations that Katara, mostly, was responsible for getting him out of. How is that letting her be a kid? He made her into more of a parental figure than she already was.
It’s also very obvious that Aang was trying to get with Katara from day 1. Katara did not return those feelings. If you want to see how Katara acts when she has a real crush, look how she acted around Jet. Kataangers act like either she really did like him all along despite never showing that level of attraction, or they act like she didn’t realize Aang had a crush, which is honestly just insulting to her character. Katara isn’t stupid. She knew. She just ignored it, because that’s what girls do when we don’t feel the same way and are afraid of being too mean.
And finally, yes, thank you for bringing up that last point. We really don’t talk about it enough. How are kataangers going to sit here and act like their relationship is all about freedom and letting Katara be a kid when she ends up with someone who is thinking about “forever girl” and marriage and children when she’s fourteen years old? Talk about growing up too fast. That’s just unfair to Katara, to stick her into a relationship with the first younger kid to crush on her before she really even had the chance to explore the world for herself. That’s the opposite of freedom.
#atla#anti kataang#katara deserved better#avatar the last airbender#katara#zutara#canon critical#aang critical#ask#anon
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"If I was surprised at anything, it may have been that it seemed like people were less willing to let her make mistakes than they were with Aang."
I hate Bryke's guts, but the one thing I will agree with him (Bryan) on is this.
I've gotten heat from Aang stans for saying this, but for me Korra will always be a better written character for me. Not because Aang's childish and optimistic and naive or anything like that. That doesn't matter to me. Hell, it's not even for his actions during DOBS or EIP or Kataang. Sure, those things aren't great, but they aren't the issue with his character.
It's not about Aang's actions, it's about how Aang's actions are treated by the narrative.
This is nothing new obviously, I've said this before. Many times. Aang kissing Katara in EIP is treated as him messing up his chances with her, not because he forced something on her she didn't want. The kiss in DOBS doesn't even come up again in the show (and when it did in the comics, Aang blew up and nearly melted her face off so-). I've spoken enough about his holier-than-thou attitude in TSR too and how his message of forgiveness is perpetuated as the right one.
It's one thing that is 100% better in LOK; Korra is held accountable for her actions, by the narrative, the other characters, and herself. A big part of LOK is Korra acknowledging her actions and making the effort to change and be better.
A great counter to Aang repeatedly crossing boundaries with Katara is in Reunion when she warns Asami about trusting Hiroshi and Asami calls her out on giving unsolicited advice. Korra immediately backs off and tries to apologize when she sees that she upset her.
Now compare this to Aang's behavior in TSR or EIP.
And before anyone says it, I know Korra's older. I also know Asami reconnecting with her father is different than Katara wanting to kill Yon Rha. I get all of that.
But honestly? That doesn't matter to me. Because when you're talking about fictional characters- especially character progression and development for the protagonist- addressing flaws is important. Accountability is important. Especially when it comes to how they treat the people around them (love interests like Asami and Korra probably being the most important).
This is what solidifies Korra's character development as being better than Aang's for me.
However, I do think it's because of this framing (and the fact that she's a woman, but shh) that Korra gets more hate. Her flaws being addressed also means that they're constantly apparent. The audience is always aware of them. Whereas Aang's worse actions tended to be brushed over or excused. Or the context of those mistakes were maneuvered to make the audience feel bad for him instead of the one affected by his actions (EIP EIP EIP EIP).
So yes, Bryan, people were more willing to let Aang make mistakes because you and your bestie failed to actually address them
#avatar korra#korra#aang critical#anti aang#tagging just in case#korra defense squad#pro korra#korra>aang#and it's not even a competition#anti bryke#but also?#rare bryke w#kind of#this is mostly them responding to (somewhat valid somewhat not) criticism of their writing#not actually them acknowledging the issues in their fanbase#they aren't aware enough for that#or self-aware enough to realize their past actions are part of the issue#they almost had it#anti kataang#i'm not a korrasami shipper#but if it's korrasami or kataang the choice is clear
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Why do you think people fight do much over these ships?
A. certain people are always going to be incapable of behaving reasonably online, especially when it comes to which of their blorbos they want to kiss each other.
B. many zutara shippers point out that, if the narrative had led to its natural ending, zutara should have been canon. compared to fanon ships in other fandoms where most shippers are content to just let the ship be fanon (dramione comes to mind) this poses a greater "threat" to canon shippers.
C. bryke.
and no, that's not an exaggeration. creators have a lot of influence in shaping fandom behaviour, and bry.ke taking every opportunity to publicly shit on zutara and mock zutara shippers even up to this year has no doubt made canon shippers think they're justified in doing the same.
their gross lack of professionalism is the main reason i will never respect them as creators because part of the responsibility of being a storyteller is knowing that the story ceases to belong solely to you once it's out in the world. you will never be able to control how people interpret the story you wanted to tell, and they're not always going to interpret it the way you want them to. sometimes, those perspectives will be wrong. they'll be the complete opposite of what you were trying to say. they may even make you uncomfortable.
but if it's not hurting any real individual, you have no right to publicly disparage, mock, or judge them for those interpretations. especially by doing things like taking fanart they sent you out of love for the story you created and using it to make fun of them in front of an entire audience at comic con.
storytelling is a two-way street, and if you can't treat the people on the other end with respect and dignity just because you don't agree with their takes on fictional characters, then you have no business being a creator in the first place.
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Let's say you're one of the writer's way back when Atla was first starting. Bryke has stepped back and let the writers do their thing. What are some things you would keep or remove completely? What are things you would have done differently? What would you have liked to explore more of with the story and the characters?
OOOH good question
I would definitely be giving South Asia, Hinduism, and Buddhism their honour back but making Desi main characters not caricatures. I will pay my respects to those religions by using them properly and not discarding them when you don't truly understand their meaning. And better representation will all the cultures.
Likewise, I would make a 4th (or maybe more) book, so we can see the healing of the 4 nations and flesh out the Gaang and other characters properly. I feel like ending it on book 3 was too sudden, and I hate the comic, so I don't even recognize those, since it is so OOC.
I would make Zuatara canon through some slow burn. I would not pair Aang up with anyone, since he is too young but keep him having a crush on Katara for the Chakra arc (which stays true and respect to Hinduism) but to provide a lesson on heartbreak and moving on. Same with Toph, such a cute little baby.
I will REMOVE those nonconsenual kisses entirely. Basically out with Kataang.
I want to see more of the evil politics of the Fire Nation before Aang defeats Ozai and how Zuko deals with it. In contrast, to how Zuko handles politics being Fire Lord.
I WANT more Suki and her backstory. I also want to see her and Ty Lee fight side by side. It would be so cool.
I would actually have Zuko and Katara speak to Azula after the Agni Kai.
I would keep Sokka's sexism arc.
Not only that, but I would love to explore Yue even more and her take on the NWT
I also want to go in depth with Mai, I want to give her some depth.
Have Aang's character understand the Mahabharat scripture before making a choice. (Maybe kill Ozai)
I want to see a healing arc for Azula
I also want Uncle Iroh to face some repercussion of being an activity member of war. I love Uncle Iroh, and I want to write the consequences and him accepting humbly due to his development.
Book 4 and (leading to adulthood) head canons for the Gaang
Katara: Helps the SWT and NWT, then goes on to become ambassador for the SWT in the Fire Nation
Zuko: Fire lord
Aang: Helping all the Nations to heal
Toph: I think she would totally be the creator of the pro-bender, you cannot change my mind, I think she would also become a teacher
Suki: Girlbossing as a Kyoshi Warriors and being known as one of the best
Sokka: Become Chief of SWT and a skilled engineer
I want Katara and Zuko to find his mother together (so we can get good development)
I feel like I have more, but I will add more if I think of any.
#avatar the last airbender#katara#zutara#zuko#zuko x katara#anti kataang#hinduism#india#atla suki#ty lee#the gaang#princess yue#anti maiko#Mai#azula#princess azula#anti iroh#but I still love uncle iroh
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https://www.tumblr.com/longing-for-rain/755847912227028992/ember-island-playersracist-caricatures-or-meta Please read this ABSOLUTE bullshit...
"The show is made by white americans and some of it aged poorly, therefore NOTHING about it says anything about war, racism and propaganda, even though we have multiple episodes in which we see people of the racist nation waging war going as far as changing history books to feed children propaganda from a young age"
Truly briliant criticism. Totally not a load of bullshit from someone who pretends to care about racism yet is buddies with miss "Zuko must marry outside his race to fix his defective genes because he is one of the good ones despite his kind being prone to violence."
Also it's crazy how they keep acting like the show didn't very clearly say "Aang kissing Katara when she just said she didn't know how she felt and if she wanted to date him was wrong." Boy is literally kicking himself for it.
Now, was it a lazy writing choice to make Kataang fans go "Oh no! What if our ship doesn't get together after all?" and then be plesantly surprised by the finale a week later? Yes, and it was a dumb fucking idea because the episode works fine without it. But it's not the show saying "See, boys? If you keep pestering the girl you like, she'll eventually give in!" Katara gets mad and avoids Aang for the rest of the night for getting pushy. He clearly feels like an idiot for it.
...Holy shit, I think I just found out why Zutarians only understand that ZUKO changed - because he literally turned to the camera to say "Hello, Zuko here. I used to be one of the villains, but now I'm sorry for the bad things I did and want to help the heroes."
This entire nonsense could have been avoided if Bryke had known some of the audience members are dumber than 7 year olds and the Ember Island Players episode ended with Aang going "Hi there, everybody! I'm Aang! On today's episode I learned that, no matter how strongly you feel about someone and how frustrating it can be to not know how they feel about you, you just can't rush things. Just tell them you like them then let them come looking for you later if they're interested"
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So, I've been debating about posting this because... well it isn't exactly pleasant for me to talk about.
But I've been wanting to share a little bit of why I don't like Aang. I know in the beginning I said I could like him because he was (at the time) a character that I felt was well written.
But then I realized I had the wool pulled over my eyes. And that is because of some trauma from my past I avoided talking about for close to 12 years now. Now that I'm able to address that trauma, I also realize that when that part of my life was going on, the show was also airing.
So let's talk about those two non-consensual kisses from an SA survivor's POV.
Without going into too much detail, throughout my teenage years, I and two other girls were consistently singled out by a group of boys. This is back in the early 00s, so the consensus was to completely ignore SA and SH. So, when a boy casually shoves his arm down your shirt and squeezes your breast, what do you do? Well, going to the people who are supposed to protect you doesn't work because 'boys will be boys' or 'I know his dad and he would never do a thing like that so you must be lying' so no one gets in trouble. It gets ignored. And it wasn't just the breasts. I can't tell you how many times my ass was squeezed on the way to my next class. During recess or lunch, I hid in the girls' bathroom because this went on for years. It was boys in my own class.
But regardless, it was blown off. This really affected me all the way into my adult years, where it still continued with some of my relationships. One of them being so toxic that I almost didn't make it out.
But back to the point...
The framing of Aang kissing Katara, not once, but twice and never bringing it up again... that is what gets me. The first kiss I could see as, yes, they are going into battle and could possibly die before confessing their love. But that doesn't mean that had to happen. It's what happens after that also drives me crazy.
Aang automatically assumes that because he kissed Katara, that meant they were together. This is a 12 year old boy. I get it, but that still doesn't make it right. I've been kissed like that before by one of the boys that thought it was okay. It's not. Actually, most of the time a girls/woman's reaction is to push the offender away.
This is never addressed after EIP either. Katara absolutely refuses, but we are supposed to feel sorry for the offender in that situation. Imagine being someone going through that at the very same time the show is airing... it sets a sour taste in the mouth, doesn't it? It's the same thing as saying 'boys will be boys' or 'that's what boys do' and completely ignoring it or the consequences. This is what happens all the time to women, and if it didn't happen to you, that's wonderful.
Which is why I have a problem with Katara still choosing Aang. More like Bryke made Katara choose Aang. Who assaulted her, but we are supposed to feel bad for him for being an idiot. No, that's not how this works.
People who defend that are not okay in my eyes.
#im not okay because SA is life changing#so someone who thinks its okay to force themselves onto someone else be it kissing or otherwise needs to reevaluate themselves#anti aang#pro katara#pro zutara#antikataang
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https://www.tumblr.com/miss-sweetea-pie/727558083762667520/listen-i-dont-like-kataang-and-maiko-because thoughts on this?
Excuse my candor but that post is kinda bullshit.
The key part to understand is OP says this:
“Zutara was just a lovely little treat and would have tied up everything in a lovely bow”
Except romance, especially romance that is reflective of real relationships, emotions, and journeys, isn’t something that can be neatly wrapped into a lovely bow. Relationships are messy, they don’t have a linear arc nor do they fit into thematic/narrative structures like The Hero’s Journey, etc. Relationships are replete with disagreements, sacrifices, and understandings that don’t magically appear or disappear the second the story ends on paper or on the TV. And that’s what makes Kataang and Maiko so powerful.
I see a lot of Zutara shippers obsess with this need for thematic and narrative cohesion, but not one can make a proper argument as to why their relationship towards the end needed to be romantic as opposed to the platonic one they had in the show. Why must two people, who started out as stark enemies on opposing sides of a war, need to fall in love? Is it not just as salient that they ended up as friends who protect each other, something that could have never been fathomed between the two of them? I actually love Bryke for not going the traditional enemies to lovers route, because it significantly reduces the impact of Zuko’s redemption and sacrifice, and Katara’s willingness to broach enemy lines due to her innate humanity. They didn’t do any of the things they did because they were head over heels in love with each other (they never once expressed romantic desire or attraction in another) but because they had a higher duty and purpose they needed to fulfill and a deeper empathy they needed to gain not only for each other, but other characters in ATLA.
The Maiko and Kataang arguments are just not in good faith. Kataang was set up from the very beginning and Aang had already reached the conclusion that she was such an integral part of his life that he wouldn’t let her go for anything (why would I want to let go of Katara)? Zuko already realized that he had to sacrifice his relationship with Mai for the greater good of the world when he writes her a letter and expresses his remorse against their portrait in the fire nation. The writers wrote Mai to turn on Azula to match Zuko’s sacrifice.
Both couples disagreements at the end werent going to make or break their relationship or their arcs because much of the ground work was already laid in the previous three seasons. The plot lines op talks about were explored throughout the series, they weren’t unearthed and festered only towards the very end. Compare that to Zuko and Katara’s relationship - where they were only on the same side and actually trusted each other in the last three episodes of the entire show. Most shippers actually agree with me when I say it would have been weird to have them magically kiss or suddenly develop feelings for each other in the finale.
Thanks for asking.
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Let’s be real. The only reason toxic Zutarians and delusional Zukkas became so rampant is for the same reason.
Zutararians and Zukkas are two generations of the same issue.
Maiko is written so incoherently and Mai gets no development of her own. Zuko and her are a terrible match and treat each other poorly (I know the fandom can’t agree which one is at fault but I don’t think it matters).
Fans searching for a more satisfying conclusion of the fandom fav Zuko stumble into the waiting clutches of Zutarians or Zukkas who bombard them with their terrible takes, OOC writing, and admittedly beautiful fan art. Before you know it, they lose touch with actual canon.
This is all Bryke’s fault for writing Maiko terribly.
And yet people blame Zucest… nonsense!
Anon, I don't mean to be rude, but you're just wrong all around. Not only do I not think Maiko is terrible (might not be my OTP, but I am fond of it), but even if it WAS and fans had to rely on fanon for good romance, that does NOT explain or justify the way Zutarians and Zukkas not only act like their personal preference is objectively better than everyone else's but also actively lie to themselves and others about their ships totally being secretly canon but screwed over at the last second.
They do that for one reason alone: Entitlement. They're entitled, spoiled cry babies who screetch at anyone with a different preference because they take it as a personal attack.
Bryke writting Maiko any differently would not have made these people less insufferable. Hell, their ships hapenning in the exact way they wanted them to would also not do the trick, if anything it'd make them worse.
It doesn't matter what you think about Bryke as writers and people, or how you feel about the canon ships: The bad behavior of Zutara and Zukka fans is the responsibility of Zutara and Zukka fans, nobody else.
I don't like Legend Of Korra or the comics. Never sent a death threat to the people who made them. Never harassed fans of it or had them doxxed. I love Zucest to unhealthy degrees, but you won't see me claiming "There was totally a deleted scene of them kissing in the finale instead of fighting, but evil Bryke ruined it all, and if you don't believe my obvious bullshit I'll scream at you until I'm blue in the face!"
I LOATHE the ending of How I Met Your Mother with all my being, and resent the showrunners for being such dicks to fans and complaining we didn't praise their terrible writting. I would NEVER accuse them of abusing their authority over the actors and being predators just because I disagree with awful messages the finale sent - something zutarians do Kataang and Maiko fans ALL THE TIME.
It's really, really, really, really easy to not do that kind of stuff.
Be critical of Bryke and their writting, have whatever opinion you wanna have on Maiko, but let's not pretend writers/showrunners are to blame for FANS attacking people.
It'd be like going "Oh, this actress and her fans got death threats because audiences didn't like her character, clearly this is the writers fault for mishandling said character" NOPE, the blame of that kind of awful behavior ALWAYS lies solely with the people who choose to act like that.
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I have to be frank the claim that mako was a creators pet or Gary stu never had any merit
it amounts to people with an irrational hatred for mako daring to be flawed in a way that cant be romanticized
abusing labels to try and slap it on him
or claim that their distortion of how mako actually is ( Ron the death eater treatment)
should be how he is actually treated when its not
mako was never manipulative or a womanizer etc
he mishandled al ove triangle where korra kissed him
he should have talked to asami about it that's it
mako ending b1 in with makorra which he wanted isn't him being rewarded for those flaws he didn't need to be specifically punished t a love triangle mishap and neither did Korra ( this applys to b1 and b2
( to be honest the show should have ended with korra single with hints to makorra he didn't need to be specifically punish
( that's what the narrative pointed to when I see people make the karma argument it ignores that mako was not the only person responsible for the love triangle so claiming consequence for love triangle should mean ending the show single means all 3 of them should end the show single
( they were just dumb teenagers mako didn't need punishment for love triangle mishap ( and you can say that b2 breakup was enough consequence even if they get back together at the end of b4 (as they should have
the claims that makos mistakes in b1 or b2 should cost him trust is nonsensical
some people complain about mako doing well as a officer and possibl being promoting or whining about those two officers being incompetent/corrupt etc
saying its just having them be that way to make mako look good ( when that's what happened with katara in atla b1 with her water ending training she quickly became a waterbending master, the other students were portrayed as sloppy/bad ( getting insulted by the master)
or lazy ( in aangs )
to make katara look good
in fact with mako you can say its less egregious
aang had been ahead of katara in terms of waterbending previously
while with mako ( he had just been very successful in his job ( he used to work for the gangs) and getting a job as an officer in the 1900's was a quick process.
and lin called him out when he messed up ( with how angry she got
the claim about mako needing to be humbled has always been absurd mako was never really arrogant
I feel bryke just let themselves listen to the fans ( wthe people who can only see mako as having had two girls be into him and a good job ignoring all the suffering that mako did need to go through in his life ( and his lack of arrogance)
they let themselves listen to the cool guy mako idea ( at least they didn't listen to the worst aspects of fandoms view ( I feel like bryke shouldn't have listened to the fandoms concerns
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But FWIENDSHIP!!!! 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺
Okay, so you all know how I get when something gets stuck in my head, but yesterday I saw a post talking about how Katara and Zuko's potential romance messes with their friendship, and I don't understand how, but that's beside the point. This is an anti-Kataang post.
I will once again admit that I don't spend a ton of time in Kataang/anti-Zutara spaces (cause I'm respectful like that), but every so often, I see one of those takes pop up in my safe area (because respect isn't always a two way street, unfortunately). It's interesting to see how many times this take seems to crop up. Katara and Zuko falling in love would ruin their friendship, yet those same people fail to acknowledge that Bryke went ahead and ruined their friendship anyway out of jealousy. These same people also tend to hold Kataang as a prime example of Friends to Lovers, the only problem is, Aang isn't Katara's friend at any point.
Throughout the series, it's made very clear that Aang likes Katara, but for most of the series (until literally the last few seconds, in fact) it's also clear that Katara only sees him as a friend. This should have been an object lesson that sometimes crushes don't work out, but friendship can be stronger than temporarily disappointed feelings. However, that's not what we get. Aang doesn't care about Katara's friendship. He doesn't want Katara in his life unless it's in a romantic capacity. We see it in how he reacts when he feels romantically rejected (lava fissure, EIP). The narrative doesn't give Katara any space to say no to Aang without it permanently damaging their relationship, because they never had the relationship Katara thought they did. Katara thought she was Aang's friend, but for Aang, their 'friendship' was just a precursor to romance. In this, the year 2023, I know we all understand why this is a problem.
Aang can't even conceive of a world where Katara does turn him down. He dreams about her enthusiastic response to his declaration of love; he assumes that since they kissed he kissed her and staked his claim, they should be together, despite there never being any sort of conversation, and the fact that the one time he did try to talk about it, she changed the subject very quickly. Katara's feelings are an afterthought for Aang, which is terrible for any relationship, but particularly in a romantic one. There is never a moment where Aang puts Katara's emotional needs ahead of his own. He never puts a value on her platonic friendship. There's never a moment where he decides that despite his feelings for her, having Katara in his life as a friend is better than not having her at all. That moment should have happened regardless of whether they ended up together or not, because friendship is the most important component of the Friends to Lovers trope.
By comparison, the friendship Katara eventually forms with Zuko is much deeper, and based on a mutual respect, understanding and emotional support for each other. This is a fantastic foundation for a romance, although bafflingly, people who laud Katara and Zuko's deep friendship don't seem to agree. Them potentially falling in love doesn't cheapen their friendship because they actually were friends first. On top of that, their Enemies to Friends journey ending romantically would not only not cheapen their friendship, it would tie into the themes of the show beautifully (the illusion of separation; love being stronger than hate; learning to respect other people's differences etc).
Let's be real, what Kataang actually represents is The Hero Gets the Girl, and I think deep down we all know that, even the ones calling it Friends to Lovers. In the Hero Gets the Girl trope, the Girl in question doesn't really matter. She's less of a romantic partner and more a prize for the Hero saving the day. Her emotional journey to falling for the Hero mostly plays out off screen, even though she may not have even liked the Hero like that initially, and the hero doesn't ever show that he respects her as a person. For the most part it works (arguably) because the Girl isn't a character in her own right, she's just part of the Hero's story. The reason it doesn't work with Kataang is that Katara is a character. She does have her own journey, and as passionate and outspoken as she is in pretty much every other aspect of her life, it doesn't make sense for her journey to falling for Aang takes place largely off screen. Not unless you understand how little Katara's feelings matter to their relationship. Had Katara actually rejected Aang, their friendship would have ended because Aang was never interested in her friendship.
It's interesting to me to see people who claim to value friendship over romance spend more time complaining about a romance that isn't canon over the actual canon ship that really does cheapen the friendship. But then again, I guess that was never the problem in the first place.
#atla#anti aang#anti kataang#zutara#enemies-FRIENDS-lovers#that would have been worlds better than the Hero Gets the Girl ship masquerading as a friends-lovers romance#if you prefer platonic zutara that's fine#but let's not pretend that the problem is that their potential romance would spoil their friendship#not when you don't speak about how the actual canon ship completely devalued katara's friendship towards aang#be so for real#just say you don't like zutara and keep it pushing#because now the argument just looks hypocritical when you have nothing to say about kataang#the actual canon ship devaluing both friendship and consent#THE YEAR OF CONTENT!!!!
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In my mind and in my heart I know that Zutara was going to happen. I have actually a degree in seminar about theatre writing, writing for movies and TV shows and I have learned that through the script and the planning of the directing you could actually show what is going to happen with the gift of small hints so you won't destroy the ending. So you won't give it away. It is actually great and very interesting and thoughtful that the viewers can recognize and notice or observe small details that are connected and "spoiling" the ending without actually reveling it. And Avatar The Last Airbender is a great show that has a combination of many cultures that represent the four nations. Of course we all are aware that the creators have been affected from the Chinese culture and like the China, in the show too,there are many legends and stories (mostly of love) that are also shown in the series. We all I think, are aware of what I'm talking about. And that is the legend of the two lovers that are destined to belong to different nations and only find each other in secret, until their end where the male is dying etc etc. We have seen the story in the episode with Aang and Katara. Their almost kiss made us think that Katara would actually start and seeing Aang with a different point of view and maybe actually fall in love with him. But instead of that, what we've got was her, leaving that incident behind (she LITERALLY RUN AWAY FROM HIM) and actually keeping acting like his friend. And it's sad cause the only times that we might actually saw her feelings (until the last scene at least) was when she was blushing. Do you know what incident she never left behind and actually is similar and in my opinion, more similar to the legend of two lovers?
When Katara and Zuko stayed together for some hours inside the prisons under Ba Sing Che.
(I will fix the spelling later sorry :) )
Their moves, the way of them standing in a certain way, Zuko letting her touching his wound( something that he never did before) the colors, the green crystals that were surrounding them like in the grave of two lovers, we're showing a million hints that had to do with the legend. But besides that, and even though the creators never actually admitted this, the fact that Katara is looking at Zuko, the fact that Zuko is meeting her eyes when they have to apart and the fact that in the same episode, Aang was in the air temple with the guru and had to learn about his attachment problem with Katara (something that was mentally stopping him from concentrating and managing to be one with the Avatar State, in order to win against the fire Lord and save the world...) All these things are showing us something. Something that has to do with a change. A change of their relationships. These three are connected on this episode. And finally a love triangle starts to be shown. And is one thing that many antizutara fans cannot argue with.
Hints that are all gathered here in Tumblr from other users. Hints that CANNOT be considered as fake cause one of the biggest works of animation, would never use a fake ship just to play with the audience. They don't have to. They have so many things to risk. Money that are spended behind the cameras. Work and hours from many stuff members. As I said before, because I have learned many things from the seminar, I now understand that ZUTARA ACTUALLY MEANT TO HAPPEN, but in the last episode, the duo of Bryke, CHANGED THE ENDING. And Aaron E. actually admitted that he had another ending in his mind that has to do with a certain couple and that most of people agreed to it. That he was shocked with the ending that Bryke wrote.
And it's actually pretty sad, cause that has many effects in the story. And plot holes that many people discussed about. And I would like to talk about the results of their choice in my next post and the amazing outcomes that would exist if the ending was different.
#zutara#zuko x katara#review#avatar#avatar the last airbender#zuko#shipping#katara#the last airbender fanart
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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.
#Emletish Answers#The Worst Prisoner#Emletish writes#Anti-Aang#not really#I love A@ng#but damn I do it every time I mention him just in case#Like I'm a mum now#I have kids#I don't have time or brain space or emotional energy to deal with someone trying to dox me over a fanfic#Fic: The Worst Prisoner
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