#poor aang gets a bad rep

[stitch1830]

I think I might be inclined to ship Taang if they like… reworked Aang’s character a bit if that makes sense? They kind of have a neat dynamic going in the first few episodes where Toph is in the show (definitely prefer the Tokka dynamic though) but then he yells at her in the Desert and it kind of goes downhill from there and they don’t really have that much one on one interaction anymore and Aang’s character kind of continues to deteriorate as the show goes on. Like I guess I like the idea in theory but I don’t really like the canon for it in the show?

Omgeee you mean there's a chance to turn you into a Taanger?? Lmao jk.

I'm honestly trying to think of why I started shipping them in the first place, because it wasn't like "one look and I knew, they were my OTP." Probably a combination of fanart and fanfiction, and I think there was a surge in content around the time because it was Taang Week or something... Besides the point, though lol.

I think with ATLA I struggle to ship any ship based on the canon content only because they're kids. So much is gonna change about their character, that it seems weird to pair them up right after the show and have them live happily ever after. The only canon ship that I can see this happening with is Sukka, but I have very little evidence to support this, and I'm just going off a bit of life experience/expectation? Idk.

I agree with you, though, Aang kind of needs some major teen/young adult development based on some of the things we see in the show, especially after season 3. He was never my favorite character when I first watched the show, and after reading some metas online, it made me raise some eyebrows about his actions. BUT I give all the characters slack for their flaws, though, because they're just kids! And Aang was the biggest kid out of all of them; he just really got frozen in time and left a world where he was scared to grow up at 12, and came back to a world where he was expected to be the big adult peacemaker before a deadly comet arrived. My gangly 12-year-old self definitely would not have handled that well, so... My heart goes out to the characters and their lost childhood.

But the early parts of Toph and Aang hanging out together and him learning from Toph... I feel like we could argue he made great strides in his development because of her. She made him face his demons head-on in a way that Katara couldn't, she calls him out when others wouldn't, and... idk. I liked season 2 Aang's development a lot because of the Taang crumbs. And she grew as a character too! Definitely because she interacted with all the characters well, but Aang gave her the main thing she was looking for from the start: respect and freedom. He recognized her first for her earthbending talent and her voice, not her blindness or her namesake, and didn't treat her differently at all when they first met, something she hadn't gotten in life until that point.

They have a really nice opposites attract vibe as well, but they both love to have fun and wreak some havoc when they can. They're also stupidly powerful. Power couple vibes my beloved lol. Kummi/Taang theories are also nice, too!

Their amazing chemistry probably wouldn't be built on or added to unless Aang gets a better development arc as a teen/adult imo, and that's usually what I assume when I write my stories. Because Toph probably wouldn't get with him if he chose to not try and reopen his Avatar State chakra naturally (none of that pokey rock shit). Or if he chose to ignore his Avatar duties. Or if he whined and complained that something didn't go his way or someone didn't agree with him. She'd tolerate him and still be friends with him (like in LOK), but no, she probably wouldn't find him attractive or fall in love with him.

But, we all grow up, some faster than others, and I like to believe Aang found himself and became more open-minded and found someone that pushed him to be better and challenged his ideologies often and still comforted him in just the right way to get him to keep moving forward. And in one of my AU's, that's Toph!

You def don't have to ship them if you don't vibe with them, though lmao. This is just me rambling and ignoring my responsibilities! :)

[cobraonthecob]

list of my anti-LoK feelings

Excluding the Gaang’s treatment and trying to be spoiler free so that i can tell my brother about this, let’s go:

oh no it got long

none of this is in chronological order

- Poor mishandling of the concepts/conflicts (the Equalists being led by a bender)

- K/ya and Bum/i being treated poorly by the Air Acolytes simply because they aren’t airbenders 

- Bloodbending being the only bending subset art that’s demonized (meanwhile lightningbending gets to power Republic City)

- Harmonic Convergence - just random people getting airbending instead of people discovering they have airbending because Air Nomads are nomads and are likely to have descendants everywhere and it’s quite possible that the reason why Air Nomads are the only nation with a population that’s made up of 100% benders is because they gave nonbending children away to other nations, those kids carry on the genes but noooo it’s the most spiritual art or some random bs.

- the name of Republic City - whyyyyyyy you could’ve named it the People’s City in Chinese or something 

- Bu/mi getting airbending and apologizing to a statue of his dad for not being enough

- Te/nzin being the only Cloud kid with a family - because apparently airbending can only be passed down if there’s an airbending parent instead of bending being a wheel spin, coin toss, and draw of the hat chance combined with genetics so both Bumi and Kya could’ve had kids,,,but they didn’t. 

- “There’s LGBTQ+ rep!!!” yeah one of them is in the Fog of Lost Souls and a terrible person, Ky/a’s sexuality was confirmed in a comic that a good majority of the fandom doesn’t read bc the ATLA comics are notoriously abysmal, while Korra and Asami were shoved in last minute

- Kor/rasa/mi being shoved in last minute and that’s not because Nickolodean wouldn’t let Br/yke do it, they literally had no endgame ship until the last minute.

- the Spirit portals. Ah yes, make the Spirit World more accessible and make the Northern Water Tribe have an easy way to invade the Southern Water Tribe

- Water Tribe War of Why Would the North Want the South Except for an Ego Boost - oh stars i could write an essay on this: first of all there’s no reason for the two to unite - they’re on opposite ends of the world, two nations are between the two tribes so the constant travel between the two tribes is just too much. Secondly, we don’t do colonization in this household but apparently the North wanted to be like So/zin-Azul/on-O/zai’s Fire Nation. Thirdly: why. just why.

- The Western fashions and architecture - why is there a big ol’ statue of Aang in Republic City waters a la Statue of Liberty style -_- and why is there Western fashion asfjakjfkdj give me qipaos and i’ll shut up about it. (literally if everyone was wearing a qipao to be fancy i would give LoK less grief except for like “kind of boring but at least you tried”)

- As/ami is treated as a side character instead of one of the main four because she’s “Not a bender” (being removed from major fight scenes)

- Asa/mi being everyone’s emotional support and no one gives support back (sounds like someone we know...coughkataracough)

- non-benders having their roles being downplayed, and I don’t mean the Equalists being scary and then poofing out of existence after the first season. Benders get to be in all the action, but non-benders are mainly left out and only brought in to prop up the benders 

- immemorable/bad lines/immemorable characters (I can’t remember who was in what spot lol)

- the Spirit World looking more like Spirited Away rather than what it originally was (someone drew a bunch of Spirited Away LoK AU and I thought it was a bunch of Spirited Away screencaps until I saw little kid!Ko/rra and was like “????”)

- “spirits should live in harmony with humans” - world proceeds to get invaded with “spirit vines” along with ATLA fans going “wait what about spirits like Koh the Face-Stealer or an angry Hei Bai”

- non-con kisses. love triangles. didn’t need that but okay

- WHO PUT A WESTERN WEDDING IN AN ASIAN WORLD. WHY ARE YOU WEARING WHITE. DID SOMEONE DIE. 

- wait i just looked up the screenshots for that wedding and now i’m mad again

- WHY IS THERE A EUROPEAN DRESS HERE. GET THIS OUT OF HERE BEFORE I CRACK MY KNUCKLES AND REDESIGN A WHOLE DRESS FOR Z/HU LI

- I do not care if they’re Water Tribe. This world was inspired by China, we’re applying the full-on white outfit = mourning color to all nations because I can and I will do that.

- relationships having drama and I mean the type of drama that makes you groan and turn off the TV

- Bo/leska being played for laughs (switch the genders and this whole ship is a nightmare upon nightmare)

- Tenzi/n looking like an A/ang clone and doesn’t even have a hint of anything to suggest he’s half SWT - would it have killed the designers to give him Water Tribe arm wrappings???? 

- okay I said i wasn’t going to talk about the Gaang but I’m talking about Tenz/in so whatever. anyways neither T/enzin nor any of his kids look like they have SWT heritage and like. skin color can skip a generation and get into another. One of the Cloud grandkids could at least be a little tan instead of the entire family being the same skin tone. Ik/ki could’ve had hair loopies. Me/elo could’ve had a SWT name, and R/ohan could’ve been a waterbender.

- Ko/rra going to confront Zah/eer with Mak/o, everyone thinks that because Ma/ko was with her for a very emotional time that they’re probably going to get together because that makes sense, right? Heck, both of them are there for each other in the Big Emotional Scenes.

- The framing of the K/orra-Za/heer confrontation - Zahee/r is higher than her/is equal to her height, visually symbolizing that he still has power over her. This is very different from TSR where Ka/tara faces down her demon (Y/on Rha), all cards are in her hands, he’s sitting on the ground while she’s standing tall. 

there’s probably more but I’ve salted enough for now

[appassaddle]

Hi! So I just read Child of the Heartless Wind and was blown away (pun not intended but accepted) I am curious about Suki's place in your version of the universe? Did she and Sokka drift apart? Has she passed away at this point? I love her character but have never quite gotten my headcanon straight as to her fate. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thank you!

Hello! Thank you so much for reading. :)

Suki didn’t get a chapter mainly because I have several different headcanons for her, but they conflict with each other and I couldn’t decide which one to go with!

One is that Suki has Kyoshi’s blessing and lives for as long as she wants to because reasons (see: it’s what she deserves!!).

More “realistically”:

She retires after serving out her time as leader of the Kyoshi Warriors to stay on as the Fire Lord’s personal bodyguard until Zuko abdicates the throne to Izumi, when she then goes back home to train the up and coming Kyoshi Warriors. She is also often contacted for advice on worldly political happenings since the island (and her by extension) are regarded as mostly neutral territory, which makes it a great meeting place to sort out disputes between nations/states/cities/towns.

(Suki takes great pleasure in threatening to feed petty Earth Kingdom rulers to the unagi when they’re taking to long with negotiations etc.)

I like the fanon theory that Kyoshi Warriors don’t do any kind of traditional marriage. This is mostly to further snub the traditions of the mainland and also a reflection of Kyoshi’s daofei oaths.

Suki and Sokka have a lifebonding ceremony of some sort, skirting her oaths by having a Water Tribe ceremony and getting Aang to preside/sanctify it in some way since technically he is Kyoshi and the warrior vows are against Earth Kingdom traditions.

Unfortunately, they are mainly long-distance due to their respective duties; Sokka as SWT Ambassador and training with/leading the Order of the White Lotus, Suki with duties in both the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom.

Suki is a brilliant tactician and warrior, but she has no patience for politics. Every time things get sticky with the whole Republic City stitch, she tells Aang that he should just pull a Kyoshi and bend the whole state into an independent island.

There are days where he is Very Tempted, but knows that’s... not the right choice.

(imo the whole Republic City/United Nations thing is ://// in canon but... y’know.)

Or to be shorter winded about it, The GAang gets roped into international politics in rebuilding the world, but Suki and Toph basically get to meddle when they please bc they have all the clout of being war heroes without serious ties to international leaders (Except for the ones that are their friends) so they have a lot more freedom with what to do with their lives basically.

Here’s where it splits for me.

Option 1:

Suki dies young.

She saves Zuko from an assassination attempt during the rebuilding of the Fire Nation, becoming a hero once again, there’s lots of angst especially on behalf of Zuko and Sokka etc.

or

Between retiring as Leader of the KW and moving back to Kyoshi Island, she and Sokka settle in a young Republic City for a few years so he can help rep the SWT and she teaches chi blocking etc at Toph’s metalbending school. (What’s a cop idk her). Unfortunately, just when it looks like the city is getting it’s feet under it, there’s a bad weather/crop year and between that and the exploding population of the city, illness breaks out. And sickness is not something that can be fought with fans or blades.

(I have a Katara and Sokka centric fic that combines and expounds on these two ideas, but who knows if/when it will ever be finished+published, bc it puts... a lot of hurt on my poor boy.)

Option 2:

Suki lives a normal life.

Or well, as normal as it gets.

She and the Kyoshi Warriors serve as traveling peacekeepers/defenders when they aren’t on rotation in the Fire Nation.

Since they’re an internationally known neutral party, it makes everyone more comfortable to have them in the palace. For those who support Zuko as protection against assassins, the Earth Kingdom for having some kind of permanent presence, and the Water Tribes for having allies.

She and Sokka love each other a lot, but don’t really have the time and space to be more serious about each other in the immediate aftermath of the war. They break up amicably after a few years and find their way back together after a couple decades when they’ve both found a little more stability in their lives. It isn’t until Sokka is elected as chief that they can truly make it work out, since Kyoshi Island is only a (relatively) short trip to the South Pole. They have two kids, one non-bender and one waterbender (Katara is delighted to train her niece.). Sokka and Suki are both high-ranking members of the White Lotus, until he falls defending Korra from the Red Lotus. Suki and Zuko coordinate to organize it from there, until she dies of old age, but basically the rest of canon as established in LoK remains unaffected.

So basically yes, many thoughts, but no real solidity to them yet!

[carnistcervine]

CATLA AU

So CATLA is ATLA but instead of humans, they're all cats. CATLA.

Okay there's a little bit more to it than that. lol

-Here's a lowdown of the Gaang ~Aang- Sphynx kitten ~Katara and Sokka- Norwegian forest cat kittens ~Toph- Persian kitten ~Zuko- Oriental kitten

-Here's what each of the four nations are ~Water Tribes- Norwegian forest cats or some kind of arctic fishing cat ~Earth Kingdom- Varies wildly ~Fire Nation- Oriental and Siamese cats ~Air Nomads- Sphynx and cornish rex

-Yes, they're ordinary, four paws on the ground cats. They aren't bipedal or anthro.

-Though I do like to imagine them wearing clothes.

-It adds to the cuteness in my opinion. :D

-In this AU, the Avatar is an ancient being endowed by the wisdom of having lived thousands of lives. So it's less, individuals that are born and have separate and distinct personas, and a bit more hivemindy?? Not a literal hivemind, but basically the same person who lives and dies over and over again, learning and relearning, and trying different approaches, slowly changing as the ages go on.

-Aang is not the same cat he was when he was Wan(he’s grown and changed as we all do), but it's the same consciousness that has been passed down over the ages.

-As a consequence of this, the Avatar is a bit creepy and awkward. They don't mean to be, but mortals tend to find them very odd.

-Though the Avatar does try to act as normal as possible, as to not alarm of disturb those around them.

-At first it was fairly easy to pick the Avatar out of a group of children, as they were an old soul. But over the ages, they've gotten better at acting like an actual child.

-They still tend to be much more mature than their peers though.

-Yeah, the Avatar can have creepy, slightly voyeuristic, asocial tendencies, but they're a deeply empathetic being.

-They are rare to take a lover, because, well, being basically eternal/immortal they're lover will eventually die and they will continue to be.

-Being reborn is never easy for the Avatar, because their consciousness is an uninterrupted stream. They go from being killed/dying to suddenly being born and that's kind of traumatic.

-I imagine that a human version of this would absolutely abhor the fact that they are doomed to go through puberty again and again until the fucking world ends. :'D

-Anyway, the last thing Roku knows before being born again is the terrible heat and crushing pain of being buried by the pyroclastic flow. He suddenly goes from being in horrible pain and being unable to breath to being able to breath again, squirming and crying. He's realizes that he's been reborn when his mother licks his head, and starts to calm down.

-His new mother names him Aang.

-Still hurting from Sozin's betrayal, Aang tries to befriend as many cats and kittens as possible. He's eager to play with his peers, and does his best to hide his creepy spirit tendencies.

-For a while it works, Aang has many friends from all around the world, and a loving mentor in Gyatso.

-However, while Aang is still too young, the monks reveal to him that he's the Avatar.

-Or I suppose more accurately, they reveal that they know he's the Avatar.

-In this AU, the Avatar is born knowing they're the Avatar.

-But anyway, this catches Aang off guard, because he usually has more time than this to live as a normal kitten. He's deeply concerned, but tries to take it in stride.

-At least until his peers reject him.

-This tears open the wound of Sozin leaving him to die.

-The final straw is when the try to take Gyatso from him.

-Aang can't take it anymore and grievously harms several monks. It takes Gyatso to get him to calm down from his rampage.

-When Aang comes to his senses, he's horrified by what he's done and runs away.

-He and Appa get caught up in a storm and Aang freezes them both, sending them into stasis.

-Katara comes along and frees him, but being in stasis for a century has had a negative effect on his mind. He's lost his connection to his past lives. He no longer remembers he's the Avatar.

-Of course, with the loss of his memory, also comes with the loss of a lot of his social abilities.

-Katara finds poor Aang endearing, but Sokka finds him creepy.

-Aang just freakin sees Katara and starts crushing on her immediately. The first thing he sees are her eyes, and he gazes deeply into them. He sees her spirit, and falls in love with it.

-When Aang meets Zuko for the first time, he creeps Zuko out. He won't stop staring at him with those big, eerie eyes. But Aang can't help it, Zuko reminds Aang of someone, with those firey golden eyes...

-When Aang goes into the avatar state, he doesn't throw Zuko overboard, instead he traps him in ice and starts to walk up to him.

-Iroh, afraid his nephew is in danger, jumps in front of the Avatar, who simply stares at the two before calmly leaving with Sokka and Katara.

-When Aang exits the Avatar state he passes out and has a dream where his past lives whisper to him, trying to reach him.

-Aang is equally surprised by the revelation that he's the Avatar as Katara and Sokka. Though he's relieved to see that neither are showing any signs of abandoning him.

-As the Avatar, Aang has the ability to put restless spirits to rest. He does this at the Air Temples and other mass grave sights. Bring peace to pained souls, so they may have peace.

-Slowly, over the course of his journey to the north pole, Aang reconnects with his past lives and puts his mind back together into a single stream of consciousness again.

-When he visits the spirit Oasis is when he finally puts his spirit back together.

-Aang flips out when Zhao kills the moon spirit and goes on a rampage, chasing after him with the ocean spirit's blessing.

-Zhao manages to evade Aang who ends up getting caught up fighting Fire Nation soldiers.

-Zuko fights Zhao and Aang finds them. He completely ignores Zuko as he encapsulates Zhao in darkness and shatters his spirit.

-It's at about this time that the moon is returned to the sky and both the Avatar and the ocean spirit calm the hell down.

-Zuko is confused, he watched the Avatar attack Zhao, heard Zhao's blood curdling yowl and now Zhao is just lying there. He alive, and breathing, but his eyes are glazed over and he won't say anything.

-Zuko doesn't know what he just saw, but he has a sinking feeling that it was something horrifying.

-When they meet Toph, she initially wonders if Aang is really there or if she's imagining him.

-She low-key checks in with the others to make sure that Aang is actually there and not just an illusion.

-She still has times when she wonders if the other kittens are just fucking with her and Aang doesn't actually exist.

-When the sandbenders steal Appa, Aang is very upset. But he holds it in, he realizes that it's not Toph's fault, she tried her best.

-However when they encounter the sandbenders, Aang looses his shit and goes full Avatar beast mode.

-Katara is the only thing between the sandbenders and an early grave or more accurately, since he's that angry... having their spirits SHATTERED.

-Katara comforts Aang who breaks down crying into her fur.

-It takes Aang some time to get past his grief, but the Gaang help him through it. They all become closer as a result.

-When Azula kills Aang, and by extension the spirit of the world, the barrier between the human and spirit worlds destabilizes, and plagues are sent out upon the earth as it begins to die.

-Irreversible damage is prevented by Katara's quick action in reviving Aang with the spirit water.

-Aang's recovery is slow and difficult, and while he's down, spirits and plagues infest the world.

-Once Aang is recovered enough to go on adventures again, the Gaang end up working undercover to heal the damage done to the world by Aang's death.

-The Gaang see and understand firsthand just how devastating the effects of loosing the Avatar are and gain a new appreciation for Aang and his work.

-During the eclipse, when the Gaang encounter Azula, they're all pissed at her.

-Katara tries to tell Azula off about how she endangered the world, but she just rolls her eyes.

-She wastes their time until the eclipse ends, and Aang makes an executive decision in an attempt to avoid trouble with her in the future.

-He lunges at her, eyes glowing, and easily dodges her lightning.

-Azula feels real fear at this, she remembers the state Zhao was found in after a bad run in with the Avatar. She genuinely fears that Aang can and will do the same to her.

-She manages to generate a much more mild shock while Aang is in the process of breaking her spirit.

-Being subjected to the trauma of being shocked again is enough to drive Aang out of the avatar state, and the Gaang flee. Leaving Azula with a partly shattered spirit.

-She's still coherent, but her mind is fractured and she can feel it.

-The betrayal of her friends causes her to fall apart completely.

-Zuko is terrified about joining the Avatar, because he knows what angry spirits are capable of.

-Much to his surprise however, Aang is happy to see him come to the good side.

-It still takes him a while, however to get comfortable around Aang's presence. The look in Zhao's eyes after Aang attacked him, never leaves Zuko.

-Aang is tempted to kill Ozai, and he almost goes through with it. But instead he shatters Ozai's spirit and swallows his inner flame.

-Ozai is left a broken and confused cat. Thrown in prison to rot.

-After everything is over, and Zuko sees the state his sister is in, and the state his father is in, he has some very serious, very grave questions for the Avatar.

-Aang is patient and willing to answer, but he's not sure Zuko is ready to hear the truth of what he did to them.

(You bet your tucus that Zuko wants to help his sister after Aang tried to shatter her spirit and she subsequently went insane((which was pretty much bound to happen anyway bcuz Ozai is a shit dad)). But that's a story for another day...) 

-Some more notes on this AU, Lu Ten is alive. He’s a Dai Li agent that goes by Lung now. And Jet’s a (repressed) firebender. :’D

-But the most important thing is that the Gaang are a bunch of adorable kittens who snuggle together in a pile when they sleep.