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#aang critical
starlight-bread-blog · 7 months
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Katara's other canon love interests give her agency, and her pov.
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And gets a moment where the two connect over similar losses.
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Except Aang.
Kataang is framed entirely from Aang's point of view.
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Even when he violates her boundries.
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And is unable to handle Katara's grief.
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But Zutara?
We get Katara's pov, and give her agency.
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He saw her at her very worst, and wasn't at all hostile.
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And Katara opened up to Zuko in the most significant way.
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longing-for-rain · 5 months
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what exactly is Aang's toxic masculinity that you're talking about? there are no examples of such behavior on his part in the show. he is not an ideal person, he is a child who sometimes behaved incorrectly, just like all the other children in the show (Katara, Toph, Sokka), and this is normal.
in addition, we see how he regrets some of his wrong actions and gets better, while Zuko does not regret his toxic behavior, doesn't apologize and doesn't face the consequences of his behavior (racist jokes about Aang, demands that Katara forgive him as if he has the right to her forgiveness, an attack on Aang to "teach him a lesson" and many other things).
Hi anon, thanks for the ask! This is a very good illustration of what I was talking about in this post when I mentioned that I feel toxic men are overlooked more often for appearing “nice” than they are for being conventionally attractive.
No examples of toxic behavior in the show? What do you call this then?
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I know what I (and the law) call it:
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But you see, he’s “nice” right? This is just a misbehaved child, as you put it? Yah, no. He knew better and still did it because he was possessive; this whole interaction started because he was jealous that an actress playing Katara was interested in men other than him. And the show proceeded to frame the situation in a way that made Aang sympathetic, despite being the aggressor and the one behaving irrationally. How much more “toxically masculine” can you get than that? But he put on a flower crown once so we’re supposed to think he’s a soft uwu feminine boi (even though he was absolutely enraged that a female actress played him).
I also find it very interesting that you describe Katara and Sokka as “children” while Zuko is omitted from that list despite being the same age. Are you admitting you agree he’s more mature, or are you admitting that you hold him to different standards?
But, anyways. You asked about toxic behavior on Aang’s part, which I’ll get further into now that the most egregious example is out of the way.
Let’s break down what you consider unforgivably toxic behavior on Zuko’s part and compare it to Aang’s behavior in similar situations.
1. “Racist” jokes
I’m guessing this is made with reference to the “Air Temple preschool” comment. How exactly is this racist? In context, Aang is the one trying to force his beliefs on others, and Zuko makes this comment to a) tell him to back off and b) point out that Aang is, in fact, a child who doesn’t have any business telling Katara how to feel.
This point is particularly interesting to me, because it implies that the simple fact that Zuko doesn’t agree with the philosophy of Aang’s culture makes him racist. By this logic, Aang is also racist against Katara’s culture, because he clearly disagrees with her philosophy and is openly telling her that his culture is morally virtuous over hers. And well. That’s even more believable considering Aang’s previous reactions to Water Tribe culture.
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Ah, yes. Playing with a cultural artifact like it’s a toy because you were upset about not being the center of attention for once, and telling everyone how disgusting you think cultural food is, what great ways to show the supposed love of your life how much you respect her culture!
I know your response to this point would be something like “uwu but he’s a kid he didn’t knowww” ok well. The same logic can be applied to any alleged “racism” on Zuko’s part.
2. “Demanding” forgiveness
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Zuko: What can I do to make it up to you?
Ah, yes. How demanding of him. He’s clearly so self-centered and only thinking about his own values and agenda here.
It’s not like he…
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…told his friend how she’s allowed to process her grief and try to impose his own morals…
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…or demanded to know if his crush liked him back, wouldn’t accept “no” as an answer, and forced a kiss on her…
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…or told an abuse victim he was wrong to want to kill his abusive father for trying to commit a genocide…
…oh, um. Yeah. Sorry, but after actually watching the show it’s very clear to me which character doesn’t seem to regret or see the flaws in any of his actions at the end of the show, which is when all of these examples took place.
3. Training in the finale
“Attacking Aang to teach him a lesson” … wow, that’s a very dishonest way of phrasing that situation. I’m impressed, I have to say. I’ve seen lots of dumb takes from Aang stans over the years but this is a new one.
Well, luckily I actually watched the scene in context, so my reaction was the same as all the other characters’ reactions in canon when they learned the context behind this “attack”:
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They agree with him. Yeah. Obviously, when nobody is taking training seriously when the world is about to literally go up in flames, you might need to do something to get their attention.
“But it was dangerous!” you might argue. Well… yeah. When magic and bending is in the equation, training in the Avatar universe has been shown to be somewhat dangerous at times. As an example, from this very same episode, Toph very nearly smashed Sokka with a giant flaming rock. That was way closer to hurting someone than Zuko was in this incident. If you’re going to fault characters for making their training exercises too dangerous, I guess Toph is mega cancelled.
Now back to Aang. What was his reaction in this situation? How did he react to the end of the world being days away? He ran away with absolutely no plan. Just like he did at the very beginning of the show.
I mean, think about it. This is a critical flaw (and toxic trait) in Aang that is literally never addressed, because he starts and ends the show the exact same way: he’s faced with a problem, he runs away from it, then he’s saved by an in-universe equivalent of an Act of God. Wowie, such great character development. Not fixing your core flaw and having a mythical plot device materialize into existence to solve your problems for you. Aang’s whole arc is a big blah, because the writing fails to address any of his flaws or have him meaningfully question any of his values.
Meanwhile, Zuko has consistently been a fan favorite because he’s the opposite. His flaws are meaningfully addressed, he does admit he’s wrong and fix his flaws, and his character shows a critically acclaimed change throughout the show. His arc is written so well that despite being a cartoon character, Zuko is widely considered the poster child for a good redemption arc across all forms of media.
So anyways, miss me with the double standards… there is a reason why Zuko is the fan favorite, and it’s not just his abs 🔥
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lovegrowsart · 2 months
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it's pretty wild to me that people don't see that aang running off to save katara in CoD is his luke in empire strikes back moment, where he runs headlong into his want and attachment and he's narratively punished for doing so and not learning his lesson - aang runs after katara despite guru pathik's warning, like luke runs after leia and han from yoda on dagobah despite yoda's warning; similarly, as a result, things go to hell in ba sing se like they do on bespin - aang enters the avatar state before he's ready and gets killed, and ba sing se falls to the fire nation, luke fights vader before he's ready, loses a hand, and symbolically commits suicide after vader tells him he's luke's father.
the difference between their character arcs is that george lucas and co. actually went thru with luke's hero's journey and understood the fundamental difference between attachment and love, whereas I don't think bryke understood this difference and then dropped this from aang's arc pretty much completely and replaced it with aang digging in his heels into his want and attachment and he gets rewarded with energy bending from a lion turtle, the avatar state from a random pointy rock, and his forever girl from the self-indulgent white men that couldn't bring themselves to give their hero a compelling character arc that meant he might not have gotten everything he wanted at the end.
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sapphic-agent · 12 days
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Let's Talk About How Book 3 Ruined Aang
If you've seen any of my prior ATLA posts, you know that I don't hate Aang. In fact, I quite liked him in Books 1 and 2. He was flawed, as all characters should be, but the show didn't shy away from those flaws or justify them. He was called out for burning Katara and rushing his firebending, Sokka and Katara were rightfully upset when he hid Hakoda's letter, he willingly owns up to the fact that his actions helped drive Toph away, and his entire arc after losing Appa and finding hope again in The Serpent's Path was beautifully done.
(Hell, even in The Great Divide Katara says what Aang did was wrong and he agrees. It's played for comedy, but the show still makes the effort to point out that what he did wasn't the right thing to do. You're just meant to understand that he was fed up and acted off of that)
Those flaws and mistakes were addressed and improved upon and helped Aang to grow as a character.
But for some reason, that aspect of Aang's character was completely flipped in Book 3.
The best examples of this are in both TDBS and EIP. Both the show and the fandom are too quick to brush off that Aang kissed Katara twice without her consent, one of which after she explicitly said she was confused about her feelings.
(And yes, she is angry in response and Aang calls himself an idiot. But after this, it isn't really addressed. They go on like nothing happened for the rest of the episode. Aang's lamentation comes from screwing things up with her romantically, not that he violated boundaries)
The show never really addressed why what he did was wrong. Not only because he wasn't given consent, but also because both times he isn't thinking about what Katara wants. In both instances, Aang is only thinking about himself and his feelings. This is something that persists through a lot of the third book. And by Sozin's Comet it ultimately ruins any character development he had built up in the second book.
One thing I feel was completely disregarded was the concept of having to let go of Katara in order to master the Avatar State.
For me, the implication wasn't that he had to give up love or happiness necessarily. He was emotionally attached to and reliant on Katara, to the point where she was needed to stop him from hurting everyone around him and himself. This is obviously detrimental to his functionality as the Avatar. And the point of him "letting her go" wasn't that he had to stop caring about her, it was that his emotional dependency on her was stopping him from being the Avatar he needed to be and that was what needed to be fixed. I don't even think it's about the Avatar State itself, it's about being able to keep your emotions and duty as the Avatar separate.
(If you look at Roku, he loved and had a wife. It wasn't his love for her that messed everything up, it was his attachment to Sozin. He wasn't able to let Sozin go and not only did he lose his life for it, the world suffered for it. It's the unhealthy attachments that seem to be detrimental, not love itself)
And Aang realizes that in the catacombs, which is how he's able to easily enter the Avatar State and seemingly control it. He let Katara go.
So then why does it seem like his attachment to Katara is not only stronger, but worse in mannerism? He liked Katara in Books 1 and 2- obviously- but he was never overly jealous of Jet or Haru. He only makes one harmless comment in Book 2 when Sokka suggests Katara kiss Jet.
But suddenly he's insanely jealous of Zuko (to the point of getting frustrated with Katara over it), off the basis of the actions of actors in a clearly misrepresentative play. Katara showed a lot more interest in Jet and Aang was completely fine with it.
(Speaking of EIP, Aang's reaction to being played by a woman was interesting. He wore a flower crown in The Cave of Two Lovers. He wove Katara a flower necklace. He wore Kyoshi's clothes and makeup and made a funny girl voice. He willingly responded to Twinkle Toes and had no issue being called that. And for some reason he's genuinely upset about being played by a woman? Aang in Books 1 and 2 would have laughed and enjoyed the show like Toph did. His aversion to feminity felt vastly out of character)
I guess my point is, why did that change? Why was Aang letting go of Katara suddenly irrelevant to the Avatar State? It felt like him letting go was supposed to be a major part of his development. Why did that stop?
Myself and many others have talked about The Southern Raiders. The jist of my thought process about it is his assumption that he knew what was best for Katara. And the episode doesn't really call out why he was wrong. Maybe sparing Yon Rha was better for Katara, maybe it wasn't (the only one who's allowed to make that choice is her). Pushing forgiveness? That was wrong. But the episode has Zuko say that Aang was right when the course of action Katara took wasn't what Aang suggested.
Katara's lesson here was that killing him wouldn't bring back her mother or mend the pain she was going through and that Yon Rha wasn't worth the effort. That's what she realizes. Not that she needed to embrace forgiveness. How could she ever forgive that? The episode saying Aang was right wasn't true. Yes she forgives Zuko, but that wasn't what Aang was talking about. He was specifically talking about Yon Rha.
And that was wrong. Aang can choose the path of forgiveness, that's fine. That's his choice. But dismissing Katara's trauma in favor of his morals and upbringing wasn't okay.
I know it sounds like this is just bashing Kataang. But it's not simply because I don't like Kataang, in my opinion it brings down Aang's character too, not just Katara's. But let's steer away from Kataang and Katara for a minute.
The one thing that solidifies Aang's character being ruined in Book 3 for me is the fact that he- at the end of the story- does the same thing he did in the beginning.
He runs away when things get hard.
Aang couldn't make the choice between his duty and his morals. So he ran. Maybe it wasn't intentional, but subconsciously he wanted an out. And this is really disappointing when one of the things he was firm about in Book 2 was not running anymore. His character went backwards here and that's not even getting into the real issue in Sozin's Comet.
There's been contention about the Lion Turtle intervention. For many- including myself- it's very deus ex machina to save Aang from having to make a hard decision. And that in turn doesn't reflect kindly on his character.
Everyone- Sokka, Zuko, Roku, Kyoshi, Kuruk, and Yangchen (who was another Airbender and was raised with the same beliefs he was and would understand which was the whole point of him talking to her)- told him he had to kill Ozai. They all told him it was the only way. And he refused to listen to any of them, rotating through his past lives until he was given the answer he wanted.
And before anyone says that I'm bashing Aang for following his culture, I'm not. Ending the war peacefully, in my opinion, wasn't the problem. In a way, I think it allowed the world to heal properly. However, that doesn't make up for the fact that Aang refused to make a choice and face the consequences of that choice. Instead, he's given an out at the very last second.
Even if he couldn't kill Ozai and someone else had to deliver the final blow, that would have been better than the Lion Turtle showing up and giving him a power no one's ever had before. It would have been a good compromise, he doesn't have to have blood directly on his hands but what needs to be done needs to still get done. It would also show that being the Avatar isn't a burden he has to bear alone. That when things get hard, he can't run away but he can rely on the people closest to him to help him through hard decisions.
All these issues aren't necessarily a problem with Aang. Aang prior to Book 3 didn't have most of these problems. This is a problem with the way he was handled
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geegers22 · 2 months
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I’ve seen lots of conversation on here about Zutara shippers opinions on aang and mai and i thought I’d give my point of view.
I want to start by saying that I think there should be more of a distinction between disliking a character because they are a bad person and disliking a character because they are written badly. With that being said, I can confidently say that, with the material of the main ATLA show, I dislike Aang and Mai because they are badly written characters. Meaning, if their arcs were properly finished, I would have no problems with them. This brings me to another topic of how I don’t really ���hate’ characters who are bad people if they’re well written but that’s a conversation for another post.
I need to point out that I didn’t start disliking Aang and Mai until they had their arcs undermined when Kataang and Maiko became canon. With the arcs they were going on, they had so much potential to be really interesting and I enjoyed their personalities.
When it comes to Aang, I had no problem with him as a character until season 3 part 2 when I started to realize that his world view (which is flawed based solely on the fact that he is young and there is no way he’s going to have a nuanced pov) was not going to be challenged. Aang should have had to give up katara. Aang should not have just had everything handed to him with the lion turtle and the pointy rock.
Then there’s the southern raiders which I would argue, if Aang’s arc had been completed, would not illicit as many conversations and arguments about it as it currently has. Because his actions in that episode make sense (Sokkas don’t really but again-that’s another story) because he’s a kid. This episode should have been a big decider of his change in worldview. The problem is that the creators decided his flaws didn’t exist and that he was perfect. (At 12 years old?!?!?)
Then there’s Mai. She’s a much smaller character but that doesn’t mean she deserves less of an arc. Mai is a character whose personality I love! (I’m all for gloomy depressed women!) There’s two ways Mai’s character could have developed, and I think both options are great, the problem is that Bryke decided to go in neither direction.
On the one hand, Mai could have been a representation of unlearning the propaganda she was taught in the fire nation throughout her whole life. I think this direction would make Maiko more believable, although I still don’t think they are a good couple because their personalities create a toxic dynamic and Mai’s story with Zuko is meant to represent that toxicity.
The second option would be to have her views not change, like we see in the show, and have her not get back together with Zuko. This is the more interesting path in my opinion because it’s more realistic. I don’t think the problem with Mai’s arc lies with her personal views of the fire nation, more so with her relationship with Zuko. As we have it in the show, Mai’s views don’t change. Therefor, it doesn’t make sense for her character or for Zuko’s for them to get back together like nothing ever happened.
When it comes down to it. Both Aang and Mai had their arcs sabotaged because the creators rejected Zutara. Even without Zuko and Katara getting together these were the wrong decisions. Both characters had potential to be well written, but in the end, the creators chose the path didn’t allow that to happen because they just couldn’t kill their darling. (Kataang)
Sorry for rambling, this is kind of just my take on the whole “Zutara shippers hate Aang and Mai” take.
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sokkastyles · 2 months
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It's interesting (not really, though, because it happens in fandoms all the time) that a lot of people seem to agree that Aang's character is underdeveloped. The difference is that Aang stans think the solution is to performatively stan him and yell at people who don't.
Fandom isn't activism, kids.
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flowersadida · 4 months
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Aang's problem is that he doesn't live in the world of the hundred years' war. His conflicts aren't related to war, they are more local. Basic example: he needs to defeat the Fire Lord to stop the war. As if it depends on the actions of one dude, and hasn't been the usual routine of the whole world for a hundred fucking years.
All the villages that Aang visits in his episodes in Book 1 are as far from the given realities as possible: “The Great Divide”, “The FortuneTeller”, “The Winter Solstice (two parts)”. All problems are local, and most importantly, there's no war there.
All people there live as if it hasn't yet overtaken them and everything is fine. Yes, there's many episodes showing the problems of war, but they're focused on Sokka, Katara and Zuko.
Especially Zuko, because he's the one who faces the consequences of his people's ambitions, where the world is dying of exhaustion. Aang never faces this exhaustion; rather, he observes from the sidelines in the episodes of his friends (unless other characters point out the consequences of the war themselves, like in "The Storm" or "The Avatar State". But he never interacts with war victims on his own initiative). The only time he took part in military operations was at the North Pole, where he destroyed ships. But that's all, otherwise it's as abstract as possible. Even during the invasion in Book 3 he doesn't participate in the battle and only has to defeat one dude, meh
And since he's the main character of the story, there's the most such abstract episodes, at least in Book 1. This creates the feeling that the war lasts not a hundred years, but about five.
Indeed, if the war had just begun, many things would make sense. Why, among the many victims of war, is only one person blaming the avatar for his disappearance? Because the war has just begun and people haven't yet lost hope. Why do many cities on the border with the FN still have comfortable living conditions? Because the war has just begun, the enemies haven't yet had time to destroy their settlements. Why does ending the war depend specifically on defeating the Fire Lord, and not on careful, painstaking work on mentality and diplomacy? Because the war was the initiative of only one person and didn't have time to influence the minds of generations. That is, if you change Ozai to Sozin, the avatar's mission for the entire series will become logical.
But here's why Aang is bad as the main character: it only works when the world adapts to his actions, mentality and conflicts. He needs to save the weak and defenseless Katara in order to at least somehow invest himself in their relationship and give her something as a partner. Katara needs to expose herself to fire and forget that she's a waterbender to provoke Aang's guilt. The world has to create a lot of deus ex machina for Aang to actually reach the end and defeat the Fire Lord (the avatar state itself, Katara's spiritual water, lion-turtle). He has to pretend the world isn't in agony in order for his shallow mission to take down one dude to have any weight.
Moreover, the further the other characters are from Aang, the more alive they become.
Why is Zuko's arc so good? Because it exists separately from Aang and reveals the character on his terms. Why are episodes centered on Katara and Sokka good? Because they throw Aang into the background and reveal the realities of the world as they are.
That's why I don't believe in him, no matter what conflicts he has. After all, no matter what he feels, it all exists separately from the world in which he lives. And for him to start working as a character, he has to adjust the environment to suit himself, which creates a feeling of theatricality and decorativeness
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theweeklydiscourse · 1 month
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My hottest ATLA take is that Katara was fully justified in responding to “She was my mother too!” with “Then you didn’t love her the way I did.”
Listen, I understand that it was harsh, but have we considered that maybe that harshness was called for in that context? Because Sokka wasn’t just saying that because it suddenly occurred to him, he was saying that to silence Katara and get her to back down. Also, Katara was right? She DID have a special relationship with their mother and we are shown many times how much that loss shaped her in a way that we aren’t with Sokka. When I hear Sokka try to relate to Katara’s experience, the implicit meaning feels less like “I understand how you feel” and more like “I understand how you feel but I don’t want revenge, so you shouldn’t either.”
I just get so peeved when I see people acting like Katara is the epitome of callousness for responding to Sokka this way. Also, just because Sokka went through the same loss of a parent as Katara doesn’t mean he gets to dictate how she grieves, and the same goes for Aang. People will lambast Katara for this, but I’ll always defend her in this moment because in my mind, she only told the truth.
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burst-of-iridescent · 6 months
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Aang was indeed a bad father. It's way past time we stopped making excuses for him.
An all too common defense for Aang is the fact that he's a monk and is not well-versed in how parenting looks. Yeah! No shit! But do you know who is well-versed? Katara! They talk as if Aang is a single parent like Toph but he is not. Katara's been on Aang's side since the day they met, always stood up for him, always complimented him.
Is this really the thanks she gets? Are they really that disinterested in explaining Katara's side of the story? As if her not getting a statue wasn't insulting enough.
Another major flaw in this defense is that Aang is not just a monk. He's the avatar. This means, part of mastering all elements also means embodying all of the ideologies based on said elements. That includes elements/ideologies completely opposite of his own. His daughter's crack about Aang "cutting and running when things get tough" shows that he's learned absolutely nothing.
We never truly see him master all the elements, he just gets them and, more or less, calls it a day. I'm even beginning to doubt that he's truly mastered his default airbending and he just got his tattoos prematurely because the monks were impressed with his scooter invention.
Zuko got the privilege of understanding the ideologies of other nations, allowing him to grow, and unlearn any toxic masculinity lessons through them, and would blow a gasket if he ever saw a kid get mistreated by a parent in any way. Is it really any wonder why Zuko is the more popular character and the most requested choice for Katara, in comparison to Aang?
using the "but he was a monk!" argument to excuse aang's bad parenting is fucking baffling to me. even leaving aside that aang did have a father figure (or are we collectively ignoring monk gyatso?), i don't think you need to witness fatherhood in action to understand that showing preferential treatment to one of your children is a messed up thing to do. that seems like the kind of thing that should be common sense, especially when you're best friends with the guy who's walking proof of what happens when you play favourites with your kids.
truthfully, i also don't fully agree with katara being able to compensate for aang's supposed lack of knowledge. while i do believe katara was a good mother, and i don't think it was her responsibility to teach her own husband how to be a good parent, i have my doubts about how much, if ever, katara called aang out on his behaviour towards bumi and kya. if their relationship in atla was any indication, i suspect katara very much turned a blind eye (or at most tried to gently suggest that aang pay more attention to bumi and kya) to aang's flaws in this area, as she (unfortunately) does in most others. that's one of the reasons i was never able to get onboard with kat.aang, because katara is the only one of the gaang who is never able to meaningfully challenge aang, even when he desperately needs it. (the only time i recall her trying to push him to do something he doesn't want is in sozin's comet when the fate of the literal world depended upon it. not a good omen, methinks.)
the katara we knew in atla might not have idly sat by while aang favored his airbending child over the others, but the seeds for who she turns out to be in lok are already planted. it's not a stretch to see how katara's blind faith in aang, and her unwillingness to confront his flaws, could have easily led her down the path to the woman who would fail to stop her husband from neglecting two of their children.
it's no surprise that aang in lok is repeating all the same mistakes he did in atla, because his character arc came to a screeching halt at the start of book 3 and was never picked back up again. how are we meant to believe that aang ever became the avatar (yknow, the embodiment of all four nations in one) when he was still, at the very end of the show, prioritizing the values of one nation over the others?
truly the shocker of the century that people might prefer katara to be with a character who had a believable arc with well-written development and a satisfying conclusion, instead of the narrative equivalent of a brick wall.
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God I LOVE Azulaang for many reasons but one of the best ones has got to be that it confirms that Aang has a type and it’s “My Friend’s Sister”
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miss-sweetea-pie · 7 months
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One of my favorite parallels between Aang and Zuko is during the crossroads of destiny episode. I feel like it’s more subtle since lot that happened was side sweep mostly in Aang case unfortunately.
For most of the story we noticed Aang and Zuko are parallel with each other for example we get their back stories at the same time, we watch them work together. And during the guru and crossroad episode we see that they need to make an active decision on who they are meant to be. Time to face there wants and needs.
For Aang his want is to be with Katara no matter the cost vs his need to master the avatar state.
And for Zuko it’s wanting to go home to the fire nation vs need to do the right thing and make an active decision and be branded as a traitor.
And the really interesting part is that the writers use katara as an anchor in away to express this point.
My favorite way to explain it is that Zuko was suppose to let Katara in and Aang was suppose to let her go.
And guess what they both fail.
Zuko’s betrayal was supposed to be a surprise for both the audience and the characters. all out in the open. oh no! Zuzu we where rooting for you! How could you?
Aangs betrayal was a secret only the audience and Aang knew about it. And it should have been explored more in season three. And yes Aang did betray everyone when he turn his back on the Guru. And he definitely betrayed Katara in that moment, because all katara wants is for him to have control of the avatar state and end this war. And it crazy that Aang keeps the truth to himself, like he doesn’t feel bad about keeping that from Katara? So much for getting the mark of the trusted. Am I right? (Sure the show tried to explain that azula’s lightning blocked his chakras now but that sounds more like a sloppy way to fix it so Aang can get his forever girl, also it ruins the narrative, this was an internal struggle for Aang to overcome) I have heard the argument that Aang being shot with lightning was a punishment for letting go of Katara but I see it more as a punishment for letting her go in that moment when he should have already done it. Think about it if he just mastered the avatar state he essentially could’ve just rolled into Ba Sing Se with god mode activated, stopped Azula and black sun would have been a success and war is over. Him not letting go of Katara when the Guru suggests it does however tie into he’s character flaw, avoidance. he waited till he has no choice but to do it so he is “punished” for it.
Well at least Zuko got to redeem himself. All Aang got was a perfectly place rock it’s a shame.
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enbyzutara · 11 days
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I'm sorry to break it to you (KA shippers) but: when the hero of the story kiss the girl who he spends the whole 3 seasons in love with, without her consent, and instead of the narrative addressing this, this 'issue' in question is completely ignored until the final scene - where instead of acknowledging his mistakes and stating to the public, who are mostly young audiences, that non-consensual kisses are wrong - we have the hero getting rewarded by the narrative, not being punished, by getting the girl who he has been in love with. The same girl who he kissed without her consent just episodes ago. This is totally and definitely the 'Hero gets the girl' trope.
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longing-for-rain · 2 months
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I think the funniest type of ATLA fans are the ones who go “Zuko is my favorite character!” then immediately start slandering him as some kind of abusive, racist colonizer the second someone ships him with the Wrong character.
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lovegrowsart · 23 days
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"aang didn't tell katara to forgive just to let her anger out and let go" ?!?!?!?! litcheraclly the WHOLE false dichotomy presented by the narrative of the episode (using AANG as the primary mouthpiece) is forgiveness vs revenge like please watch the episode again and pay actual attention to the words coming out of aang's mouth.... so many tsr takes ignore the words in aang's mouth to interpret him more positively while putting words in zuko's mouth to view him more negatively, all the while pretending katara never said anything at all about HER OWN TRAUMA
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starlight-bread-blog · 7 months
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Kataang on Balance and Rage
There's a common protest to Zutara especially that typically goes like this:
"If Zuko and Katara ever got together they would spiral into endless fights, since both are hot-headed. Because of these traits, they need someone who is calm. Like Aang and Mai. They balance them out".
I already adressed how Zuko and Katara seem to balace themselves out just fine, and that Katara isn't actually that hot-headed. There's a lot to be said about Maiko, and I will in another time. But for now, I'd like to focus on Kataang. This argument doesn't quite work for me because Aang is repeatedly proven to be unable to effect Katara's rage.
THE WATERBENDING MASTER
When Katara challenged Pakku to a duel, Aang tied to put up the fire. Telling Pakku she didn't mean that, and telling her she doesn't have to do this for him. Due to his peace seeking nature, he wants to pprevent the duel and is communicating this to Katara.
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(1th) Aang: I'm sure she didn't mean that.
(2th) Aang: You don't have to do this for me, I can find another teacher.
Did it work? Well,
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THE CHASE
The entire Gaang is sleep deprived. Katara and Toph get into a heated argument about unpacking camp. Aang tried to stop the argument, and once again it didn't work.
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THE SOUTHERN RAIDERS
This is an extremely controversial episode. I'm not gonna get into who's right and who's wrong. I'm just here to make an observation.
Katara decided to seek justice/revenge on the man who killed her mother. Aang, being a pacifit, encourages her to forgive him. He tells her a story about the monks, that revenge wouldn't help her. As you know, Katara still goes on the quest.
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Later when she spares Yon Rha, she highlights to Aang that she did not, and will not, forgive him.
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IN CONCLUSION: Aang tries to calm Katara down, but that doesn't seem to work. To suggest that Katara should be with Aang because he can balance her out would be a mischaracterization of their dynamic. He can't do that.
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sapphic-agent · 18 days
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So, a Kataang fan made a post about a week ago "asking" (rhetorically, of course) why it's a bad thing Katara acts like Aang's mom. And I just-
First of all, isn't that something that Kataang shippers have been trying to actively dispute for almost two decades at this point? That Katara doesn't treat Aang as a younger brother/son? There's literally an entire post about it from The Headband that's made its rounds on almost every single social media platform.
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So which is it, besties? Does Katara act motherly towards Aang or not?
(The answer is yes of course, as The Runaway outright confirms it multiple times. The whole premise of that episode is that Katata acts as a mother to Toph, Sokka, and Aang)
Now, why is it a problem? The fact that I have to explain this is telling for how little a lot of Kataang shippers understand Katara.
Katara was parentified. She took care of Sokka (by his own admission) as well as her entire village after Hakoda left. Even before then really, as she says in the very first episode that she's been doing all the chores around the village since their mother died which was years before that. She was delivering literal babies while basically being a baby herself.
Traveling- and being- with Aang is supposed to represent her freedom and childhood, right? That's what the first episode shows us and what Kataang is built on. But if anything, it has the opposite effect.
Book 1 wasn't terrible. Katara was very free-spirited and joyful in addition to being caring and empathetic. Her and Aang could still goof off together, even if she was doing her best to support him emotionally. You could easily see that as her being a good friend.
But somewhere between Books 2 and 3, that changed. Katara went from being his supportive friend to being his emotional crutch. During The Desert, she bears the brunt of him lashing out (he does yell at Toph once, but he's the most volatile with Katara). He also gets frustrated with her during Sozin's Comet, even though Zuko and Sokka were the ones pushing him. It's always Katara who has to bring him back when he loses control of the Avatar State, risking her own safety.
(This isn't emotional, but it was Katara who healed Aang after Azula's attack. She was the one who stayed by his side, staying awake for hours to make sure he would be okay. I like to look at it as a physical representation of their relationship. Aang's wellbeing is always put on her shoulders. If she isn't there to lift him up, he'll fall. And if he falls, the world falls. No 14 year old should be responsible for that. But it's so easy for the show- and y'all- to shove it onto her because this part of her character is never addressed. It's just used as a testament to her caring nature)
Even without Katara's parentification, this causes a major imbalance in their relationship. It puts Katara in charge of managing Aang's pain and being emotionally unsupported in return. The Southern Raiders is proof that Katara can't depend on Aang emotionally the way he does her. She's been his shoulder to cry on through everything and the one time the tables turned, she couldn't even get that from him.
And the saddest thing about this? Katara says to him, "I knew you wouldn't understand." She never expected Aang to support her. She's become so accustomed to being there for others that she's never once expected anyone to do the same for her, least of all Aang.
(But Zuko does. He's the only one who recognized Katara's pain- admittedly, mostly because it was directed at him- and tried to help her. Without being prompted. I gotta give this one to the Zutara folks)
In what world is this dynamic healthy for a romantic relationship?
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