#anti Aang

[the-badger-mole]

Dark!Aang would go into the Avatar State if he saw Katara and Zuko standing too close, I don't even want to imagine the destruction he would cause if he saw them kiss (someone would die, and why do I feel like it would be Katara?)

I think the show lowkey confirms that canon!Aang would go into the Avatar State if he saw Katara and Zuko standing too close (our hero, yall....😒). Katara not choosing him would absolutely be a contributing factor to Aang going dark, though. Her choosing Zuko could be Aang's villain origin story all on it's own.

#atla #dark!aang #anti aang #anti kataang

[broadwaybalogna]

Me Screaming: AANG SHOULD’VE KILLED OZAI

*Even louder* IT RUINED HIS WHOLE DYNAMIC OF BEING A CHILD FORCED INTO WAR AND DOING THINGS HE NEVER WANTED TO DO AND ITS OVERALL BORING HE GOT A MAGICAL SOLUTION THE LAST MOMENT

#atla aang #aang #avatar aang #anti bryke #bryke critical #atla #avatar the last airbender #atla salt #and don’t tell me “oh it’s just a kids show #it’s still stupid this happened #people were actually able to relate to Aang #because so many children are forced to grow up at young ages #and be forced to make life altering decisions #but ooohhhh noooooo he just NEEDS to get a magical solution that fixes everything #anti aang

[starlight-bread-blog]

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

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

Except Aang.

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

Even when he violates her boundries.

And is unable to handle Katara's grief.

But Zutara?

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

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

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

#How are they not canon #katara didn't even forgive Zuko while opening up to her #Aang had 3 books #and yet she opens up to Zuko #not her canonical love intetest #oh my god #zutara #zutara meta #anti kataang #aang critical #anti aang #anti anti zutara #kataang critical #the southern raiders #atla critical #anti bryke #bryke critical #avatar critical #pro zutara #pro zuko #zutara analysis #zutara was robbed #zutara forever #zutara evidence #katara of the southern water tribe #katara #zuko #zuko x katara #kataraxzuko #atla katara

[flowersadida]

I know people have already talked about this topic, but I want to too.

There are a lot of jokes on the Internet about how Katara constantly mentions her mother as if it were the most important event, but...

Isn't that so? I mean, in the life of a little eight-year-old girl, this is truly the most important event in her life and she wants to share it.

Katara took on the role of an adult too early, and she didn't have the opportunity to work through this problem with anyone, because she's already an adult => she cannot afford to rely on someone. But she needs it, and that's what traveling with Aang gives her: the opportunity to find children like her and share with them the burden that she has been carrying all this time. Note that Haru, Jet, and even Zuko are people who not only have experienced loss, but also have some kind of responsibility for others: for their family or even for a group of people. She doesn't tell adults about this because she isn't looking for care, she's looking for understanding of her feelings.

The problem is that it's not enough for her. Her sadness turns to rage because the further the story goes, the less satisfied Katara becomes.

The closer the heroes get to the end of the war, the more angry Katara gets: first at her father, then more specifically at Zuko. And, in the end, she finds the cause of this anger, as well as the opportunity to satisfy the thirst for understanding of her grief - the murderer of her mother. She needed revenge not just because it was fair, but because from the very beginning of the series, Katara was looking for an opportunity to calm those feelings that were rushing out. And her attempts to do this by expressing the problem were not enough. She needed more, and she got it by facing the biggest monster in her life.

In general, the “monster” metaphor obviously speaks not only about Yon Ra, but also about Katara herself. Or rather about her anger. Judge for yourself: she had to restrain a storm of emotions from the age of eight; she began to reveal her grief only in the first season, that is, at the age of 14. She ignored her pain, pushing it deep inside until it became a raging monster rushing out. And what Katara really needed was to face it. So when she flies to find Yon Ra, she also finally meets the version of herself that she has carefully ignored and hidden for the benefit of others.

It's funny that Zuko is the one who helps her. In general, it was his complete understanding of Katara in this matter that amazed me. He, like no one else, knows what it’s like to face your inner demons and knows how useful it is for knowing yourself. And how dangerous it is when you're alone in it. So he accompanies her to keep her safe. So that she has a person on her side who will be there, no matter what choice she makes. He will support anyone. (I'm crying because of how beautiful it is wasgffv💖)

(A small antikataang insert: this is the reason why their relationship doesn't work. Aang only supports the right decisions, even if they require Katara to sacrifice inner harmony, while Zuko will simply support her for whatever choice she makes. It's funny because Aang has to keep balance and as a monk he knows a lot about that. The show focuses heavily on the theme of yin and yang, that is, the balance of good and evil. In order to achieve internal balance, Katara needed to turn to internal evil, because she tilted this scale towards good. She was imbalanced to begin with, and instead of understanding this, Aang insisted on continuing the preponderance of good. It’s as if he doesn’t understand that the preponderance of good is as bad as the preponderance of evil, and this will only harm Katara. I hope my point is clear)

Finally, Katara finds inner peace when she faced everything that was raging inside her, when she did what she needed and poured out everything she ever wanted. Every word about her mother led us to this moment, as did Katara herself.

And do you know what the point is? Why am I telling all this? It's all a character arc that unfolds linearly over three seasons.

Now think back to the arc of Aang, the main character of the show, in relation to his family. Did he bring them up in seasons two and three in a way that was linear? I mean, the one who constantly grieves over his father's death should have been Aang, because he learned the pain of loss so recently, he didn't have a chance to get used to it. But even in the episode SR, Aang compares the loss of mother not to the loss of his mentor and father, but to the loss of Appa and his people. It’s as if he doesn’t care about the individual connection with Gyatso and it’s nominal.

Katara, on the other hand, has emotions that she smoothly carries throughout the show and resolves in it. She has a huge number of Chekhov's guns, which each fire at its own time. Her feelings about her mother, the development of these emotions and their resolution are the most beautiful thing about this show along with Zuko's arc (even though I have problems with him in book 3).

And making derogatory jokes about it like Katara is whining and annoying is blasphemy. After all, she's the only one of the Gaang who has a single development arc throughout all three seasons, this must be respected

#atla #atla critical #avatar the last airbender #atla meta #anti kataang #anti aang #katara #zuko #zutara #katara supremacy #katara is the real main character change my mind #katara deserved better #katara meta #southern raiders

[sapphic-agent]

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

#aang critical #anti aang #tagging just in case #i don't want aang stans accusing me of cross tagging #it's really not anti aang tho #long post #anti bryke #this is their fault #look how they massacred my boy #anti kataang #katara deserved better #she's not the focus here #but i thought I'd add that there #character analysis #atla critical #anti book 3 #which is kind of an exaggeration #because a lot of book 3 is great #it's just most of the latter half

[forevermore05]

Prompt: Katara kills Yon Rah in Southern Riders but the both decide not to tell Aang, Katara wants to protect his innocence and is worried he'll see her differently and she knows he won't be supporting and Zuko goes along because it was her own private revenge quest and he was just tagging along so it's her decision not his and he'll respect that (and also because he doesn't think Aang can handle seeing Katara as a person with her own set of morals that differ from his)

Sharing this secret brings them closer together and they end up talking a lot just the two of them together in the beach house late at night often

Eventually Katara tells her brother who has mixed feelings about it because just thinking about his mother is difficult for him but he is supporting and promises he won't tell Aang but by this point Aang knows they are hiding something from him and doesn't like it, he starts getting jealous but they successfully distract him with training and war plans

After the war is over Katara tells her dad who approves and is openly proud of her for it, Aang hears and can't understand, he corners her alone and tries to tell her this goes against everything the monks taught him but it comes off as so balantly patronising that Zuko, who was just passing by feels like he has to intervene and defend her

Oh god, this is so good! You all have such good prompts. I promise I will write all of them. It will just take me time!

#avatar the last airbender #katara #zutara #zuko #zuko x katara #anti aang #anti kataang

[sneezypeasy]

This is why I prefer to let other people take the mic when it comes to fandom/moral critique. Even on my best day, I couldn't publish a fandom-critical take half as comprehensive and coherent as this one.

Reposted anonymously with permission from OP, who understandably does not want to deal with hate comments/hate asks for expressing these opinions.

(Hopefully the screenshots load properly on tumblr, I know the first one is incredibly long 😅)

#zutara discourse #anti anti zutara #the colonizer argument #fandom analysis #anti purity culture #anti ship war #anti kataang #anti maiko #anti aang #anti mai

[allnewalldifferentwildspider]

Rewatching A:tLA with my brother and we just tackled The Southern Raiders.

Something that bothered me this time that had never bothered me before was when Aang tells Katara, "You sound like Jet."

He said that to stop Katara from taking revenge, right? To make her stop and think? Doesn't anyone think that this is fucked up? Like, let's examine this.

"You sound like Jet."

Okay, which Jet?

Jet from his debut episode where he tried to destroy an entire village to get rid of some Fire Nation troops? How does that sound like Katara trying to find the one man who killed her mother?

Or is it the Jet from Lake Laogai who died trying to find Appa? Yes, he did some bad things, but he died in his attempt to help the gang find Appa. Shouldn't Aang hold Jet in higher regard for leading them to Lake Laogai and getting them closer to finding Appa and exposing Long Feng and the Dai Lee? He just uses his name like it's slander to make Katara feel bad for wanting to get revenge on this one guy. That's how you treat the memory of a friend who died for your bison?

#zutara #anti kataang #zuko #katara #jet #anti aang #the southern raiders

[five-flavor-soup]

i genuinely, really like aang, but keeping his writing in book 3 and his writing in the comics in mind, i don’t think it’s all that implausible for him to get the sort-of-antagonist role in fics depicting katara-ships other than KA.

reiterating, i like aang: he’s adorable, he’s funny, and he’s nice. but i believe there’s something to be said about how his ‘niceness’ is written and seen as being The Reason he ‘deserves’ a love interest. his thinking is self-centred, and though that’s a believable flaw for a kid who’s, like, twelve, we’re shown that it’s a consistent character trait which is never treated as an issue… even though it is. (and if he’s mature enough to start dating the girl he’s going to marry and have children with, he should also be mature enough to be criticised for his less-than-savoury parts of his personality, no?)

it’s not OOC to write him as being possessive of katara even when they’re not dating, because he canonically is. it’s not OOC to write him as not respecting and/or noticing katara’s boundaries, because he canonically blows past them. the ideas that he might not mature much later on, that he might be wilfully and forcefully oblivious to any discomfort in the KA relationship, that he might continue shoving katara(‘s culture) aside—none of that is necessarily OOC, because aang does not go through significant character development in book 3 + the comics.

in The Promise, there’s that weird moment wherein aang is briefly anti-miscegenation and doesn’t change his mind until katara reminds him supporting that would affect him (him!!! his relationship with katara alone!!) personally. in TLOK, there’s the suggestion that aang never actively pushed for bumi & kya to learn about air nomad culture and there’s the heavy implication that aang never told the air acolytes about bumi & kya’s existence. additionally, tenzin doesn’t even have a hint of water tribe heritage anywhere in his house to honour katara’s side: he’s all air nomad (though?? nuclear family dynamic), in spite of being mixed.

don’t get me wrong, i vastly prefer fic and hc’s in which aang is a katara supporter first and foremost, and that’s also how i prefer to move through a fandom space barring meta and analyses. but i also don’t think making him jealous and petty when she dates someone else is a misinterpretation of the text we’ve been given; canon!aang shows the signs to become that way, and it’s not wrong to read his future self that way nor is it incorrect fandom-ing to highlight these traits

#aang critical #anti aang #and #anti kataang #just to be safe #don’t wanna infringe upon anyone’s space ✌️ #do i adore aang? yes #do i think that KA could’ve been way way WAY better than the babysitting fantasy we got? also yes #in the very first ep he pops out of an egg and imprints onto the first person he sees idk how more clear this should be #for legal reasons that last tag is a joke

[the-badger-mole]

1. Have you always hated Aang? If you can remember, what specific scene really sparked your hatred for his character?

2. Do you ever regret joining the atla fandom and having to fight tooth and nail for a ship? What’s kept you going all this time?

I've never liked Aang, but my hatred didn't start until the post series canon when I saw how for some inexplicable reason Bryke decided to go ahead and continue making Aang the worst main character and punish Katara and the others for it. The fact that they wasted all of that Zutara potential for a relationship that was somehow AS bland as it was toxic is what made me actively hate Kataang. Even though I never shipped it, I could have just ignored it, and lived happily in my fanfic bubble until I saw what they did to my girl. The fact that they stripped Katara in particular of everything that made her so awesome in order to make her and Aang's relationship believable and then unironically defended Aang for being a negligent parent, was what drove me all the way into the Aang is a Villain, Actually camp.

I don't regret joining the ATLA fandom. I have had, and am still having a great time. I'm also not fighting tooth and nail for my ship. I have my opinions and people can take them or leave them. If people get upset, that's got nothing to do with me. That's not my business. My only problem is when they bring their issues to me directly. If they deliberately tag incorrectly, or they jump into my asks, or reblog me, or leave hate comments on my fic, they can get the business until I'm bored with them. And then they can get blocked. I deliberately don't give them any serious answers, too. I don't argue with stupid anymore. I'm also not here to change anyone's minds on Zutara, Aang, or any other thing I mention.

#atla #zutara #anti aang #anti kataang #how do you write a romance that's both boring AND toxic? #pick one or the other bryke #a toxic ship should at least be interesting #a boring romance should at least be sweet #pick a struggle

[geegers22]

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.

#is this a meta? #atla #avatar the last airbender #anti aang #anti Mai #anti kataang #anti maiko #anti bryke #zutara #ayo fuck bryke all my homies hate bryke #atla critical #aang critical #Mai critical

[fynnlink]

Katara suffering from having to be an emotional crutch for A/ang (especially when he enters the Avatar State) is something that's consistently shown throughout the series.

While this is generally nothing new / not a new take, I specifically noticed it in this scene in Book 2's "the desert" and feel it's incredibly telling regarding Katara's emotional/mental state and stance about A/ang not being in control of his Avatar State

Katara's expression especially in the first picture just absolutely wrecked me on my latest rewatch. That is utter defeat on her face. She recognises that A/ang will lose control again and that she will be the one who has to "pull him back". This comes after she has repeatedly shown her discomfort/fear concerning his outbursts and even explicitly told him as such in episode 1 of book 2. She is also the only one who stays close to A/ang in this scene, both Sokka and Toph run away.

There's no greater point to this, the intensity of the emotion on Katara's face just caught me off guard since I hadn't watched this episode in some time. And while I see the general point/argument brought up often I don't think I've seen anyone bring up this scene and I feel it's very indicative of the way emotional labour is "shared" between Ka/taang going forward in the series and their relationship.

#katara deserved better #katara defense squad #atla critical #anti kataang #pro katara #anti aang #kinda

[flowersadida]

My "favorite" part of the kat.aang from the comics was when Aang gave up searching for the missing Katara in order to convince ONE dude that the Avatar is not evil. Like... Man, your BELOVED is missing, maybe you could put her a little higher in your value system?

I also don't like how the rest of the Gaang are starting to justify this action. Sokka is very concerned about his sister's disappearance just until Aang needs to stroke his ego.

I don't know why this insert is needed. To show how no one really cares about Katara? Ugh...

#atla #avatar the last airbender #atla critical #anti kataang #anti aang #anti atla comics #katara

[im-a-hoping-beetch]

Many people genuinely get confused when we, native people, get uncomfortable when Katara, a native character, is reduced to a mom and her canon relationships with characters are put down in favour for a boy who lived in a society that benefitted from her oppression, antagonised her and her friends for most of the series and was even racist at times. But because he's hot and had an episode with katara, everything should be forgiven, because god forbid a native girl gets with anyone who isn't from a group of people who aided the genocide of her people. God forbid two characters who experienced genocide have a relationship and connect over this shared trauma, in favour for boy who also has mom trauma

Look, while I can understand your feelings of discomfort towards the ship, I’d still like to put certain things into perspective.

Now, I don’t really know what you meant by her being “reduced” to a mom. Do you mean that her relationship with Zuko would confine her to such a role? Which, by the way, is absolutely laughable, since one of the main reasons why so many ppl ship these two is bcz unlike every member of the gaang (aside from Suki), Zuko is the only one with who she doesn’t have to act like a surrogate mother. Katara is allowed to be angry and be vulnerable with him. All things that we rarely see her be able to do with the rest of the bunch, let alone her own brother.

Actually, one of the main appeal of the two is bcz, both have the same level of of maturity and similar way of interacting with the members of the gaang. Which is why so many ppl label the two as “parents of the group”.

But, if you’re talking about how, we zutarians usually talk abt the intricacies that come with her being a motherly person, I’ve got some news for ya. Most of us, usually, never fail to highlight how much of a tragedy, her being pushed into a role of adulthood at such a young age is. Also, on how, ironically, her canonical partner (Aang) has never really helped with that phenomenon, actually he perpetuated it even further.

Besides, wanna talk abt canon relationships being put down for a boy, well, look no further than canon itself, anon. I’m guessing that you’ve probably read this post, due to the phrasing at the beginning of your ask. One thing I specifically touched on, was how much of Katara’s existence seems to revolve around Aang, the biggest example being, the comics. In them, we do see the creators ready to strain Katara’s established relationships with the gaang (aside from her brother) in order to shove kataang down our throats. Cuz if you think abt it, Toph and Katara’s interactions are heavily reduced, let alone meaningful ones and do not even get me started on Zuko or Suki.

Yes, Zuko lived in a society that benefited from her oppression. He has antagonized her and her friends. But Zuko is also made to recognize the harm his actions have caused. Additionally, at no point is he not faced with the consequences of what he has done towards the gaang. Every single member gets to express anger or/and resentment over what he’s done in the past, Katara is no exception. Actually, she’s the one who’s given the most leeway in terms of doing so. Even for things he had no control over such as her mother’s death and the fire nation raids. However, instead of whining about how he’s not responsible for all of this taking place, something he could’ve easily done, he makes it up to her. He helps her seek justice for her mother while her canonical future boyfriend is out here reducing her righteous anger to blindsided revenge.

I don’t know what you mean by “Because He’s hot and had an episode with her, everything should be forgiven.” To me, that last part owed to make me scratch all the dandruff off my braids. Language is a powerful tool, but often than not, people don’t really know how to use it nor seem to understand the ramifications of their use. When you say “everything should be forgiven”, you are framing forgiveness as something passive, when, here, it is active. Someone does the action of forgiving Zuko, Katara does. Katara forgives him, because he earned it.

Right now, I’m assuming that you thought you were in defence of Katara, but the truth is that you are actually perpetuating an habit that many have had when it comes to the Southern Raiders. Which is to perpetually strip any agency Katara has in an episode literally centered around her character!?!

Nobody forbid anyone from anything. If people don’t feel comfortable shipping these two, so be it. However, to act as if Zuko hasn’t actively fought against the system that has led to those atrocities being done or like he hasn’t used his position of power in order to make actual change or/and retributions, is simply disingenuous.

Aang and Katara did have a relationship, but have never connected over their shared trauma. More specifically, Aang failed to connect over their shared trauma, when he should have and instead used as a way to silence hers. @sokkastyles makes a very good point about it in this post.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #zutara #anti kataang #anti bryke #anti aang #atla fandom critical #zuko #katara #pro katara #the southern raiders #anti atla comics

[liliesforeveryfandom]

something about the atla fandom that always confused me is how they say ozai was such a terrible father bc he neglected zuko because of his favoritism towards azula, yet don’t apply that same logic to aang preferring tenzin above his other children. this cannot be explained away as an accident or “it’s what he had to do to save the air nomads.” those are all bullshit excuses when bumi apologizes to a statue of aang for being born a non bender and him saying he finally felt like he met his father proud when he got airbending. this is a 50-something year old grown man whose childhood trauma is so deep it still affects him. this wasn’t a mistake, aang did it on purpose. there’s no other explanation, aang became the very thing he fought against.

#atla fandom #tenzin #bumi #ozai #anti bryke #anti aang

[forevermore05]

I know the EIPs nonconsensual kiss is the most talked about. However, DOBS bothers me just as much. But I never see a lot of people talk about it. And I wondered why. I was talking to someone that I brought this up because it was bothering me and they told me: well, that's because Aang could have potentially died and he wanted to do something about his feelings before anything bad had happened. I begrudgingly gave into the idea, however, that kiss still bothered me. I understand that there could have been a potential where he could have died. However, that is not an excuse for out of the blue kiss someone when there has been no mention of feelings before that. Even if there were mentions of feelings that's not consent (there wasn't). Their dance in that cave is not consent. Anything that gave Aang the idea that it is ok for him to kiss Katara is not consent. His entitlement and affection for her are not consent. Just because you are going to do something life-threatening and you could die does not mean you force yourself on a person and she does not have to like it (by the look of her expression she did not look happy). She does not have to like your dying fantasy or be an object of it without her consent. Imagine, if Katara did not end up with Aang this scene would have been torn apart. But everyone's lucky that she did so it's not problematic (Sarcasm). I just hate how the scene is so normalized. Because when I watched it to write this, it was insane, Katara's dialogue "I've seen/watched you grow up, You're not this little goofy kid anymore" (it's like the writers were implying the mental age difference) drove me insane. I don't care if you say she blushed when these kinds of things happen of course you're going to get embarrassed and flustered. I have an immense amount of hatred for this scene. It was just never discussed enough. The Zutara community is the only safe place to do it.

Head Canon time (to make us feel better after this post): If Zuko ever found out about Aangs non-consensual kisses. I think Zuko would tear Aang apart.

#avatar the last airbender #katara #zutara #zuko #zuko x katara #anti aang #anti kataang #I scared myself watching that scene #katara deserved better #katara defense squad #atla critical #bryke critical #The reception on this post better be worth it