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Aang is better than me when it comes to Zuko in that one scene because Zuko, who while he may be my friend, he is also, not only, from the Fire Nation (a place that directly played/plays a role in disrespecting Aang's culture) but also a prince, the son of the man trying to kill him [Aang] and the grandson of the man who is responsible for killing and wiping out my culture. While some of those things aren't Zuko's fault, he does still project their system and doesn't shy away from mocking Aang's culture and pacifism to his face, something that he should be one of the LAST people to do. If I were Aang, Zuko and I would have had to take a walk outside, because ain't no way you're getting away with that.

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What's telling about such claims is that Suki has far less development outside of her connection with Sokka, and yet they're the most accepted/preferred couple in the show.

Also, don't get me wrong there. I love Suki and the Kyoshi warriors and the possibilities of them, but inside the show Suki only has interactions with the rest of the group (outside Sokka) a handful of times.

What do you think of the claim that Mai has no personality outside of Zuko?

We literally spend an entire season with Mai, Zuko being nowhere near and not affecting any of her decisions, and she was acting pretty much the same way she did in the season she was his girlfriend, only less happy and less willing to show affection.

There's pretty much no force in the universe that can prevent Mai from just doing her thing - her thing being apathy for most of the world around her, which just happens to be something Zuko likes, so they get along really well.

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Lol her face

Literally a girl flirting with him and Katara grabbing his arm like "you're mine".

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it’s crazy how Katara and Aang can make a mutual decision to marry and have kids canonically and suddenly that makes Katara’s character reduced to a “baby maker” by antis lmao. like… and they have the nerve to call us misogynistic? is this how y’all refer to your own mothers?? wild 🤣

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aang thinking 💭

I was so sad to draw like that…

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What do you think of Aang in general and his relationships with other characters?

Do you think Aang is overhated?

Honestly, I think Aang is vastly underrated.

I've said before that his most amazing abilities are not his bending skills, but his ability to make friends and spread joy wherever he goes.

Most people focus on Aang as part of or a rival to one ship or another, but there is so much going on with him beyond that, and it's a shame that fandom doesn't explore that.

For instance, I believe Aang is one of the few people in the world who could help Azula get on the right path. And that's not because of his powers, but because of who he is.

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ppl gotta stop saying “Kataang doesn’t have chemistry” when what they really mean is “Kataang doesn’t have expected toxic het tropes”

Above anything, Aang and Katara are friends. The show always prioritized their friendship, which is why they hug before the final kiss. At the end of the day, these two characters love each other deeply. Aang respects Katara, he always prioritizes her and thanks her for all she does for him. He acknowledges her importance in his life and understands how she wants to be shown love and then does so without being asked. Katara and Aang understand one another on a core level, they function well together and get along. They have fun together. They have shared trauma and are very similar in their goals and aspirations. That’s why they work as a couple.

Any real, long lasting relationship has to have two people that genuinely love one another and value one another. Which is what kataang conveys. Not all chemistry is something hot and heavy, you know. Sometimes it’s as simple as being understood.

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One of my favorite scenes

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Drew in ballpoints

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The painted lady

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One thing I'm realising about a good chunk of the avatar fandom is that they need to be hand held through every development in the entire franchise. Like I've had my suspicions for a while but the reactions to the new Mai comic really cement it for me.

There's this odd aversion to understanding that characters will grow and change. And even if the building blocks for a character's growth are set up earlier, so many people seme unable to extrapolate that potential + time = change.

I think part of the reason to this is that the most prominent character growth arc in the franchise is Zuko's. And it's a very well crafted storyline, but it is also very much spoonfed to us. Not just by us getting to go into Zuko's pov but even having Iroh helpfully narrate and explain what the fuck is going on in Zuko's world at the moment.

And I think this is why a lot of the fandom expects changes to the characters to be these explicitly shown, overtly prominent, dramatic affairs, perferably narrated by a conveniently placed old man. But Zuko's arc was quintessential to a deeper plot, and it had the drama and structure one would expect of a solid storyline. But this won't ring true for all characaters.

Taking Mai's character growth from the apathetic teenage girl who is resentful to the more established young woman who possesses more agency and seemingly has developed more radical views for example.

I've made a long ass post on this, so I won't bore you with the details, but the crux of Mai's character is that she was restricted and handled for most if not all of her life for multiple different reasons.

But at the end of the show, most of those reasons are removed. And this would, as you can imagine, trigger a change in the charcter.

But Mai's change wouldn't be like Zuko's, wouldn't involve wandering a foreign land, running a teashop and having allergic reactions to good decisions. Mai's arc would be her going about a normal life in that flowershop, learning to see the world from a different perspective and looking back at events and systems from her childhood and going "huh. That was fucked up."

And with the comic book format being much more streamlined, this just wouldn't cut it as a compelling plot, because it would basically be a less dramatic version of Zuko's deprogramming. But it doesn't have to. Because we have all the puzzle pieces. Hell, even the comic preview spells it out for us with this obvious metaphor.

I'm just surprised how many people seem to have such an averison to not having every plot point spelled out witg big bold letters. How many people won't go through the simple process of engaging with a piece of media rather than just consuming it.

And I don't mean to grandstand or act like I'm better than the fandom for doing something as simple as not reacting negatively to a slight shift in the fictional status quo.

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Grandpa Zuko by ~zutaraxmylove

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🧡💙💨🌊💕💕💕

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It's weird as Aang is clearly more experienced being on his own and traveling on his own than either Sokka or Katara. He's all excited to show them places he's already been. Growing up as an Air Nomad in a time of peace, as stated in the show, he's visited the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation, and has some insight into their culture and ways.

It's Katara that's completely fascinated in his "wisdom" and knowledge of the world and is eager to learn from him......and she does when he shows her basic bending forms/techniques she didn't get learning all on her own.

They teach him about the world at war and how it is in the present day, which he does need to learn. They're also both there for him while he goes through emotional turmoil over the state of the world and his feelings of responsibility for it. (While it's mostly Katara, Sokka does his part as well, when necessary.)

The whole interaction of the three is very much of peers throughout the entire show. There isn't even a maturity gap shown between them mentally and emotionally. The only way we know he's younger, in the show, is he's a bit shorter. (Katara's age isn't given in the show, only outside material. I assumed she's a year older when I first watched it as their drawings suggested it, though their characterizations didn't.)

ngl it’s so weird to me when zvtara shippers say Katara “raised” Aang or something like… I literally don’t get it lmao. how could you possibly even state that with any seriousness, let alone think it is represented canonically??

not only did the whole show take place in a single year, but Aang was already self sufficient when he crossed paths with Katara and Sokka…

there’s also the fact that Aang very much has a father and his name is monk Gyatso, and he raised Aang

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a little messy katara doodle!