#aang is the worst main character

[the-badger-mole]

No offense but why do you “hate” a fictional CHILD lmao?

Because he's a poorly written, aggravating Gary Stu, and my favorite character was nerfed so he could get his happy ending without actually working for it. Also, his stans are the most annoying people in my ask box. Them showing up less wouldn't make me hate him less, but I still wanted to let that be known.

Also, the wrong word is emphasized. He's a FICTIONAL child.

[tobiasdrake]

*deep breath* Okay. Here we go.

I don't think the Netflix Avatar show likes women very much. It's a great show for fans of Aang, Sokka, Zuko, and Iroh specifically. All four of those characters get a ton of great material. In fact, it's super great for Sokka stans, because the show takes him ultra-seriously and can't go five minutes without one character or another (usually a woman) praising him.

But the way it handles its female cast is troublesome.

Katara

So, all three of the main trio got some changes made to their stories. They changed Aang's story so that he wasn't running away from his responsibilities; He was just clearing his head and somehow accidentallied himself into a tsunami. Whoopsy-dooodle. Aang did nothing wrong.

They changed Sokka's story so that him being a leader of his people and a great guardian warrior is treated with complete seriousness. Multiple times, characters stop to talk about how brave and noble Sokka is for taking on such an intense responsibility, and tell him to his face what a great warrior and a wonderful leader he is. Also his misogyny is erased.

And they changed Katara's story so that she directly got her mom killed because she sucks at waterbending.

Katara tries to waterbend to attack the Fire Nation soldier but couldn't manage it, provoking the soldier to start actively searching for her and forcing her mom to fake a waterbending attack and draw his fire. They changed Katara's story so that her bad decision making fucking got her mom killed.

This is treated with the same level of severity as "Sokka was bullied by mean kids and also his dad doesn't think he's good enough to be a leader."

"I hoped Sokka would do better but not everyone is meant to have people's lives in their hands," Sokka's dad says of him.

Yeah, you're right, that's totally comparable to watching your mom get barbecued because you tried to waterbend in a situation you shouldn't have and then failed.

In fact, they give Sokka's greatest trauma more weight because it gets examined again with Yue next episode, while Katara actively getting her mom killed isn't brought up again at all. We get traumatized glimpses of it throughout the season leading up to the reveal, but after this scene in episode 5, it never comes up again.

But to be fair, Katara was a child. An event this significant would surely have motivated her, driving her to become the great waterbender she is now, right?

No! Katara sucks at waterbending and needs men who aren't even waterbenders to teach her how to waterbend. She requires instruction from Aang in episode 1 to learn how to waterbend, then from Jet in episode 3 to learn how to waterbend better.

And unlike the show, her relationship with Aang isn't a give-and-take; Katara doesn't teach Aang a single goddamn thing. He never learns to waterbend. She is a strictly a pupil throughout the whole season. Though she at least gets officially labeled a master in episode 8, so there's that.

In any case, the whole traumatic memory thing isn't even the only time she's directly compared with Sokka. Episodes 3 and 4 see Katara and Sokka bicker over whose morally dubious side character is better. Sokka likes the Mechanist and Katara likes Jet.

Ultimately, Katara is forced to eat crow when Jet turns out to be the worst, while Sokka is vindicated when the Mechanist sees the error of his ways and reforms. But not before two separate arguments where Sokka calls Katara childish and accuses her of acting like a little girl.

Arguments ultimately resolved when Katara apologizes to Sokka for not adequately respecting his very serious and ultra important role as village protector and leader. Gives him a whole speech about how great and glorious he is. And Sokka... appreciates Katara learning to respect him properly, I guess, because he never offers any similar sentiments back to her.

The show just... They need you to know how important Sokka is, okay? It's very important that you respect Sokka.

Suki

Suki suffers tremendously from that whole "Sokka's misogyny was removed" thing. Y'know, because they need something else to do with that episode. The show is deeply aware that Suki is Sokka's love interest, so they just do that right off the bat. Suki falls madly in love with him from the moment they meet, and spends the entire episode making goo-goo eyes and trying to get him to Notice Me Senpai.

They still do the "Suki Trains Sokka" stuff. But Sokka is a serious, dignified manly man worthy of the deepest respect now, so of course they don't make him wear the Kyoshi uniform. Instead, the main purpose of his training is to allow them to flirt some more. It's less martial arts training and more an excuse to grope each other and near-kiss.

Suki's just a waifu now. She still fights real good, but all of the stuff that made her relationship with Sokka interesting has been erased.

Yue

Yue, similarly, leaps straight to shipping from the word go. They write out her fiance, Hahn, by having Yue briefly meet Sokka earlier in the season. She spends one minute talking to him in the Spirit World about Spirit World lore; In that time, she falls so desperately, madly, unfathomably in love with him that she breaks off her marriage to Hahn and devotes herself to waiting for him to one day come to her.

"Never have I known such joys as that time you let me explain the spirit bear Hei Bei to you. Truly, we are destined to be together for life."

Like with Suki, they go out of their way to have Yue and Sokka already be a ship from the word 'go' so they don't have to spend time developing any kind of meaningful attraction.

They just. They really want you to know that Sokka is the manliest and most desirable man ever to walk this earth. It is very important that you understand how great he is. Women hurl themselves into his arms with zero effort whatsoever, because he's just so goddamn irresistible.

Fortunately, Hahn is super okay with this turn of events. He's the most chill guy ever, he gets along perfectly well with Sokka, and he completely supports Yue's right to dump him! In the famously misogynistic Northern Water Tribe, no less! What a swell guy. Aren't men swell?

June

June gets hit with that "rewritten as hollow waifu" stick too, but her eyes are set on Iroh. They rewrote June to be super attracted and flirty towards the man who was her unwanted sexual harasser in the source material. So that's fun.

Also, she barely does anything. Zuko hires her to find Aang, she succeeds, and then she fucks right off out of the show - But she manages to find time to express how unbelievably sexy Iroh is twice during that time.

She seriously just dropped into the show to flirt with Iroh and leave. She is unbelievably inconsequential.

Kyoshi

And then there's Kyoshi. They really want you to hate Kyoshi. She's constantly shot from below, as if looking down on Aang and the audience. Her voice takes on a demonic echoing reverb at one point as she's screaming at Aang that "THE AVATAR MUST BE A MERCILESS WARRIOR!!!"

She despises Aang, calling him a coward for running away from his responsibilities - Which, I remind you, is no longer a plot point because they unwrote that flaw from his character. So she's just a complete and utter asshole, shot from the asshole angle, yelling violently at him with asshole sound effects. They want you to despise this woman.

Azula

Awkwardly, they do not seem to want you to despise Azula.

There's a lot to be said for how Ozai treats Azula in the original show. The way the favoritism he shows her is every bit as cruel and manipulative as the unfavoritism that he shows Zuko. Ozai does not love Azula. He loves the reflection of himself he sees in her eyes, and his encouragement urges her to polish herself to ensure his reflection always shines through.

This is not that. The show instead erases the favoritism entirely. Ozai doesn't really care one way or another about either of his kids. He plays them against each other, bragging openly to Azula about how great Zuko is and unpleasably writing Azula off as weak and useless.

They've rewritten the dynamic between abusive father and his two abused kids in order to take Azula's pride away. Reimagining her from a gifted prodigy who excels at imitating the toxic behaviors of a father who doesn't truly care for her, to a put-upon overachiever tearing herself in knots to live up to the standards of her unpleasable father.

This results in a truly wild portrayal of Azula as insecure and jealous of Ozai's seemingly love for Zuko. Here, she is simply a browbeaten child constantly complaining to her friends about how mean her father is and conspiring to get one up over Daddy's Golden Child Zuko.

Which she fails at, because she backs Zhao. Zuko deftly defeats her without even realizing they're in competition.

Conclusion

The season ends well for some of these women. It ends promising that maybe we'll see Katara teaching Aang some day. It ends with Zhao bragging that Ozai just used Zuko to train Azula so maybe we'll see the more confident and misguidedly proud Azula some day. Yue becomes the moon like she's supposed to. June's still out there so maybe she'll get to do something again some day.

Katara gets to fight Pakku and lose, but she looks pretty cool. She gets to fight Zuko and lose, but she looks pretty cool. Azula learns to lightningbend because she's just so mad about Ozai's contempt for her and favoritism for Zuko, which isn't how you lightningbend.

But promises of future content fall flat when the content that exists is so underwhelming. This season made its feelings on these characters pretty evident, and it's unwise to expect better material from creators who've disappointed you with the material they already made.

The women of Netflix Avatar simply do not get to shine, outside of superficial moments like the "Women of Northern Water Tribe demand the right to fight and then fuck off and don't do anything for the entire rest of the episode" bit.

"In the midst of battle, we demand that you stop being sexist and give us permission to fight! This is a way better idea than convincing you to teach us to fight before the battle begins."

The characters of this show feel as if they've been reimagined to glorify the boys at the expense of the girls. The boys are treated with a great amount of care. They're dignified and made important movers of the plot, with their rough edges sanded off. While the girls are molded around them.

[wileycap]

So, uh, Netflix Avatar, huh? Yeah. I guess I'll make a really long post about it because ATLA brainrot has is a cornerstone of my personality at this point.

So.

It's okay. B, maybe a C+.

That's it.

Now for the spoilers:

The biggest issue with the Netflix version is the pacing. Scenes come out of nowhere and many of the episodes are disjointed. Example: Aang escaping from Zuko's ship. We see him getting the key and going "aha!", and in the next scene he's in Zuko's room. And then he just runs out, no fun acrobatics or fights, and immediately they go to the Southern Air Temple where he sees Gyatso's corpse, goes into the Avatar state, and then sees Gyatso being really cheesy, comes out of it, and resolves that conflict. Nothing seems to lead into anything. The characters don't get to breathe.

The show's worst mistake (aside from Iroh fucking murdering Zhao) is its' first one: they start in the past. Instead of immediately introducing us to our main characters and dropping us into a world where we have a perfect dynamic where Aang doesn't know the current state of the world and Katara and Sokka don't know about the past, thus allowing for seamless and organic worldbuilding and exposition, they just... tell us. "Hey, this is what happened, ok, time for Aang!" There's no mystery, no intrigue, just a stream of information being shoved down the audience's throats and then onto the next set piece.

The visuals are for the most part great, but like with most Netflix productions, they just don't have great art direction. It feels like a video game cinematic, where everything is meant to be Maximum Cool - and none of the environments get to breathe. It's like they have tight indoor sets (with some great set design) and then they have a bunch of trailer shots. It's oozing with a kind of very superficial love.

Netflix still doesn't know how to do lighting, and with how disjointed the scenes are, the locations end up feeling like a parade of sets rather than actual cities or forests or temples. As for the costumes, Netflix still doesn't know how to do costumes that look like they're meant to be actually worn, so many of the characters seem weirdly uncomfortable, like they're afraid of creasing their pristine costumes.

The acting is decent to good, for the most part. I can't tell if the weaker moments come down to the actors or the direction and editing, but if I had to guess, I'd say the latter. Iroh and Katara are the weakest, Sokka is the most consistent, Zuko hits the mark most of the time, and Aang is okay. I liked Suki (though... she was weirdly horny? Like?) but Yue just fell kind of flat.

The tight fight choreography of the original is replaced with a bunch of spinny moves and Marvel fighting, though there are some moments of good choreography, like the Agni Kai between Ozai and Zuko (there's a million things I could say about how bad it was thematically, but this post is overly long already.) There's an actually hilarious moment in the first episode when Zuko is shooting down Aang, and he does jazz hands to charge up his attack.

Then there's the characters. Everybody feels very static - Zuko especially gets to have very little agency. A great example of that is the scene in which Iroh tells Lieutenant Jee the story of Zuko's scar.

In the original, it's a very intimate affair, and he doesn't lead the crew into any conclusions. Here, Iroh straight up tells the crew "you are the 41st, he saved your lives" and then the crew shows Zuko some love. A nice moment, but it feels unearned, when contrasted with the perfection of The Storm. In The Storm, Zuko's words and actions directly contradict each other, and Iroh's story gives the crew (and the audience) context as to why, which makes Zuko a compelling character. We get to piece it out along with them. Here - Iroh just flat out says it. He just says it, multiple times, to hammer in the point that hey, Zuko is Good Actually.

And then there's Iroh. You remember the kindly but powerful man who you can see gently nudging Zuko to his own conclusions? No, he's a pretty insecure dude who just tells Zuko that his daddy doesn't love him a lot and then he kills Zhao. Yeah. Iroh just plain kills Zhao dead. Why?

Iroh's characterization also makes Zuko come off as dumb - not just clueless and deluded, no, actually stupid. He constantly gets told that Iroh loves him and his dad doesn't, and he doesn't have any good answers for that, so he just... keeps on keeping on, I guess? This version of Zuko isn't conflicted and willfully ignorant like the OG, he's just... kind of stupid. He's not very compelling.

In the original, Zuko is well aware of Azula's status as the golden child. It motivates him - he twists it around to mean that he, through constant struggle, can become even stronger than her, than anyone. Here, Zhao tells him that "no, ur dad likes her better tee hee" and it's presented as some kind of a revelation. And then Iroh kills Zhao. I'm sorry I keep bringing that up, but it's just such an unforgiveable thematic fuckup that I have to. In the original, Zhao falls victim to his hubris, and Zuko gets to demonstrate his underlying compassion and nobility when he offers his hand to Zhao. Then we get some ambiguity in Zhao: does he refuse Zuko's hand because of his pride, or is it his final honorable action to not drag Zuko down with him? A mix of both? It's a great ending to his character. Here, he tries to backstab Zuko and then Iroh, who just sort of stood off to the side for five minutes, goes "oh well, it's murderin' time :)"

They mess with the worldbuilding in ways that didn't really need to be messed with. The Ice Moon "brings the spirit world and the mortal world closer together"? Give me a break. That's something you made up, as opposed to the millenia of cultural relevance that the Solstice has. That's bad, guys. You replaced something real with something you just hastily made up. There's a lot of that. We DID NOT need any backstory for Koh, for one. And Katara and Sokka certainly didn't need to be captured by Koh. I could go on and on, but again, this post is already way too long.

It's, um, very disappointing. A lot of telling and not very much showing, and I feel like all of the characters just... sort of end up in the same place they started out in. I feel like we don't see any of the characters grow: they're just told over and over again how they need to grow and what they need to do.

To sum it up: Netflix Avatar is a mile wide, but an inch deep.

[zukosdualdao]

so, this post was originally born from a post i saw a couple of months ago that was deriding people for criticizing katara’s main role in lok being a healer when that was never all she wanted to do but liking the scene where she heals zuko in sozin's comet. at the time i thought about responding directly and decided against it, but i have since scanned through transcripts of every instance (i could find; it's possible i could be missing something) of katara healing someone in the show and how they respond. (you know, like a normal and well-adjusted individual. lmao.)

anyway, aside from katara explicitly stating that she doesn’t only want to be a healer, another aspect of why people don’t like that this is how her story goes in lok is because of the way healing is treated in the atla narrative.

Katara: Aang, you're burned! Let me help you. [Katara heals the burn on Aang's arm.] Aang: Wow, that's good water. Sokka: When did you learn that? Katara: I guess I always knew. Sokka: [Sarcastically.] Oh ... Well then thanks for all the first aid over the years. Like when I fell into the greaseberry bramble. [Angrily.] Or that time I had two fishhooks in my thumb!

this comes, of course, after aang accidentally burns katara and she learns she can heal through her waterbending by healing her own hands. then (after comforting aang despite being the one who got hurt, not that i'm bitter), she heals aang after he gets burned in his fight with zhao. and like... there's not so much as a cursory thanks in this scene.

to be clear, because i can already hear some responses in my head and i am making a preemptive strike: i'm not saying that when other characters don't thank katara for her healing, they're like, the worst people ever for not doing so or there aren't other ways at different times where they show their appreciation. what i am saying is that it feels like this sets up a long pattern of katara's healing specifically being taken for granted, and it makes me especially uncomfortable when i see her healing as a sort of metaphorical parallel to the emotional labor often expected of her in the show, especially because this and being The Avatar's Girlfriend/Wife is more or less what she's relegated to in post-canon.

also, i have to note sokka's line here. i don't want to come down on him too hard for this, because it's obviously being written humorously (and does genuinely make me laugh, for what it's worth, if just for the inherent ridiculous nature of two fishhooks), but his sarcastically saying thanks for all the help over the years when katara says she always knew (which is supposed to be her saying it just somehow instinctively came to her) does feel like another mark in this pattern. but i also really read this as sokka trying to lighten the mood after a Difficult (TM) day, so i cut both him and the writers some slack for it.

Meanwhile, back at the Outer Wall, Katara attempts to heal a member of the Terra Team. General Sung: What's wrong with him? He doesn't look injured. Katara: His chi is blocked. [Stops healing.] Who did this to you?

i find it interesting that katara has sort of naturally fallen into a token team healer role, to the degree that we don't even see them ask for her help or her agree to it; it's just automatically assumed that she will. and i mean, on the one hand, it's fairly standard to have an Assumed Healer in a fantasy action setting like this, where people will get hurt in combat and therefore the narrative needs someone whose job is to help them. the problem for me is that the show kicked up such a fuss about how women shouldn't just be allowed to be healers, and yet it's still the role no one but katara ever fills. aang is also a waterbender! why couldn't she have taught him healing, too? i genuinely think it would have added a lot to the story, but katara is The Girl (TM), so healing is what she (and only she) does, what's expected of her, and again, with very rare thanks for it.

Katara stares open-mouthed at Jet, her hands hovering near her mouth in shock. Snapping out of it, she withdraws water from her water skin, with which she covers her hands, and it begins to glow as she kneels down next to him. Cut to a shot from over her shoulder, with Jet glancing at her while she rubs her hands over his chest in an attempt to heal him. After rubbing his chest three times, the glow fades, the water stains Jet's clothing, and Katara looks back over her shoulder toward the rest of the group. Katara: This isn't good. Smellerbee: You guys go and find Appa. We'll take care of Jet. Katara: We're not going to leave you. Longshot: There's no time. Just go. We'll take care of him. He's our leader. They stare at Longshot in surprise. Jet: Don't worry, Katara. I'll be fine. [Smiles a little.]

Cut to a closer shot of Katara placing Aang's body on Appa. Katara opens the vial around her neck and uses water healing on Aang's wounded back. The rest of Team Avatar, Kuei, and Bosco all look sadly and in anticipation. The glowing from the spirit water stops, and Katara starts crying, assuming that it was not enough to save Aang. Aang's tattoos glow for a second and Aang groans. Katara, overcome with joy that Aang is alive, looks at him, who smiles a little, and she holds him closer.

writing about these together because i have less to say about them. i'm definitely not going to fault jet for not thanking katara when she tries to heal him as he literally lay dying, or aang for not having the mind to do so after she brings him back. but i am still going to fault the narrative for putting her in a position where healing is just inherently expected from her and yet very rarely allowing her to feel the emotional toll of that or to feel constricted by it. and when she does struggle against the weight of it (not necessarily of being a healer, but of being expected to be kind and good and uncomplicated with no room for other aspects of her identity, which are very tangled up in why she is The Healer) in episodes like the runaway or in the southern raiders, she just... does not receive a lot of support from the people she should be most able to rely on.

Katara: Maybe we should go upstairs. [Helping Aang up.] You need a healing session. Back in Aang's room on the ship. Katara bends some water onto the scar left by Azula's lightning attack. Katara: Tell me where the pain feels most intense. Aang: Mmm, a little higher. Uhhh! Aang briefly flashes back to the battle at Old Ba Sing Se where he rose into the Avatar State, then back to reality. Aang: Wow, you're definitely in the right area there.

not much to say here, it's just another instance where it would have been so easy to slip one thank you in, and the writers just... do not. the reason i think it bothers me so much with aang specifically is because katara is supposed to be both aang's physical healer and his emotional crutch in a way that she's not written as being for, say, toph or sokka. he's sometimes shown appreciation for her emotional support, but he still comes to rely on and expect it in ways that do not always feel healthy, and knowing that, it bothers me that he shows even less appreciation for her healing, because it's just what katara is there for.

A figure resembling the Painted Lady glides over the water on a carpet of fog and enters the village. She steps into a hut where several people are sleeping on the floor, and bends over each of them in turn, healing them with a blue glow. Her last patient is the mother of the little boy seen earlier, her son sleeping at her side. He wakes as the Painted Lady turns to go and silently follows her out the door. Little boy: Thank you, Painted Lady.

this is a genuinely sweet scene in which katara does receive appreciation and genuine thanks for her healing, but i think it's also worth noting that katara is not being recognized as herself here. still, i am genuinely very glad that it's included in the episode because (again, unless i am missing something) it is the first time katara gets thanked for her healing.

The scene cuts to show Appa landing on the edge of the battlefield. Sokka and Katara help Hakoda onto the ground, and Katara starts trying to heal him. Katara: How does that feel, Dad? Hakoda: Ah, a little, better. I need, to get back to the troops. [Attempts to stand but is too weak to.] Ahh! Katara: You're hurt, badly. You can't fight anymore. Hakoda: Everyone's counting on me to lead this mission Katara, I won't let them down. [Attempts to stand again but can't.] Ahh! Sokka: Can't you heal him any faster?

they're in a high intensity situation, and sokka is Stressed because hakoda is supposed to lead the mission, so i, like, Get It, but "can't you heal him any faster?" does strike me as another moment in which katara's healing is being taken for granted. i think it's something that would bother me a lot less if this was an isolated incident in the writing, but *gestures vaguely at whole post*.

Sokka: [Brightening.] Dad! [Rising and approaching the two.] You're on your feet again. Hakoda: [Sitting down; somewhat weakly.] Thanks to your sister.

that being said, in the next hakoda and katara scene, there is this very sweet moment, where hakoda might not be thanking katara directly but is showing a lot of appreciation and admiration for her skill in healing (and though she's not in the dialogue i included, she's around to hear it, which makes me happy.)

Katara: It's gonna take a while for your feet to get better. [Stops healing.] I wish I could have worked on them sooner. Toph: Yeah, me too.

once again, i'm not gonna fault toph for wishing katara could have healed her feet sooner, because she's been in pain all night, but the writers could have very easily (as they could have in any of these scenes!) chosen to include a perfunctory 'thanks' here, and they just didn't. i know this is getting repetitive, but i swear it's because it's largely more me being mad at the writers than the characters, lmao.

there are also a couple of scenes in which katara doesn't heal anyone, but her healing gets brought up by aang.

Aang: He doesn't look sick. You okay, buddy? [Appa groans and Aang pulls out Appa's purple tongue.] His tongue is purple! That can't be good. Katara, can you heal him?

to be fair, aang asks here, and it's not like aang gets defensive or angry when katara says appa needs medicine (and also to be fair, appa's not even actually sick, lmao, katara's being slightly trickstery), but it's another instance where katara is automatically positioned as the person who is and should be responsible for healing.

Aang: [Chuckles.] Well, not over over. I mean there's always Katara and a little Spirit Water action, [Turns to Katara.] am I right? Katara: Actually, I used it all up after Azula shot you. Aang: [Disappointed.] Oh.

i actually don't mind this so much as a writing moment, as i think it's a lot more intentional wrt aang not always conceptualizing the reality of the violence he’s facing. still, it’s another instance of katara’s ability to heal and care for him being taken for granted, and i find it especially notable it’s in of the last significant moments they share together (the other being an argument as katara urges him not to run away from the reality of their situation with ozai) before they spend the rest of the finale separate until they’re kissing without a word at the end.

and then there is the zutara healing scene, where katara heals zuko after he interferes and takes azula’s lightning to the chest when she’s aiming for katara.

Cut to Katara as she rolls Zuko on to his back and begins healing him. Zuko opens his eyes, feeling the pain lessen, and smiles weakly at Katara, who smiles back as she sheds a tear.

Zuko: Thank you, Katara.

Katara: I think I'm the one who should be thanking you.

it seems fair to me to say that one of the reasons the motifs of healing in the zutara are dynamic are so appreciated by their fans is because of how it contrasts to a lot of moments where the work katara does with her healing is under-appreciated. for one thing, it happens as part of a mutual exchange—katara heals zuko after he gets hurt saving her. (this also somewhat calls back to their scenes together in the crystal caves in the tcod, where she offers to heal his scar after they are trapped together and zuko extends her empathy.) it’s based in reciprocity. it’s also, as shown here, one of the few moments of explicit, heartfelt appreciation and thanks given for katara’s healing.

[five-flavor-soup]

This is technically in response/as an addition to a post on the supposed ‘double standard’ in the fandom between Zuko and Jet as Katara’s love interests, but it’s been so long since it was posted and I figured the OP would be entirely uninterested in my word vomit, especially after like one and half years—so, separate post. I added a link for those interested. There's a cut because this got quite long lmao.

In short, the post supposes the argument that though Jet would’ve made Katara kill people (something Zuko very much Did Not Do, no matter what you think about The Southern Raiders), he cleaned up his act after this. Zuko, on the other hand, did lots of Really Bad Things to Katara & Co. with far more frequency than Jet did and got redeemed after a multitude of episodes doing Various Things Moste Evile. To then slap Jet with The Toxic Ex-label and see Zuko as the ‘healthier’ and ‘better’ option creates a Double Standard(™) within the fandom, which is supposedly bad and not an arguably incorrect reading. 

But the differences in fandom perception between Jet and Zuko as Love Interests for Katara (one of which canonically, and the other potentially and apparently talked about in the writer’s room) are easily explained, as can the Supposed Double Standard—just by thinking about it from Katara’s viewpoint, or even the audience’s. Because, well, the worst things Jet ‘almost’ ended up doing didn’t happen because of outside interference only. 

That’s the important bit here. He 100% would’ve drowned an entire village just to get rid of a handful of Fire Nation soldiers, had Sokka not managed to evacuate everybody. He 100% would’ve grievously injured two people who, as far as Jet and everybody else were aware, were refugees who might not even be firebenders — considering nobody else saw Iroh heat up his tea, he could’ve been wrong — in an attempt to prove his own hunch. Had the guards not been there, had Zuko not been able to fight back with swords, Jet would’ve genuinely attempted to wound them for as much as a puff of smoke. And Jet consistently involves bystanders (innocent or not) in his desperate quest to harm and defeat the Fire Nation: the Gaang (and particularly Katara, through explicitly manipulative means) and the villagers in Jet; Zuko, Iroh, and the people in the teashop in City of Walls and Secrets. Additionally, we don’t see more violence from him because he’s not a main character like Zuko is—though it’s implied that Jet beats up villagers who are supposedly in cahoots with the Fire Nation often, only agreeing to turn over a new leaf when he, Smellerbee, and Longshot decide to move to Ba Sing Se. 

Zuko explicitly and frequently doesn’t harm people: that, or it isn’t important to the plot. He doesn’t burn down the village on Kyoshi, he literally only manages to lightly singe it. He threatens people with violence frequently but never actually goes in for the kill. I’d argue that the most explicitly violent thing he does in Book 1 is breaking Aang out of the Pouhai Stronghold—for his own ends obviously, but if it’s spelled like treason and sounds like treason, it’s probably treason. When he thinks of robbing the pregnant couple while he’s on the run, he stops himself of his own volition; when he considers using Appa to catch Aang (this was a point made against Zuko in the post), he’s unaware of what Appa’s been through prior to that point and sees him as no more than an animal used for travel, much like the ostrich horse he stole earlier in the season. 

Zuko’s schtick throughout Book 1 and 2 is that he doesn’t want to think of the consequences of his actions. His plans are never fully complete. He doesn’t think of how he’s going to get a chained, notoriously slippery little eel of an Avatar to the Fire Nation, and he doesn’t think about what would happen to twelve-year-old Aang after they got there—which is horrible of him, but it also shows an odd, ignorant kind of innocence that you’d associate with a kid who’s got a hard time telling right from wrong. Like, I love Zuko dearly, adore him even, but kiddo doesn’t think ahead until the Book 2 finale and even that’s debatable. He’ll eventually start thinking ahead a little bit but for the most part, he doesn’t. Not saying that takes away responsibility, because it absolutely doesn’t, but it is telling of Zuko’s character: he’s an ‘act first, think later’-kind of guy, all ‘fuck around; find out; maybe success’. His sole goal throughout Book 1 and 2 is going home, without even thinking on how to get there beyond like, Avatar in my custody => back in Fire Nation with Avatar => dad loves me again. And he says that his only intention is to go home too, in Ep 2 of Book 1:

Aang: If I go with you, [He holds his staff in front of him as an offer, making sure Zuko understands that he does not wish to continue fighting.] will you promise to leave everyone alone? [The camera cuts to a side-view of the area, Zuko's men still surrounding him, spears poised. After a brief moment of hesitation, Zuko erects himself and nods in agreement. Aang is apprehended by Zuko's men, who take his staff . . . ] Zuko: [Boarding the ship up the walkway. Determined.] Head a course for the Fire Nation. I'm going home.

(Added emphasis for my point)

Zuko is not the Big Bad. He’s not The Largest Threat. He never is. In Book 1 it’s Zhao, in Book 2 it’s Azula, and in Book 3 it’s Ozai. Zuko is a consistent threat, yes, but not a particularly large one no matter how good of a fighter he is. Because he’s presented to us as a disastrously hurt and traumatised little brat who we, the audience, are supposed to feel sorry for, and slowly grow fond of. Because we learn in The Storm that the notion of “caring for others is weak” has literally been branded into him. Because he keeps getting back up to fight, but consistently holds back. We are shown that he knows, on some level, that what he’s doing is wrong: the text suggests that Zuko is actively suppressing his morals. And by the time Zuko hires an assassin to ensure the Avatar is dead, we know that Zuko is incredibly unhappy with his choice(s) and is desperate to be safe; that he’s uncomfortable but wants to be comfortable; that he’s incorrect about the source of his fear while he’s back in the palace. The audience is shown this explicitly. 

By contrast, we’re shown that Jet is fully aware that those villagers will die. He’s fully aware that, if he manages to prove the two refugees are firebenders, they’ll be arrested and probably mutilated (if the hand-crushing is any indication). I love Jet and his character, but he’s supposed to be the example of poisoning yourself with your hatred, anger, and hurt. He’s revenge that goes too far, because he doesn’t allow himself closure. He knows the consequences and isn’t shown to care for them, as long as his goal is furthered.

And there is the small, but significant, difference between the two characters: Zuko initially just wants to capture the Avatar, is purposefully remaining unaware of what will happen when he does so, and is clearly shown to change, while Jet just wants to punish firebenders and is very aware of what will be necessary for him to do so, with a handful of lines of how he ‘stopped being like that’. And honestly, Jet is far more mature than Zuko is for quite some time, regarding the violence of war—basically as mature as Zuko eventually becomes at the tail-end of his redemption arc. But Zuko’s maturity is at that point healthier, because he doesn’t want to genuinely do harm. 

In regards to their separate relationships with Katara, there’s these fantastic points that @sokkastyles made in reply to the post:

The fact that Zuko actually did change and Katara actually forgave him makes ALL the difference. [ . . . ] The thing about Jet is how manipulative he was with Katara. He not only almost made her kill innocents, but he lied to her about the man he attacked having a knife when he was called out, so that Katara would see her as righteous. Someone who is willing to lie in order to make themselves seem good and someone who says they are going to change but then does the same things doesn’t have a good track record, and that’s a more troubling relationship dynamic than someone who acts as an upfront enemy but then sincerely changes.

And: 

I do think it makes sense to focus on manipulation being worse than being a cartoon villain when we're talking about personal relationships. I think many people can relate to having someone like Jet in their lives who seems nice but who lies and manipulates to justify their own bad behavior despite repeatedly claiming that they will change. Not that many people will experience being tied to a tree by someone who wants you to tell them where the Avatar is, and it is completely reasonable for people to be more forgivable of things Zuko did as a villain than things Jet did to Katara when he claimed to be a friend.

I actually don’t have anything to add to this, lol. It’s succinct and well-worded.

Lastly, in addition the relatability and the relationships being different (the manipulative, emotionally hurt, and self-proclaimed anti-hero versus the initially childish, explicitly confused and desperate cartoon villain, plus the girl they hurt horribly), there’s also the problem of Jet not being a main character. Jet is a relatively well-written side character, whilst Zuko is very quickly established as a main-ish character with his own POV (as the writers decided during the conceptualisation that he’d be joining Team Avatar eventually). Zuko’s troubling, self-destructive nature that has been forced upon him and his Tragic Childhood is shown in high definition. The audience is supposed to eventually be okay with Zuko and hopefully like him, slowly adding puzzle pieces to complete the picture of a horrific earlier youth and treatment by nearly everybody he knows except Iroh. Something like this isn’t necessary with Jet, not just because he was already incredibly likeable and understandable from his introduction and onwards, but also because he’s neither a villain nor a main character. 

There’s multiple reasons as to why Zuko is often seen as the ‘better’ option, just like there are multiple reasons why Jet and Zuko are compared so frequently—they’re both traumatised teenage boys who ‘rebel’ to get some semblance of control back, but we see Zuko change into a kid anyone would be a little bit proud and fond of and that doesn’t happen with Jet. Double standard or not, Zuko and Jet are different characters who the writers also treated very differently, on purpose. It makes sense to me that the audience would think Zutara is the ‘less bad’ or far better option. We know far more about Zuko than we know about Jet; and Jet’s redemption arc, if we can even call it that, halts permanently when Zuko’s is reaching the height it for him to go into a freefall, ultimately culminating in a genuine redemption. We, the audience, know this. So does Katara.

[theotterpenguin]

How LOK Fails to Do Katara Justice (part II)

In part one of this meta, I explained how Katara's character received the worst treatment in Legend of Korra compared to the other members of the gaang, and the sexist writing of lok!Katara so that she is only defined by her relationships to her husband and children. In the second part of this analysis, I will explain how the common arguments that are used in defense of LOK's poor writing do not provide an adequate in-universe explanation for Katara's drastic change from ATLA.

Defense of lok!Katara seems to boil down to three main points: 

1) The “leave it to the kids” excuse: Katara is from the previous generation so she shouldn’t be expected to be involved in the plot - it’s time for Korra’s team to have a turn.

2) The “old lady” excuse: Katara is too old to be fighting wars or getting involved in international politics.

3) The “people change” excuse: Katara’s character, personality, and goals would change over time because she’s older now.

I would be willing to accept these excuses under the condition that they are also applied to the other members of the gaang. Ignoring the fact that the Order of the White Lotus is literally a bunch of old guys fighting in wars in ATLA, if Toph and Zuko are also portrayed as too old to be fighting and leaving all their problems to the next generation to fix, along with Katara, it wouldn’t be as much of a problem. If Sokka, Aang, Toph, and Zuko are all portrayed as having different goals and motivations and characteristics than when they were younger, along with Katara, then again, it wouldn’t be as much of a problem. (It might be bad writing, but hey, at least it’s bad writing applied equally to every character). 

The problem is that it’s only Katara’s character that takes a complete 180 from how it was set up in ATLA, it’s only Katara’s character that is too old to fight to defend her family, it’s only Katara’s character who leaves all her problems to the kids and stays completely uninvolved from the geopolitical conflicts brewing around her.

 Returning to our original three excuses, let’s see how well they match with rest of the gaang’s portrayal in LOK:

1) “Leave it to the kids” excuse: 

I will be leaving Sokka and Aang out of this since they are dead at the time of the show (though it should be noted that flashbacks show both of them being heavily involved in global leadership roles and managing political conflicts). 

This excuse is not even close to applicable to Zuko. As soon as he finds out Zaheer has escaped from prison, he flies off on a dragon to check the other prisons. He warns Lin to look after Korra, but this doesn’t stop him from investigating with Tonraq on his own, without Korra and co's involvement. As soon as he hears his family may be in danger, he flies off on a dragon to protect them.

This excuse doesn’t apply to Toph. She does state that she agrees with Katara that it’s time to leave things to the kids, but her actions say differently. As soon as she finds out Suyin has been captured, she immediately attempts to find her - on her own, without consulting with the younger generation. When she realizes Suyin has been moved somewhere else, she works together with Korra and co to save her family - twice actually. She also involves herself in Korra’s life by helping her train and recover from her PTSD.

Meanwhile, Katara does nothing when her home is dragged into a civil war, does nothing when her family is kidnapped, and does nothing when a bloodbender is using his abilities to oppress others (despite being the one to outlaw bloodbending).

2) “Old lady” excuse:

Again, also not applicable to Aang and Sokka because they’re dead at the start of the show.

This excuse does not apply to Zuko whatsoever. He never mentions that being old prevents him from fighting or getting involved in the political conflicts that arise. He has no problem fighting Ghazan during the Red Lotus prison break-in and has no problem riding his dragon. He stays involved in international relations despite being “retired” from his position as Fire Lord - helping to track down the Red Lotus, attending important international events, and holding meetings with leaders of other nations (Tenzin, Raiko, Tonraq).

Toph tells Korra that her fighting days are over due to having back problems, but has no problem fighting Korra during training and easily takes out Kuvira’s army. 

Katara never fights during the entire show. And as far as I can remember, she never waterbends at all beyond healing on a few occasions.

I feel like it’s important to note that both excuses 1 and 2 are never even mentioned in regard to Zuko (or the Order of the White Lotus) - it’s only Toph and Katara that seem to be “too old” to fight and have to leave everything to the kids. Toph’s actions don’t align with her words, unlike Katara, but it doesn’t change the fact that these excuses are unequally applied to old women in Legend of Korra compared to the old men in Legend of Korra (and ATLA). Good old misogyny at work!

3) “People change” excuse:

Sokka: Begins his story in ATLA as son of the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, desperately trying to fill his father's shoes when Hakoda goes off to war. He becomes the defacto leader of the gaang over time due to his fondness for schedules, his leadership abilities, and analytical thinking skills. Despite being a nonbender, he held his own with his trusty boomerang and strategic thinking. Ends his story in LOK having taken over from his father as Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, putting those leadership skills to use. His intelligence and strategic thinking made him an ideal candidate to be a Representative for the Southern Water Tribe on the Republic City Council, as he could be trusted to make smart decisions that were the best for his tribe. He was even elected chairman of the council due to these skills. A statue was built in his honor, which included his favorite boomerang.

Zuko: Begins his story in ATLA learning to heal from his father’s abuse and, in the process, slowly comes to understand the evils of Fire Nation imperialism. He replaces his father as Fire Lord and vows to start a new era of peace and harmony, ending the war and the Fire Nation’s colonialism and imperialism. He also vowed to work together with the Avatar to maintain balance. Ends his story in LOK having achieved peace and prosperity in the Fire Nation again. Turned previous Fire Nation colonies into the United Republic of Nations - meant to be a safe haven for anyone, regardless of nationality or bender status - by working together with Aang. Fights against the Red Lotus to protect Avatar Korra and his family. His statue, in contrast to Ozai’s former statue, is one representing peace and hope.

Toph: Begins her story in ATLA rebelling against her strict parents, who are overprotective of her due to her blindness. She learns to rely on and trust others over the course of the series, realizing that accepting help from others doesn’t mean she’s weak. She enjoyed pulling scams on naive civilians in the show using her earthbending seismic abilities and participated in the Earth Rumble in her youth. She also invented metalbending and worked as Aang’s earthbending teacher. Ends her story in LOK having created a metalbending academy to teach others the bending speciality, along with establishing the first metalbending police force. Metalbending is shown as having made significant contributions to technological innovation and progress in the avatar world. Helped to train Korra while she’s recovering from the her capture by the Red Lotus. Though she liked breaking the rules when she was younger, she found it more fun to be the person in charge of the rules - leading her to become Captain of the Police Force. Still suffering the consequences of poor parenting as a child, she became an overly-lenient parent, leading to problems with her daughters. She states that her fighting days are over, but still seems to enjoy fighting Korra.

(As a side note: I do not agree with how the writers chose to take Toph’s story. Do I think they should have - and realistically, could have - gone in a different direction that did more justice to Toph’s character? Yes. However, I also see how it could potentially be possible that she became a cop and uninvolved parent based on her background. I don’t like it, but I can at least see some logic behind her storyline - unlike Katara’s. If anyone feels differently, I'd love to know your thoughts.)

Aang: Begins his story in ATLA learning to become the Avatar by mastering all four elements, mastering the Avatar State, and acting as a bridge between the human world and Spirit World. Struggles with being the sole survivor of the Air Nomads and attempting to keep his culture alive. Works to keep balance in the world among the four nations by defeating the imperial Fire Nation. Ends his story in LOK having achieved his goals as Avatar, successfully keeping peace amongst the four nations and establishing the United Republic of Nations as a sanctuary for all, no matter nationality or bender status. Considered a spiritual leader and successfully kept peace between the spirit world and human world. Had an airbender child and airbender grandkids, traveled the world to spread his culture, including building a temple on Air Temple Island in the United Republic, and other characters repeatedly state that for his entire life, his dream was to revive Air Nomad culture. 

Katara: Begins her story in ATLA trying to master her waterbending abilities, trying to teach herself on their journey. Views waterbending as a way to connect with her culture. She challenges the Northern Water Tribe’s sexism for the right to learn how to fight. Famously declares, “I don’t want to heal, I want to fight!” Passionate about standing up against injustice - causes a prison riot through an inspiring speech she gives, dresses up as a Fire Nation spirit to heal sick villagers, and goes after her mother’s killer. She is forced to bloodbend, a traumatic experience for her. Teaches Aang how to waterbend and is eventually bestowed the title of “master waterbender” by Pakku. Occasionally heals others when they get injured, but main focus is on development of her waterbending fighting abilities. Ends her story in LOK known as the best healer in the world, but fails to heal Korra and Jinora. Spends her time during the civil war on the sidelines, healing the injured. Marries and has kids with Aang. She’s lonely and her family doesn’t visit much. No known achievements beyond outlawing bloodbending (which she is somehow able to do without holding any political titles beyond that of the Avatar’s wife).

Hopefully it should be clear that Sokka, Aang, Toph, and Zuko's characteristics, goals, and motivations don't change as drastically as Katara's do. The writing of Katara in LOK did a disservice to her character. I've always deeply admired Katara for never failing to stand up against injustice, for her empathy and kindness even for those who are different from her, and for her determination not to let patriarchal norms define what she can and can't do. While LOK's portrayal of other characters provides a glimpse at how their character arcs in atla influenced the way they shaped the world, we never get a glimpse of the original Katara - only a lackluster imitation of someone with the same name.

If the Avatar franchise continues to expand with more post-ATLA content of the gaang as adults, I certainly hope Katara's characterization is improved.

[blackbullet99]

Why SOME Zutara shippers personally disgust me (as a Person of Color).

⛔️WARNING! I’m gonna get into some pretty heavy subjects.

This should go without saying, but I have nothing against most people who ship Zutara. I take no issue with Zuko, I love him, I love his story arc, I love his an Katara’s relationship and if they did become a couple at the end of the show, they wouldn’t be toxic IMO, they’d be crazy rushed and forced, and it would be a prime example of the writers giving into fan-entitlement, but Zuko and Katara don’t have a toxic relationship, at least by the end of the show.

No, what really pisses me off the the racist, sexist, genocide downplaying, colonist supporting stuff some of the loudest Zutara shippers say, and for one anyone who says “it’s just a cartoon”, yes that’s true, but to things depicted are very serious issues, genocide, abuse, imperialism, colonization, slavery, these are issues that I feel strongly about, a majority of the reason being that as a PoC my family, my ancestors went through a lot of this stuff and seeing people online dismiss and downplay these issues all for the sake of a ship is pathetic and can easily reflect their issues of subject matter in real life.

Additionally, I’m aware “Bryke” are white, they have also done plenty of problematic things (and even some episodes), but that’s a story for another time, I’m not here to defend THEM specifically. ZKs always defend Zuko, even though they created him and did a good chunk of his story, so it is what is.

The main issue here, are the Zutara shippers, who claim to be Pro-Katara, the people who whine about Katara deserving better (even though to them Better=Zuko) and act like Aang was a horrible abusive 12 year old misogynist who never respected Katara and sexually assaulted her. Looking at you the-badger-mole / Miss Anthropy.

I’m all for criticism, the issue is, almost none of the criticism regarding Aang are valid, and even the one’s that have some validity grossly villainize the character. What’s even worse is some of these people downplay the effect of Aang’s genocidal trauma, they straight up act like it didn’t effect him, or it shouldn’t effect him, these people blatantly downplay genocide can effect someone all for the sake of some lame-ship.

It isn’t real-life genocide yes, but the issues and trauma that come from genocide are all to real and effect people in real life in many different way. Aang generally tries to enjoy life and remain positive despite what happened, but it effects him regularly, it’s comes up multiple times, he has survivor’s guilt, it something he has to live with for the rest of his life, it’s why he was generally so crestfallen when Appa was stolen, why he tries to preserve his culture. He’s 100 years removed from it, but to him it’s all to recent. If you generally don’t understand the effect of his trauma, then your stupidly braindead, if you dismiss it all for the sake of hating on Aang for some dusty-@$$ ship, your a heartless scumbag, no debate about it.

And despite what these people say they don’t care about Katara at all, they literally only care about her if she’s Zuko’s accessory, Zuko’s prize. Her whole story essentially has to be tied to Zuko, they don’t care about her otherwise. Without Zuko, she’s nothing to these people and they clearly don’t respect her, or value her.

They adultify her, they sexualize her, the create this false narrative that she let people walk all over her and never expressed herself, they invalidate her trauma, they invalidate her accomplishments later it life. They invalidate her canon feelings towards Aang and her initial hatred of Zuko and the Fire Nation. They straight up call her a baby-maker.

The worst of it all, the stuff that gets me the most is how, the act like a dark-skinned girl, becoming an accessory to the nation that colonized her tribe and killed her mother is a positive empowering thing.

The think THIS would be an impactful ending for Katara.

People like sokkastyles actually think imperialist propaganda supports Katara, because it means Zutara.

People will say the Water Tribes were never colonized and once again downplay genocide because it means Zutara.

People will write a young person of color becoming a slave to an imperialist nation and falling in love with their oppressor if it means Zutara, what the heck is wrong with these people?

They think Katara should’ve married Zuko solely because of what Zuko would have to gain, even though he already has a father figure in Uncle Iroh (how do you miss a plot-point that major) and ignoring that fact that Ozai would essentially become Katara’s father in law, and Azulon her grandfather in law, these are literally the people who colonized her tribe and killed her mom. I know you shouldn’t judge people by their parents, but they’re making such a big deal in-laws that Zuko would gain and bathmouthing Mai because of her relatives (even her infant brother) that this just screams hypocrisy.

And of course the racist colonizer supporters are offended that people don’t like this stupid-@$$ take. longing-for-rain actually dismissed a legit indigenous person and called them racist. F*ck these guys.

They can’t handle any acknowledgment that the Fire Nation was an imperialist nation, to the point where people like this spider guy and “lie about Aaron Ehasz Araeph” actually believe the nation that committed mass genocide is more altruistic and innovative than the nation that suffered from genocide. Araeph, the guy on the right even says Sokka and Katara would gain more from Zutara because Fire Nation looks to the future, but the Air Nation is frozen in time. The Fire Nation’s idea of looking to the future literally cost Sokka and Katara their mom and is the reason why Aang’s Nation is sadly “frozen in time”. Sure you, you imperialism supporting dicks

People who downplay very serious issues such as genocide, colonization, trauma and slavery all for the sake of some lousy Wattpad self-insert ship are pathetic loser scumbags. They’re not real fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender, they don’t care about the themes or story, just Zuko and Katara being his accessory, the fact that they downplay and ignore all of Zuko’s actions and villainize Aang is beyond stupid and media-illiterate. I love Zuko because he was both antagonist, but also a sympathetic, he’s often temperamental and imature, but gradually matures and becomes kinder, he perpetuates the violence and colonization of his nation, but learns that they were wrong and HE was wrong, he makes a genuine effort to change himself, the world and his nation. If he knew you actively supported the colonization and violence of his nation he would torch your @$$€$.

So all in all, if you wanna downplay genocide and support colonization and slavery just for the sake a of mid non-canon ship because you haven’t matured since middle-school, you’re a dumb@$$ racist b!tch plain and simple, no debate about it. And if any of you toxic idiotic ZK come across this post, go f*ck yourself.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

One thing I noticed is that Kataang fans, even ones who are a bit of bad apples still have much more restraint then most Zoots, despite frequently going on the anti-Zutara tag I’ve never seen any of ‘em try to paint Zuko as the worst person ever, and honestly that’s kinda surprising, don’t get me wrong he’s a complex character with a redemption arc, but it’s still would be significantly easier to bend and bad faith him into being the devil especially compared to best boi Aang

Just goes to show how rare media literacy is in the Zutara fandom

I think it's a combination of Aang being the main character, never having been a villain, and Kataang being not only canon but endgame.

I like a ton of characters like Zuko (used to be evil, is not the protagonist but is the most popular character, has tons of fangirls) and a ton of enemies-to-lovers and villain X hero ships (including non-canon/non-endgame ones), and the fandom ALWAYS goes on and on about how these characters/ships are SO much better than "the ones the writers keep pushing" and it is almost never true.

Zutarians hate Aang because he's what they wished Zuko was - the center of the story, good guy from day one so no one really has any reason to dislike him (in universe or in the fandom), obviously gets the main girl, etc. It's pure envy - hence me, someone who very much likes Zuko the way he is, not liking how they turn him into an OC to compete with their bizarro version of Aang.

[natureboy96]

In Support of Tamlin - characters who have done terrible things and been redeemed

Here we go with another one :p I think that Tamlin has done things that are unforgivable, mostly his abusive treatment towards Feyre. I don't think this one terrible thing makes him irredeemable, and has made effort to be better than he was at his worst, and I do dislike the thought of people/characters being judged solely by their worst actions without a chance to be better. So, in support of the idea that Tamlin deserves a redemption arc for his good deeds after his bad ones, I want to start compiling a list of characters who, like Tamlin, have done terrible things and still found a way to be better, if not good outright. And of course, SPOILERS FOR THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERS/STORIES

Feel free to add your own in response, in the comments or in reblogs!

Zuko, from Avatar: the Last Airbender - his actions: lead a chase to kidnap the avatar, physically fighting and hurting the main cast, burning a village down, threatening violence on citizens, stealing goods and food from citizens, helping overthrow an entire kingdom, betraying his Uncle who only wanted him to be the best he could be. His redemption: trains Aang to fight and defeat his abusive father, thus saving the nation he helped conquer and the world at large while helping the individual members of the main cast with personal problems, apologizes to his Uncle.

Loki, from the MCU - his actions: acts of terrorism, murder and betrayal of his family, mind controlling people to do evil against their will, multiple attempts at murdering his brother. His redemption: After the death of his mother, Loki works with Thor to avenge her death and later unite against world ending threats multiple times

Filip Nagata, from The Expanse: His actions: the son of a megalomaniac, he commits multiple murders in the name of his father and is in part responsible for dropping asteroids on earth, killing millions of people in the event and aftermath. He kidnaps his mother and physically strikes her, at his father's encouragement. His redemption: this one is ongoing, last we see. After his mother's words while she was held prisoner make him realize how much pain he inflicted, he leaves his father's ship, changes his last name to his mother's and spends the rest of his life trying to do good, knowing it won't ever make up for the harm he was a part of causing. not sure if it counts as redemption fully, but it's an attempt to do better with the life his mother helped save.

The Beast, from Beauty and the Beast: His actions: He was a cruel and selfish youth, turned away old ladies into the cold, raged and berated his servants, imprisons Belle's father then takes her prisoner in exchange, intimidates and frightens Belle with his rage, threats and destruction of property. His redemption: saves Belle from a pack of wolves, learns to be considerate of her needs and interests and how to be kind, releases her from his captivity when he realizes he has feelings for her and she needs to rescue her father

Baptiste, from Overwatch: His actions: working with an infamous mercenary which was responsible for several high profile assassinations and civilian casualties. His redemption: Leaving said mercenary group and trying to use his healing knowledge to help where he can.

Luke Castellan, from Percy Jackson Series: His actions: looking for revenge against his father, he works with the evil titan Kronos to try and overthrow the gods, rallying armies of monstrous creatures, stealing from the gods and attempting murder on his friends multiple times, nearly bringing about the end of the world. His redemption: after attempting to flee and abandon Kronos' army when it became too much for him, he ultimately stops the titan from being fully reborn by sacrificing himself, dispersing the titan's essence so he could never (hopefully) reform and be a threat again.

Alexis Rose, from Schitt's Creek: Her actions: She acts selfishly in regards to her needs/wants, lies to Ted about wanting to marry him to avoid difficult conversations and sleeps with Mutt while they were engages. Her redemption: Alexis learns to become a better, well rounded person, recognizes her mistakes and takes ownership for them by apologizing, And becomes a person willing to put another person's happiness and needs above her own, even if it means losing someone she loves.

Michael, from The Good Place: His actions: as a literal demon, he's spent innumerable years torturing humans in the afterlife, making it his goal to create new and innovative methods of torture when he creates the false Good Place. His redemption: after being forced to ally with the humans he had planned on torturing to save himself, he comes to understand human morality and becomes a deeply moral person himself, at points willing to sacrifice himself to save the humans he'd initially intended to torture and working to make the afterlife a better place for all humanity.

Ebenezer Scrooge, from A Christmas Carol: His actions: Aside from being personally stingy with his money, he is cruel to everyone he interacts with, including his employee and his nephew, giving the former barely enough to support his large family despite the work he does. His redemption: after seeing where his life went wrong, so to speak, and how his actions impact his present and his future, he decides to become kinder and more generous with his money and affection, making sure Tiny Tim receives the care needed so he lives to grow up.

[balillee]

had to turn back to tumblr after a year of not using it to hate on the new atla adaptation

a few things

speedrunning through half of the story with the fire nation family is not a good idea, actually. lu ten was introduced far too early, and with it you delve into iroh's backstory, motivations and true character before you've even fully developed the whole 'silly old spiritual man who prefers tea and hanging out with his nephew over hunting down an 11-year old air nomad'. the lu ten funeral scene was fine as an addition, but it's not something for book 1. learning about lu ten is something we do in book 2 as it compliments the developing relationship between iroh and zuko with the fire nation as a whole. also, iroh seems a lot less cool. the show commits the grievous literary sin of always telling rather than showing, and by continuously telling us 'he's the famed general iroh, dragon of the west' you're not actually accomplishing anything. let him redirect some lightning you fucking cowards.

azula also seemed to exist for no reason. any of the correspondences to azula from zhao could have bypassed her entirely and could have gone straight to ozai or even the fire sages. she exists in season 1 purely to rush through explaining zuko and iroh far too early. the show exists as a guideline. FOLLOW THE GUIDELINE. THE GUIDELINE IS GOOD. EVERYONE KNOWS THE GUIDELINE IS GOOD. also make her fire blue. cowards

aang does not waterbend for the entire season, which means the window of opportunity for him to learn to bend the other elements before the arrival of sozin's comet is even shorter than in the original show. even the original aang, who the netflix adaptation changed because he was 'too childish and always goofing off instead of getting to the point' understood his responsibilities to learn the elements better than this new live action version - part of the reason for the gang to get to the northern water tribe was to find aang a teacher (not just katara), master pakku, because katara was not capable of teaching him at her novice waterbending level but even so they were still seen practicing together on multiple occasions.

this brings me to my next point. WHERE THE FUCK IS JEONG JEONG. aang in the original series understood the urgency of defeating the firelord before sozin's comet after speaking to roku very early on, not as late as depicted in the adaptation. currently, the gang don't even know that they're on a time crunch, and yet still the show refuses to let them take their time by going on side adventures. this leads into the episode where aang meets jeong jeong and tries to learn to firebend before he's even started earthbending at all, because he's still scared that he only has a year to master the elements. he burns katara while trying, which is the reason she learned she had the power to heal with her waterbending, we see how fucking sick jeong jeong is at firebending for the first time during the fight with zhao, and aang swears off learning firebending at all, which is one of his main points of conflict leading all the way into book 3. if we skip that whole episode, we have skipped meeting one of the members of the order of the white lotus. the show could think it's slick by omitting him to just have iroh as the white lotus' firebender, but that's possibly one of the worst changes they've made. the deserter was not a filler episode.

i know a lot of people were talking about this before the show even came out, but sokka is not sokka. in book 1, sokka is three things - funny, overconfident and sexist. in the live adaptation, he is kind of one of those three things. part of why sokka's arc is one of my personal favourites from the original show is the stark change you see from the start to the end of his story - he believes himself a leader but has no real tactical or combative experience despite telling all the fighters and warriors he meets about how impressive he is. and then at the end of the show he is a definitively strong leader, shown by leading the assault on the fire nation armada - his team being two of the show's most competent female characters, who he trusts and respects with his life. by omitting these traits from sokka's character, you remove a big part of why he's even there in the first place - his arc's beginning allows him to become the fearless leader that lead his team to defeating the fire nation army.

i also hate that aang meets monk gyatso in the spirit world. a big part of aang's conflict about running away is that there exists nobody in the world who can tell him that what happened to the air nomads was not his fault, and that there was nothing aang could do to stop it if he was there. the new adaptation decides against the inclusion of one of aang's primary internal conflicts by changing the 'running away from his responsibilities as the avatar because he's a terrified child' to 'getting some air', and then throws in meeting the spirit of monk gyatso to tell him all of these things that aang needs to learn on his own. once again, telling rather than showing.

and finally, my least favourite change - the agni kai. part of the reason why i personally think the agni kai is so significant to zuko's story is the fact that zuko intentionally refuses to fight. in the adaptation, zuko fights back against his father, and his father scars him simply because zuko hesitates. in the original series, zuko bows to his father and pleads for mercy, and refuses to fight at all, and that is when it cuts away to iroh and azula's very differing reactions to the altercation, zuko screaming in the background. the setting also irritates me, because in the original, the agni kai was a public spectacle for hundreds to see in an ominous chamber, while in the new show it looked like just a regular old family gathering in the sun. zuko's adaptation scar i also hate because it doesn't even look like a scar. it looks like a birthmark, or at best, a black eye. if you hadn't seen the original, you would only know that it's a scar because the show tells you that it's a scar. zuko's scar in the animated series is a definite physical deformation of his face, his face looks red and raw, and his eye is smaller likely due to how the tissue healed, and as the show goes on you learn that the severity of his physical scars reflect the severity of his emotional ones. the original show does a brilliant job at showing how, just through the scar and the banishment alone, that despite zuko's beliefs, his father has betrayed him time and time again.

[tossawary]

Someone I know is watching the original ATLA while I'm in the next room, listening and looking in through the doorway every now and then. It is EXTREMELY horrifying-funny to view the first couple episodes (Zuko's arrival at the Southern Water Tribe) with an adult perspective on war, especially with greater knowledge of imperialist and colonialist wars.

(Warning for direct passing discussion of war-typical violence and death. Also, I wrote most of this post last night before I saw the first episode of the remake, so I've added a few extra thoughts about that.)

Also, this is a show for children, so pretty much all of the important actions are taken by our main characters, Aang and Katara and Sokka, who are children. That's how it goes. It's fine. From an adult perspective looking in on this cartoon, it's pretty weird that none of these adult Southern Water Tribe women, who presumably have been doing all of the hunting and fishing and warding off of dangerous animals (polar bear dogs) apparently have any opinions on what to do about a Fire Nation ship arriving. No one tries to run? No one picks up any hunting weapons? If the strategy is to present apparent harmlessness and hope the Fire Nation passes through with minimal damage (the last raid did just take Katara and Sokka's mother, though presumably many other people were injured and killed in the attack), Gran Gran should be dissuading Sokka from attacking first at all costs.

Playing harmless is extremely risky, of course. The raids (which have happened in living memory! Within the past ten years!) prove that the Fire Nation is willing to kidnap and kill women and children. As do the actions that left Aang the last airbender. And the men of this tribe are actively at war with the Fire Nation, so the "provoked" Fire Nation has a ready "excuse" to attack.

I don't think that the Southern Water Tribe women necessarily SHOULD have run for it (into the extremely hostile antarctic landscape???) or brandished weapons at the Fire Nation soldiers (could have provoked an extremely harsh response). I have no idea what the "right" or "intelligent" course of action is in this scenario. I don't really think there is a good course of action here. Anything could happen and anything could make everything worse. It's all bad. That's part of the problem of war.

I just think it's funny (due to the fact that this is a children's show where the rest of this tribe are not really going to be significant characters) how simplified everything is here, even for a show that does include the Southern Raids and the genocide of the Air Nomads, as the women in the background are not shown to be angry or vengeful or hysterical or divided about what to do here. They're scared for their lives, but... they're kind of part of the background, almost like props, rather than people with distinct personalities or agency (because the show wants to get out here quickly so our main characters can go on an adventure).

Rewatching this, a ship full of Fire Nation soldiers (apparently entirely men) coming across a village apparently consisting of only women and children is a nightmare scenario for this tribe. If I was listening to a history podcast about any war (not even a war that has already had MULTIPLE genocides) and someone said the phrase, "And then the imperialist soldiers found the defenseless camp of women and children," I would immediately be bracing myself for the worst possible following sentences about what the soldiers did next. The next sentence being, "And no one was killed or sexually assaulted," would be a SHOCK.

If it had been anyone other than Zuko and Iroh to find the Southern Water Tribe in that state, that probably would have been it for the tribe. Someone like Zhao might have ordered an attack to get rid of everyone just to be "efficient". Someone like Azula might have taken this small crowd of people hostage to use against Hakoda and the other Water Tribe warriors. (I don't think the Fire Nation knew just how bad things were for the Southern Water Tribe, even if they had probably decided that continuing to go after a reduced tribe living in the antarctic wasn't worth the further cost or danger (polar expeditions are so dangerous IRL and must also be costly for firebenders).) The men of this tribe could have come home to all of their wives and children dead, and that would have functionally been the end of the Southern Water Tribe.

EDIT: The live-action show felt pretty weird to me because they made the tribe look much bigger and Zuko's ship look much smaller. If they wanted to introduce some "girl power" realism, they could have had the women of the Southern Water Tribe grimly arming themselves and hiding their children, and making solid plans on when/if to fight back. But no, the show still left everything to Sokka, and kept the cartoony elements like children throwing rocks at soldiers, which in my opinion just don't work as well in live-action. Sokka looks older in this remake and is slightly more believable as an interim chieftain figure, but why doesn't he have a council of opinionated older women guiding him and arguing over the correct course of action??? Everything is kept so cartoonishly FLAT instead of being expanded in interesting ways.

[the-badger-mole]

Aang was a kid who was the sole survivor of a genocide. Why doesn't that factor in your opinion of him?

I've talked about this before, but his age and tragic backstory are irrelevant. ALL of the main characters are children with tragic backstories, and they are more empathetic, have more growth, and their tragic backstories...actually matter.

Listen, for all people whine about how often Katara talks about her mom (which isn't really that often), it's clear how her mother's death shaped her as a character. It's clear how witnessing her mother's death formed her worldview, and Kya sacrificing herself for Katara made a mark (she never turns her back on people who need her? COME ON! That is obviously her trying to save people the way she couldn't save her mother). Even her wanting to learn how to fight and not heal (which is an insane battle advantage, btw) speaks to her trauma around not being able to defend her mom.

Even Sokka's trauma around the loss of his father and not being deemed old enough (big enough/ strong enough/ smart enough) to go with Hakoda and the other warriors come through in his recurring need to prove himself (coming up with the big battle plan for DoBS, breaking his father out of prison, learning swordplay, etc.). It's woven so neatly into the narrative. His trauma matters to his story.

Toph is the least developed of the Gaang, and her issues with her parents have more impact on character than the destruction of the Air Nomads have on Aang. Heck, Zuko's entire arc hinges on compound traumas.

Meanwhile, Aang's trauma....? What trauma? Yes, the loss of the Air Nomads is a tragedy, but we, the audience, only know it's a tragedy because we have real world knowledge telling us so. Personally, I was in 3rd or 4th grade when I began learning about the Trail of Tears, and in kindergarten when I began learning about slavery (I was born in Harlem. The kindergarten I went to taught us accordingly). When I saw ATLA, I had a frame of reference for the genocide of the Air Nomads. But it didn't really seem to bother Aang all that much. Oh, sure, it did come up when it was convenient to the plot, but it mostly seemed to be a way for Aang to expound on the superiority of Air Nomad philosophy and society to whoever he's talking to. Aside from that, and his first rush of feeling when he found out what happened to them, the loss of the Air Nomads doesn't seem to effect Aang all that much. If he doesn't care about his tragic loss, why should I?

Aang is a fictional character. I don't have to extend the same pathos to him that I would to a real life person. It is the writers' duty to make me feel for him, and they did not. The way he's framed is the issue. And here is where I really start retreading things I've said before, but I think it needs to be repeated (again and again and again). Aang is not framed as someone who has a lot of growing up and learning to do. I could give him a pass on his worst traits because he's a child and still growing, but the show doesn't frame him that way. The show wants me to see him as a precocious imp who's wise-beyond-his-years but still has a cheeky lil' mischievous streak. It's not trying to frame his lying to the quarreling tribes in The Great Divide as a bump in his journey to becoming an effective leader bridging different people together. It wants the audience to laugh at him getting one over on the foolish tribes who absolutely went back to fighting as soon as Appa was out of sight. The show isn't framing his desperation to get the village in Avatar Day to like him as a foolish pursuit he needs to get over if he wants to be strong in the face of adversity. It wants us, the audience, to feel bad for him because his charm isn't immediately bringing the people over to his side. It wants us to be indignant that the villagers don't see how important Aang is and wont' support him. The show isn't framing Aang's non-con kisses with Katara as bad because it hurt her. It isn't making a point to that Aang needs to care about her feelings. It wants the audience to feel bad for Aang and hope for Katara to come around because he's A Nice Guy™️©️®️. Aang is never shown to be a particularly good friend to any of the Gaang, let alone him being kind to strangers just because that's his heart. All of that I would allow to be just him being a dumb kid with growing to do if the show hadn't made it clear that Aang was perfect and didn't have to change, and in fact the world should change for him.

Aang's age and tragic backstory are irrelevant because the show made them irrelevant. All they left us with was a Gary Stu character who hides his selfishness under a thin veneer of cheerfulness. It's not good enough.

[sagesariadnd]

Unspoken writing advice

A piece of writing advice I've heard in the past is: when you're stuck, as yourself "what's the worst thing that could happen to this character/these characters at this moment?" and write that. And it is solid advice.

But its main strength is that it's a way to start conflict, which is how plot beats happen. And in that vein, I think there's an unspoken sibling to this advice that should also be considered, when figuring out how to resolve conflict: "What's the best thing that could happen at this moment?"

Obviously, you don't want to use this to resolve a conflict instantly, or to turn your story into everything going 100% right for your characters. But it can be a great exercise in tugging at the threads of your story and finding tangles and following the lines to see where they connect the most beautifully.

To give an example of this, I turn, as many people talking about good writing do, to Avatar: The Last Airbender. Spoiler alert as we talk about season 2 episode 8, The Chase.

In The Chase, the gaang have been harried by Azula and her team all night; they've been following the trail left by Appa as he's shedding his coat, and until they figured that part out the gaang has been on the run through the night, trying and failing to sleep multiple times. They're tired, stressed, and cranky. And on top of that, Toph is brand new to the party, and she and Katara have been butting heads, and Toph is particularly sensitive about carrying her own weight and proving she can take care of herself, a button that's been getting pushed all night. It all comes to a boiling point and after an outright shouting match, Toph has had enough and leaves.

Obviously, from a meta perspective, the story needs Toph; she's supposed to be Aang's earth bending teacher, and she's a powerful force and makes up the earth portion of the gaang's bending collection. So the writers have to figure out how to make her go back. What's it going to take to make that happen? How is she going to develop and learn that Katara wasn't trying to patronize her? Maybe someone could talk to her and put things into perspective. Who is the best person she could run into to have such a conversation? Hey, how about Uncle Iroh!

Iroh really is perfect in every way for Toph's problem. He's in the neighborhood, since he's been following Zuko, who's tracking Azula, so the meetup is possible at all. He's friendly and hospitable and loves meeting new people - and let's be real, he could probably use the company himself since Zuko ditched him. He's patient and tranquil, so if Toph reacts badly he's not going to escalate things to the point where it's useless arguing. He sees people as clearly as Toph feels her surroundings, so he knows that she's capable and validates her. And of course, he's a font of flowery wisdom and is always an advocate for family and comradery, so he can talk all day about how to be a good friend to the gaang. One short rest over tea and Toph will hear what she needs to hear, and then all the plot threads can converge; Zuko catches up with Azula in the middle of her fighting Aang, Iroh catches up to Zuko, Toph catches up with the gaang, and they're all together for that encounter with Azula. And as a bonus, now Toph and Iroh know each other so they can get in touch later when they need help!

Sorry kinda-not-sorry for the long ramble, I just love talking about character and story shit so much. But basically my point is; throwing obstacles in your characters' way is good and important, but it's just as important to sometimes give them a hand to help them over some hurdles. Sometimes after deciding what the worst thing is that could happen, you should consider what the best thing to happen next could be.

[linkspooky]

Hey. Long time follower here. Your metas, your discussions of "bad victims", your nuanced view of heroes and victims, your favoritism towards "losers"...not only did you heavily influence my own writing and my own favorites in different medias (I'm entirely blaming you for me being a Makima stan) but you helped through an extremely dark time in my life. I don't think that you just made me a better writer, you also sort of saved my life. I'll always be grateful for that.

There's something I want to ask. You answered to another ask that you don't regret reading MHA because focusing on what doesn't work about it made your writing stronger. Do you feel the same about Homestuck? Or about the more disappointing parts of Tokyo Ghoul (and, while we're being candid here, Avatar?).

Thank you for your compliments they're very encouraging to read.

At this point this blog is becoming the bad victim lovers support group where we all hug each other and cry over how MHA is treating all of its bad victims.

HOMESTUCK: Honestly, my main problem with Homestuck is that ACT 6 was so long and uneventful full of characters not doing anything that by the end of it the only character I was invested in was Vriska. ACT 6 also did go out of it's way to kill my enthusiasm for everything I liked in ACT 5, especially John Vriska. I've never seen a comic throw out all of its previous development that the audience was invested in and like everything that was foreshadowed - oh wait My Hero Academia. Unfortunately Vriska is an all-time-fave so I still write Homestuck Fanfic about her to this day. I used to like think the finale of Homestuck was one big "meh" but after years to reflect upon it, I do like Vriska's arc ending on a final note of Terezi searching for her in the void, possibly forever, and the ambiguity of whether they'll reunite.

TOKYO GHOUL: I remember being mad about Kaneki getting a happy ending that he didn't earn. Kaneki was a character that really frustrated me for a long time, but I came to realize that if you like remove Kaneki from his group of codependent enablers he's actually a really interesting character when he's alone. So he's a character I love to explore in fic, even if I disliked what they did with him in canon. Also, Tokyo Ghoul killed off its biggest victims Furuta and Rize in a really cruel way, but it didn't kill off every single victim so it just disappoints me instead of making me sick to my stomach like MHA does.

ATLA: I actually think the Avatar the Last Airbender ending is fine. Which like, isn't saying much because I think the Season 1 finale and Season 2 finales are some of the best things ever put to television. The worst sin that the ending does is number one lack of foreshadowing in earlier in the season and number two rushed plot points. Aang not wanting to kill the Fire Lord makes sense. I think the reason a lot of people criticize this and call it an ass pull is that it's not even BROUGHT UP until the finale. Vash the Stampede is pacifist and one of my favorite characters, but it's established from episode 1 that Vash is constantly up against people who want to kill him and he either has to run away or find a way to fight back nonlethally. Azula's insanity and mental instability could have been a thing, but it's not foreshadowed at all so all it ends up doing is conveniently nerf Azula for Zuko, and also being ableist. The worst problem is while there are epic fights it doesn't feel like an ending, because everyone's character arcs are 3/4ths of the way through. ESPECIALLY ZUKO's. Like people say Zuko is acting out of character in the comics, but I think Zuko is the only person in character in the comics because that's how Zuko without a proper end to his character arc would act. It really feels like they had plans for a fourth season that they didn't get, and their solution was to cram an entire season worth of development in everything post the eclipse on season 3. The fact that Azula is left as such a hanging thread is like proof of that, and the fact that Azula's last shot in the series is just her crying and screaming with like no follow up afterwards is something I've been bitter about for fourteen years.

I could write an entire post about how Zuko's redemption arc is unfinished though. It's like the same problem as Catra. I like both characters and I'm glad they got redeemed but they crammed in the entire redemption arc into 1/2 of the last season and that simply wasn't enough time.

[waywardbananawolf]

Mai, Ty Lee, Ursa, Iroh they are simple extensions of Zuko's story, sometimes I can't even process them as their own characters, thanks avatar comics for making me hate them and the worst thing is that it not only affects these secondary characters but also affects the main ones with Aang, Katara or Sokka.

I'm tired of the fact that the Avatar universe is so focused on Zuko, the worst thing is that you can't demand a higher narrative quality without finding yourself with a horde of Zuko stans in which you can't criticize the narrative.

[justanotherthrowaway1950]

Which Avatar ships have a chance of becoming canon but you wouldn't like them to be?

Before I answer your question anon, I'll address the elephant in the room. No, I do not think any of the queer ships involving the main or secondary characters in Aang's era will ever become canon. I have no problems with queer ships, it just that ATLA was a mid-2000s Nicktoon with an American based production team. None of the main or secondary characters in Aang's era are ever hinted to be queer during the show. And even though the franchise has added queer characters, even in Aang's era, it has never indicated that any of the main or secondary characters in Aang's era are queer.

Take Azula for example. Bryke are or were active social media users. In fact, if I remember correctly, one or both of them actively engaged with fandom on Tumblr while TLOk was running. It's likely that they are aware of the popular headcanon that Azula is a lesbian who engaged in comphet during the show for a variety of reasons. If they wanted to canonize queer Azula, they could have easily done so in her solo comic, especially since it is dedicated to showing her inner life. But instead of showing Ty Lee, Zirin, or [insert relevant female love interest] as her love interest during her ideal world dream, they instead had Ruon-Jian as her love interest, even though she barely interacted with him. In fact, they had him compliment how good her hair smells. The only way they could have made it clearer that Azula is cis het as far as they are concerned is if they had Azula say outright that she likes conventionally attractive boys and wants to be complimented for being a feminine girl.

Now that is out of the way, to answer your question anon, the only ATLA ship I think could become canon but I wouldn't to is Tokka.

I don't have anything against Tokka, and I more than fine with it in AUs. In fact, some of my favorite fanfictions have Tokka actively present. It's just that, based on how they handled Korra-Mako-Asami and Tenzin-Lin Beifong-Pema love triangles in TLOK, as well as how Yue was treated in ATLA, I think canonizing Tokka would lead to Suki getting treated poorly, and possibly Sokka and Toph as well.

Sokka is currently in a very committed relationship with Suki. If Tokka becomes canon, it will require Sukka to break up, Suki's death, or Sokka to cheat on Suki. I don't think Bryke are capable of handling any of those scenarios with the proper tact based on their track record with love triangles and dead love interests.

If Sokka and Toph end up together, I strongly feel that their feelings would be centered and the narrative will justify their choices leading up to their relationship, no matter how wronged Suki is or whatever legitimate grievances she has with either or both of them. Or if Suki dies young and Sokka and Toph get together in the aftermath, the narrative will mostly focus on how it effected Sokka, and to a lesser extent Toph, even though Suki is more than Sokka's love interest or Toph's romantic rival.

For example, if Sokka breaks up with Suki and gets quickly gets with Toph, or Sokka and Suki break up because Suki finds out Toph is pregnant with Suyin and Sokka is the father, I think the narrative will at best gloss over Suki's feelings and at worst focus on showing how happy Sokka and Toph's new relationship while portraying Suki as someone who can't get over the past to their own detriment.

Moreover, if Suki is no longer in a romantic relationship with a core Gaang member, I feel there is a strong chance that Bryke will write her out of the story. Official media and collaborations rarely focus on her, despite being as much of a Gaang member as Zuko, another late addition, and when they do, Sokka is more often than not nearby or she is being teased with Zuko. And I think she is worthwhile character who more than deserves more on screen or on panel time and attention, or at least enhances the story by being involved.

(Yes, I aware it is misogynistic to want a female character to remain in a relationship with a male character so that she remains relevant. But in the the nearly twenty years she has existed, how many stories has she been in which she was a main character and a male character wasn't centered or important to the plot?)