#adult taang

[lilbagdermole]

do you have any headcanons for the dunebabies (toph and aang's kids)?

Hello Anon!

Thank you so much for sending an ask - as you can tell I absolutely love talking about Taang and everything related to them. I especially love talking about the dunebabies and how they'd handle parenting!

Ok, as I previously stated in a past post, I really think Toph and Aang would have a very big family - about five to six kids. It comes in part because of Aang's burden of repopulating the Air Temples and keeping his culture alive. But I just genuinely believe that Toph and Aang are such a good team and couple that they take the challenge of raising a large family, test their communication, relationship and love.

They have 3 girls (one earthbender, two airbenders) and 3 boys (one earthbenders and two airbenders);

Their first-born son, at the ripe age of two, sneezes twelve feet into the air - scaring his mother as she momentarily lost "sight" of her boy; his father, on the other hand, cried with thrill with the notion he was no longer the last living proof of the Air Nomads;

Their first three children are all airbenders. Toph loves them more than she'll ever be able to put into words, but a part of her does fear that her earthbending genetics would not pass onto her children. Thankfully, their fourth child, a beautiful girl, at one, whilst throwing a temper tantrum, cracked their living room wall.

All their children are menaces - they either adopted their mother's humor and confidence, or inherited their father's mischievous and playful personality. They're kind and respectful children, but, just like their parents when they were young, they love having fun and goofing off;

Toph loves parenthood, adores being a mother. It's something she had once believed ill-suited her and she'd worried she lacked the nurturing, soft, gentle touch that came naturally to Katara and Suki. Despite everyone's concerns, Toph is an amazing mom. Laidback and carefree but strict when need be; she gives her children the freedom her own parents had denied her but always keeping a close, protective "eye" to guarantee their safety; she plays with the kids, tells them bedside stories of her adventures with Aang, suffocates them with tender love and care (love and care exclusively reserved for her family). Aang never once doubted her.

Aang would take all his kids to the Air Temples - earthbenders and airbenders alike - he took great pride in teaching them his culture, his values and morals, his history. He'd promised Toph he wouldn't force the Air Nomad lifestyle on his kin, unless they showed interest in pursuing it; additionally, Toph had made it clear that if he ever showed any sigh of favoritism for his airbending children, she'd terminate the Avatar Cycle with him - it was a threat he had taken seriously (though Aang would never neglect his two little earthbenders, he loved all their kids equally);

The kids adore teasing and pranking Toph because of her blindness - especially her airbending boys. They had found great joy in airbending their way out of her sight to escape punishment - so much so, that she had crafted little metal bracelets for all her children so she could keep tabs on their whereabouts (and so they wouldn't surprise her into an early grave);

The dunebabies love their uncles and aunts - and when accompanied by the steambabies and bladebabies... chaos and mayhem is certain. It doesn't help that the two youngest members of the Gaang enjoy causing their friends just as much stress as their children - many a times, Aang and Toph would join all the children in terrorizing the Fire Palace Staff or pissing their parents off;

Instead of having a permanent home - they have little homes in every nation due to Aang's Avatar duties. However, once the children grow old enough to go to school, cultivate friendships and need that stability - Aang and Toph agree that a forever home was long overdue. They eventually settle to reside within a calm town just on the outskirts of Republic City;

Toph eventually reforms the old Dai Li into Republic City's law enforcers. Balancing motherhood with her professional life was no easy feat, however, she and Aang had always worked in perfect harmony. So, when she needed to be present at work to teach metalbending, Aang would be at home caring for the kids; When Aang needed to leave for Peace Summits, Political Events and other Avatar duties, Toph would step in. They were always a team and because of that their kids never once had to be alone or without a parental figure.

Despite the odds, Aang and Toph raise their children beautifully and their a happy family, imperfect yet wonderful.

[zukkaart]

A brief summary of the most popular A:tLA ships

Kataang: the definition of a power couple

Sokkla: The mental image alone is lethal, unironically the sexiest ship

Zukka: grumpy x sunshine trope at its finest

Mailee: black cat x golden retriever (yes there’s a difference)

Azulaang: pure unfiltered comedic potential

Sukka: walk him like a dog sis walk him like a dog

Jetko: which one will end up dead? Tune in next week to find out

Zutara: enemies to lovers with so much angst you need to just have your emotional support snack in hand

Tyzula: me and the bad bitch I pulled by being mentally ill

Taang: one is a pacifist and the other is entirely unhinged- the world would burn

Maiko: that relationship you have in middle school with your “best friend” before you realize you’re both gay

Yukka: the single most heartbreaking ship in existence

Azutara: two chronically jealous and lethal women? no one would leave that wedding alive

Yueki: they never met but this is somehow entirely plausible

Yuetara: princess x savior trope but in the cute way not the toxic way

[ecoterrorist-katara]

you don’t have to be a Zutara shipper to dislike Ka/taang

Most of my irl friends are not shippers and the word “Zutara” does not exist in their vocabulary, but they think Ka/taang is weird. Because a prepubescent boy with a teenage girl is weird. He’s a child. She’s a teenager. Anyone who stops and thinks about what they were like at twelve vs fourteen knows those were some long years.

I started getting the ick for Ka/taang in The Headband and it reached its apex in Nightmares and Daydreams. I didn’t even start liking Zutara until The Southern Raiders. I liked Katara with Haru but the creators sank that ship with a strategically placed moustache

I am a ZK shipper so things like parallels and symbolism and Katara’s development as an adult matter to me. But even without all that, I didn’t like Ka/taang. Because before my analytical brain jumped in, my lizard brain said “ick.”

[sukkatea]

As a kid I loved the Zutara ship and I also loved Taang (Thophaang whichever you prefer).

As an adult I realize how much of a self insert Zutara was for me. Like I identified SO much with Katara. I think we know that’s part of what makes the show great, Katara is deeply kind and empathetic and she’s also angry and refuses to sit back and watch injustice.

But as an adult her and Aang make my soul feel warm. They are two of the most loving characters in the show. There’s a reason we meet Katara before anyone else. It matters that she met Aang because of a feminist rant and he immediately asked her to be his friend. They have something so pure and beautiful.

Now I’m a huge Kataang fan. I still am cool if people wanna ship Zutara, I get it. I also love Zukka and Sukka and Zukki. Like have fun but also it’s so much more important that all these characters grow through their relationships with one another as a found family, not only or necessarily as romantic partners.

[thegaybluejay]

Just for fun, here are my rapid fire rambling thoughts on the ATLA ships and platonic dynamics hehe (please don’t go full ship wars tho - these are just my opinions as a chill multishipper!)

My Favorite Ships:

• Zukka - My current brainrot and main ship!! I know they aren’t canon but I really love them and their potential okay😭I just feel like their personalities would work so well! Sokka would call Zuko on his shit and Zuko would be good at grounding Sokka when he needs it. Plus I have seen some absolutely breathtaking AUs with this ship! And fire-and-ice vibes except gay! Them <3

• Kataang - Cutiessss!! I love them! They may not be the ship I think about most often, but when I do think about them, they’re adorable! Aang is such a “my wife” guy and Katara absolutely adores him back! Also the last airbender x last southern waterbender dynamic goes HARD! I like that these two are canon!

• Yuetara - Listen I know they barely interacted but THEY’VE ACTUALLY GROWN ON ME SO MUCH LATELY AND I VERY HIGH KEY SHIP THEM! Something about like, Katara thinking about Yue when she bends is so😭Their story would be heartbreaking in the best way!! Sapphic noncanon blorbos <3

• Mailee - These two are SO cute and have so much potential rahhh!! Again, love some noncanon sapphics <3

• Batkoda - Super SUPER cute and silly and fun! The dads fr <3 Bato is either Katara and Sokka’s adopted uncle or their stepdad and I love it for them hehe! This usually pairs well with a “Hakoda adopts Zuko” AU lmao!

Other Canon/Relatively Popular Ships:

• Zutara - A good ship! I see the potential and tbh it’s very very fun to think about sometimes!!! However, some of y’all toxic Zutara stans need to leave my boy Aang alone lmao. Those who are chill tho, I rock with y’all!! Overall, I’m not opposed if it’s done well and I do sometimes seek out Zutara content! I personally do prefer writing them as found siblings tho, especially with the Azula and Katara parallels!!

• Sukka - Canon cuties!! I really like them! Suki my BELOVED <3 She’s so underrated!

• Yukka - Also canon cuties! They make me sad tho ahhhhh😭😭😭

• Maiko - Also ALSO canon cuties!! They have an interesting dynamic that I can really appreciate! And gotta love Mai <3

• Jinko - Jin my beloved! These two had a super cute dynamic during the one episode they had together lmaoooo, tho I don’t think about this ship too too often.

• Tokka - I don’t mind it if it’s them getting together as adults! But tbh I personally don’t prefer shipping them as teens and I think Toph’s crush was just a typical young girl crush on someone slightly older lol. Definitely not horrible and most Tokka shippers are relatively chill! I like to think Sokka sees Toph as a little sister tho.

Now For Some Of The Crackship-y/Less Popular Ships (based on ships I’ve actually seen):

• Zukki (Zuko/Sokka/Suki) - Power throuple fr and I love some polyamory!! While I mostly lean plain Zukka, this is extremely fun to think about and would be a great dynamic!

• Mai/Ty Lee/Suki - Saw this in a Zukka fic once and it was adorableeeeee! I may not have plans to actively write this or anything, but it’s cute! Another power throuple!

• Jetko - I don’t think they would be compatible long term, but by god they are very very fun to think about in a “Jet flirts with Zuko and Zuko is completely oblivious and they share one kiss before everything goes to shit” way lmao!

• Taang - I can respect it!! I will always love them as chaos siblings personally, but it’s a totally valid and chill ship!

• Katoph - Not a bad ship at all! I’ve only come across like one post tho lmao. Also I do think I heavily prefer them as found sisters, but that’s just me personally! Again, totally a valid and chill ship!

• Azutara - I’m very neutral on this lmao. I don’t despise it at all and it could be pretty interesting?? But tbh really not something I plan to seek out.

• Azulaang - I mean?? I’m also pretty neutral on this one. Aang would be kind to her if she was trying to get help but…idk lmao.

• Tyzula - I see the potential, but I personally think Mai and Ty Lee had a healthier and more interesting and more realistic dynamic. Just my preference tho!

(I think I just want Azula to be in therapy before I reallyyyyy ship her lmao, but NOT THE KIND OF “THERAPY” SHE WAS GIVEN IN THE COMICS)

• Zukaang - I don’t love this as a ship honestly. The canon age gap as teens is sketchy for my personal taste, tho I’ve seen people ship them in “Aang was 16 when he got frozen” AUs and that’s…better and I can get behind it a little! It would be interesting! But I think Roku being Zuko’s great-grandpa just still throws me off of this ship. I don’t have any beef with the shippers tho! I’m very “live and let live” and I have seen so much worse lol.

Can’t Forget My Fav Platonic Dynamics!

• Sokka and Aang - Two found brothers who share one idiot braincell when they interact LMAO! Love them always <3

• Sokka and Katara - The siblings ever!!

• Zuko and Aang - Enemies to found brothers!! Canon besties! I love their friendship and their parallels SO MUCH!!

• Toph and Katara - Absolutely ADORABLE as found sisters!!!! Love them!

• Zuko and Katara - I really like their development in a platonic sense and I think they’re very very fun and lovely found siblings by the end!!!! Zuko is 100% the brother that just “yeah my sister can and will whoop your ass” LMAO!

• Zuko and Toph - Also very found siblings in my head!! Only have a handful of solo interactions in canon but I DON’T CARE! I WILL FOUND FAMILY THEM ANYWAY! I’m a “Toph seeks out Zuko for sibling hugs/cuddles when she’s cold because he’s basically a space heater” truther.

• Uncle Iroh and the Gaang - Zuko needs to learn to share because that is ALL OF THEIR Uncle!!!

• Hakoda and Zuko - I thrive in this section of the fandom!! They have exactly one (1) frame together in canon, but I ADORE Dadkoda adopting Zuko! Something about it is just so wholesome and cute!!! My very very fav ATLA fics are this trope!!#LetHakodaBitchSlapOzaiAndAdoptZuko2024

• Uncle Iroh and Zuko - God they make me so ALSNDKSNXNCNSNSNXNX, y’know?

• The Gaang as a whole - Obvious I know, but I really do love them😭They all bonded sm and I adore their little family!! I eat up fanart of the Gaang cuddling like CANDY omg. And yes Suki is included in the Gaang because WHY WOULDN’T SHE BE!

Anyway, thanks for coming to my TedTalk. If you made it to the end, you get a big platonic kiss on the forehead MWAH!

[stitch1830]

I would like to ask several questions regarding Taang, which would be much appreciated.

First, what would be the headcanon for the Dunebabies once all of them reach adulthood?

Second, what would be the headcanon for each member of the family (Toph and the Dunebabies) in regard to their interaction with the new Avatar?

Thank you in advance.

Hi Anon, thank you for the ask! It’s been a while since I’ve thought about my Taang headcanons, so hopefully these will be suitable haha!

For context, my Dunebabies are Lin, Gyatso, Suyin, and Kenji. Boys are airbenders, girls are earthbenders.

Okie dokie! Let’s get into the question.

I haven’t really thought too much about the Dunebabies as adults. My favorite parts of ATLA to explore are the mysterious years between ATLA and LOK when the Gaang are in their prime. Still, it’s hard not to think about the next gen becoming adults, starting their own families, etc.!

For Lin, I typically have her becoming the Chief of Police for Republic City. It’s an emotional day for the Beifongs, but Toph and Aang are very proud of all of Lin’s accomplishments. Not sure about who she’d end up with, but I imagine that she’s in a happy relationship, perhaps with a kiddo or two 0-0. Lin’s got a more lighthearted personality than in the show, but she’s still relatively stoic. Aang jokes that she gets it from the monks lol.

For Gyatso, he really falls into the role of being the airbending master after Aang. He manages the Air Temples, works closely with the Air Acolytes, and is a free spirit that’s flying around all the time. I’d imagine it would take him the longest to settle down with anyone, but it’s a possibility! He’s an absolute sweetie so he’s a catch <3

For Suyin, I see her being this adventurous, city building matriarch. Not sure I headcanon that she’s with Baatar, but never say never with my AU LOL. She definitely gets started on having a family the earliest, from the start she wanted a big, loud, rambunctious family (kind of like the one she grew up with). She loves bossing people around and being a leader/trailblazer, so I think establishing Zhaofu is a great career for her haha!

For Kenji, he’s a bit of a mystery for me. Very similar to his parents, he has trouble staying in one place for long. But since he leans more into his Earth Kingdom heritage/earthbending tendencies more than the Air Nation/airbending tendencies, I think he tries to fight the thought of being this figurehead for rebuilding the Air Nation. He wants to create his own path, and so for a while, he’s out there trying to compete in pro bending tournaments, Earth Rumble events, creating new fighting techniques and all that. Kenji is very close with Toph, so I think he’d turn to her for help/advice, and when Aang dies, he’s always returning home to check in on Toph. Like Gyatso, he wouldn’t settle down quickly, but I can see it happening if he finds the right person!

Tbh, I think all the Beifong kiddos could have their own families, especially because they grew up in a very close family.

When it comes to meeting the new Avatar, I think they all spend a few moments with the Avatar Korra, but they find it so strange because they see/notice bits and pieces of Aang in this little kid. They still miss their dad so much, so noticing these details makes them a little emotional. But, they’re glad that Aang’s spirit lives on in Korra, and they want to honor him by doing what they can to make sure she gets the proper training and is ready to take on the role and responsibility.

Toph knows this is the new Avatar because she can feel all the similarities, particularly with her heartbeat. I think if Toph was emotionally available/able to help with the Avatar search, she would've found Korra pretty quickly just based on the heartbeat.

It's a bittersweet feeling for Toph, and she takes some time to come to terms with it because she misses him so much, but I think when the time came, she would find Korra and train her in earthbending. Partly because she wants to, and partly because she knows it's what Aang would've wanted.

Plus, she'd get to yell at Twinkle Toes again, and she never minds doing that haha!

Okay! I think that's all I got for these questions. Thanks again for the ask, Anon! If I missed anything, feel free to stop by with some more questions. Hope you have a great day :D

......

Send me asks about ATLA, LOK, or anything, really! :D

[eponastory]

K/tangers are really annoying. They basically claim we enjoy making Katara suffer in our fic for fun. Like exploring her relationship with A/ng in a negative light, the way it's hinted in canon that he was a neglectful father and possibly a neglectful husband. I mean, no? We like to write about it because we actually give Katara a voice that canon refuses to give to her. We let her feel things other than being A/ngs mouthpiece and champion. We don't want her to suffer, but how the post canon material is written, she seems to suffer by suddenly not having a voice anymore. The fearless, opinionated Katara we see in Atla isn't there anymore. She's a shell of her past after getting with A/ang. It's fair to assume that something negative is happening to her, and it doesn't mean we hate her. Actually, the og creators hate her. We just explore and disect the canon material and come to our own conclusions.

They also found out about the Katara keeps her scars trope from this years Zutara month and claim we hate Katara for not letting her heal her scars. Again, no? In canon, Katara's scars were inflicted by A/ng, and his reaction to it was overshadowed by Katara's feelings. By immediately healing them and letting them disappear, the show centers A/ng's feelings as more important because Katara immediately went to him to console him and make sure he isn't upset. Sokka was the only one who stood up for her. And that's my problem with K/taang. It's more about A/ng and his feelings than Katara. We don't hate her by letting her keep the scars. We actually love to explore her feelings and center HER perspective and experiences.

The fact that we even have to say any of this is a clue to how much Kat*angers actually understand the source material. While this ship discourse has been going on for the better part of two decades now, it certainly wasn't this bad until the recent influx of 2020 youngins just now discovering the show exists. (The ones who were in the trenches seem to not care as much because they are adults like myself and are better at handling their feelings) I'm going to leave it up to the failed education system for this.

I genuinely mean this because there is no more structure to the way English Language Arts is taught anymore. This is coming from someone who has been out of high school for almost twenty years and has seen the destruction of school curriculum. Its quite sad and I could literally use this discourse as a way to fuel the debate about the education system as a whole.

But I digress.

Katara is a character that has been cheated. I could effectively say that A*ng even cheats on her because he pursues his own goals without acknowledging hers at all or even worse, separates her from everything she has ever known. This is implied in LoK, so yeah. We can go there. Again, all of this is subjective and that's fine. But I'm a proof is in the pudding person and there is a looooooot of proof.

From the mouths of the creators themselves.

So yeah. We explore Katara's character like we should.

And it also begs the question of if the antis really know how character development happens?

Why torture of course!

I torture the shit out of characters. I'm not biased. I'm currently torturing Katara in a story to give her a more gritty personality. It's part of the process. You have to put them through shit in order to make them stronger. It's the flaws and the controversial things that make or break a person in real life so why not do it to a fictional character?

Anyway, I couldn't agree more with your statement, anon.

[atla-confessions]

I love Taang but i hate girly adult!Toph so bad😭Aang should be the one who gets girlier with age if anything.You've heard of Kataang yuri,now get embrace Taang yuri!! /transfem Aang

X

[ultfreakme]

im a zutara multishipper though i often feel like a fake cause im not as hardcore as most of em.. i forgot all about that scarf scene its not as memorable as I'll save you from the pirates is that probalmatic imeaniguess but it was a fun scene in the cartoon ..

. so many zuts are celebrating over a silyl scarf scene but i can tell there's higher chances of hell freezing over than zutara and i dont look forward to them going again We were robbed when it doesn't happen. i love being a multishipper though cause i was very well fed with zukaang

im begging shippers not to bully gordon over shipping and it is interting to note how uncomfortable zutara makes the actors prob cause they recognize Kia is a teenager and Dallas is 22 year old.. theres hooplah over how the age gap is fine cause she' ll be 18 and theres a difference with 11/14 vs 15/ year old met guy when he was 20. of course kia is uncomforatble with zutara she met dallas aas a child. but here we got people treating her like she's an adult already.

the way kia is talked about creeps me out and i still think about the people telling me im a fake fan bec i think maybe we dont talk about kias age like shes not even real. i do enjoy the fanart comig from promo pics cause people are super talented but sometimes . it feels that people are shipping Kia/Dallas more than zuko/katara

Hi!! Honestly it's fine if you ship even if things for the ship are considered 'problematic'. I mean I ship Zukka and both of them have genuinely wanted each other dead or gone for a good chunk of the show lol.

I think, and I'm not going to generalize and say EVERY Zutara shipper, but one thing I've encountered as a pattern of difference between Zutara shippers and every other ATLA ship shipper, is canonicity. Zukaang, Zukka, Jetko, MaiLee, TyZula, Tokka, Taang, none of them are of the mindset that their ship will be canon so no one has any real problems with these ships. But a lot of Zutara shippers I've seen on twitter at least are convinced that Zutara was meant to be canon, and this inability keep fanon and canon separate is what's getting people's hopes up. And when it's made clear that these ARE separate, there's upset. I've seen the same thing happen with multiple other shippers and ships across fandoms.

Being a multishipper sounds fun anon, and I hope you're doing well <3

You're so right on the way people act about and treat Kia. Dallas has on interview said Kia is like a little sister to him, and yeah people keep forgetting that these two met when Kia was a child and he was an adult. It's why Dallas and Ian are fine when they talk about Zukka or can joke about "shipping" them.

I've noticed that people are doing the thing again(in 2024 dear GOD), where they keep waiting for young girls to be "legal" to be fucking creeps. People did it with Billie Eilish, the Olsen twins and a bunch of other female celebs and artists. I just feel terrible for her and Gordon, and I wish people would stop being weird about the actors and take a hint because Kia, Dallas, Gordon- none of them are being subtle about being uncomfortable about zutara. The only way they can be more obvious is plaster it on their foreheads. I didn't know about people talking about...ugh I can't even say it, Kia and Dallas like a ship GROSS. Leave Kia and Dallas out of it gosh. I got an ask a while back basically saying people will stop being mean to Gordon if Zutara becomes canon and I was flabbergasted. Like, you won't treat a child, with respect and dignity, because your 20 year old ship isn't real???

I've said this before, but people are just jumping to make Kia out to be more...older? People saying she looks like Gordon's mom(I will hunt these people on sight she looks like a child). And it's this, intermixing of sexism and racism and colourism (I've seen people be extremely disgusting about Dallas and Gordon too about their appearance. Pretty much everyone who doesn't fit into Western beauty standards are receiving awful hate- Thalia Tran playing Mai, Elizabeth Yu playing Azula).

People seriously need to get a grip and start learning to differentiate between fiction and real human beings or this is going to hurt EVERYONE involved, but especially Kia and Gordon. It doesn't matter if Kia is 18, she DOES NOT LIKE IT. DALLAS sees her as a sister, like i wish people would keep that in mind.

[tthethruthuntold]

Hello! I hope you're doing well.

What are some of your favorite Taang headcanons?

OMG, Hi!! Now that's a difficult question 🤣. Well, I do have some headcanon about taang and here they are (heads up, my English is bad so I apologize for that 😭):

1. I headcanon that Toph and Aang are travel buddies. Even when they had family, when the kids were big enough to travel, they would all travel together. And of course, they still have a fixed house to come home to. It stopped when the kids were already adult and have jobs of their own. They would only travel when they were all free for vacations.

2. I believe Toph would be the first one to fall for Aang. But she would just brush it off, thinking it was similar to what she felt towards Sokka – a crush. Oh boy, was she so wrong about that! lmao

3. I headcanon that Aang helped Toph to learn how to read and write! He would definitely be one of the people who were patient and understanding enough of Toph's frustrations of the difficulties of learning and short temper.

4. Poppy Beifong is very fond of Aang. While Lao may look like he doesn't, he also have a soft spot for him. And he trust that Aang would love and protect her daughter forever (even though Toph can protect herself just fine of course!).

5. I like to think (because I believe in the kuumi - taang theory hahaha) that Aang and Toph have always felt this connection between them. Where they feel this invisible string that pulls them together. But only thinks of it as friendship when it's definitely more than that.

That's it for now! This was an on the spot list of headcanons really HAHAHA. Sorry if my English is bad, it's not my first language 😭.

[lilbagdermole]

Adult Taang in TLOK

Like come on, they were serving looks and justice. I can't believe the original creators of ATLA looked at them and didn't see the vision, the power couple they could have been... Like come on LOOK AT THEM!

As much as I hate what TLOK did to Aang and Toph's characters (Aang a neglectful father? Toph becoming a cop? Aang being a grouchy, serious man?) - they did kinda nail their adult designs. Like if I was Aang I wouldn't have gotten on my knees and begged for Toph's hand in marriage.

Also, in my delusional interpretation, Aang was reaching out for Toph in the last GIF. And the fact Yakone looked at Aang like that after he did what he did to Toph... Yakone knows! YAKONE KNOWS THEY'RE IN LOVE!

[ecoterrorist-katara]

you act like your fandom isn't responsible for shitty racist behavior towards irls liiiike dont be a hypocrite pointing fingers at everyone except your own ilk lmfao

I was initially going to write a snarky response, but upon reflection you sound pretty young and I don't want to get into a pissing contest with someone who is likely a minor. Instead, I'm going to share my philosophy on how I engage with fandom and explain why it doesn't make sense for you to come to my ask box and demand that I answer for people who I don't even know.

My approach to fandom is entirely hedonistic. 1) Fandom is not, and never will be, my personal milieu for activism, and 2) I'm not responsible for the behaviour of people who happen to share my preference in a ship; I can only control what I do.

On 1), I come to fandom for escapism and indulgence, and these two qualities of fandom are completely incompatible with my approach to activism. Activism must be rooted in the real world and often demands doing things you don't want to do. That's like...the polar opposite of what I want to do on Tumblr.com.

Sometimes I incorporate analysis of oppression and justice in my fandom discussions because I find them interesting, but that's still about me and my enjoyment, not about oppression and injustice in general. A lot of my life has been dedicated to structural injustices, whether as topics of study or as systemic forces to organize against (more accurately, I spent most of my adult years striving to combine the academic and the practical facets), so obviously they crop up in my discussions, but my engagement in fandom has never been about activism and I've been quite clear about that. For example, I may talk about decolonization in the context of ATLA, but I harbour no delusions that my salty complaints about Bryke are, in any way, relevant to furthering the decolonial project.

On 2), notice that in my response to your last ask, I never claimed the entire Zutara fandom only consists of people who never did anything wrong. I only claimed that I, personally, strive to behave like a reasonably decent person in my fandom interactions. Fandoms consist of literally thousands of people, if not tens of thousands, so of course people in my (and yours, and everyone's) fandom are capable of shitty behaviour -- but like I said before, I'm not the fandom police. It's not a role I'm interested in taking on, nor one I'm arrogant enough to think I should. I don't try to be a role model at the club or at the grocery store; in a similar vein, I'm not facilitating or curating or shepherding the Zutara fandom. I just hang out here, same as everyone else, and I'm not going to insult my followers & my peers' intelligence by saying "PSA: did you know it's not okay to say shitty and racist things to people?"

My responsibilities in fandom extend to following basic fandom etiquette and interacting with posts and people that don't contradict my values. I sometimes repost salty things about specific ships, or occasionally I'll interact with Zutara antis who come to me, because salt can be fun in moderate doses plus I have post-COVID POTS so I need a lot of salt anyway. Every time I have interacted with a hostile Ka/taang shipper, it has been because they came to my post, my blog, or my tags to stir up shit. Even so, I'd never go to a Ka/taang blogger and expect them to do something. I have, btw, received messages asking me to highlight/expose certain Ka/taang shippers for their politics or things they've said, and I don't publish those either, so there's not a whole lot of fingerpointing going on here in general.

I'm going to stop responding to your asks, but I hope you can reflect on what exactly you are trying to get out of fandom, and what kind of behaviour you think is productive and generative for you. I'm not saying everyone should follow my personal fandom engagement philosophy, but I am saying you can't impose your philosophy onto me.

[howtotrainyouragents]

for the ask game: toph from atla? thanks! <3

Yayy, thank you so much for asking!! TOPH, my OG fave. I always love her rough-and-tumble self, but I'm feeling particularly soft about her lately, so let's go:

Soft headcanons meme:

send me a character and I'll tell you:

what they smell like: dirt (obviously) and moss. I feel like she has some moss growing on her somewhere bc the moss just thinks she's a rock

what their favorite smells in the world are: damp cool caves like the ones the badgermoles lived in, but also jasmine because in her parent's garden they had a small jasmine section that she would hide in when she wanted to get away. She loves jasmine tea with Uncle Iroh!

What pajamas they wear/what they wear to sleep in: the simple shift under her clothes, but when Katara steals her clothes to clean it, she'll steal clothes from everyone else and then keep them to sleep in

My favorite ship and a cute hc about them: Tokka! (Internet veteran too weary to explain my justification for this haha.) Also, very close behind, Taang! So for Tokka, I think my biggest hc is that Sokka is one of her kid's dad/he helped raise them. But as I don't really consider anything post-book 3 canon, I'll give a different hc. One time, they tried to draw/carve into a rock each other's portraits. Toph's portrait of Sokka was kinda a spiky oval blob and Sokka's portrait of her was even worse. They kept the portraits for the rest of their lives. For Taang, they go on so many holidays together. They allow each other to act their age and to take off the many burdens they carry. So they go to the spa, the beach, the mountains, everywhere as often as they can and just have fun

My favorite friendship and a cute hc about them: Zuko and Toph, the unsung brother-sister duo. Because they're both really dedicated to improving their crafts, they teach each other their bending styles, which involves a lot of trial and error because the forms are different and having to adopt for Toph's need to keep to the earth. But no one sees it coming when Toph creates a rock whip or Zuko creates a fire tent

A song that reminds me of them: This one is hard. Immortals by Fall Out Boy?

What animal I think they would be if they were an animal: Badgermole, of course

What position they sleep in: When they're on the move, on her tummy, every part of her in touch with the earth so she can sense danger. When she's in a safer situation, curled up very tightly in a ball, with only her feet sticking out to protect her

Their favorite drink: I think she has really expensive taste. Like the highest Uncle Iroh-quality jasmine tea, imported coconut melon juice with two scoops of sugar and three ice cubes. Really expensive whiskies as an adult.

A gift I would give them if I could: Custom-made, one of a kind wrestling championship belt that says World's Greatest Earthbender. Because she deserves it. And a wrestling tournament held in her honor that she gets to compete in

[omegansamurai]

An Avatar: The Last Airbender/It Crossover Story.

---

Summary: Something is happening in Republic City. Murders, both adult and children alike, are occurring at an alarming rate. And yet, no one is doing anything about it. Only the Gaang are aware of it, but as they get closer to the truth, they see their worst fears right in front of them. What exactly is doing all of this? Is it a Spirit? ...Or something even worse?

Rated: T (for now, could be M rated)

Ships: Taang, Zutara, Sukka, minor one-sided Kataang.

---

Decided to promote this! :) I updated it a little recently, like around a month ago, the story having 3 chapters as of right now, so give it a chance and tell me what you think! It involves some drama and Pennywise being a sadistic monster of a being. XP But yeah, leave me a comment, kudos, and/or a bookmark! Enjoy what I have for now, as more is coming on the way! :D

[atla-what-if]

What if?

…Monk Gyatso left with Aang;

Scene; escaped with Aang but they were pursued. Gyatso urged Aang to seek help refuge and hide in the EK. Monk Gyatso held the attackers back and died protecting Aang.

a) Aang gets frozen in the Avatar state at sea during the storm

b) Aang escapes and sought refuge at EK. Met a different ‘gaang’ his age. Grew up, found other hiding airbenders, and fought Sozin as adults (THIS COULD ALSO BE AWESOME TO EXPLORE)

…Zuko is as bad as Ozai/Azula?

Zucest

With generational cray the level of GOT. Zuko would have killed his dad and have him and Azula reign like Egyptian royalty, their children and generational inbreds produce Joffreys.

… Lu Ten lived and Iroh become Firelord?

Lu Ten is married off to Yue. Zuko is married of to Katara, Azula is married off to King Kuei to make sure of the Fire Nation’s stronghold on the other nations.

… Jet lived?

Him and the freedom fighters would fight alongside Aang, make peace with Zuko, pursue Katara, gets broken hearted retreats back to the forest and becomes anti avatar.

… Aang dies and Katara becomes the Avatar?

Avatar becomes Korra pre Korra 🥴 kills Azula and Zuko, becomes a dark avatar.

… Zuko captured Aang?

-The End.

…Zutara and Taang happened?

👏🏽 👏🏽 👏🏽 🎈 🎉 🧁

… Katara healed Zuko’s scar?

Aang will die

Zuko

a) still betrays Katara

b) joins team avatar with Iroh and brings down Ozai and Azula during the day of the Black Sun by helping out the rebels.

… Asami is Amon…

I dont read the comics so pass…

..Tahno and Iroh were part of the Krew

If this is part of the comics or tlok, I pass…

…Bryke didn’t give Suki the shaft on TLOK.

It could have been Sukka, Taang and Zutara so yeah, f-Bryke. There are many loopholes in TLOK.

…If Nick weren’t cowards..

Is it Nick or is it Bryke? TLOK was critically panned anyway. Not even sure if it eould help if they kiss in the end.

Context for choices 1, 2 and 9

My little au on if Aang never left

For my Zuko/Azula as prodigies. Basically they are both naturally gifted Firebenders. Zuko faces Ozai in combat, but Zuko faces Ozai. As Ozai is about to finish Zuko, Zuko hits Ozai with white flame and then Ozai declares Zuko the victory and he gains his father's respect. Eventually Zuko and Azula are at a sibling rivalry, trying to outdo each other and even trying to kill each other for their father's approval and to win the throne. Ozai puts their ambitions to the test. Whomever captures Ba Sing Sei, Northern Water Tribes and the Avatar first becomes Ozai's successor.

This video better explains it

Asami as Amon

Asami witnessed the brutal murder of her mother, but it wouldn't be by just any benders. It would be the Red Lotus Society.

Zaheer planned to finish the job, but Toph came to the rescue.

the spirits would take pity on Asami and gift her energy bending and Asami would use her father's wealth to master Chi-Blocking and use their wealth to fund and arm the Equalists.

Amon or in this case Asami wins at the end of Book 1. Tarrlok is still captured by Amon, when Korra sees him and they chat, he tells the whole story of Amon as it happened in the show to her and everything. Like it goes in the show. Korra and friends go to confront Amon at the arena where Tenzin and his family are about to lose their bending. But they don’t because she gets there in time. She accuses Amon of being a bender, as per Tarrlok’s story. Amon doesn’t unmask. And he isn’t a bender. Tarrlok lied to get Korra to confront Amon so that he could capture her and he could hopefully save his own skin for the service at least. They fight. Amon takes Korra’s bending in a big demonstrative way. So all the crowd can see what comes to any benders, especially The Avatar who stand against him. Then the reveal happens. Asami is Amon.

Art by nikoniko_808

In order to get her bending back and learn how to give others their bending back (yeah, Korra wouldn’t get it back at the end of Book 1 because consequences? What’re those?), Korra has to go on a quest to learn her bending(her masters would be Toph, Katara, Izumi and Tenzin) in the Spirit World to understand everything. Korra does not cry about loosing her bending because she realized she’s still The Avatar and has to go to The Spirit World to get her bending back, to help everyone get their bending back and stop Asami

Throughout the series, we would meet Kya, Bumi, Izumi, Eska, Desna(Eska and Desna would be Korra’s siblings in this universe, because fuck Unaloq) Opal and Kai. We have the same romance between Bolin and Opal and Jinora and Kai. We would also meet Varrick and Zhu Li, because they are comedy gold. They would all help in the fight against Amon and the Equalists.

In Korra's venture to the Spirit World,

she would still see Wan’s story(because that’s the only thing I liked about Book 2) and I think in her journey in the spirit world she would see Asami’s story, in which her family were victims of the Red Lotus society and Asami learned to take bending away in the spirit world. Not only that, we would find out that Asami would be bonded with Vaatu. Asami is the darker Avatar.

Before she leaves The Spirit World she connects with all her past lives to ask what she should do about Asami. Korra has her Aang moment where she has too has to decide what to do like he did with the fire lord, only this time there's more to it than just stopping the bad guy. It’s about the person she loved. She can restore everyone’s bending by reversing Amon’s convergence, but she can't do that so long as the avatar spirit is split. And as long as Asami is part avatar, she can go into the avatar state. That's still pretty damn dangerous even with only water and blood bending. Korra realizes the only thing she can do to stop Asami? Love her.

After her journey to relearn her bending and journey in the spirit world, Korra travels the world to gain allies. From the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, Water Tribes and Air Nomads. Korra unites the world against Amon and the Equalists.

In the final fight, Korra defeats Amon. She exorcises Vaatu from Asami, thus ending the dark Avatar and stopping Amon’s convergence. She reverses what Asami has done and uses it to restore everyone’s bending. So she has to come to the hard part. Amon makes it clear, no matter what, even without the ability to energy bend or without Vaatu, Amon will never stop, Benders will never be safe. Korra shows Asami what she was denied. Korra loves her and forgives her. Asami gives up and accepts whatever punishment.

During Book 3, Asami would work with Korra in stopping and killing the Red Lotus society. However, when Zaheer is stopped. He is left at the mercy of Asami and for everything he’s done and turned her into. Asami kills him.

Book 4 happens. Asami's redemption is rebuilding Republic City and using Future Industries to repair the damage she's done as Amon. Blah blah blah Korra stops Kubira blah blah. Asami earns her redemption and the love of the krew and more importantly Korra. Ends with Korra and Asami venturing in the Spirit World and ends with a kiss.

[atla-confessions]

here's my confession: mod, I know you won't, and I respect your decisions; but I am thiiiiis close to just outright begging you to block one or two specific people so that the flagrant vitriol and blatant rage-bait asks will decrease on this blog by at least, like, 75%. It's the same people (person really - and I know you know who) over and over again, and it's exhausting to look at. I'm sure, for you, it's even more exhausting to constantly deal with.

That said, all respect to you, Mod. You're stronger than me for real. And to the person outright baiting fans and shippers alike in the least subtle way possible - just stop. You're no better than a child lashing out in discomfort and screaming for attention, and all the adults in the room are getting a headache from it.

Also, ty lokka is better than sukka; taang is the superior aang ship; and LOK is a sub-par sequel that I prefer to forget exists! ciao!<3

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