#anti-katang

[the-badger-mole]

14. Unpopular opinion about the ATLA fandom?

People keep acting like shipping is the problem in this fandom. It's not. Shipping is a totally valid and stimulating way to engage in fandom. And it's also a lot of fun. When people go out of their way to announce that they think shipping is shallow or dumb, or that all shippers are a problem just to get some imaginary points for being a deeper thinker than the rest of us, I get so annoyed. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about people who genuinely don't care about romance, I'm talking about the ones who jump into ship tags to be condescending about preferring the couple as friends. Or when they say that all shipping is ruining fandom for them, meanwhile, there are plenty of people who agree with them who they could choose to interact with instead.

The actual problem in the ATLA fandom is the people who disagree so violently that they take it on themselves to go into spaces that aren't for them to spread their stupid. I could not care less that Kataang shippers disagree with me. I hope they're having so much fun and making content for their friends and co-shippers. They can do or say whatever they want about my faves, because at the end of the day, they're all fictional characters who don't have feelings. But I won't tolerate some itinerant anti-Zutara nutjob or some toxic Aang stan to come into my house and try that mess here. They are the ones who make fandom feel exhausting, and they have chased off some really cool, talented people with their vitriol. The problem isn't that they are Kataang shippers, or that they like Aang. The problem is they're obnoxious, and they want to make it everyone else's problem.

Send me more asks

[captainblogger]

Omg White Prince Karl Zuko Marx saving mommy Katara from Colonist Aang Stalin(spreads legs while creaming)

[tarisilmarwen]

The video essays... the livejournal capslock communities where every other tag was a variant of "#zuko/katara the X slut"... the Die For Our Ship that hit every female character who dared to interact positively with Zuko... the meltdown that happened when the finale's junior novelization was released, months before the finale actually aired because Nickelodeon's scheduling with ATLA was always crap, how they said the book was fake and a red herring...

Oh yeah, it was brutal.

oh honey…. try being a kataanger in 2005-2008. it was 100x worse back in those days as opposed to now. you couldn’t be anywhere online so much as mentioning the ship without getting dogpiled by zvtarians completely unprovoked. it was genuinely cut throat. I am so serious when I say that lol. The absolute worst ship war I’ve ever been in or seen and what you see nowadays is nothing compared to all we had to deal with back in the day. you think you’re fighting for your life in 2024? yeah, y’all wouldn’t have survived the countdown to the 4 part finale live

I was there, Gandalf… 3,000 years ago

I’ve been active in fandom spaces throughout ATLA’s original run. I have seen things… I have endured… I have fought for my life in those trenches 😩✌🏻

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

https://www.tumblr.com/xabura/752028677741608960/bryke-confirming-that-katara-loves-aang-like-a?source=share

What do you think of this? Apparently Bryke themselves said Katara loves Aang like a babysitter or brother. I don’t understand it? This is coming from the actual creators of the show even though I never got that vibe from Kataang despite what the ZKs say. Does that mean they were right?

If Bryke had said "Ozai is not abusive, he is just strict" it would not suddenly erase the canonical proof of abuse that is literally burned into Zuko's face. Yang can say he didn't write Zuko to be an abusive piece of shit in the comics, but I saw him literally throwing Azula in a place that, by Yang's own admission, only made her condition worse.

I saw Katara get jealous when other girls were paying attention to him as early as episode four of the first damn season, and then ten episodes later looking intrigued and even happy at the possibility that maybe they are fated to get married when they're older.

I've seen her blushing next to him like she did with Jet and Haru. I saw her doing a romantic dance with him. I saw her wanting to kiss him and then getting offended when he said he didn't want to kiss her.

If I saw a babysitter doing that to a child, I'd call the freaking cops. And if Katara had done any of that stuff with Sokka, Nickelodeon would not have let Avatar air (I'm still surprised the bedroom scene in The Awakening didn't get scrapped or at least severely altered).

And speaking of Sokka, I never saw Katara teasing Aang in a sisterly way like she did with Sokka, and with Zuko. I never saw Aang say that, when he thinks of "mother", he thinks "Katara" like Sokka does.

Instead I saw Aang and Katara hanging out, and him reminding her, IN THE FIRST EPISODE, that she was ALSO a kid. And then Katara immediately got attached to him because, in her own words, he had brought FUN back to the vilage.

(And before someone inevitably brings up her dressing up as his mom in "The Headband" - she also dressed up as Sokka's heavily pregnant wife. Read into it if you want, but be consistent. You can't cherry-pick one aspect of the scene and ignore the entire context).

They're children. They're peers. They're friends. Maybe Bryke wanted to add a "But she's also the mom/older sister/babysitter" aspect to it, but if that really is the case, then they fucking failed at it in an absurd way.

Like, if you want her to be "the babysitter" make her baby him, not treat him as an equal even when she's in the role of Sifu with him as the student.

Now, if Zutarians want to use this word of God moment as undeniable proof that Kataang is "weird", fine by me. I'll disagree because I actually DO like "weird" ships and Katang didn't interest me for the longest time exactly because it LACKED any weirdness, but whatever.

But if they expected that shut down differing opinions, once again, they gotta be consistent: Bryke also said that Zutara is toxic, would have no future, and that characters don't like each other like that.

If they want to have the right to disagree with them on that, they can't turn around and say "But you gotta take their word as law when it validates half my point!"

Either everyone is free to agree to disagree, even if they're disagreeing with the creators of the show, or no one is. Either everyone can engage in Death Of The Author when they genuinely think the intention doesn't match the text, or no one can.

If they wanna disagree with Bryke on the anti-zutara thing, but agree with them on the babysitter thing, fine. But they don't get to act all shocked when people do the reverse and pretend it's somehow hypocritical of us to do the same thing THEY are doing.

(Also it's very funny of zutarians to constantly cry "Male gaze" because "Oh, it's just young boy having a crush on an older girl" like they aren't CONSTANTLY using "What girl goes for the younger guy instead of the older one?" as an argument for their ship. Funny how fantasies and tropes are only bad when it's not THEIR fantasy or prefered trope)

[araeph]

I've seen this reddit post a person "borrowed" trying to defend Kataang and there's one thing I'm uncomfortable with. It says that Aang respected Katara and show us the examples from episodes that go in this direction: Katara is bitter Aang disrespects her -> Katara does something "worthy" of Aang -> Aang throws a "bone" to her, for ex. calling her sifu. That's it. Those examples paint Katara in a bad light, not Aang who's supposed to be "not perfect".

I actually responded to the idea that this gesture was supportive a while ago (which actually is a pretty good overall counter to the “Aαng never supported Katara” strawman argument, even if it wasn’t answering that post directly). 

[darkrose517]

Zutara - Shipping

I really need to stop getting in arguments online, but it’s so fucking hard.  Atla being on Netflix has made this argument (Katang vs Zutara) resurface and I’m so fucking tired of this.

[satukanal]

Kejari Ungkap 3 Perkara Korupsi, Bupati Kediri: Perlu Praktik Riil sejak Dini

https://www.satukanal.com/kejari-ungkap-3-perkara-korupsi-bupati-kediri-perlu-praktik-riil-sejak-dini/

Kejari Ungkap 3 Perkara Korupsi, Bupati Kediri: Perlu Praktik Riil sejak Dini

SATUKANAL, KEDIRI – Kabupaten Kediri terus melalukan perang terhadap korupsi. Pernyataan itu disampaikan lugas oleh jajaran Pemerintah Kabupaten (Pemkab) Kediri dan Kejaksaan Negeri (Kejari) Kabupaten Kediri dalam peringatan Hari Anti Korupsi, Senin (9/12/2019).

Hingga akhir 2019 ini, Kejari Kabupaten Kediri telah berhasil mengungkap tiga kasus korupsi. Dari tiga perkara yang rampung itu, uang negara hingga Rp 700 juta bisa diselamatkan.

Bupati Kediri Haryanti Sutrisno mengapresiasi capaian tersebut. Dia menekankan komitmennya untuk meningkatkan nilai-nilai anti korupsi di lingkungan Pemkab Kediri.

Selain itu, Haryanti menekankan pentingnya penanaman nilai anti korupsi pada siswa sejak dini. Menurutnya, praktik paling riil nilai anti korupsi di sekolah dapat melalui transparansi rincian uang pembangunan atau sumbangan sekolah. “Yang paling penting adalah contoh dari guru,” imbaunya.

Sementara itu, Kasi Pidsus Kejari Kabupaten Kediri Boma Wiga mengungkapkan bahwa tiga perkara yang berhasil diungkap di antaranya adalah kasus korupsi Taman Hijau Simpang Lima Gumul (SLG).

Perkara tersebut displit menjadi dua kasus dengan masing-masing kerugian Rp 300 juta dan Rp 200 juta. Satu kasus lain, yakni terkait paviliun RSUD Pare Kediri pada 2013 dengan kerugian Rp 200 juta yang tidak banyak diberitakan media.

Kepala Kejari Kabupaten Kediri Mohamad Rohmadi mengatakan, praktik korupsi sudah masif dan menyeluruh ke setiap sendi kehidupan dan ekonomi. “Korupsi juga menjadi akar permasalahan nasional selain narkoba,” ujar Rohmadi usai peringatan Hari Anti Korupsi se-Dunia di halaman belakang Kejari Kabupaten Kediri.

Rohmadi menambahkan, pada 2019 Kejari menangani satu kasus korupsi yang melibatkan bendahara Dinas Pemberdayaan Masyarakat dan Pemerintahan Desa (DPMPD). Hingga saat ini, kasus tersebut memasuki tahap penuntutan usai pemeriksaan terdakwa.

Pada peringatan Hari Anti Korupsi tahun ini, Kejari mengadakan lomba cerdas cermat untuk siswa SMP sederajat se-Kabupaten Kediri. Lomba ini sebagai bentuk penanaman nilai anti korupsi pada pelajar.

Dalam kesempatan tersebut, Kejari bersama siswa pemenang lomba cerdas cermat dan unsur Forkopimda membagikan stiker anti korupsi pada pengguna jalan di lampu merah Jalan Soekarno Hatta, Katang. Selain untuk pengguna jalan, stiker juga dibagikan pada pegawai Pemkab Kediri.

“Bukan untuk apa, tapi sebagai pengingat untuk sama-sama memerangi korupsi,” ungkap Rohmadi.

Sementara itu, materi yang diujikan di lomba cerdas cermat ini meliputi Undang-undang nomor 31 tahun 1999 tentang pemberantasan tindak pidana korupsi. Sebanyak 64 SMP/MTs mengikuti babak penyisihan.

Selanjutnya, 16 sekolah lolos ke babak semifinal. Di babak final, tersisa 4 sekolah yang meraih Pemenang I, II, II dan Harapan I. “Yang paling sulit saat final,” ujar Inggar Gilda, siswa SMPN 1 Badas yang sekolahnya meraih Pemenang II. (adv)

Pewarta: Isnatul Chasanah Redaktur: N Ratri

[mediakesehatan-blog]

KHASIAT DAUN TAPAK KUDA

Tapak kuda adalah salah satu tamanan herbal yang banyak dicari oleh masyarakat. Meski belum terlalu banyak literature yang menjelaskan dengan rinci mengenai tanaman ini, namun tapak kuda ini sebenarnya sudah dimanfaatkan sejak zaman dahulu oleh masyarakat Indonesia sebagai tanaman herbal yang berkhasiat tinggi. Di India, tanaman ini dipakai sebagai obat antidisentri. Di Malaysia, selain dijual sebagai tonik dan minuman segar, ia juga jadi bahan infus untuk penyembuhan gangguan liver. Dia juga menjadi obat bronchitis, asma, radang lambung, disentri, gangguan ginjal dan infeksi saluran kencing. Di Indonesia juga dipakai sebagai peluruh kencing, pembersih darah, disentri, radang usus, sakit perut, batuk, lepra, dan kehilangan nafsu makan. Tapak kuda adalah tanaman yang diketahui berasal dari Asia tropic. Di beberapa daerah terdapat perbedaan pemberian nama pada tanaman ini. Ada yang menyebut katang-katang, daun katang, alere, leleri, dalere, batata pantai, andah arana, daredei, watata-ruruan, dolodoi, tilalade, mari-mari, wendor, tati raui, ngemir, loloro, lalere, wedule. Biasanya tanaman tapak kuda tumbuh secara liar pada pasir pantai yang berbatu-batu dan tumbuh menjalar diatasnya. Memiliki batang agak kecoklatan dan terkesan basah. Dan tentu saja bentuk daun yang mirip tapak kuda. Sedangkan bunganya berbentuk mirip terompet. Jika batang bunga diputuskan maka akan keluar semacam getah berwarna keputihan. Bagian tanaman tapak kuda yang bisa digunakan sebagai obat herbal adalah seluruh bagian tanaman. Keberadaan tanaman ini tumbuh liar di daerah pantai atau di tempat-tempat yang tanahnya berbatu-batu dan mengandung pasir. Tumbuhan berbatang basah, licin, merambat atau merayap di tanah, warna batang hijau kecoklatan, daun tunggal, bulat, tebal, licin mengkilat, tidak berambut, berbagi di kedua ujung daun, warna hijau, letak tersebar panjang dan lebar daun +3cm, tangkai daun panjang sekitar 2-3 cm, bila dipatahkan keluar getah warna putih. Bunganya berbentuk corong terompet, sedang untuk warnanya sendiri ada yang berwarna ungu da nada pula berwarna pink yang indah dipandang mata. Jika tanaman ini dipegang dan diletakkan di bagian tubuh, rasa adem serta merta akan menjalar. Tumbuhan ini dikenal oleh orang minang yang tinggalnya di daerah pantai. Tidak dipungkiri juga orang yang tinggal diperbukitan juga mengenalinya. Orang Minang lebih mengenali Tapak Kuda dengan nama Tapak Kuda karena bentuk daunnya mirip telapak kuda. Tapak kuda mengandung Asiafat, b-karatone, glochidone, asam betulinic, alfa dan beta amyrin asetat, asam iso-tankunat, oksiasiatikosida, tankusinida, menso-inositol, asam askorbat, niacin, valarine, kalium, natrium, magnesium, dan zat samak. Pada tanaman tsb terdapat antinociceptive yang berguna mengatasi rasa sakit berlebihan. Antinociceptive akan beraksi seperti hidroalkoholik, yang mampu mengurangi rasa sakit. Dengan kandungan tersebut, tapak kuda kerap digunakan untuk meredakan nyeri persendian atau pegal otot. Tanaman ini digunakan sebagai pereda sakit gigi dan pembengkakan gusi. Walaupun berkhasiat obat, tetapi disarankan tidak digunakan oleh wanita yang sedang hamil. Tapak kuda memiliki efek antiinflamasi, antibiotik, antideman, antidiuretik, dan keratolitik. Kemampuan antibiotik dan antiinflamasinya tergolong tinggi hingga berguna pula sebagai antibakteri. Tak heran jika ia efektif mengatasi peradangan jaringan tubuh mulai dari luka, lepra, radang tenggorokan, radang lambung hingga disentri. Kemampuannya mengatasi radang paru-paru juga tak lepas dari senyawa antibiotic yang dikandungnya. Senyawa utama yang berperan sebagai aniinflamasi diantaranya asiatikosida, riboflavin dan niacin. Manfaat lain yang terkandung dalam daun tapak kuda adalah mengobati rheumatic atau nyeri persendian, myalgia, pendarahan pada wasir, pembengkakan pada gusi, sakit gigi, bisul, koreng, penambah nafsu makan. Cara yang bisa dilakukan untuk memanfaatkan daun ini bagi penyembuhan penyakit bisa dilakukan dengan cara melumatkan daunnya yang masih segar, direbus, diperas atau dikeringkan. Walau dapat dikeringkan, untuk keperluan obat paling baik menggunakan tanaman segar. Sebab jika dikeringkan akan banyak kehilangan khasiat. Karena khasiatnya sebagai obat antiinflamasi, ia mulai dilirik sebagai bahan baku salem untuk mengobati luka. 15 khasiat tapak kuda untuk kesehatan: Bersifat sebagai laxative yang bisa digunakan untuk obat pencahar atau cuci perut alami. Bersifat diuretik untuk melancarkan dan meluruhkan saluran kemih. Melancarkan sistem pencernaan khususnya untuk mencegah wasir (ambeien). Bersifat konstipasi yang bisa mengurangi kram pada perut. Meringankan gejala gatal-gatal, eksim, abses dan jenis penyakit yang berhubungan dengan kulit. Mengatasi rasa letih,lelah atau capek sehingga stamina kembali bugar. Bersifat analgesik yang ampuh meredam rasa nyeri dan sakit. Mengatasi masalah dan gangguan pada organ ginjal. Bersifat anti-inflamasi yang berguna untuk mencegah peradangan atau pembengkakan oleh sengatan ubur-ubur. Mempercepat penuaan bisul. Sebagai antioksidan yang menjaga tubuh tetap sehat. Mencegah terjadinya oedema atau bengkak air pada kulit. Bersifat menyejukkan yang bisa digunakan untuk sariawan dan panas dalam. Bersifat anti-rematik yang berguna untuk mengurangi rasa nyeri pada persendian. Mengurangi nyeri dan ngilu pada saat sakit gigi. Berikut adalah resep daun kaki kuda untuk mengobati luka : Ambil satu atau dua lembar daun kaki kuda. Cuci bersih. Lumatkan dengan tangan. Tambalkan pada luka. Khasiatnya adalah menghentikan pendarahan pada luka dan menghentikan infeksi parah. Read the full article

[shiggy-stan]

I like how you managed to ignore all the receipts where people are throwing actual racial slurs at people in favor of UWU Reylo is abuse.

As a POC Reylo who became a fan during TFA I know the actual history and not the sanitized anti friendly version you like to spread around. I know you’ve promised to block me if I don’t do anything; but agree with you (because listening to POC only counts if they ship FinnRey) so I’m very much looking forward to never hearing your revisionist garbage in defense of your sides racist bullshit ever again.

Y’all are the fandom equivalent of PETA. Great Tagline, racism is bad (animal abuse is bad); but horrible execution and activism. Everyone hates PETA, not because they hate the tagline that animal abuse is bad; but everyone hates the headlines of kidnapping dogs and killing kittens in their shelters. Your activism defines you and the receipts above are what defines the people you are defending, if they didn’t want this to define them then they should’ve pushed out the bad fans and worked on anti fandom racism with POC Reylos instead of harassing us for being “race traitors” over a Star Wars ship.

Second, the whole UWU it’s Reylos fault Finn wasn’t popular. In the beginning FinnRey may not have been as popular as Reylo because in general an enemies to lover ship is a popular ship dynamic. It’s Zutara vs Katang. While for some it might have been the color of his skin and that sucks but the actual reason was the ship dynamic that won.

Third, the other reason why FinnRey lost in popularity is because Anti Reylos gate kept the ship. Multishippers are a thing and y’all made damn sure they couldn’t be content creators, write meta, or participate in the Finn side of the fandom. Yall told Reylos they couldn’t reblog any of their posts and harassed them with racial slurs and death threats until they mostly stopped making content featuring Finn. With less content creators and a fandom known for its toxic fans of course you are gonna have less content. Reylos, while having their drama were more accepting of other shippers and therefore more popular. Hell I only reblog Finn content from other Reylos because I don’t want to be harassed again by you demons. That might be the actual reason y’all saw less and less Finn content from us.

Fourth, you don’t get fandoms do you. If you ship something it means you like something. You are excited by it and want to talk about it. You create meta and talk about what it would be like to be canon and how there are signs if you see it. Telling people they should be quiet and ship quietly in the corner is never gonna fly in any fandom.

Finally, While obviously racism is a thing in every fandom that isn’t actually what defined the ship despite what you keep saying and what every single one of you keep trying to push. Y’all decided it was popular because evil white girls and ran with that. I saw so so so many passive aggressive and some just straight up nasty posts being crosstagged in the Reylo tag to shame them for liking the ship. Y’all used UWU it’s racism as a tool to fight a ship war and then bashed on POC who spoke out against you.

If it was about being against racism then the shit above would have never happened.

If it was about listening to POC, my voice and countless others would have counted too.

If it was about being against abuse than you wouldn’t have acted like abusers and harassed people with so much disgusting vitriol.

I used to tolerate people boosting/expressing people posting anti viewpoints, because if you’re not familiar with the discourse around all of this then their faux-wokeness and use of progressive-sounding buzzwords can be sort of deceptively persuasive (sort of similar to other reactionary communities like TERFs and ace exclusionists, and yes, it’s also the same reason why conservatives are so fond of calling people pedophiles in the same way that antis do!). I mean, hell, when I first came across anti discourse I made the mistake of taking their talking points in good faith and was fairly convinced myself.

But, honestly, in wake of this new, sickening situation with what’s been happening to that fish blog (of all places) and the numerous atrocities I’ve seen these demons pull off over the past few years I think it’s about time we starting being fucking explicit and warning people about this stuff before it goes any further. As silly as it is that we have to have this discussion in relation to fandom discourse of all things, the vile rhetoric that has become simply normalized in certain communities is leading to actual real people’s lives being at risk, and unlike the immature bastards perpetuating this nonsense I actually care about that.

Here’s a cheap rundown:

People who claim that “anti” means “anti-pedophile” or “anti-abuse” are lying, even if they’ve convinced themselves that it’s true. It’s similar to how TERFs claim to be anti-misogyny.

Folks who have reblogged anti talking points on the grounds of the above likely don’t realize the deeper context, but if they don’t want to get wrapped up in the bullshit they better pull themselves out of those communities quick.

Most of the ideas spread by the hardcore anti crowd have been coopted from SWERFs and Christian conservative environments, which is unsurprising given the amount of overlap with those communities (reactionaries flock together).

The handwringing over female fans enjoying M/M erotica, paired with poorly mistranslated Japanese buzzwords, is both cartoonish misogynist AND racist nonsense.

The idea that we can prevent real world harm by banning fiction that portrays similar harm is cartoonish authoritarian nonsense.

The idea that fanwork locked behind explicit adult content warnings and more specific triggering content warnings will warp the minds of impressionable readers and cause crimes that they commit to be the fault of the author is cartoonish reactionary nonsense.

The idea that fictional characters cannot be adapted away from their original portrayal without a transformative work “really” being about the original portrayal, despite both portrayals being equally made up, is cartoonishly ludicrous nonsense.

The idea that adults cannot interact with potentially dark topics in a safe fictional environment without being somehow “tainted” or wanting to then go and enact those ideas in real life is cartoonish conservative nonsense (see the video game panic of the 90s).

The idea that people cannot have the personal autonomy to know what kind of content they want to consume and must have been involuntarily brainwashed by society into reading “impure” works is cartoonish SWERF nonsense.

The anti “movement”, group, community, whatever you want to refer to it as, is literally nothing more than a jumbled hodgepodge of the above ideas bound together by immaturity, in-group/out-group dynamics and the thrill that unsavoury people find in having designated target to bully (there’s a reason why these folks get violent so fast, folks!). This isn’t even to touch on how their abuse is usually specifically weaponized against the neurodiverse, queer people, woman, and other marginalized groups.

Antis are not just people who don’t know any better (although they often are that), but they are actively dangerous, toxic individuals, and their community is a breeding ground for abuse tendencies. If fandom is to avoid withstanding much more of this sort of thing then we need to start actively calling out these behaviours when we see them before our communities become defined by this sort of reactionary hand-wringing in what is supposed to be this cultivated progressive and transgressive environment.

(n.b. if you are here to leave a snide comment beneath this because you’re a righteous anti who is against the “evil freaks” who are interested in dark fiction then you can do so and swiftly fuck off).

[the-badger-mole]

Aang is the main character and wanted Katara from the start! Depriving him of her would be terrible and ruin the show! Zutara is a silly fantasy and none of the characters would accept it knowing how mad and sad it would make Aang.

....Okay, I feel like you're being sarcastic, but on the off chance you're actually being serious (and how sad is it that I genuinely can't be sure?), screw Aang and his feelings! It would have made for better character development for him to get his feelings hurt and have to work through it. Or, if they were insistent on putting him and Katara together, make it worth her while. Make Aang into someone she could have a mutually caring, respectful, understanding relationship with instead of putting them together because the hero must get the girl.

I'm having a hard time deciphering if this is meant to be serious or not because I have seen this exact argument in favor of Kataang before, and it is cartoonishly sexist thinking (which is why I have said, and will now say again, that Aang, not Sokka, was the biggest sexist in the Gaang). It's a bad argument, and if "she takes care of him and he wants her" is the only strong argument in defense of a ship, then it's a badly written, poorly executed ship.

[the-badger-mole]

Are you friends with people who are Kataang shippers? If you aren't, would you not care about befriending any of them, or do you prefer not getting involved with them at all?

I have friends IRL who ship Kataang. They're just casual fans, though, which is why I do most of my shipping/meta nonsense online. I have very little opportunity to befriend any Kataang shippers in fandom spaces because I stick mostly to the Zutara tags. I've encountered Kataang fans on here and on other sites, especially in my earlier days online, and I'm not saying all, or even most Kataang shippers are viciously obnoxious and unreasonable, but... the encounters that I have had make me think I'm better off sticking to Zutara spaces. By that I mean I spend more time in #zutara than in #atla. I don't go into the other ship tags at all (well...#sukka, obviously, but not that often). I'm not trying to change anyone's mind about whatever ship they like. I'm just here for the vibes.

[the-badger-mole]

Do you ever find it hard to watch Avatar The Last Airbender with Aang as the protagonist? I usually can’t rewatch a show if the main character bothers me too much even if I really loved the others parts of said show. Anyway it just made me curious to know if you have days where Aang frustrates you so much you can’t enjoy rewatching ATLA. Do you end up skipping specific scenes or do you rewatch the show in full?

I find that ATLA is not difficult to watch as long as I end pretty much after the Agni Kai. The Lionturtle and the Deus-ex-Rockina are pretty annoying, but as long as I can skip all the unearned kissing of Aang's buttocks and that out of nowhere Kat/aang kiss, not to mention Mai's stupid behind showing back up the show is still watchable. Aang's nonsense can get pretty annoying, but as long as I don't see him flake off into the sunset to a happy ending he didn't deserve, it's fine. Totally fine. Just great. Coolcoolcool...

[the-badger-mole]

You know what other character didn't deserve their happy ending?

Pakku.

He only taught Katara because she was Kanna's granddaughter not because she earned his respect as a warrior or changed his mind about girls bending. Then they had him marry Kanna off screen and everyone just accepted it? What the heck?!?!

That was the foreshadowing for Kataang, I believe. There's no reason for Kanna to want Pakku, but Pakku did a Nice Guy thing, so he deserves the smoochie smooch...

[araeph]

I’d say the creators, at least, did this exactly.

Kataang is an element of the show that you and others have criticized for being, among other reasons, manufactured rather than organically developed. Do you feel the same way (though not as strongly, of course) about how Zuko and Aang were later portrayed as best friends in LOK? I disliked it as well, never felt that much chemistry (or potential chemistry) between the two in ATLA and it didn't make sense to me since Aang already had established friendships onscreen in ATLA. What do you think?

Well, it didn’t make much sense in LOK due to what they did with the comics and the fact that our only indicator of friendship is when other people have to tell the audience how much Zuko and Aang were besties. I mean, in “The Promise” Aang almost killed Zuko because he thought Zuko would be too much like Ozai. This, after he and all the GAang left Zuko to his own devices for an entire year while Zuko single-handedly tried to rebuild a country at the age of 17. 

However, I absolutely believed in Zuko and Aang’s friendship in ATLA. They had complementary temperaments and fighting styles, which means they balanced each other. Zuko helped keep Aang grounded and Aang helped Zuko explore fun. Even before they became friends, they worked well together in “The Blue Spirit,” where we got a taste of just how formidable they could be as a united team. And while Aang helped Zuko redeem himself by offering the first olive branch, Zuko helped Aang redeem the concept of firebending, and encouraged him to think of this element as a creative, not just destructive, force. 

Zuko: I can't believe a year ago my purpose in life was hunting you down, and now... Aang:  And now we're friends. Zuko: Yeah...we are friends.  Aang: I can't believe a year ago I was still frozen in a block of ice. The World's so different now. Zuko: And it's gonna be even more different, when we build it together.

[the-badger-mole]

While I personally like to have more emotion in Aang realizing Katara doesn't love him like that, and Katara feels bad that she is basically breaking Aang's heart because she cares about him so much, and I can't see her slapping Aang like she did in that little snippet.

To each their own. 🤷‍♀️

But that level of hate you got in that ask sounded wildly unhinged.

Block and filter works wonders. 🙄

Yeah, it's sad when people have so little going on in their lives all they can do is harass someone else. Like, I'm sorry your life sucks, internet stranger, but that's not my fault.

Also, maybe Katara wouldn't have slapped Aang in EIP (after all, there's no right way to react to something like that in the moment), but who could blame her if she did? Aang deserved it.

[dukeofdelirium]

YUP. All of our chats, forums etc were getting overrun once the finale to ATLA got close to airing. It felt like there was no where to hide or get away from the ZKs during that time. And they got into so many of our heads too. I remember being genuinely scared that kataang wouldn’t be endgame because they harassed me so bad 😭 and kept asserting that ZK would be endgame to the point everyone was silenced if they spoke something different

oh honey…. try being a kataanger in 2005-2008. it was 100x worse back in those days as opposed to now. you couldn’t be anywhere online so much as mentioning the ship without getting dogpiled by zvtarians completely unprovoked. it was genuinely cut throat. I am so serious when I say that lol. The absolute worst ship war I’ve ever been in or seen and what you see nowadays is nothing compared to all we had to deal with back in the day. you think you’re fighting for your life in 2024? yeah, y’all wouldn’t have survived the countdown to the 4 part finale live

I was there, Gandalf… 3,000 years ago

I’ve been active in fandom spaces throughout ATLA’s original run. I have seen things… I have endured… I have fought for my life in those trenches 😩✌🏻