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People have been getting defensive over this panel, which I completely understand. It’s important for everyone to understand that there are a lot of assumptions being made, and I’m hoping to clarify some things, since I’m an Aang stan and a Zutarian +
Note: I’m not claiming to speak for all Zutarians, but I know quite a lot of them, and we all have similar/the same takes. That’s why I’ll be using “we”
1) we don’t “hate Aang”
Most of us like/love Aang. And no one hates him or thinks he’s a villain. We DO think he was written badly in the comics, and the way he interacts with Katara in situations like this feels to us as being so clearly out of character. Aang would +
Most of us like/love Aang. And no one hates him or thinks he’s a villain. We DO think he was written badly in the comics, and the way he interacts with Katara in situations like this feels to us as being so clearly out of character. Aang would +
+ want to share his culture and excitement with Katara, too - not just the Air Acolytes. +
2) We don’t feel that Katara is in character, either. In warriors of Kyoshi, Katara didn’t just sit around while Aang was with his fangirls. She kept herself busy. Should she have to do all the chores? No. But we see her doing things like practicing her bending, which +
+ she enjoys. She stands up for herself endlessly, since she’s a natural advocate, and doesnt back down. Her sitting, feeling left out by Aang just isn’t in character. Katara isn’t the type to just sit there and feel bad for herself. I personally think she would either leave, +
+ or she would have a talk with Aang about how she’s feeling left out. Instead, she just bottled it all up, which leads us to no. 3 +
3) the writing dismisses Katara’s feelings. When they’re leaving, Katara is clearly upset. Aang thanks her for staying, since it felt good to engross himself in his culture again, and when she heard this, Katara muffles her jealousy/hurt feelings and tells him +
+ no problem/of course. If this was a one time thing, maybe it would be okay, but we personally see a pattern of Aang being uncharacteristically oblivious to Kataras feelings, and Katara uncharacteristically keeping them bottled up for the sake of Aang’s happiness +
+ So, basically, it’s out of character for both of them, and it’s just one example of a pattern that’s extremely frustrating for many of us. I think there’s an important distinction between disliking Kataang and disliking the way it was written. Most of our frustrations with +
+ the writing are rooted in our love for Katara and/or Aang. As zutarians, of course we would have preferred Zutara, and we believe it would have been better. But we know that’s just our opinion, and I feel like these sorts of discussions (which usually, at there core +
+ have nothing to do with the fact that we prefer Zutara) are easily misinterpreted, and I hope this clarifies some things!
