Taang and Zutara is the best combo let’s bfr. I’m on a big Zutara kick currently and was feeling inspired today.
Context of the photo here (may or may not do a fic idk) is after observing their recent behavior, Katara catches the tension between Aang and Toph. And it’s that kind of tension.
So after observing them for too long she brings up to Zuko one night who wants nothing to do with it because the two already cause enough trouble for him when they visit (he still loves them ofc).
But Katara wants to play matchmaker and drags Zuko into it though he’s very reluctant to. Down the long path of their plan it ends up with Aang and Toph meeting in the garden after Zuko and Katara said they wanted to meet each of them there without telling the other to bring them together.
Toph had just gotten done doing some training so that’s why her hairs out of its usual bun and eventually the two have to face what they’re not facing (in Katara’s words). And they do.
They end up actually sparring a little (much to Zuko’s dismay) and they end up on the ground physically very close and that leads to one thing and voila we have the results in the photo of the outcome.
And for more extra info with the drawing, I didn’t do color cause I was lazy and Katara’s Fire Lady (yes fire lady they’re married hehe) is a deep royal blue but she wears a red belt, and Zuko’s are his own color however his belt is a deep blue (they rep for each other babes)
Anyways I’m going to bed.
Taang
Sorry this took so long! I wrote out 80% of this and it got wiped so here we go again.
So over my many years as a fangirl I’ve considered what makes me love a ship. I realized that probably my #1 criteria for liking a ship is how well they balance each other out. No one is perfect, which is why I think that the strongest ships are the ones where they help the other to improve. If you challenge each other, you help each other grow.
That’s why I like Taang, and that’s where I’m going to start this analysis.
Toph struggles with having other people see her worth. She has fought her whole life to be seen as capable and strong, but her parents don’t see it. She gets a taste of people understanding her power as the Blind Bandit, but that’s only one facet of who Toph is.
When he sees Toph in the swamp Aang doesn’t see the Blind Bandit, the fearsome earthbending prodigy who can sense the ground’s vibrations. He sees Toph Beifong.
And as soon as Aang meets Toph he is amazed by her just as she is. Which is a first for Toph. No one has ever seen both sides of her and said “hell yeah.” But Aang does.
When Toph first tells Aang about how it is that she can see, he calls her amazing. He doesn’t call the Blind Bandit amazing with this awestruck look on his face, he says it to Toph. Aang helps Toph to see that she doesn’t have to be the Blind Bandit to be respected like she deserves. He doesn’t question her value, he reminds her of it.
Aang struggles with facing his destiny throughout the series. Up until Aang meets Toph, his MO is to run. It’s how he wound up in the iceberg. But Toph quickly snuffs that airbender impulse. In her first day of training Aang she manages to see his greatest weakness and begin helping him overcome it. She gives Aang his first dose of tough love and it’s effective.
Toph never backs down from Aang or cuts him any slack just because he’s the Avatar. She doesn’t care. Aang is Aang and he has to learn earthbending and so he’s going to learn earthbending. She pushes Aang to embrace his elemental opposite so that he can face his fears. Toph forces Aang to grow.
Look at Toph’s smirk as soon as she realizes she’s turned the tables on Aang and gotten him to stand his ground. Fuck yeah, Twinkletoes.
Toph gives Aang exactly what he needs within his first week of lessons.
Balancing act aside, I want to get into my weird theories on these two being sort of destined for each other. So.
Toph is literally the turning point for Aang to become a fully realized Avatar. When Aang gets stuck on his journey learning the elements, he’s sent to Toph. After he’s learned earthbending all he has left to learn is firebending. Initially, Aang doesn’t want Zuko to teach him. Toph is the one who grounds Aang when he’s acting on emotion and tells him “this is what we have to work with, you have to consider it.”
And when he won’t, Toph goes after Aang’s last teacher. And it isn’t until Toph has been burned that Aang understands that Zuko was meant to be his teacher. This didn’t unfold like this by chance.
Toph seems to have an innate connection to the spirit world, (and Raava in particular.) The first time we meet Toph we see her frolicking through the swamp. Aang even tells her that the spirits told him to find her. Toph was destined to connect with the Avatar, and the Avatar was destined to find Toph. More than once.
Look at the smile creeping up on Toph’s face when she says “But if your Avatar senses called you here...” like she’s reliving a fond memory of Aang showing up in her garden begging her to teach him.
Korra hadn’t said a thing about being the Avatar. Korra assumes that Toph recognized her face without realizing that Toph was blind. But Toph recognized Aang the way she always did.
A lifetime later, here we are again in the swamp. Toph recognizes the Avatar spirit right away. Because you know what? Toph knows that Aang is always going to find her. Their spirits are intertwined, destined to meet again and again.
I leave you with a parallel that sticks in my mind for no reason.
Aang "I love my wife/loverboy" Beifong once again reminding everyone about his wife at the meeting. Inspired by this post from @authorjoydragon.
(He was told to keep it short this time. Sokka is absolutely loosing it once again.)
1: Hi there, I'm Aang Beifong
2: *points to crowd* that's my wife, Sifu Toph Beifong
4: A master earth bender who invented metal bending!
5: oh, and I'm the avatar!
Debunking MOAR Anti-Kataang arguments with a hint of (Pro) Taang
Hi.
So I made a post about how I feel about Taang and why I kinda like it, even though a lot of people (ZKs) only ship it because they want Aang “out of the way” as show here
I also made a post debunking stupid Pro-Zutara arguments as shown here
This post is kinda gonna be a sequel to that. The same also made a ridiculous post about what Aang would “gain from Zutara” and most of it of course demonizes his relationship with Katara, completely mischaracterizes Katara herself and for some reason OP assumes this means Aang would instantly get with Toph, even I though Zutara being canon doesn’t mean Taang would be canon, not to mention Toph is also somewhat mischaracterized.
Allow me to explain
First things first, Katara never liked Aang because he was the Avatar. She clearly liked Aang because of who he was as a person, from the day he met Katara he already brought fun and joy back into her life, in addition to being kindhearted and brave through their journey. Those wholesome prisoners and Roku pointing out things should work out because of Aang’s good qualities and because when love is real it finds a way respectively, with Aang being the Avatar as a bonus if anything, but not a dealbreaker.
Not this again.
Aang doesn’t have an “unhealthy obsession or attachment towards Katara” he saw she was in danger and went to save her and when they were both in danger he walked himself away from Katara and DID unlock his Chakra. Must I always recap the story for these guys.
This has gotta be one of the dumbest arguments. Firstly Katara does love Aang while still being aware of his faults, there are multiple instances where Katara can be irritated by Aang (The Warriors of Kyoshi) or actively disagree or dislike his choices (The Avatar State) or even just be mildly annoyed by some of his antics. In the opening she even says “he has a lot to learn”. Secondly, Katara standing up for Aang doesn’t mean she’s blind to his faults, true she didn’t know the full extent of Aang’s past at the time, but she knew Aang wasn’t a thoughtless, selfish coward who would actively and deliberately cause harm to the world like that old guy insinuated and she had traveled with Aang for a while now, so she can back it up. Thirdly, Katara comforting Aang, after hearing what he did and assuring him that he shouldn’t focus on the past and can make a different in the present is a good thing (shocker), does OP want Katara to berate Aang for what he did, Katara wouldn’t do that, nor would it solve anything anyhow. Lastly if Toph was in Katara’s place she’d also stand up for Aang and assure him that he shouldn’t blame himself because they’re friends.
I don’t know what the second two images have to do with anything, but anyhow, AGE is the main reason for why these guys ship Taang, which I can sorta get, but these are the same type of guys who adultify Katara and act like she’s way more older than she is. She herself is only 2 years older than the both of them, she’s still a kid, we see in The Chase that it doesn’t take much for her to stoop to Toph’s level when arguing. (Not to mention she found Toph’s pit joke funny, so).
More Katara mischaracterization, oh joy!
Katara doesn’t beat around the bush to spare Aang (or anyone’s) feelings. As I said before if she takes issue with something Aang does, she’ll let him know. Even in this moment, she isn’t beating around this bush, she’s telling Aang she’s confused about her feelings BECAUSE SHE IS! When Aang kisses her despite what she says, she tells him “TF did I just say” and leaves and she’s right to do so! She clearly lets Aang know what he did was stupid.
Funny how this is the only comparison that doesn’t feature Toph instead featuring Meng. Almost as if it’s normal for people to develop feelings over time and not instantly think “I LOVE YOU” even Aang wasn’t crazy crushing on Katara the exact moment he saw her. Two more things to note. One, by the end of the episode Katara does come to consider Aang as a possibility of him being the powerful bender she’s going to marry. Two, this person ships Zutara, keep in mind Katara (rightfully) took 55 episodes to consider Zuko a friend at the least.
Katara is literally fundamental part of Aang’s growth as he is with her’s, neither revolves around the other, but the both heavily impact each other. In Aang’s case Katara comforting him over the loss of his people and assuring him that he can make a difference in the present is something that inspires Aang to make a difference and to not lose sight of his joy and optimism, not to mention Katara is literally Aang’s waterbending teacher, the two even have a conversion in the episode above which partially helps Aang come to terms with earthbending. Even Toph by the episodes end uses some of Katara’s positive reinforcement to teach Aang earthbending.
Katara treats Aang like a child because he IS, so is she. She actively tries to support Aang when he needs it, but she doesn’t view Aang as beneath her or as a son, they, much like Aang and Toph, both view each other as a peer because THEY ARE.
There is this leak that I saw floating around X that really did not sit too well with me, so, I come forth to express my opinion. This isn't spoiler heavy, it's really just one word in one line, but, if you'd like to avoid any and all spoilers for the upcoming 'Avatar: The Legend of Aang' film, please scoll away.
'Avatar'
Toph calling Aang, 'Avatar' just annoyed me to levels I did not know was possible. As, I've expressed many a times in this blog, Toph is one of only people who doesn't view Aang as the Avatar nor as this symbol of hope. He's just Aang, twinkletoes, her first pupil and her first friend. When, she called him Avatar in the film, even if it was in a form of jest, it takes all of that away.
She never cared about the fact he was the "Avatar" never cared to address him as such. Even in those god-awful, mischaracterizing comics, we never see her call him just... Avatar. It's weird. It doesn't feel like Toph. That's never been her.
And, let me remind you, she was the first person to ever treat Aang as just Aang. She didn't need months of traveling to see him for who he was beyond being the last Airbender. She saw him for who he was the moment they had that heart-to-heart in the gardens of the Beifong Estate.
Aang was the personification of hope through Katara's eyes. Yes, she came to view him as Aang, but even through Season 2 and Season 3, you could still see her caring that idealization of the Avatar in many conversations and interactions between the two. Always reminding him of the upcoming battles, what he was destined to do; when he was off having fun or goofing around, she was there to remind him that he to train for this inevitable battle between him and the FireLord - which I do not blame Katara for doing so, this isn't the point of this post.
Through Sokka, we see him initially regard Aang differently. First ostracizing him when he was first released from the iceberg, and then utilizing Aang's position and powers to gain some benefit or upperhand. Initially, to Sokka, Aang was this powerful kid, skilled bender, the Avatar, a means to many of his ends. Though their bond eventually becomes brotherly and their trust and respect grows into something unconditional, quicker than Katara and Zuko, but he was also culprit of regarding Aang purely for his titles and abilities.
And Zuko. Aang was the embodiment of his redemption, revenge, dignity and honor. He was the Avatar, he was everything he needed to get back to his family, to his home. Zuko did not see him as a child who carried the literal world on his shoulders, similarly to himself. Even when he was integrated into the GAang, he constantly reminded Aang of his status and responsibilties (though necessary), and only truly begun to treat him as a human once the war was over.
All three of these major relationships and bonds that Aang harbored throughout his journey, constantly regarded him and reminded him of what he was, who he was and what he needed to do.
Except Toph.
Toph did not care that Aang was the all-mighty Avatar, the symbol of hope and peace.
She saw another kid, like herself. They confided in one another the first night they met, she heard him as he did her. And, Aang never underestimated her because she was blind, he admired her all the more for it. Likewise, Toph, sees him as an equal, a friend, someone who she can trust. Someone worth fighting for and exposing her secret for. She threw away the coverage of the perfect, polite and weak daughter, just to save her new friend, fought for him and pleaded with her father to teach him. And then, when she was denied that, she ranaway from everything she ever knew, just to help Aang in his journey.
Throughout Season 2 and Season 3, we see her berate, disagree and fight with Aang. We also see unparalleled trust between them: trusting one another with their backs, trusting each other to protect and fight.
Also, Toph was usually the first person to understand Aang's perspective. Such as, when he through the party in the cave for the fire-nation children, she was the first to congratulate him and the only one not to object his thoughts. Also, Aang was contemplating bringing Zuko in as his fire bending mentor, and whilst Sokka and Katara disagreeded vehemently, Toph understood him.
Despite their opposing elements, Toph and Aang complimented and understood one another like no one could.
Toph allowed Aang to be a child without forgetting of his impending destiny. They goofed around, laughed, scammed, stole and trained together. It's here we see Aang truly as just himself. Just Aang.
And that's all he's ever been to Toph. He's always been just Aang. Twinktletoes.
And, that is proved with Toph regarding Aang by his infamous nickname or just his name. Nothing more.
So, when they force Toph to call Aang 'Avatar' you're creating a distance between them and severing all that history, their shared understanding and respect, for what? The scene would have carried itself just the same if she had said Aang. Yet, Bryke felt the need to butcher even that.
Does this even make sense? Probably not.
Just had to get it out of my system.
Also, on a note a missed opportunities. The animators really made Toph and Aang look like THAT and not have them be together. The missed opoortunies for their joint levels of power couple.
