#kataag

[onedollopofsourcream]

if bending was real, which element would you want to bend?

air

water

earth

fire

nah im gonna be a nonbender

other

Voting ended onJun 1, 2025

[lucyskywalker]

ATLA is the only fandom I know, that the shippers don't fight each others, or make nasty shipping wars hating on the romantic rival, because everyone loves all the characters, and we know each one of them deserves the whole world.

The best exemple: Zutara and Kataang.

The shippers are like: Katara deserves happiness, Aang deserves happiness, Zuko deserves happiness. If you are a Kataang, you don't hate on Zuko, if you are a Zutara you don't hate on Aang. That is the law, guys. That is the law.

[rubylioness]

Now tell me why I ended up creating part of a Zutara crack edit with “Fkn Around” playing in the background in my head rn...? 🥴

[loopy777]

Hey Loopy! sorry if I seem to ask so much. There's few people in this fandom make sense. You said Maiko has bad pacing and stumbling development (which I observed too, and I agree). But what do you think of Kataang? I don't like how Katara only being attached to Aang’s hip, and how he completely forget about her in the Rift. Do you think the they got weaker and shallower? (regarding writing of course not the nature of the ship)

No problem, I like getting Asks. Although, if I’m one of only a handful of fans making sense, it’s probably worth asking if we’re all going crazy. As a wise Jedi once said, “If one guy calls you a Hutt, ignore him. If a second guy calls you a Hutt, begin to wonder. If a third guy calls you a Hutt, buy a drool bucket and start stockpiling spice.”

As for Kataang, I don’t think of it much. It was fairly straightforward in the cartoon, although I think it really suffered for the storytellers’ desire to try to throw a little doubt into the outcome for the latter half of Book Fire. Katara’s confusion was never really explained, and the resolution consisted only of seeing Aang as a fully realized Avatar on a stage. So the implication was that he needed to metaphorically Come Of Age in order to catch her eye, but wasn’t that resolved back in The Fortuneteller when she realized he was a possible romantic partner who matched Aunt Wu’s prophecy?

Really, it would have just been better to cut the ambiguously-received kiss from The Day of Black Sun, and cut the faux-conflict from The Ember Island Players. Leave Kataang as that simmering crush that they spontaneously decided to act on in the final scene. Bam, heartwarming accomplished. Cue applause. I would have been perfectly satisfied with that.

As for Kataang’s depiction in the comics, I wouldn’t say it’s any weaker or shallower than anything else. (Faint praise!) The Promise at least gave it focus, as well as a conflict that was no more arbitrary than Roku’s sudden racism. Katara was characterized well through most of that subplot (except for where she apologized for feeling bad but not making a fuss after the Culture-Appropriating Aang-Fangirls outright told her that they were going to try to seduce her boyfriend away from her), pointing out to Aang that racially dividing the whole world was going to put a crimp on their relationship unless he wanted to be a hypocrite. Considering that Aang was a murder-happy fantasy racist, Zuko was a colonization apologist who would reluctantly and sadly kill everyone who didn’t agree with him (so he’d feel right at home on Tumblr), and Toph was her exaggerated fanfiction-self, Katara was probably the most in-character and level-headed person in the entire story.

But I may be forgetting some horrible moments for her. I’ve avoided rereading The Promise for obvious reasons.

The rest of Kataang’s page-presence is, as I recall, just “oogie” moments and the most ill-timed use of terms of endearment in the history of fiction. (”Someone is throwing an axe at my head, sweetie!” Ugh.) Anyone not the focus of the current storyline rarely gets anything to do, but Katara is rightly considered a major character for the franchise, so she just winds up tagging along and acting as muscle. That’s unfortunate, and it makes Kataang look weak as a result, but it’s a problem that could easily be resolved by just coming up with a way for Aang’s extended cast to actually matter to the stories, instead of just filling in fight scenes and exposition conversations.

But hey, the comics haven’t provided any new fuel for Zutara/Taang/Jetara/AangLee speculation, Katara hasn’t tried to murder any of her friends for dumb reasons, and Kataang is shown to be a happy and affectionate relationship. That puts Katara and Kataang as one of the elements best served by the comics. Certainly, it’s doing better than Maiko and Sukka, while Katara has more to do than Suki and appears much more often than Mai.

But then, the Mike and the Bryan have admitted (or was it Gene who admitted it?) that they vetoed Gene’s attempts to add more conflict to Kataang. Let the narrowly averted possibilities of THAT swirl around in your head, the next time you want some Kataang nightmares! XD

[kataangsweeties-blog]

Kataang Proposal Headcanon

 Aang sat next to Appa, a small flower placed behind his ear as he twiddled his fingers around each other in a repetitive motion. It wasn't really that he was ill equipped, more so unskilled. How on earth was he supposed to make a betrothal necklace for Katara? He could barely sharpen Sokka's knife last time he asked, which was evidently the last time. And sure, he's stolen Sokka's fishing line many a time to braid Katara some bracelets, and he certainly will braid her hair if she ever asked. But this was different, this had to be perfect, extravagant, the most beautiful thing Katara has ever seen. He was supposed to pour his heart and soul into making this necklace but he just couldn't.

It wasn't that he couldn't give his heart and soul to Katara, no of course, because he already had. It was that he didn't know how. He didn't know how to carve his love into a small necklace. There was too much to fit.

"Aang, what are you doing in here? Dinner's about to start." A voice from the behind him, it rang through Aang's ears and as quick as possible, he wisped away the charm and rope.

"Katara! I'm-" Katara watched as Aang floated up quickly, his face a blush. He patted the ice off his bum, sneaking a peek behind him to make sure the stone was out of sight. "I'm coming, I was just coming."

"Well hurry, Sokka's got an announcement." Katara's smile lite up her face, and she lunged to grab Aang's hand.

Their hands intertwined magically, so quickly as if they were magnetized to each other. It still gave Aang butterflies, the same feeling of when he was 12 and in love, still blushing over the brushing together of their arms. Katara leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. Just like when they were young.

"-Will you go Penguine Sledding with me?!"

"Uh, sure!"

Man, her voice was just as pretty as her face. Aang's cold exterior was warmed by the calming smile of the amazingly beautiful in front of him. Who was she? She looked obviously Water Tribe to him, but, like, wait, where was he? It was cold, there was snow and ice everywhere and well, wait- did he just come out of an iceberg?! He looked around and flew up quickly. The girl was still there, along with a boy. Oh, was he her boyfriend? That would sure suck, a beautiful girl like that belongs with the Avatar- oh. Right.

His head hurt for some reason, what was going on?

"What's going on here?" Aang asked, looking around and softly rubbing the sore spot on his head.

"You tell us that! How'd you get in the ice? Why are you frozen?" This kid the pretty girl was with was quite bitter? Maybe it was all that cold. Then again, those parkas were definitely the way to go.

Just then the guy started poking him, and why? He's not some alien. Aang pushed away the spear, absent mindedly. "I'm not sure.."

Appa's muffling roar came from behind a sheet of ice, hopefully he was okay. Aang ran up the ice and slid down right onto Appa. He was good.

"Appa, you're okay!" Aang's life long friend licked his side. For as long as he remembers it's always been him and Appa, they're a team.

The pretty girl and the nosy boy came around, the looked scared. Have they never seen a flying bison before? They are quite common. Maybe not many Airbenders pass through the Water Tribe. Aang looked back over to the pretty girl. She was- breathtaking. Her hair was pinned in these loops that decorated the outline of her face, her nose was red from cold, as were her cheeks. Her eyes were an icy blue, just as blue as the boy's, but different somehow. She must be a Waterbender, she has the spark.

"What is that thing?!" Yelled the boy, Spirits he was getting annoying.

"This is Appa, my flying bison." Obviously?

"Right. And this is Katara, my flying sister."

Sister! Thank goodness, but- woah, Katara. Katara, it fit. A pretty name for a pretty face. She hadn't said much, so Aang looked over to her, making eye contact. It was hard to break.

Well, he might have to, since Appa sneezed right on the boy. Yikes. Oh, Appa.

"Don't worry, it'll wash out." The boy groaned, he was rubbing himself with snow. Or do that? "Do you guys live around here?"

"Don't answer that!-" Why? "Did you see that crazy bolt of light?" Sorry, it was just the Avatar state. "He was probably trying to signal the Fire Navy!"

WHAT? The Fire Navy? The Fire Nation? Why would they be around? Why would Aang be trying to signal them? It all made his head hurt a little bit more. Katara came over to him, close. His heart beat in his ears.

"Oh, yeah. I'm sure he's a spy for the Fire Navy. You can tell by that evil look in his eye."

Evil..?

"The paranoid one is my brother, Sokka. You never told us your name." Katara moved slowly away, signaling to Sokka.

"I'm Ah-" Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah-

"ACHOOOOO!"

Woah, he got pretty high with that one. Maybe someday he'll learn to control that aspect of being an Airbender, through. He felt himself fall quickly down, Katara and Sokka stared up at him, watching him tumble down.

"I'm Aang." Katara's blue eyes were wide as she stared at the boy, it was intense, she looked frightened, shocked even. But, Airbending, right?

"You just sneezed- And flew 10 feet in the air!" Sokka's jaw was low, his eyes wide like Katara.

"Really? It felt higher than that." Try to impress the lady.

Katara gasped all of a sudden, like a realization hit her. She cupped her hands together, a small smile growing on her face. "You're an Airbender!"

Aang gripped Katara's hand tighter, leaning over to kiss her cheek back. He heard a small giggled escape her lips and he stopped.

Aang pulled Katara close to him and laid his lips on top of hers, softly, gently, and kissed her. He pulled away slowly, looking her in the eye, he kissed her ruby nose.

"Will you go Penguin Sledding with me?" He spoke, her smile grew to a grin. "After dinner, of course?"

"Anything for you, Aang-"

They were harshly interrupted by Haku, Katara's old friend. He bumped into Aang's arm a little too hard, pushing him to the side.

"Aren't you a little old to be Penguin Sledding?" He sneered. "Katara."

Aang furrowed his brow, biting down on his lip, closing his eyes and breathing slowly.

'I will not go all Avatar state on him' Aang's conscious repeated to him.

He looked up to Katara who giggled, covering her mouth as Aang glared. He was 18 for goodness sakes, he wasn't a child. He had already saved the world, what more did he have to do to prove his worth?

Oh, yeah. Be two years older.

"Haku hush up, leave my boyfriend alone."

'Boyfriend.' Aang thinks, 'soon to be fiancé.'

Katara pulled Aang up, stepping on her tip toes she kissed his forehead. Aang smiled softly and they lead each other to the dinner.

"I have an announcement!" Sokka's voice rang out, everyone's eyes moved to meet his figure. His smile was unusually large and he seemed a little too happy. He quickly turned his body towards Suki, who was sitting on his left, and took her hand in his when he knew everyone was watching.

"Suki," He got so serious all of a sudden. Aang looked over to Katara and smiled, taking her hand under the table. "When we first met, I had no idea that only a few months later I would have fallen completely in love with you. You were so intimidating, mysterious. You were so amazing, though. You still are. I never thought a guy like me would ever catch your attention, but here I am, declaring my love for you in front of our closest friends and family. Suki, I love you, so much. And I forgive you for trying to have me killed before you knew Aang was the Avatar, so, will you please marry me?"

Sokka plunged his hand into his parka pocket, and pulled out a lovely betrothal necklace. It had one solid stone in the center, and a small droplet hanging from the bottom. "Pakku helped me, because-"

Suki lunged forward, kissing him hard on his lips. She pulled away, keeping her arms tight around Sokka's shoulders. "Yes, Sokka. Of course I'll marry you."

Aang's stomach was in his throat. Of course he was happy, in fact he was ecstatic to see his best friends so full of joy. But, he was going to propose.

Katara wiped her tears on Aang's robe, sniffling she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I love you, Aang."

As dinner came to a close, everyone congratulated the happy couple. Aang, of course, quickly let himself out of the hut. It was a full moon, the stars were shining bright in the sky, their little spotlights glowing right on his skin. He sat down on an icy patch by the hut, waiting patiently for Katara to come out.

He basked in the warmth of the night, they may be in the South Pole, but tonight was glowing with an unusual warmth.

"Aang, you ready?" Katara whispered, walking ahead of the monk. He raised himself from the ground and moped his way to his lovely girlfriend.

"You remember when we first met we did this." Aang looked over Katara, her skin luminous from the light of the moon.

"Of course, Aang. You don't think I'm that forgetful, do you?" Katara snickered gingerly, taking Aang's hand. "You seem in a mood. What's wrong?"

Aang didn't answer right away, he let them walk further into the night. The snowy ice caps seemed to envelope the village as the distance between them and home grew. Katara patiently waited, knowing her boyfriend, he'll speak up sooner or later.

When they came to the edge of the ice, there were no penguins in sight. A sigh slipped from Aang's lips.

"This was supposed to be our night, but I ruined it." Aang mumbled, sitting down into a pile of snow, he didn't care if he was going to get cold.

"Aang, it's not really your fault the penguins aren't here, it's pretty late." Katara fell to her backside right after him, sitting close, their legs pressed together.

"No, Katara I-" Aang sighed. "I was going to propose to you." Aang bended the snow up and whipped it against an icy wall. "I was going to make you a betrothal necklace, but do you know how hard it is to do that? It's almost impossible. I didn't even know if I should make you one, because of your mother's. But Air Nomads don't have a formal way of proposal, so it was my only option, you know? And Katara, I love you so much. I love you more than I could ever say. I was thinking earlier about the first time we met, I was so smitten with you. Never in a million years then, would I have realized that I would be in this position, now. God, I love you Katara, I wanted this to be perfect, for you, because you're perfect. But now I lost my chance, I mean we can't just get engaged now that Sokka and Suki are, that would be- weird? I don't know." Aang pressed his fingers into his forehead, leaning back.

 "I was planning a speech, I was going to say some dumb stuff about fate and how I think we've fallen in love in every life I've ever had. You are the moon and I am the waves, you are the stars and I am the sky. Some dumb stuff like that." Aang turned over and looked at Katara, she was staring straight ahead. "You are my one and only, my beginning and my end. The reason I saved the world, my forever."

They were silent after that, for the longest time. It seemed like years.

"Yes." Katara's voice was low in volume, but spoke out around Aang's world.

"What?"

"Yes, Aang. Yes, I'll marry you."

[secretsecrettunnel]

Fic Rec: What Gets You Through

20 things Sokka and Toph know that Aang and Katara don't.

Author: ArtemisRae

Pairing: Aang and Katara