#cloud babies

they were not young parents. they didn’t immediately have kids after the war ended. i think it’s unfair to both atla and tlok’s writers to claim that aang and katara were lazy and neglectful with their kids when canonically they were not. yes, the cloud babies had conflicted FEELINGS about how they grew up, but no where in the canon does it explicitly or implicitly state that katara and aang were shit parents, nor does it imply that they didn’t want to raise their kids.

i do think that because the fandom was growing up WITH the shows (myself included), it’s more important than ever to watch how y’all talk about a victim of war and the colonial empire and a victim of genocide deciding to be together versus doing “their duty.”

katara and aang actually did NOT belong to the world. if they did, they wouldn’t have chosen each other in the end. they CHOSE each other bc they truly did believe in the hope of a better future. implying that they made a mistake for either having too many kids or not enough kids is probably one of the most tone deaf things to come out of this fandom.

katara was never a tool to “make peace” between a ravaged and near-death tribe and the former colonial war machine. so no, zutara was never on the table, because katara literally would rather be dead than the new queen of the fire nation.

aang accepted he was the last airbender and thus never started a harem, because he was emotionally intelligent enough to understand even at age twelve that impregnating a thousand willing women still would not bring back his dead countrymen because the genocide happened.

katara and aang choosing each other is revolutionary. they were symbols of both hope and death. ultimately, choosing each other was always going to have consequences bc they were both victims of immense trauma trying to build a life together whilst helping the world, and we saw those consequences in tlok! tenzin was obsessed. kya was resentful. bumi was so lonely, he needed airbending just to feel like he belonged.

but just because their kids grew up to become complex adults didn’t meant kataang made a mistake choosing each other. they chose each other because they loved each other. the cloud babies couldn’t find a common ground because they chose not to. that doesn’t mean their parents failed them. it means that even tho they’re all over the age of fifty, they never let themselves mature long enough to find common ground. you can be mad the cloud babies genuinely did not like each other, but don’t be mad at two survivors of a hundred year conflict choosing to be together versus selling their bodies for duty and sacrifice. TENZIN sold his body to what he perceived was duty to airbending. BUMI sold his body to what he perceived was duty to the military. kya ran most of her life, and still went home to look after her mother despite all the resentment in her heart for being tied down.