Avatar the Last Airbender

Went on a nostalgia trip and started binge-watching Avatar the Last Airbender again.

For so many many reasons, Aang was - or rather, is - my favourite character of the show.

I get that some people don't like him, and that some people find him annoying. I get it, I understand it, and I'm not going to force anyone to like him.

But what bugs me is when people comment on his age, use it as proof for his so-called "immaturity". He's too young for Katara not because of his personality, or anything he's actually done, but because he's... *gasp* twelve.

Apparently, for such people, a 12 year-old is old enough to master all four elements, defeat the Fire Lord, and bring peace to the world, but not old enough to love a girl only 2 years older than him.

Watching the series again, I shall reaffirm without hesitation that as much as every character has laid stakes on my little fangirl heart (with the exception of Combustion Man), Aang's stake is undeniably the largest. He's so different from other protagonists I've seen from other shows. Aang was a character who had as many flaws as he has commendable qualities.He wasn't a brooding, anguished kid, but he wasn't a naive, goofy kid either. He's made mistakes, he carries around his brand of shame and guilt; but instead of letting it weigh him down, he turns it into motivation for helping others, for helping the world.

He has seen the world in all its ugliness and brokenness, but yet possesses the courage, the audacity, to smile, to laugh, and to cling onto the good and the beauty.


#seriousfangirlposts