If I May I Would Like To Offer My Own Take On The Subject. And I Pinky Promise To Do So In A Respectful

If I may I would like to offer my own take on the subject. And I pinky promise to do so in a respectful way because being rude is rude. I would disagree that none of the characters are mature enough for romantic relationships. Tho imo the bigger thing to me is that they're ready to be in romantic relationships and I will explain what I mean by that. Zuko, Katara, Sokka, and Suki are by the end of the show in a place where they could have healthy romantic relationships that are balanced and equal. Whether that's with anyone I just named (except Sokka/Katara we're not Targaryens here) or with anyone else, I think healthy relationships can be had there. I think they are ready to be in a relationship. Because I personally think that to be in a romantic relationship you do need to be ready for one. You need to be able to put your partner's needs before your own. You need to be able to see them and accept them for who they are rather than who you want them to be. You need to be able to communicate and open up to them. You need to be able to lean on them and be someone they can lean on. Friendships can work without all these factors. The friend you can goof off with and get into hijinks isn't always the one you can bear your heart to. But romantic relationships absolutely need these things to be able to function properly

I'll use Zuko and Sokka as examples since we see them in stages where they aren't really ready for a relationship. In the first half of season three we see Zuko as a pissed off miserable prick who's pretty rude to Mai while they're dating. He is not someone who is ready to be in a relationship because he has too many of his own issues to deal with. He's inattentive, can't communicate, and he can't put his own problems aside for the sake of his relationship. As for Sokka, during the Serpent's Pass episode he is controlling and constantly putting his feelings ahead of Suki's and her needs. This is because of his grief from losing Yue. But by the end of the episode through his conversations with the other characters including Suki, he becomes someone who is ready to be in a romantic relationship with Suki. They kinda speedrun this bit of character growth for him but TV show so it's fine.

Now I want to stress something important here: THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH NOT BEING READY FOR A RELATIONSHIP. We all go through things that make it so we can't be the best romantic partner possible for the other person. In the case of Sokka and Zuko this is grief and personal trauma respectively. And we do not start out with the emotional maturity to be the best romantic partner possible. We learn. We grow. We (hopefully) become better people over time. And in the process we can become someone who is able to partake in one of if not the highest level of human intimacy.

With all that said I will now address Aang. I don't believe he is ready to be in a relationship because while he definitely lacks some emotional maturity, the bigger issues are in my opinion that Aang is unable to put Katara's feelings ahead of his own (EIP kissing Katara after she gave voice to her uncertain feelings about a possible relationship with him) and the fact that he views Katara as the person he wants her to be rather than the person she is. Aang sees Katara as an almost angelic figure. Holding her on a pedestal, a new love to replace the love he lost and he outright refuses to see any evidence to the contrary. This is not conducive to a healthy relationship and even if Aang was 25, if this was his mindset I'd still say he's not ready to be in a romantic relationship. Let me restate: THIS IS NOT A BAD THING. Aang is twelve. Most twelve year olds aren't ready for romantic relationships. I have no doubt that with time and the chance to learn and grow, Aang would become a very loving and attentive boyfriend/husband to whomever he chose to spend his life with whenever it's with Katara or anyone else

Anyway these are just my thoughts. I think it can be an interesting conversation when people aren't being dicks about it (looking at everyone not just the people you yes you reading this long ass post don't like)

"Aang is not mature enough for romantic relationships..."

Nobody of the Gaang and adjacent characters of AtLA are mature enough for romantic relationships. There are days I am not sure Uncle Iroh is mature enough for a romantic relationship.

That doesn’t mean nobody should engage in any kind of romantic relationships without passing a maturity test first. Or even reaching a set age. In the morning of the eighteenth birthday humans don’t get all the adult knowledge downloaded in their brains.

Relationships – romantic, familial, friendly and everything in between are a part of the human experience. They happen not because we are mature enough, but because we are human. We just deal with them differently and often better when we mature enough.

And yes, I remember that they are fictional characters, and nothing “just happens” to them. But they are not in a morality play that’s supposed to give viewers pre-chewed, easily digestible answers to all the problems in a sweet wholesome wrapper.

Inside their world they are alive, and that’s why we love them so much. Writers throw problems and feelings, and people, and accidents at them and we watch how they deal with them, mature or not.

They are not mature enough to fight in a war, let alone be responsible for stopping it, yet they do, and we cheer them up and feel heartbroken for them. They are not mature enough to have romantic relationships, yet they fall in love and try to figure out their way about it.

Fucking FACTS. I don't believe Aang was doing any of this on purpose and he does get a little leeway because he's a twelve year old (a little not a lot) but at the same time his actions prove that he just wasn't ready for a relationship. And I totally agree people shouldn't need to talk themselves up or come around to a relationship. Either you like someone or you don't. And that just wouldn't be fair to either party

If a woman has to "come around" and be convinced (coerced) into "giving you a chance", and there's an inherent power dynamic in that you have catastrophic world ending powers and a penchant for irresponsibility, explosive reactions to negative stimuli, selfishness, AND running away from or glazing over conflict-- not to mention basically God-King status over the entire world?

That's not a choice. That's an "I won't take no for an answer" and "we'll laugh about this someday, sweetie, I promise."

okay bear with me here but i went to illinois last week and one part of the experience has stuck with me

this is, of course, ignoring things like current weather, time of day, your current ability to physically go outside, etc…. answer based on what you consider would be your optimal mountain viewing conditions on a day to day basis 👍

Tbh this is why I consider him the winner of season three and his conflict with Coulson. He brought Coulson low and forced him to realize that Coulson wasn't any better. Ward was looking for a way out anyway and he used his own death to prove his point that Coulson wasn't the hero he presented himself as

Grant Ward deserved to know a life free of pain and manipulation. Even in death, he suffered. Everyone treated him like a punching bag instead of realizing the true problem and seeing that he was a mentally ill man that had been brainwashed.

He deserved happiness and instead aos continued to shit on him just so the "heroes" could look better at the end of the day.

My only complaint is that post breakup angst turned into awkward trying to be friends too quickly. Let Callum be upset Rayla left. Let Rayla angst about giving Callum up for revenge

✮⋆˙ “It was always her” ⋆｡°✩