*annoying nerd voice* i think one of the problems with atla fanfic and also part of what inflames fandom sentiment against aang is people’s refusal to or inability to engage the spiritual dimensions of the avatarverse. people have all these deep insights into various characters and a great handle on relationship dynamics but they ignore the spiritual elements of the universe or downplay them to an unrealistic extreme. it’s why so many people miss the importance of aang’s scenes in “the phoenix king” as he sits apart from his friends who are all urging him to take ozai out. aang points out that he can’t just kill people he disapproves of, inferring that as avatar his duty is to something greater than political triumphs and the will of the different nations, and that none of them can grasp the scope of that responsibility. but so much of the fandom dismisses aang’s arguments because they’re deeply empathetic with the other characters to the point where they see the avatar as existing to help them, rather than them helping the avatar so he can help everyone - which is what aang does by disarming ozai and letting the fire nation (led by zuko) to decide its own fate. within the context of the avatarverse, this is precisely why the avatar exists - to create balance so that people can make their own choices free from tryanny or the threat of obliteration. aang killing ozai would have had terrible political as well as spiritual consequences, because it would’ve dislodged aang as a peacekeeper and made him a weapon that people close to him can deploy. it would’ve resulted in yet another supremely unbalanced outcome. and as a sidenote, people love to cite kyoshi as an avatar who did what they perceive aang being too weak to, but she didn’t actually strike the killing blow against chin. in fact her first move was divestment - using her mighty avatar powers to separate kyoshi island from the mainland so chin couldn’t invade it. in the avatarverse, the avatar has to always see the bigger picture, spiritually speaking. that so many fans remain infuriated by the story decision to have aang end the war by stripping ozai of bending is exactly why it shouldn’t have happened any other way. tldr: a lot of y’all miss the point cuz of petty fandom wars.
