#also the reason this is a textpost rather than an askpost is that im dumb and accidentally posted it early FJGFJG

[sokkagatekeeper]

@kyoshialone asked: this ask is asking u to make the post about ur thoughts on how the characters ppl stan affect how they view all of atla ? :)

ok so this is in reference to me saying that i've realized that i have a categorization system for atla fans in my head that is based on which character they stan because oh god have i spent too much time reading bad atla takes out of morbid fascination (and yes i have seen every single one of these takes at least once with my own two eyes). this isn't necessarily gonna line up with who someone's favorite character actually is (if the shoe doesn't fit, don't wear it), and it definitely doesn't line up with how much i love each character, but these are sets of beliefs that i associate with people who describe themselves as “stans” of certain characters.

disclaimer that this is (obviously) gonna be reductive and prescriptive. there are many common bad atla takes that i'm leaving out, but. god. i don't hate myself enough to be fully comprehensive with this. & i'm limiting it to atla tumblr, not other places where fandom exists; fortunately i have not observed enough fandom on other sites to have a good sense of how they differ from tumblr (i have blocked the few months i spent on atla tiktok out of my mind. also no one uses tumblr lmfao it's easier to do this with a site that has a small userbase). under the cut because it's time to offend every single atla fan in one post let's do it.

wait one more thing: don't rb this pls and thank u <3 i am genuinely not trying to be mean or start drama; i'm just complaining about bad interpretations to my followers who i assume already at least mostly agree with me. if i were to make a genuine effort to change atla fandom culture i wouldn't go about it like this lmao

sokka stans: the best atla fans no notes 👍 (like i said, this whole thing is kinda prescriptive. the idea of a “sokka stan” in this sense is somewhat defined by having good takes. but still, almost everyone whose atla opinions i fully agree with considers themself a sokka stan, so.)

katara stans: people who (incorrectly) believe that claiming that katara was always responsible, rational, and considerate is a good way of engaging with her character. momtara truthers. zutara shippers who believe that shipping katara with zuko is somehow liberatory for her. also probably think that katara is bi (which isn't inherently bad like the other things, but it is annoying 2 me, and sometimes people talk about katara being bi in ways that set of sirens in my brain.)

zuko stans: “aang critical” people. do i even need to say more. actually i will say more. some of these people's stellar (/s) takes include that: katara should've ended up with zuko because zuko is better than aang; aang was weak/selfish/immature for not wanting to kill ozai; aang was given a deus ex machina solution (because the writers loved him too much to have him grow as a character); in the southern raiders, aang was being immature and trying to force his beliefs onto katara. and more!

suki stans: ok there are two subcategories here. first is people (who usually ship zukka) who “stan” suki by reducing her to a badass amazing bi girl with very little depth, who has a girlfriend with similar amounts of depth. the second is people who are actually interested in exploring and expanding upon suki's character, who usually are actually invested in sukka (as opposed to how everyone else recognizes that sukka is a good ship but don't really care about it). that second group is cool. i am not one of them but they're great.

toph stans: do toph stans....... exist??

aang stans: ok aang stans are honestly the most fascinating group of people in all of atla fandom because they often have very interesting and insightful takes on aang (if i see a good aang take on my dash that wasn't written by someone i follow, 9 times out of 10 it was written by an aang stan) and they generally understand most of the characters (except for sokka they don't understand sokka at all, which makes sense because these people are so invested in aang as the thematic lead of the show that they think that the fact that sokka's philosophy on... basically everything contradicts aang's philosophy means that sokka is wrong, which. in reality, sokka and aang are both correct in different ways. anyway.), but then they'll also say absolutely batshit things like that the more people you ship aang with, even if these people are far too old for him or entirely romantically incompatible with him, the more you love aang. it just baffles me how people say with their whole chests that the 12-year-old and the 16-year-old should kiss. also they (from what i've seen, and also i think this is mostly a reaction to the aforementioned zuko stans) will defend every single writing choice made in atla. i mean, i think atla is a very well-written show but... it does have flaws..... which brings me to:

jet stans: ok like. jet stans have their hearts in the right place. they often have very good ideas. they're rarely, if ever, overtly racist or misogynistic (which is unfortunately more than can be said for most of atla fandom). they care a lot about being critical of atla, which of course is good, except that these (mostly teenagers, not adults tbf) often seem to think that “be critical of the media you consume” means “nitpick and try to find flaws that don't exist, largely for the sake of woke points,” when it really means “critically engage with the text,” something that many of them don't really do. i tend to see well-intentioned but ultimately pretty myopic takes coming from jet stans.

azula stans: where to start.... azula stans usually misunderstand azula's character (in that like... they idealize her in a way that is so contradictory to the themes of her arc. for example, when they say that she's a more powerful firebender than zuko, they're sort of right, but the way that they act as if being a better firebender has moral value is. pretty much exactly the reason why azula had a breakdown lol), minimize her contributions to the fire nation's imperialism (we all remember the pacifist azula essay, and also the way that they often act as if being abused excuses her from responsibility as if ozai turning his daughter into a weapon wasn't itself a form of abuse), misunderstand ty lee's character (by which i mean. the entirety of “tyzula”), act like the concept of “deserving a redemption arc” is a coherent analytical framework (it isn't), refuse to see nuance in ursa, start sentences with “unpopular opinion” (even if the opinion isn't unpopular... like it gets on my nerves more than it should when i see posts like “unpopular opinion: azula wasn't a heartless monster” or “unpopular opinion: zuko was a shitty brother” like... yeah... most people agree with you there....), and misunderstand zuko and azula's relationship (i've literally seen takes about how azula kept trying to mend their relationship and was kind to zuko in ways that he never was to her.... lol. i mean not that zuko was a good brother but. they were both shitty.)

ty lee stans: uhh i don't really see many ty lee stans but if you actually understand ty lee's character i am very likely to trust your opinions on atla in general.

mai stans: people who would make maiko amvs set to mitski's “me and my husband,” because they ship maiko. unfortunately. yes i have in fact seen at least one m&mh maiko edit made in support of maiko. tiktok is a dark place. to be clear, mai stans do actually care about mai, and, unlike most atla fans, understand that mai is an extremely nice & kind person but... they do not show their love for her in good ways. imo.

and again, don't reblog this. as always, good faith criticism is welcome. love and light to you all <3

#i didn't fully explain everything so if u want to clarify anything u can ask but. i did not want to make this even longer lmao #ANYWAY . why did i decide to write all this out & more important why do i have the ability to write all this out #it's not a good thing. sigh #asks #kyoshialone #* #s #<- though to be clear nour did endorse this post #also the reason this is a textpost rather than an askpost is that im dumb and accidentally posted it early FJGFJG #and i copy pasted it back into drafts. which meant that the ask itself was lost but no big deal #god i rly feel so arrogant & insufferable posting this. don't like that.. anyway. #note i think toph stans are like... t0kka enthusiasts. which. hmmm #-n #OH Ya good point nour