#not necessarily anti azula but definitely anti azula stans

[sokkabaddiebender2021]

Ok this might honestly be a rant but I gotta get it out here: being a victim doesn’t automatically mean you can’t hurt other people.

Yes this is in relation to Azula. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that she is an abuser, but emotional manipulation is still pretty damn bad.

Now Azula is what I’d call a tragic character. Tragic characters, in their design, are made to make you feel sympathy for them because of something awful that did/is happening to them. What people miss is that, just because of this, it doesn’t inherently excuse the character’s actions and/or make them a better person. They still have done bad things, and they still have definitely mistreated another character in some way.

People seem to forget this with Azula. Yes, Azula is an abuse victim who has been groomed by her father who quite frankly, is a piece of shit. Me and almost everyone (other then people who just absolutely hate her) feel a lot of sympathy for Azula. But just because of this, I refuse to excuse the things she’s done.

Now pretty much every Azula apologist says “she was 14, she did nothing wrong 🥺.” Yes, she was 14, but she did know right from wrong. She knew when she hurt other people (I might have said in the past that she was an actual psychopath but I will concede that I was wrong). Easy example: when she felt bad for basically sl*t shaming Ty Lee. The problem here is that people think that “look! This makes Azula a good person!!” No, she still treats people like crap. She threatened to physically harm Ty Lee and manipulated her into joining her group. She consistenty belittles Zuko and takes joy in seeing him suffer (I get it that it’s because of the golden/scrap goat child complex, that doesn’t mean it’s not fucked up of her to taunt him about their father wanting to kill him, watch pleasantly as he lost half his face, and try to murder him all with a smile on her face). Feeling happy when someone suffers just because you succeed as a result is still wrong.

Speaking of Zuko, many people also in their attempt to justify Azula’s actions because of the abuse she endured completely invalidate Zuko’s own trauma. People will say that Zuko had it better then Azula because he had Iroh and his mother, as if he also wasn’t dealing with a parent who legitimately hated his very existence (i also saw someone straight up say Azula didn’t get raised in a good household like Zuko did). Comparing people’s abuse/trauma is super shitty, because both Azula and Zuko went through horrible things that no child should go through, but it was in their response to it that was different. At the end of the day and all the in between, Zuko chose to do better and be a better person, Azula did not. Other then that one rare occasion with ty lee at the beach party (even note here, Azula didn’t even actually apologize, another example of people being fine with the bare minimum), Azula does not feel bad for hurting others, but Zuko does. Is it because of a difference in how they were brought up? Of course it is, but if you made the excuse for someone being the way they were because of how they were raised, then you would be excusing many MANY horrible people.

My main point is that it’s natural to feel sympathy for a character who hasn’t had the best life. It’s how they’re written. But the problem lies in that people often twist this sympathy into justifying the character no matter what, even though the character consistently does bad things with little to no remorse. This is why Zuko is so important, because while it is explained why he is the way he is, it isn’t justified. He still has bad things, but he eventually realizes his wrongdoing and makes it up to the people he hurt. He proves time and time again that he is actively working on being a better person, Azula does not. Both have tragic backstories, but both are very different in their actions as a result.

Because, we don’t choose our backstories, but we can choose to be good people, even if that means a little extra work.

[soranis-sunshadow]

A lot of the hordak, entrapta, and entrapdak antis I've come across have been super fans of catra and glimmer to the point I'm actually starting to like those characters less and less by association, does this ever happen to you? Not necessarily with these characters in particular, but just in general.

There are days when I encounter a particularly bratty Catra or Glimmer super fan that insists on misunderstanding literally every aspect of all of SPOP's characters' arcs (including the ones they claim to like). It's particularly annoying when they miss the glaring parallels between these characters and the one they loathe because of puritanism and fandom activism. It's usually because they dismiss the actions of their faves while inventing headcanons about the one they hate and treat those as canon.

To make matters worse, some of them are villain fans, so long as those villains are women. (because uwu women do no wrong and are always oppressed while men are always the oppressors)

It's ( hilariously obtuse when they hate Hordak for colonization (the correct name for his crime is conquest, he's a warmonger) but they worship Azula an in-show colonizer. They accuse him of fascism but they are staunch Kuvira stans.

These stans have a fandom vision of Catra that is pure and innocent and has never done a wrong thing in her life and...I don't like that version of Catra, the one that is a weak victim with no agency.

The Catra in the show is driven, ambitious and ruthless. She will mow down everyone who gets in her way. I'm a sucker for Determinator tropes. (it's why i'm a Hordak fan- he's even more of a determinator)

Denying Catra's outbursts, her mistakes, her emulating Shadow Weaver because she wanted to please the woman and she wanted to achieve success according to the only definition of success she had.. that robs her of everything that makes her Catra!

I try my best not to let these people's views of the characters taint my own. I like the canon version of Catra, I don't know who the fanon version is. Maybe a Catra lookalike. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The same goes for Glimmer! She is the sparkly princess that wakes every day and choses violence XD

Ah, jokes aside, Glimmer had some very big shoes to fill and Shadow Weaver is a very skilled manipulator. She is exceptional at grooming young impressionable minds. Glimmer was very vulnerable because of the loss of her mother and the pressures of ruling coupled with the feeing that she is not doing enough to win the war.

Her mistake is huge, but it's understandable in the context.

In short, I already have my own opinions about these characters.

Interacting with the virulent antis just makes me enjoy talking about these characters less, I still enjoy them for myself.

Hope that's a satisfying answer.

[whattheheehaw]

Hi can I vent to you, feel free to ignore this if you want but Have you noticed how there are a lot of zkka shippers who are all for s0kka and/or zuk0 being bi until it comes to them being with women? Deadass I feel some people only make s0kka bi just so he can be with z0k0 but just...ignore his attraction to women. Not to mention the utter hypocrisy zkka shippers have with ztara ,It's the biphobia and misogyny for me

Yeah, I’ve definitely noticed the biphobia and the misogyny in the newer Zukka shippers. 

A lot of people don’t know this, but when I was new to the A:TLA fandom, I used to spend some time lurking in the Zukka tag, liking posts here and there. I thought the ship was cute (still do) and I liked the content that was in the tag. I loved seeing bi Zuko and bi Sokka headcanons and I loved the fact that Zukka shippers called them bicons. However, some of the same people that claimed Zukka was “bi rights” didn’t share that same energy when Zuko and/or Sokka were paired with women. I started to see more takes that claimed Maiko and Sukka were both results of compulsory heterosexuality, and not a reflection of the boys’ bisexuality. 

Why can’t Zuko and Sokka love and date women? If they’re bi, that means that they’re attracted to both men and women. Using comphet as a reason why a certain ship doesn’t work out, especially when you headcanon the character(s) in that ship to be bi, just reeks of biphobia. Sokka and Zuko were both shown to initiate and enjoy kissing and hugging their girlfriends. They were even implied to have sex with their girlfriends. So why, for the love of God, is this part of their lives described as “compulsory heterosexuality”? I would say that if you’re just going to label Zuko’s and Sokka’s het relationships as “comphet”, just go ahead and headcanon them as gay, however, that would also completely disregard their romantic feelings for their girlfriends in those het relationships. Either way, the treatment of het relationships by the Zukka fandom makes me uncomfortable.

This was the first major red flag I ever received from the Zukka fandom and their perception of bisexuals in heterosexual relationships. And I feel like this mentality is also a reflection of what many people believe about bisexuals as well.

The next red flag I got from the Zukka fandom was a post which contained a “Zuko would fight anyone that called him straight or bi” headcanon. Like, no? Just, please God no. That headcanon itself is biphobia wrapped up in a pretty little bow, and the fact that that post got so many reblogs and likes left a very bad taste in my mouth. Zuko would never attack someone for getting his sexuality wrong? And I don’t even understand why being mistaken as bi or straight is necessarily a bad thing? I mean, if someone made an honest mistake and got my sexuality wrong, I would just politely correct them about it. And I honestly don’t think that sexuality is a huge part of either Zuko’s or Sokka’s personalities if I’m being honest, so I don’t understand why either of them would get offended to the point of attacking someone over it. 

Also, it’s quite concerning that a decent portion of the Zukka fandom consists of members of the LGBTQ+ community and come up with these biphobic headcanons, but that’s a discussion for another time.

Another thing that I observed about the Zukka fandom was their complete disrespect towards the female characters in A:TLA, namely Katara. A notable member of the Zukka fandom came up with the headcanon that “Katara is homophobic” as a “joke”. And I just don’t think that’s funny. That’s like if I shipped Katara and Azula and called either Zuko or Sokka homophobic. Nobody would be laughing, and I would get canceled. 

Katara is one of the most supporting and accepting characters in the show. Sure, she was hostile at first to Zuko but that was only because his betrayal of her trust created a personal grudge between them. And even though some people use the “Katara is a homophobe” headcanon as a joke, it doesn’t help anyone. Society should progress past the point of viewing homophobia as funny if it truly wants to become anti homophobic and more accepting and supportive of the LGBTQ+ community. 

Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that a portion of the Zukka fandom has this headcanon so that Katara won’t be able to interfere in Zuko and Sokka’s relationship. Since Zutara was—is—the most popular Zuko ship for over 10 years, I guess some Zukka shippers felt like they needed to make up some reason for why Zutara wouldn’t work out, or even be close as friends.

In addition, I think that when the Zukka fandom gets criticized and called out on this misogynistic behavior, they like to cling to Suki and call her their favorite character and an icon, etc. to prove that they don’t hate women. Some Zukka shippers even started adding Suki to their ship, creating Zukki. However, since Zukki is usually a by-product of Zukka, this ship almost always ends up being Zukka and Suki instead of Zuko, Sokka, and Suki in an equal and balanced relationship. And while there isn’t anything wrong with stanning Suki and calling her your fave (I mean, who wouldn’t?) I do find it a strange choice considering that she doesn’t have much characterization within the show. Perhaps it’s because people can take Suki’s character and mold it into whatever they want? I don’t know.

But anyways, this ask is getting long and if you want to read more of my thoughts about misogyny in the Zukka fandom (i.e. the homophobic!Katara headcanon and the swapping of Sokka for Katara in some Zukka content), you can read this post here.