#these are common criticisms within other major ships as well namely zukka and zutara and etc etc etc

[listless-brainrot]

i find it pretty odd how people are so willing to discuss how colorism and racism impacts jet’s character and interpretations and how his trauma has affected him in such profound ways and how tragic his entire characterization and arc was wasted and how his legacy is completely trampled on for kicks

yet they aren’t as willing to criticize these things the moment that they pertain to ships.

unfortunately, colorism is pretty inherent with his character due to the narrative and how he is portrayed. he’s villainized and not given a chance at redemption while the imperialists and even his own parent’s murderers are given solid storylines within and out of canon, he is one of the more darker skinned characters in the show and by design he is supposed to be unlikable and “villain-esque”, his drastic motives and actions paint extremism in an inherently negative light and are condemned when other characters have done much worse and have received little to no consequences... i could honestly go on.

these are points brought up again and again by disgruntled fans and are extremely valid criticisms of his character and writing, especially when most of these critiques have been repeated by poc within the fandom.

that’s because these tropes and biases make their way into fandom works, whether you realize it or not.

there are so many pieces of fanart with jet that sexualize him to an uncomfortable degree (i could go on google right now and find a borderline nsfw picture of him even with safesearch on) even though he’s 16-17. there are people who take his smooth personality and use it to characterize him as outright abusive and manipulative. there is a tag on ao3 that explicitly calls him an asshole and has multiple works. there are so many works on that site that make jet out to be a really shitty person (usually by making him a shitty ex) to support a “better” ship, and there are numerous nsfw works that involve him.

these things have repeated, even with the resurgence of the atla in more recent years, and you really can’t blame all of it on canon. there is practically no canon basis for him being outright abusive, even if he did lie to the gaang in his episode. there is practically no basis for him being someone who enjoys violence, even if he does go to extremes with flooding gaipan and breaks into the tea shop to apprehend zuko and iroh. there is practically no canon basis for some of these blatant mischaracterizations, and are instead built upon gross stereotypes and unnecessary vilification, which reinforce the biases.

look, i get it- shipping is a really personal experience. people are very attached to these characters together and apart, and i’m not saying any of this to discourage anyone from creating.

but i do say this to encourage you to be more critical, especially when it comes to characterizations and ships. 

as a poc, seeing so many racist takes on a character i really enjoy makes it hard for me to have a pleasant fandom experience. i would love to really get into some of these ships and enjoy them just as much as everyone else, but because i see this behavior constantly, it’s really deterring and disheartening. 

i know people don’t always intend to have these biases within their works, and re-evaluation and holding yourself accountable isn’t a simple process. but at least recognize some of these tropes in the content you consume and see how it may affect your own perceptions.