This Is Everything I've Never Been Able To Find The Words To Say Every Time Some Asshole Tells Me Kids

This is everything I've never been able to find the words to say every time some asshole tells me kids in shows shouldn't be shipped, because kids in my kindergarten class, in fucking KINDERGARTEN, had crushes!

Shipping doesn't have to be inherently sexual, stop assuming it always is. And kids can have crushes, kids can have complicated thoughts and complex relationships, kids can be smart (we only assume they aren't because they haven't had the opportunity to absorb as much information as we have). Let kids be HUMAN, stop assuming they are lesser and that they can't be just as fun to talk to (or that you can't be friends with someone younger because that's Creepy, which yeah there are Creeps, but you can also appreciate what someone younger than you has to say, and you can help push them in the right direction to becoming a better person :c).

It always messes with me that I went from shipping people my age, to now, people thinking it odd I ship them because I'm older, but I started shipping them when I was that age. And knowing how important it was for me to see those types of relationships, and conflicts and characters reaching mutual understandings- just let people be. Just let them enjoy things because it's more than just "kids" or "ships".

(I won't start in on the "just friends", because I've been repetitive enough as is, I'm just glad I got to read your response, since I felt a little shut down when I first read the ask)

Aro culture is not participating in Avatar: The Last Airbender shipping discourse bc honestly? They're just kids and they'd be better off just friends

... wait there’s actual discourse? man do i follow the right people then. all i get is like, “each ship has valid points but really most would be a train wreck”. however.

I do not support the idea that “they’re just kids and they’d be better off just friends” for a variety of reasons, beginning with phrasing it as “just friends”, like romance is a better form of friendship. i’m answering this rather than posting it as a submission because it actually bothers me quite a bit. this is NOT directed at you as a submitter. this is directed at the societal ideals behind it.

these shows are made for kids, and the characters are at the ages where most alloros HAVE begun to experience crushes. iirc, Toph is the youngest, and she’s 12, which is actually past when kids in my school began to date by about 3 years. i don’t personally ship any of them, but honestly? i think this is a toxic thought to allow in a-spec spaces. people are allowed to have ships, and kids may not be the most emotionally mature, but they will never know better how to have a respectful relationship with its bumps (because relationships are not going to be perfect and it’s best to depict that and conflict resolution, which atla... does a lot of?) if we refuse to allow them media that includes their age groups interacting respectfully.

as a current adult that started reading fanfiction around the age of 10? I honestly learned a lot more about the inherent messiness of relationships from people shipping the harry potter characters, who were children. I saw people who were only a bit older than me having fights and avoiding each other. but i also saw them discovering that the only way to resolve a conflict was to be emotionally vulnerable if you were the aggressor, and that the person being apologized to didn’t have to accept it. i learned that sometimes, fights occur because neither side understood where the other was coming from, and that placing the “fault” on either side isn’t a perfect yes/no answer.

I learned that my feelings of wanting to avoid conflict were normal, that sometimes people mess up but that it doesn’t have to be the end of a friendship or relationship, and that if someone does mess up again and again without wanting to be better, that was a sign that it’s time to let go, and that’s okay. these were all crucial for me. and, as a bonus, i didn’t have to sit through a lesson by adults who viewed me as totally incompetent pretending to know how I felt.

think about it like sex ed for a second. kids never being shown dating in media is the equivalence of no sex education. kids only being shown in completely perfect relationships is like abstinence only sex ed. kids being shown in relationships via things like fanfiction is like kids learning about sex ed from the internet - yes, it’s not exactly ideal, and it’s rife with misinformation, but goddamn it, sometimes it’s all we had, especially as a queer individual.

overall: two main phrases here that i hate. “just friends” and “just kids”. both imply a sense of being “less”. just friends disrespects non-romantic relationships. just kids disrespects the fact that kids have feelings too, and that we treat children dating like its a given without teaching them healthy boundaries (and then act surprised when the rates of abuse in teenage relationships is high). so. i don’t like this submission.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

A GOOD GIRL!!!! THE BE S T

@asteraes-aster

I took a long time debating what starters I wanted. I definitely wanted two that I could draw this time.

My first two were a vulpix and bulbasaur, both of which pokemon I struggle to draw :'3 So these were some doodles I made of the ones I liked!

(Below is another sad attempt of my old duo)

things i look for in a person

really strong

blunt

blank facial expression

likes food

wants to be a hero

wears a yellow jumpsuit

bald

saitama

i want saitama

Please consider:

Lots of Zuko's friends treat them (him? Or is this trans Zuko-) differently after the transition. Katara tries to do "girls night" (kind of like when she took Toph to a spa!) and Toph asks weird questions about how it feels (terrible, obviously, but Toph wants to know what the physical difference is like and answering honestly feels invasive). Aang is polite and mostly the same, though he does ask if Zuko prefers she/her pronouns now, too (and what his opinion is on starting a family,,, like this. Which is just ANOTHER thing to worry about, having an heir for the throne. Yay.)

Everyone acts differently. Not negatively, but differently. And all of it makes Zuko feel wrong, question who he is, and what he's suppose to do now.

Except Sokka.

Sokka doesn't ask invasive questions (I mean c'mon,,,, he had a little sister, trust me he knows a decent amount about what Zuko is going through). Sokka doesn't push Zuko into ruts where he worries about his body, or his future, or being good enough. By now Sokka has chugged tons of Respecting Women Juice, he knows that Zuko's body doesn't define him or what he can do.

Zuko is more than his body.

Sokka knows this. He isn't shy about asking Zuko if he's alright, he doesn't get weirded out when Zuko gets stressed or rants about all the things weighing on his mind. (If anything he encourages Zuko talking about it!) Zuko is only human and this is such a weird situation and even if he doesn't get it, he gets it.

And Zuko always knew Sokka was smart, that he was strong in his own ways.

But now Sokka is someone Zuko leans on, someone he confides in. Now Zuko asks Sokka for advice, now Sokka is strong for Zuko. It not only reminds Zuko of all of Sokka's good qualities, it reinforces them.

Sokka is kind behind closed doors, when there's no one but him and Zuko. Sokka is kind for no reason other than he wants to be.

Sokka notices things about Zuko that Zuko didn't even realize, and he talks to Zuko about it. He's attentive and doesn't avoid things just because it won't benefit him.

And Zuko doesn't like Sokka because "he's a girl now". He likes Sokka because when Zuko was vulnerable, Sokka was the only person that made him feel like him again. (And,,, well, Sokka liked Zuko regardless of gender, not that he'd admit that to anyone else.)

(Sorry it's OOC, I just like the idea of angst and someone appreciating how reliable Sokka is!!! :'3)

dumb fanfic idea: post atla zuko pisses off a spirit and gets turned into a girl for a while. the crew never thought he could have a worse temper

There's no shortage of noblemen and noblewomen vying for Zuko's attention—be it in search of power, prestige, or otherwise.

After hearing about his nephew's (niece's?) predicament, Iroh comes back to the Fire Nation.

Because, now, he has to protect Zuko's honor.

(Part 1/2)