#...I'm gonna stay over here in my They Are Children gen corner thanks

[muffinlance]

Do u like any atla ships in particular? like zukka?

I greatly prefer Gen and friendship over ships, especially with the ages of the characters--there is no reason for these Actual Babies™ to be getting into lifelong commitments, that isn't how romance works.

But one quickly runs out of Gen options, so I read all ships equally searching for plot gems. And I do mean all ships, they are all equally (un)appealing to my ace brain and therefore I skim over The Sex and look for plot potential.

Gonna just talk about Zuko ships 'cause y'all know where my heart is. My ship impressions, in order of increasing rarity:

Zutara -- a solid default ship. Pairs with any plotline. Wide range of writers. Come for the initial enemies-to-lovers drama, stay for the complementary and mutually supportive relationship. Can get troublesome in some of the written-before-Zuko's-personality-became-clear fics, and/or some capture fics. Special mention to Enslaved for being a Zuko gets captured fic, and a ridiculously good exploration of a realistic Water Tribe culture to boot.

Zukka -- smaller selection, double the fluff, and with an abundance of Ba Sing Se teashop AUs. That is not a complaint, that is my happy place. Stories tend to have greater baseline humor, and get more quickly to the Awkward Turtleduck center of their Zuko-pop. This is the Good Feels ship.

Jetko -- WHO LIKES DRAMA BOYS. (...I like drama boys.) Almost always Ba Sing Se fics, for obvious reasons. I like that writers generally treat this as exactly as unhealthy as it is, and usually then focus on growing both boys to better mindsets. This is the only ship where the writers might have one or the other of the boys Dump His Ass by the end, which actually makes it one of the most age-realistic relationships.

Maiko -- Is generally set post-season-three, which is a class of fics I generally don't read due to personal preferences (I really like mid-show drama, I make no apologies). AKA I have so little impression of this ship I almost forgot to include it. Don't hate it, but don't seek it out.

Toko -- I associate this ship largely with unfinished dead fics and the need to make it about romance rather than friendship at the last minute. Embers turning into Toko in, like, the last chapter was my first intro to the ship, and the trend of "let's have them be awesome buddies for many chapters (but they're totally gonna Do It when they're older) seems to persist across many fics. I continue to be unimpressed by people assuming romance adds more to a story than a solid friendship, but that's more a societal complaint than the fault of this ship.

Aang/Zuko, whatever the ship name is -- Generally integrates the relationship more than Toko, at least, but is mostly just a plotless smut tag, so I mostly just avoid.

Suki/Zuko -- these have real potential, such great personalities, but I don't see many finished works with it.

Yue/Zuko -- it breaks my heart that these are almost all dead fics 'cause they are rare but some are really good.

Jeeko -- given the character ages I keep not wanting to like these, but the writing community is small and ridiculously talented. Much higher average quality than other ships. Looking at you Nele and Dracze. Even the quickie fics have some manner of plot and touching character insights layered in. Did I set out to find a Drunken Wizard Jee Accidentally Summons Incubus Fire Demon Zuko Instead of More Liquor AU? No. Do I wish it was a full fic rather than a one shot? Yes.

Zucest -- Is usually just solid smut, as the ship name itself makes no illusions of, aka at best a skim read for plot from me. Lower average writing quality than other ships, again probably due to the small amount of writers.

Hakoda/Zuko -- Dammit Dracze.