#tags to be safe

[phoukanamedpookie]

I know fandom likes to joke about Azula or Katara being homophobic, but let's take it seriously for a moment.

Based on what the show has them actually say and do, which characters are most likely to be homophobic?

To be fair, none of the characters says anything overtly homophobic. ATLA is a TV-Y7 show that aired on Nickelodeon in 2005-2008, so any kind of queer content was not gonna happen, and talking about queer people and their relationships was extremely unlikely.

The only thing we have to go on are what the characters say about what is normal or appropriate for specific genders as well as how they interact with characters of specific genders. Again, none of the characters say anything overtly transphobic or misogynistic because this is a TV-Y7 show. But some characters say and do things that suggest a... less enlightened understanding of gender, which is directly linked to homophobic beliefs and attitudes.

So who would that be? Of the named characters, we have...

Pakku. 'Nuff said.

Sokka had a whole episode about him unlearning his toxic gender bullshit. Thank you, Suki.

Iroh is the man who sent Azula a fucking doll as a gift, misgendered Smellerbee before "complimenting" her by calling her a lovely young lady, and sings a song that waxed poetically about nameless girls of Ba Sing Se who exist just to be pretty. And then we see him getting handsy with June...

Zuko actually came out his mouth with, "I saw it, and I thought it was pretty. Don't girls like stuff like this?" to Mai, whose hobbies include giving zero fucks and throwing knives at people.

Now, this doesn't mean these characters would be homophobic in the vein of Westboro Baptist Church. I honestly think the homophobia they express would mostly benignly ignorant than outright malicious, like:

Telling a queer person they know that they're not queer, just confused

Asking or assuming who "the man" or "the woman" is in same-sex relationships

Saying that a queer person they know doesn't look queer or is too [insert normative gender trait] to be queer

Except for Pakku, who's more likely to openly ask what the queer person's parents did wrong.

(Why are they all male?)

[ciearcab]

gouache falin

[as-i-watch]

She imprinted on Marcille like a baby duckling

[unknowinglydeceasedlol]

I genuinely mourn the person I could have been.

[mintivee]

are you seeing this shit chucklefuck

[condemned-girl]

Sometimes killing myself doesn't feel like enough. Sometimes I think I need to be erased from history

[fuckedmutt]

asking a cute puppy increasingly invasive questions and watching them squirm. Come on puppy, you want to be good, don’t you? Tell me how you like to touch yourself. Oh baby, you’re going to need to tell me in more detail than that! How else am I going to be able to replicate it?

[pippynsworld]

Soap's first ride as a backpack.

[courtesycalling]

[mirroringshards]

cute bpd things!!

paranoia

*small inconvenience* BREAK UP BREAK UP BREAK UP BREAK UP

yeah im fine lol look at this meme :D

paranoia

mood depending on them

every text hurts or feels way too good

intrusive thought yeouch okay ouch thats another one yeOOUCH

the 50000+ articles on how youre abusive

paranoia

fp is bad for me but its ok i love them<3

"if i hurt someone its gonna be myself"

becoming completely obsessed with someone the moment they give you the slightest attention

never being able to cut anyone off ever. immediately go running back

cry because theyre talking to someone that IS NOT ME

oh my fp isnt here. okay. oh im dissociating okay i dont have any purpose to continue living without them okay my life literally revolves around them i want to die where are they are they safe i dont know what to do with myself

"just leave. everyone does anyways"

5 minutes later theyre the worst person ever

*looking for an identity* hmmm, where could it be?

dependent on fp like theyre a parental figure you never had

paranoia

[greenhybrid]

Ao3 stops loading for a second and I get a glimpse in the life of a mother who’s son got sent to war and doesn’t know when he’s returning safely

[megaawkwardhuman]

ah just another thursday I see

[f0x-gl0ves]

On that cowboy shit again (pls click for better resolution probably ♡)

[dragondawdles]

the beastie <3

[acelacealex]

I'm going to say it again

Cis Heteromantic Asexuals are Queer.

Cis Aromantic Heterosexuals are Queer.

If you are Ace or Aro you do not need another signifier to be Queer full stop.

[itseghost]

a few meager cr3 sketches :] ft feywild fearne, orym's sending stone blues, and the revival scene from blood and dust that i sketched ages ago and decided i was never going to finish lmao