#And put favor towards Azula?

[peony-pearl]

"Iroh ignored Azula” Well what if I didn’t believe that and the greatest irony of Avatar is that Iroh was one of the folks who encouraged her strategic thinking that she would use to later hunt him down

#atla #Azula #Iroh #my art #did he fail her? Yeah probably #homeboy had his own set of issues like continuing his father's conquest #he really didn't have time for either her or Zuko #and if Zuko really was born kind of meek to a very competitive family #who's to say Iroh paid much attention to him? #And put favor towards Azula? #and then he's gone for the siege and then an unknown amount of time for his spirit journey #and comes home and Azula is firmly not interested in Iroh #but Zuko who has been ignored and belittled by his father may seek Iroh out #to which Iroh would be open to but he's still messed up over his own issues #and being on the boat during Zuko's exile creates that bond #So Iroh would escape the favoritism aspect of the Fire Nation and show love towards the 'imperfect' son #while Azula has Ozai's favor #Which itself isn't healthy #but idk I can't hate Iroh for a series of events set before his time in which there's going to be a definite loser #and he's already lost #so he's going to try and help someone even if he doesn't really know how nor does he have the motivation at first #but then his care for Zuko grows and he realizes he wants that again and will do what he can #I'll gladly take the imperfect character who at least tries to have his heart in the right place

[attackfish]

So everybody here knows that I'm notorious for being a massive defender of Ursa, and that I have no patience for the "Ursa was a bad mother, she favored Zuko, and was abusive to Azula and abandoned her kids, and made Ozai abuse Zuko," narrative. That narrative is vile, victim blaming, and deeply stupid on a number of levels.

With that out of the way, I want to talk about some really really bad parenting we see Ursa do during the series. And it is to be clear really really bad.

In the Book Two episode, "Bitter Work", Zuko and Iroh have a conversation:

ZUKO: So Uncle, I've been thinking. It's only a matter of time before I run into Azula again. I'm going to need to know more advanced firebending if I want to stand a chance against her. I know what you're going to say, she's my sister and I should be trying to get along with her-

IROH: No, she's crazy, and she needs to go down.

This scene is a favorite of a certain type of Azula fan who wants to paint Iroh as a big meanie who didn't wave his magic redemption wand over Azula the way he clearly did over Zuko. See? See? He's writing her off here and calling her crazy.

This of course misses the context of that scene, which is that Zuko is taking care of a severely injured Iroh, who was injured by Azula, in what looked a heck of a lot like a murder attempt. Earlier in Book Two, in the episode, "The Avatar State", Azula unambiguously attempts to murder her brother after failing to capture him, and he is only saved by Iroh's quick reflexes.

But let's leave that argument aside for today because what interests me about this scene in the context of Ursa's parenting, is the line Zuko says right before Iroh's infamous declaration: "I know what you're going to say, she's my sister and I should be trying to get along with her."

Because in the context of Zuko and Iroh's situation, where Azula has recently attempted to kill Zuko, and just put Iroh into a coma that Zuko had to take care of him during, in which he has only just woken up from, this line from Zuko actually demonstrates some really warped thinking. It is not a healthy response to the situation at all. And his assumption is that a good caring parent figure like Iroh is going to respond to this situation by telling him that Zuko needs to get along with his sister, who is actively trying to hunt him down and capture or kill him.

So why does Zuko think that? What adult reacted that way to Azula's violence toward her brother in the past? It wasn't Ozai. Ozai is not going to use the language of getting along with one's siblings, when he is so bent on setting them against each other. So who was it?

The show answers this a few episodes before this scene, in the Book Two episode, "Zuko Alone." The answer is clear and heartbreaking: It was Ursa.

The scene in which this becomes plain, starts with Zuko and Ursa walking together. Mai spots them and smiles and blushes. Azula notices, and then turns to Ty Lee, and whispers, "Watch this!"

AZULA: Mom, can you make Zuko play with us? We need equal teams to play a game!

ZUKO: I am not cart-wheeling.

AZULA: You won't have to. Cart-wheeling's not a game, dum-dum.

ZUKO: I don't care. I don't want to play with you!

AZULA: We are brother and sister. It's important for us to spend time together. Don't you think so, Mom?

URSA: Yes, darling, I think it's a good idea to play with your sister. Go on now, just for a little while.

And then Ursa leaves Zuko alone with Azula and her friends.

There is a lot here that I want to talk about. I have in fact talked about this scene before, and what it tells us about Ursa's eagerness to reinforce Azula's seemingly kind and loving behavior: [Link], and even touched on why this is in fact an example of bad parenting from Ursa: [Link], but I think this deserves its own post, where we examine exactly what went on here, what this tells us about Ursa's parenting, and how this affected Zuko, and to a lesser extent, Azula.

In those previously linked posts, I talk about how this is clearly a pattern, that Azula has learned to predict and manipulate, and because we know it's a pattern, we know that this behavior on Ursa's part is repeated, and something her children have come to expect from her. Zuko and Azula know their mother wants her children to get along with each other, and love each other and have a good sibling relationship with each other so much that if Azula she plays into that, Ursa will force Zuko to spend time with his sister, and worse, that time will be unsupervised.

So, to be clear here, what Ursa is doing is giving Azula unsupervised access to her brother, against his will, as a reward for Azula momentarily acting nice. Or in other words, Ursa forces Zuko to spend time with his abuser against his will because she wants them to get along.

I think we can all see how that is some grade A terrible parenting.

And it does have negative effects on Azula. I think that we can see her learning how to manipulate people, learning how to lie and get what she wants from people, and that Ursa by giving her what she wants here, is showing her that this is a thing she can do to get what she wants. That is not a great lesson to teach your kid. I think it also feeds into Azula's possessiveness of her brother, and sense of entitlement towards him. She has learned that even the people who love and care about her brother, won't protect him from her. And she has learned that no matter what she does to him, he is supposed to try to get along with her.

These are some really terrible lessons, and we see some of the effects of them throughout the course of the show, so why is it that the "Ursa is a terrible mother" crowd never bring this up? I mean of course we know why, it doesn't fit their narrative. Their premise is not simply that Ursa is a bad mother, or even that her bad parenting explains Azula's behavior.

In fact frequently it isn't even about finding someone to blame for Azula's behavior, so that the responsibility isn't Azula's. (Which, to be clear is not how it would work anyway, because even if Ursa were exactly the type of horrible mother they said she was, Azula was still making the choices to do Very Bad Things, in the same way that just because Ozai is an abusive father, this doesn't mean Azula stopped being responsible for her own actions). It's more about proving that she has suffered enough that she deserves all the sympathy, and is allowed to be awful to other people, including Zuko, you know, as a treat.

The narrative that the "Ursa is a terrible mother" crowd are pushing is that Ursa didn't love her daughter, and thought she was a monster, Azula suffered so much, and it's so sad, and this is why she deserves to do very nasty things to everybody else, and no one should ever hold her accountable. Frequently there is some flavor of, "Zuko had a mother who loved him, you guys, unlike Azula, so he doesn't deserve sympathy, not like poor baby Azula!" Which is a deeply warped thought process on many many levels, but we're not going to go into that here.

The point is, that this type of bad parenting that I am pointing out here, doesn't fit this narrative, because this is not the kind of parenting mistake that a mother who doesn't love one of her children, and thinks that child is a monster, is going to make. This is the kind of mistake that a mother who loves her children very much, and wants them to have a good relationship, and doesn't recognize the threat that one of her children poses to the other, is going to make. In fact, the fact that she does it, proves that Ursa does in fact love her daughter and does not think she's a monster. So it does not fit the narrative these people are spinning, so they will never bring it up as an example of how Ursa was a bad mom.

Of course the other reason the "Ursa is a terrible mother" crowd aren't going to bring this part up is because it would mean acknowledging that Zuko deserved to be protected from Azula, and needed to be protected from Azula, when they were both children, which would go against the whole "she's a poor innocent child" thing they like to spin, and also because Azula is getting what she wants here, and Zuko is the one suffering, which is not going to get Azula any sympathy points.

And for the most part, Ursa was an excellent mother, who did the best job she could in horrible circumstances that she had very little control over, but she wasn't perfect, and she did make mistakes, which makes all of this a wonderful example of how even very good parents can make very bad choices that hurt their children and cause serious long-term damage.

I've talked some about the long term damage that Azula faces from this, learning about manipulation, and developing some really nasty entitlement issues with regards to her brother, but Zuko's long-term damage is if anything worse.

When we put this together with Zuko's line from "Bitter Work" quoted earlier, we can see that Zuko learns what Azula learns from the other angle, which is to say that he will not be protected from Azula by anyone, and not only will he not be protected, but he does not deserve to protect himself. Not only can he not defend himself, but he can't even protect himself by avoiding her. That's not allowed either. And in the face of her cruelty and violence towards him, it is still on him to make their relationship work, and to be clear, he should absolutely be making their relationship work. And the adults who love him are going to tell him this, no matter what Azula does to him.

I for one am really glad that Iroh is there to say no, that's a terrible idea, and you do not need to keep trying to get along with your sister who is trying to kill you. And it's significant that throughout Book Two, Iroh consistently protects Zuko from Azula, and teaches him what he needs to fight back.

#Atla Ursa #Uncle Iroh #Zuko #Azula #avatar the last airbender #posts i created #azula needs her own warning #i ship iroh/tea #zuko is a dweeby little turtleduck #mother bear ursa

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Have you noted that no one from Azula's family was shown to express love and affection towards her?

That is mostly true. Ozai's affection is clearly conditional (and full on manipulation at worse, like we see in the finale), Ursa canonically favors Zuko to the point that we never see her spending any alone time with Azula like she did with Zuko, and while Iroh gave her a toy like he did to Zuko the toy in question was so OBVIOUSLY wrong for a kid like Azula that it's comical AND show's he did not really know his niece at all.

But there is a constant exception.

Zuko's relationship with Azula is complicated. He clearly admires her strength and power, but he hates how she uses it. She lied to him many times, was seen apparently cheering Ozai on during the Agni Kai, tried to have him imprisoned and even said she'd celebrate being an only child - and then allows him to come home as a hero after Ba Sing Se, even though SHE had the control of the Dai Li and was not yet aware Aang could have survived, meaning she had nothing to gain from it.

And when she lets him know that if he's caught talking to Iroh people might think he is a traitor too, and explicitly says "Believe it or not, I'm actually looking out for you" Zuko drops his innitial suspicion that she wanted something and that's why she was helping him.

On The Beach, he just follows her when she say their old family home is depressing and they shouldn't waste their time there. When she's asking him who she is angry at, she mentions herself and Zuko explicitly says that is not the case.

He doesn't trust her and know she has a tendency to mock or full on lie to him... yet when he wants to know about Fire Lord Sozin he asks her about it, and lets it slide when she mocks him by saying he should make sure the royal painter got his good side - for a character as quick to anger as Zuko, that is a big deal. In Nightmares and Daydreams he also goes to her to find out if he'll be allowed at the war meeting.

More importantly:

1 - Iroh's infamous "She's crazy and needs to go down" line was only said because ZUKO, without anyone putting that idea in his head before, suddenly went "I know what you're going to say. She's my sister and I should be trying to get along with her"

2 - Zuko only jumped into the fight in Ba Sing Se when Azula was being cornered by Aang and Katara.

3 - Zuko looked genuinely shocked and even distressed when she was falling off that cliff. He just sounded so shaken saying "She's... not gonna make it..."

4 - In the writer's own words, Zuko felt no hate but only pity when seeing her breakdown. Katara tried to comfort him because, canonically, even though Zuko and Azula are enemies, this was never what he wanted because he still sees her as family. That's why the Last Agni Kai's music is not the epic you'd expect from a battle, but a tragic one.

5 - Aaron Ehasz, the lead writter for the show, probably the person with the most influence after Bryke, has REPEATEDLY said that he always felt Azula should have gotten a redemption arc, Zuko being an Iroh figure to give her advice and be the only one still by her side when all else was seemingly lost to her forever.

Even the comics (most of which I HATE, mainly because Azula's storyline checks nearly every box for "the mentally ill are inherently evil/less human, so it's fine if literally every other person on the planet mistreats them") didn't fully abandon their complex dynamic.

Zuko is not a perfect sibling, and for a long chunk of the story he seemed too focused on his own issues for Azula to ever be a factor in his mind (aside from the moments in which she was a potential/explict threat), but he DOES still feel a sense of obligation towards her, to the point that it made him do something no one else in their family had done before or since - actually look at Azula. Not the prodigious daughter/perfect weapon, or the problem child that is difficult to handle, or the pontentially deadly enemy that was in the way, but Azula.

His 14-year-old sister that got on his nerves a lot, was far from the kindest person alive, and that he had a ton of issues with, but that he could never fully hate or even be indifferent to. Because she's family. Because he remembers a happier time in which the gap between them didn't seem so big. Because if things had been slightly different he could have been her. Because he went from wanting to be her to seeing just how miserable her life ended up being - especially compared to the one he now had - and feeling deeply sorry for her.

Now if you guys excuse me, I'm gonna go cry in the corner. Have some wholesome/bittersweet fanart if you wanna cry too.

#azula meta #zuko meta #fire siblings #fire siblings meta

[sokkastyles]

Hey, love your blog! Something doesn't sit right with me about Aang's attachment problem. Didn't he let go of Katara? We see him give her up and then gets shot by Azula. But he still opened it. If that's the case, why is Aang still attached to her? And why is he braver about it? (Asking her for a dance and kissing her twice, not that kissing her was a good thing). Did overcoming his attachment meant he saw her as more (romantically) approachable? But it's weird for him to overcome an attachment while in the next episodes he's more in love than ever. What do you think?

Yeah, the thing is, getting rid of his attachment should make him romantically braver and should ultimately make him closer to Katara. Because the problem with Aang's attachment was that it was an insecure attachment. Which is what made him act in ways that reflected that insecurity, like being anxious that Katara would not reciprocate his feelings. This actually hindered his relationship with Katara in book one and two because it prevented him from being honest about his feelings with Katara for fear that she might reject him. (Remember the whole "I'd rather kiss you than die" debacle?) This insecurity about losing her is also why he imagined her in peril when the guru asked him to let his attachment go.

And no way, no way is Aang going to get over that insecure attachment in a moment when Katara is in dire danger, in the heat of battle, when he couldn't do it before when he was with the guru and we're explicitly shown that the thought of Katara in danger is what is keeping Aang tethered to that insecure attachment. It's just not possible. I don't believe it.

What would have happened if Azula's lightning had not neutralized that conflict by making it irrelevant, is that realistically, after failing to save Katara and Ba Sing Se, Aang should be more insecurely attached to Katara than ever. And that is what happens. He acts more on his feelings but in ways that show that he's more afraid than ever that Katara will not reciprocate, and that then translates to entitlement towards her and anger at her in Ember Island Players for not reciprocating his affection.

So not only does it not make narrative sense for Aang to be able to open his chakra when he did, the narrative carries on as if he didn't and the excuse they use for why Aang can't is "because Azula shot him with lightning." The plotline about Aang forming a more secure attachment to Katara is completely dropped in favor of putting the onus on Katara to reciprocate Aang's feelings.

That's a large part of why book three feels like a mess. It actually would have been a compelling narrative if Aang HAD learned to be more secure in his attachment to Katara. Which should not mean he doesn't love her, it means he's secure enough to accept it if she says no. Which actually would make him braver romantically because he would not be afraid of rejection. So much of Katara and Aang's narrative feels like nice guy bullshit because the narrative blames Katara for not automatically returning Aang's love instead of having Aang pluck up the courage to actually ask her out. The reason so called "nice guys" always think that girls love jerks instead of them is that they don't realize that you actually have to ask a girl out to get her to be your girlfriend, instead of waiting for her to just fall into your lap because you're too terrified she will say no. And by the time Aang does make his intentions clear to Katara, it's "why aren't we together?" instead of actually asking her how she feels and what she wants.

And I've theorized that it actually was the original intention to have Aang go through a period of being more insecure in his relationship with Katara than ever before learning to be more secure in his relationship and thus unlocking the Avatar State, also rounding out the parallels between Aang and Zuko in book three, which also feel like missed opportunities that are never really followed through, most likely because the writers were either unwilling or unable to take the same risks with Aang's narrative as they did with Zuko's.

#antikataang #the crossroads of destiny

[spacecasehobbit]

Back on my Azula meta today, with thoughts about the comics that, to be fair, I've never read and have no intention of reading.

I do know that the comics established a backstory for Zuko and Azula's mom during canon, though, where she was off living in some little FN village with no memories, a new husband, and a new kid who, according to most of the takes I've seen referenced on tumblr, functions as a 'better' sister for Zuko. I've no problem with people who like or want a story like that for Zuko, but personally I think a surprise younger sibling could be a great way to tackle an Azula redemption.

(An idea partially inspired by and talked about at length with @erisenyo , but which I wanted to share here while that fic continues progressing at an increasingly glacial pace.)

One of Azula's biggest issues in canon is her desire to control her own narrative/keep herself 'on top' and thus 'safe' by controlling and putting down everyone else around her. She bought into Ozai's idea that only one person at a time could be "the best," along with the idea that on that one person deserved to feel safe or confident in their place. Yet even then, that sense of safety and confidence still relied on the continued favor and goodwill of anyone higher up, which is likely how Azula felt about her position relative to Ozai, and a dynamic she perpetuated onto Mai, Ty Lee, and occasionally Zuko. When they were obedient to her and she felt confident in her level of control over them, she could behave in a reasonably benevolent and "kind" manner that likely mimicked how she was treated by Ozai. If they disobeyed her, however, then she felt justified in threatening them, threatening those they cared about, imprisoning them, and even going after them with lethal force in the case of Zuko in S2 and towards the back half of S3.

If Azula made it to a point where she could be trusted to move in with her mother and her mother's new family rather than being locked in an asylum for the safety of everyone else, though, I think interacting with a younger sister who reminded her of herself as a little kid could be a great way to force her to really reflect on who she was, who she had become under Ozai's influence, and who she actually wanted to be going forward.

A younger sister who looked up to Azula as cool and strong and knowledgable could especially force Azula to do some hard personal reflection on the kind of person she wanted to be. Maybe she wrestles with the desire to show off and keep this kid looking up to her and the desire to actually teach this kid and watch this kid grow, while having to learn what healthy teaching methods actually look like for herself. Maybe watching this cute, excited, smart young kid get excited about new things forces Azula to reflect on the things that made her excited as a kid, and she has to reconcile what was okay that she can reclaim for herself as she tries to grow and become a better person (like the excitement that came with learning new firebending forms, or pushing her body to new limits just to prove to herself that she could), and which parts were actually negative things that are uncomfortable but necessary to confront and excise (like her excitement getting Ozai's praise by hurting Zuko, or the sense of entitlement he encouraged towards other people's possessions, loyalty, and eventually even their lives).

Maybe at some point her younger sister gets hurt - or even accidentally hurts someone else - while Azula is trying to teach her something, and Azula has to confront the ways that accidental harm is still harm that needs and deserves to be addressed. If her sister gets hurt while trying to learn something new from Azula, then Azula has a responsibility to first pause the lesson and make sure that her sister is okay, and second to adjust the lesson going forward to emphasize safety/not push too hard too fast/etc. Maybe at some other point Azula lashes out at her younger sister for something small, and then she has to contend with figuring out how to apologize for causing harm to someone who didn't deserve it just because she was frustrated. She doesn't get to blame her sister for "bringing it on herself" by making Azula frustrated (though maybe this one takes a few conversations with Ursa before she gets it right), and she doesn't get to brush it off as an accident when it wasn't really.

And maybe through these interactions with her younger sister, she's able to reflect enough to confront all the ways she hurt Zuko while they were growing up, both intentionally and on accident, and how that means it's up to her to make apologies and ammends if she ever wants to have a meaningful relationship with Zuko. How Zuko isn't obligated to forgive her for that harm without any work on her part just because they're family, but also how she maybe wants to do that work and earn a relationship with him anyway.

Because having a younger sibling is kind of nice, actually, and through her growing relationship with her little sister under the guardianship of two parents who both love their kids in a healthy way, Azula is finally able to see a glimpse of the kind of relationship that she and Zuko could have had, if they'd been raised in a more healthy environment.

And she wants that.

#atla #azula meta #only vaguely inspired by 'the search'

[ur-frndly-neighborhood-memer1]

WHAT WOULD URSA DO IF AZULON ORDERED AZULA'S DEATH INSTEAD?

In "Zuko Alone" we learn that Zuko's mother Ursa was disappeared one night and we never learn what happened to her...

...until "The Search" comics was published. In "The Search", we find out that Ursa made a deal with Ozai to spare Zuko's life.

When Ozai claimed Iroh's birthright after Lu Ten's death, Fire Lord Azulon got mad and told Ozai that Iroh has suffered enough already, but Ozai's suffering has just begun. And then he orders him to kill Zuko to understand Iroh's situation. And as Ozai already admitted in "The Day of Blacksun" part 2, he was really going to kill Zuko.

But before he could commit anything, Ursa learned the whole story from Azula and came up with a plan to save Zuko's life.

But...

How would things be different if Azulon ordered Azula's death instead?

We know for a fact that Ozai always despised his son, and wouldn't have an issue with killing him.

But Ozai definitely favored Azula and wanted her as his heir. And we can safely say that if Ozai ever cared about anyone, it is Azula.

So he wouldn't want to kill his ideal heir and prodigious child. He would object to Azulon, but of course, it wouldn't matter...

And let's not forget, Azula was there the whole time and secretly listening to them. I don't think she would take it well when her grandfather ordered her death and her father would have to do it.

So Azula probably go to her mother and tell her the whole thing.

Ursa would stand there in silence for a minute, then would calmly say:

THANK FUCK I'M FINALLY GETTING RID OFF YOU, YOU LITTLE SHIT!

Because Ursa was a horrible mother, she was toxic and abusive, and she wouldn't give a damn about a Azula!

.

.

.

Well, not really...

First of all, Ursa definitely loved Azula. Yes, she was a bit neglectful towards her but it wasn't because she didn't care about her daughter (and she definitely did)

Ozai already favored Azula over Zuko, and he was pretty harsh and cruel towards his son. That's why Ursa had to put an extra effort to make her son feel loved, in order to fulfill her husband's lack of parenting.

But while she was trying so hard to make up for Ozai's abusive treatment, she neglected Azula without knowing it. This is why Azula said her mother loved Zuko more than her.

"I could sit here and complain how my mother loved Zuko more than me but I don't really care"

Pay attention, in "The Beach" Azula didn't say "My mother didn't love me", but she said "My mother loved Zuko more than me".

Azula isn't ignoring the fact that her mother indeed loved her. But the issue was simply her mother's favoritism towards Zuko.

And when Azula grabs and threatens Ursa in "The Search", Ursa only replies like this:

"I'm sorry I didn't love you enough"

"Enough" is the key word here, it's even stated in the comics as well.

Because Ursa indeed loves her daughter, but she realized she didn't love her enough.

As I said, she was a bit neglectful towards her. But she was also reacting angrily whenever Azula misbehaved.

Like, when she asked if Iroh doesn't return, would that make her dad next in line. You can see here that Ursa replied coldly.

Or when Azula said Azulon was probably going to die soon, Ursa angrily silenced her.

Of course it's understandable why Ursa got angry over Azula's constant mischief and bullying.

But I'd dare to say her "anger" had more concern in it than actual rage.

When Ursa questioned what was wrong with her daughter, she didn't say it in an angry or disgusted tone like, "UGH, WHY IS THAT CHILD LIKE THAT? I CAN'T BARE HER!" But instead, her voice was calm and you can hear the concern in it.

So that "What is wrong with that child?" question isn't about being disgusted of Azula, but simply about wondering why she was acting this way.

We've seen that Azula was burning flowers, hurting turtleducks, bullying her brother and playing cruel pranks at her friends at such a young age. These are serious red flags for a child's state of mind. But what's even more concerning is how Azula reacts to her cousin's and grandfather's death, and she also wished Iroh to die.

No wonder why Ursa was so worried about Azula's mental well being.

But still, Azula's misbehaviors doesn't change the fact that Ursa's love for her is unconditional.

And if Azulon ordered Azula's death, Ursa would do the exact same things which she did for Zuko.

So at the end, it wouldn't really change the story. Ursa would kiss goodbye Azula and Zuko, and then would leave.

However, even when she was a kid, Azula was smart enough to figure out why her mother was banished. And therefore she would understand she did something to save her life. So in this scenario, Azula would truly understand that her mother loved her just as much as Zuko. And at the end, the memories of Ursa couldn't come back to haunt her.

#Ursa #ursa atla #Azula #Zuko #avatar ozai #Iroh #Lu Ten #azulon #avatar the last airbender #Avatar #Atla #azula atla

[pistachi0art]

The surplus of Arden asks have gotten me interested about Eve. I think at some point it was mentioned she had a little bit of a grudge against Tommy partly because she thinks their dad favors him. Do you think that grudge has any merit? DOES The G-Man play favorites? Or is a similar case to Arden, in which the hatred is a bit misguided and uncalled for? I'd love to learn more about her if you have the time or content to share! Offtopic all your ocs are soooo genuinely creative and interesting, love them so much. 🫶

YEAHH!!! EVE QUESTION WOO!! ^^

And yes! I did say that she had a bit of a grudge against her brother bc of G-man (that then shifted into full on jealousy/envy but she tries her best to put on a face and pretends like it doesn’t bother her.)

And there’s a sort of half justification for it? Tommy never did anything directly to Evie for her to put her grievances on him but if anything she should be directing it more to Mr. Coolatta himself.

Bc (unintentionally) caused her to be the way that she is. You know that joke right where parents say that their oldest child is the “tester” so when they inevitably have another kid they’ll “get it right?” yeah. 😬

so he kinda fucked up and raised her to be this megalomaniac obsessed with getting to the top without considering- consequences (something something irony) and how that would effect her mentally. He was proud of her and did love her mind you, but wasn’t very direct about it.

So when he adopted Tommy he was a less overbearing and more considerate to his interests and his character as a person more than going straight into training him to carry the metaphorical torch in the family.

And Evelyn perceived that differently. Because with G-Dad expressing himself more towards Tommy, she took it as “he never showed me that -> he likes my brother more than me”

So it turned into this sort of Tai-Lung + Azula situation with Evelyn. “You made me this way!” + “I have to prove myself to be loved :(“ sort of ordeal.

And so Evelyn left, causing a sort of estrangement between her and her younger brother. but even if she barely knew him growing up she was still very bitter, towards him and her dad.

aaaand yeah! Thats just a handful of info about her. :) different from Arden definitely. His hatred sprung from his own mind and Evie’s was more influenced by how she was raised. Nature vs Nurture and all that.

(and THANK YOU :)) glad you like my funky little guys.)

#ask reply #EVE!! EVIE!!! EVELYN!!! #I don’t talk about her enough but she sits in my mind while I listen to electro swing #evelyn chiller #and yeah her last name’s different #she didn’t want to associate with her family :/ #oc #orginal character

[prying-pandora666]

My Azula Diagnosis Analysis Part 4: The Golden Child

Find all the parts here.

Sick of bad armchair diagnosis for Azula? Me too! So in this thread let’s discuss Azula’s most commonly “diagnosed” illnesses and disorders, and find out what she actually meets the criteria for, if any.

This time let’s talk about the roles and dynamics set for children raised by a narcissistic parent (Ozai, in this case). Just as Zuko is the Scapegoat, is Azula the Golden Child?

Golden Child Claims

—Azula seems spoiled and like she always got everything she wanted while Zuko got abused

—Azula shows concerning enmeshment with Ozai, who clearly uses her for his own gain with no regard for her own psychosocial development and emotional well being

So Is Azula A Golden Child?

This is an interesting one to tackle because it’s so misunderstood that it’s often used to make two polar opposite cases. On the one hand are the fans that insist being the Golden Child meant Azula was a spoiled princess who never heard the word “no” and had a perfect happy life. Others use it to argue that Golden Children are also victims of narcissistic abuse and that far from living perfect spoiled lives, they are sometimes more deprived of their own emotional needs than even the Scapegoat.

So first we have to clarify what being the Golden Child of a narcissistic parent actually means.

No, it does not mean one is spoiled and pampered and given everything they want. While the Golden Child may be given preference and praise over the Scapegoat, this is simply a tool to control and manipulate both children, and is not actually given as a form of love or support.

Golden Children are the other side of the narcissistic abuse victim coin. While the abuse endured by the Scapegoat might be more overt and therefor more obvious, the abuse heaped on the Golden Child is just as damaging though often far more insidious.

The Golden Child is not given unconditional love which we all require in childhood to properly develop in a healthy way. Instead, they are given conditional favor. This means that whatever praise and grace they may receive comes with the threat of being withdrawn—and may also include punishment—if the narcissist parent is displeased. This constant state of fear and anxiety without any proper support or safety can cause a host of complex emotional and psychological issues, and leave children feeling as if nothing they do is ever good enough and as if any affection they will ever receive will only be tied to their performance. They may even internalize themselves as unloveable except by pleasing the narcissist.

As always, while symptoms vary between individuals, here are a few significant and recognized symptoms of Golden Child Syndrome.

—Deference to those in positions of power: As Golden Children are raised as nothing but an extension of their narcissistic parent, they may develop and unusual deference to those in positions of power. Azula shows this but exclusively towards Ozai, whom she is so loyal to in The Show that she is willing to put herself in the line of fire during the Day of Black Sun to protect him. Even though she knew she’d be without bending and could have been killed.

—Overwhelming anxiety about falling short: Golden children are taught early on that their value isn’t inherent, but instead relative to others. That only by outperforming others or meeting absurd expectations will they have any value. This leads to severe anxiety about failing and the consequences of that failure. Azula fits this to a T. Her biggest fear is failing and becoming the new Scapegoat, therefor losing the only approval she’s ever had in her life which is from her father. This is why when Ozai discards her, Azula desperately cries out “You can’t treat me like this! You can’t treat me like Zuko!”

—An unhealthy perspective on relationships: As social skills are learned, the transactional nature of how Golden Children are raised greatly impacts their relationships. Azula struggles to express her love towards people in a healthy way, using manipulation and intimidation to control her friends the same as she would an enemy of war. This is due to Ozai grooming her exclusively as a weapon and offering no nurturing or concern for Azula’s needs as an individual. Although Azula also tries to use these skills to help her loved ones (most notably Zuko), when her favor isn’t returned, Azula takes the rejection extremely personally. The heightened emotional pain she experiences triggers a complete psychological disregulation. Azula’s reaction to rejection is prone to become violent, as her ever-anxious system interprets the rejection as a threat. We see this with how she reacts to Mai saying she loved Zuko but only feared Azula (a fact which Mai knew would wound Azula since she speaks about having this same trauma with mom), and how Azula attempts to kill Zuko after he betrays her to join Team Avatar.

—The hopeless pursuit of career advancement: As Golden Children have had it instilled in them that they must be exceptional, regardless of whether or not they want to be, they can find themselves lost if their pursuits do not pan out as expected. They may start to perform poorly, self sabotage, lose interest in their job/responsibilities, or even spiral into a depression and act out. We see Azula go through this when becoming Fire Lord did not earn her dad’s love as expected. Like a classic Golden Child, she did not seem to want the throne for her own reasons, but merely because she perceived it to be what her father would want from a child he’d love.

—A history of self-destructive, dependent behavior: Desperate to receive any sort of validation due to the lack of love and support in childhood, Golden children are prone to be victimized. Conditioned to transactional relationships, Golden Children may find themselves striving to please an enabler who uses the Golden Child’s skills to their advantage, while keeping the Golden Child just starved enough of affection to keep competing for more. As the Golden Child becomes dependent on any scrap of validation, they may endure increasingly absurd demands and mistreatment simply to avoid having that validation taken away. We see this in spades with Azula and Ozai. No matter what horrible thing Ozai asks of her, or how little he seems to care about her wellbeing, Azula loyally does as she’s told. Only when Ozai refuses to reward her with validation does Azula act up. We even see this to a lesser extent with her friends and Zuko, where being betrayed and rejected by all three of them in quick succession leads to Azula’s psychotic break where she questions if she can even be loved or if fear is all she will ever be able to get from others. “What choice do I have? Fear is the only way.”

—An inflated sense of self-confidence contrasted with low self-worth: Does this one even need explanation? Azula is highly confident in her abilities, so much so that she is unafraid even when outnumbered and surrounded by multiple highly skilled benders. However, she has internalized that she is an unloveable monster due to perceiving this to be her mother’s opinion of Azula. It’s tragic to see someone so skilled and confident to a fault have so little sense of self worth. The Golden Child values their skills and what they can do, but not themselves as a person, as that’s what the narcissist values - their usefulness.

—A desire to outperform one’s peers: A survival mechanism to maintain the narcissist’s approval. Azula demonstrates this quite handily in the volleyball scene in The Beach. She cannot even handle a normal, healthy competition for fun and turns a simple beach game into a battle arena. After her ruthless strategy wins her and her friends the game, Azula taunts the losing team as if they were her enemies and not just another group of teens. Azula is sadly unable to understand why others find this off-putting, as her entire life is a constant performance test.

—An unhealthy obsession with perfection: Meeting or surpassing expectations is so central to a Golden Child’s upbringing that many develop an unhealthy fixation. Golden Children are more prone to OCD than most for this reason. Azula is often described as perfect by others, and while she doesn’t call herself perfect, she does hold herself to an unrealistic standard. The first scene we ever see of Azula (not counting her cameo in Book 1), is her practicing lightning bending on a ship. This is an incredible feat of bending that even most firebending masters several times her age cannot pull off. Yet despite how impressive her skill level is, Azula freaks out when a single hair falls out of place. Azula is terrified of both failure and of being perceived as weak, a fact that leads to her hiding her vulnerability at all costs, which makes her come off as less sympathetic or fragile than she really is.

—Struggle to appreciate others’ successes: As Golden Children are expected to be perfect and surpass all others, they may not appreciate others’ successes for a couple of reasons. They may perceive anyone else’s success as a threat (Ty Lee, with boys), or they may see the lower/more realistic standards others are held to for success and resent them (Zuko, her eternal rival who got mom’s affection without having to earn it). Azula demonstrates both.

What Golden Children need most is to be removed from the abusive environment and given care to help them find their own sense of self outside of ther narcissistic abuser or anyone else they may become dependent on.

It’s a long and hard road to recovery, but it is possible to overcome these maladaptive behaviors and thought patterns, and to eventually develop healthier connections with others. Even more importantly, with support, patience, and effort, they must come to develop a healthier relationship with themselves.

Conclusion: Azula does suffer from Golden Child Syndrome.

While it’s easy to write Azula off as a spoiled happy princess compared to Zuko who bears obvious, physical scars of the abuse he’s endured, nothing could be further from the truth. Both kids are victims of Ozai’s narcissistic abuse and him constantly pitting them against each other.

Although Zuko and Azula show signs of loving one another (Azula especially has a strangely resilient devotion to Zuko, twisted as it may be), the toxic dynamic imposed on them by Ozai has led to a tragically adversarial relationship.

As a result, both kids think the other had it better and resent one another rather than recognizing the hardships they face in common.

Zuko envied Azula for having father’s favor.

Azula envied Zuko for having mother’s love.

#avatar #Atla #avatar the last airbender #azula #Azula Diagnosis Masterpost

[zuko-always-lies]

Every Refence to Azula’s Relationship with the Court and General Public in the Fire Nation

“The Siege of the North, Part II”:

Zuko: I finally have you. But I can't get you home because of this blizzard. (He walks over to the cave entrance to look out at the falling snow, his back to the camera) There's always something. Not that you would understand. You're like my sister. Everything always...came easy to her. She's a firebending prodigy – and everyone adores her. (Cut to a frontal view of Zuko) My father says she was born lucky. He says I was lucky to be born. (Cut to view of his back again.) I don't need luck though, I don't want it. I've always had to struggle and fight and that's made me strong. It's made me who I am.

According to Zuko, “Everyone adores Azula.” His perception is probably mostly confined to the Court and the Capitol.

Canon Bio of Azula:

Character: Princess Azula

Daughter to Fire Lord Ozai, Azula is Zuko’s 14-year-old younger sister. She’s a lot like the typical “Little Miss Perfect” younger sister, only she’s also a deadly Firebender. Azula has always been the favorite of the Fire Lord, and of everyone around her for that matter-  everyone but Zuko, that is. Azula excels at her royal role-  she is extremely gracious, smooth and put-together. An ideal Princess, she is also cold, calculating, and precise. Zuko will tell you that Azula is “lucky.” Things just tend to turn out in her favor.

Azula is “the Perfect Princess”(which probably implies she generally fits ideals about royalty within a broad section of Fire Nation society) and is “the favorite of everyone around her”--a judgement which seems more confined to the court.

“The Awakening”:

(The camera zooms out from the shot of Aang and Katara. The scene cuts to a shot of the Fire Nation capital city and harbor. Cut to Lo and Li, who are seated on top of a very high balcony at the royal plaza facing a large crowd of Fire Nation citizens. Behind them is a large archway filled with flames.)

snip

Li and Lo: Now the heroes have returned home. Your princess, Azula! (Cut to a profile shot of Azula. The camera pans right as she walks towards the edge of the balcony and the crowd cheers for her.) Li and Lo: And after three long years, your prince has returned. Zuko! (Cut to Zuko walking out onto the balcony and facing the crowd. The Fire Nation citizens cheer for him as he sullenly gazing over the crowd.

Azula (and Zuko) are cheered by an absolutely massive crowd upon their return home.

“The Beach”:

Ty Lee: (surprised) What? You were jealous of me? (gestures toward herself) Um, but, you're (gestures toward Azula) the most beautiful, smartest, perfect girl in the world.

Zuko: I guess you wouldn't understand, (pulls Mai to him) would you, Azula (sarcastically) Because you're just so perfect.

Both Zuko and Ty Lee refer to Azula as “perfect,” which hardly suggests that they think she’s widely hated.

“The Ember Island Players”:

Azula is the protagonist and “hero” of “The Boy in the Iceberg,” and is cheered as such throughout the play.

Of course, there’s also lot’s of evidence that Ozai is extremely popular, and Azula is associated with him, but that’s another story.

#Azula #Azula meta

[mostly-mundane-atla]

The only thing against the idea of Ozai arranging a marriage i can think of is, and i know this topic is fraught, the Search, and what it confirms/elaborates on vis-a-vis Ozai’s marriage to Ursa. If we take those comics as an interpretation of “Bryke” collective intent, Ozai was forced into an arranged marriage with a woman he never met for the purposes of his dad‘s breeding project, and it fuckin sucks. She produces one kid that he thinks is pathetic, taunts him with infidelity, and basically sounds like an extremely stressful situation to live in, knowing you can’t divorce her bcz FatherLord said so. (Not that im callin Ozai the True Victim, just sayin how his POV might look). I dont know how much “empathy” people think Ozai possessed, or his tendency for consistency vs hypocrisy, but i do wonder if Ozai would not *want* to deal with the untrustworthy wildcard of an arranged spouse for his kid- especially given that his wife killed his own father. Does this make sense or am i off base here?

I've actually played with this concept! Specifically the ways Ozai would reconcile his own experience with an unhappy arranged marriage with his right/duty to arrange successful marriages for his child (or children, in the case Zuko became useful to him).

I mainly use the Fire Nation Royal Family as a source of complicated drama because i think that fits the dynamic best, so i'll try to trim this down to only context that completely matters. Everything below is from the headcanon-laden timeline I put together for my fan writings.

When Azula was still quite young, Azulon began to have doubts about the prophecy and after reviewing it and weighing his options, he decided the safest course of action was to keep that Avatar blood in the main bloodline another generation. He arranged for Lu Ten to marry Azula when she came of age (twenty-one years old in the Fire Nation, judging by The Search) unless a more suitable match could be arranged. Everyone was uncomfortable with this, even Ozai, who coped with the news by considering it to be the most favorable match Azula could hope for and that his own grandfather married a young cousin when he couldn't ignore his need for heirs.

Ursa was distraught at the news for the same reasons Ozai was annoyed: they weren't given the choice to refuse to give their daughter to the union, and, even if Ozai didn't want to admit it to himself, that she was going to be given to someone who outranked her, was older than her, and far more favored. You'd think this would make him reconsider the unequal relationship he has with his wife, but he continued to ignore her wishes and didn't stop touching her that night until she slapped him. Probably justifying himself with the idea that princes and princesses exist to make more princes and princesses

The general hope was that Azulon would die before Azula came of age and Iroh could decide what makes up more suitable matches. Naturally, you couldn't actually say that and the only back up was not telling Azula until she was old enough to understand and have Lu Ten be especially nice to her so the idea of being stuck with him until one of them dies wouldn't feel like a punishment.

Lu Ten dies long before Azula ever learns she was betrothed to him. The Firelord himself is found dead the next day and Ursa is nowhere to be found.

It isn't long before Ozai sets Azula up to be the princess her mother was not. It isn't long before she gets to have adult conversations with him; the kind of conversations Iroh would disapprove of if he wasn't in a state of constantly flipping between catatonic and blubbering mess over the death of his son (and father, one right after the other). Azula isn't like that, perhaps in part due to her inexperience with death, but also because her father expects more from her and her duty is fulfilling those expectations.

Ozai resents his father for many things, including the arranged marriage. He words this resentment toward the former Firelord incredibly delicately when discussing it with his daughter, but not his resentment toward his wife and the union that bound him to her. "Dissatisfying," he describes her, as well as "ungrateful, willful to the point of childishness." Rather than suggest to him that marriage is best as a partnership of equals, his experience seems to have taught him that it ought to be that one party is unquestioned and answered to and the other knows its place. He promises his daughter that she will be better off than he was, and the husband he chooses for her will be grateful for her, and he will fear her. Azula, as the ideal daughter and princess her father wants her to be, thanks him for the care he takes with her future and praises his wisdom.

A man presents himself, a smooth-talking social climber whose ambition is best kept in check and loyalty best kept enforced. He plays the simpering yesman well enough, but his reputation betrays him. Azula is still young, and prodigy though she is, she could use a bit of polishing, but in time, she will put fear in him. It's what her father taught her and what her father expects.

#response #fire nation royal family #incest mention #because royal cousin marriage but also #i don't think anything physical happened between ozai and azula #but i also find it hard to believe she wasn't subject to emotional incest because *gestures to her entire canon character* #also i think at some point zhao had to bow to her and kiss her shoes and she kicked him in the mouth while he was there #also yes that's marriages plural because if one husband becomes useless they could always replace him borgia style

[peony-pearl]

Azula overhears that some of the guards in the prison were talking about how Iroh was losing his mind. How he was becoming more and more pathetic by the day. She doesn’t really buy it.

She goes to see Iroh, staying behind as he’s given his food. He’s berated by the guard, but Azula sees the wild man Iroh is acting to be.

She doesn’t buy it. She waits for the guard to leave Iroh’s room, and he’s like ‘see? disgraceful. It’s a good thing you guys got him away from the palace asap.’

Azula hums and she tells the guard to resume his duties.

She waits in the shadows for a few moments - and sees Iroh look out towards the door. He then straightens up and wipes his mouth off and his hair back, dropping the ruse.

The door opens, and he’s caught off-guard.

Azula stands, her silhouette like someone catching a child in the treat box.

‘It’s funny. You almost seem to be in better spirits than Zuzu.”

Iroh waits a moment, spooning some gruel into his mouth.

‘I wonder why,” he says. ‘I can’t imagine why he shouldn’t be bouncing with excitement. He has everything he wants now.’

‘Indeed. That’s what I figured. Everything except the old man who coddled him at every turn.’

Iroh chews his food, leaning back against the cold, uncomfortable stone wall.

‘You act as though he wanted that.’

Azula scoffs. ‘Zuzu’s always been soft.’

Iroh hums. ‘having a quarter of your face burnt off and sent away from home with no contact from your family will do that I suppose.’

Azula frowns. ‘You’ve always favored him.’

‘No, Azula. He has always been open to my presence. You closed me off a long time ago. Ozai has molded you well.’

‘How dare you,” Azula hisses. ‘How DARE you put my father’s name in your filthy mouth!’

‘He is my brother. You speak so critically of Zuko, I will speak as I wish of my brother.’

‘And face the consequences.’

‘Azula I’m already in jail. What are you going to do? Burn me again? Fry me? Electrocute me? I would welcome it at this point.’

Azula watches as Iroh spoons another bite of gruel into his mouth.

‘You would have run this nation into the ground.’

‘Maybe that would have been a good thing. I could have ended years of pain; but alas. I would have caused more suffering along the way.’ He laughs. ‘I already have, after all. I led my son to his death; I’m fairly certain that doesn’t bode well for a Lord’s future reign.’

Azula sneers, but Iroh looks up at her.

‘I hope neither you nor Zuko end up joining Lu Ten. That would be devastating.’

‘I am not of your blood,’ Azula said proudly. ‘So you can guarantee I will live long enough to see this world bow to our Nation. I’ve already conquered Ba Sing Se. What makes you think the rest of the world would be any different?’

Iroh laughs. ‘I thought the same thing a long time ago. Then I got careless; too confident. Next I knew, I was holding my son’s body.’

‘I’m not you. And neither is Zuko. And Zuko is not your son.’

‘No... no. He proved that long ago.’

‘Then stop talking to him. And whatever this act with the guards is? Stop it. Or face the consequences?’

Iroh swallows another bite of gruel. He smiles up at Azula.

‘Visiting with you is always a treat, Azula. I hope we can do this again.”

Scowling, Azula turns on her heel and slams the giant door shut, a magnificent feat for a fourteen year old. Iroh sighs, and he finishes his meal in the quiet of the cell.

#atla #Azula #Iroh #my writing

[attackfish]

Evil Ursa AU where she is all on board with slaughtering everyone who blocks Ozai seat on the throne, acting as his hand in the shadows? I'm pretty sure such a personality and Ozai's would clash, but there's the slim possibility they'd like one another (while also enabling each other's worst tendencies).

I have a long standing policy against evil Ursa prompts or prompts where Ursa favored Azula, etc. because I have this persistent problem where I get periodic bouts of people who do not like my reading of canon and characterization, asking me for prompts that they are hoping will somehow force me to write the characterization they agree with. This never ends well, and on more than one occasion, the asker has responded to me turning them down by going and talking about how horrible I am by name. I really don't understand this, because like, if you don't like the way I write characters, why are you asking me to write those characters?

I know that this ask is not in that vein, because I've interacted with @weepingrebelshark-reactivated enough to know that's not how they act. So I actually want to talk a little bit about why I don't think this type of AU works. This has much less to do with Ursa's characterization than with Ozai's. The asker themselves mentions that even evil, Ursa's personality could clash with Ozai's. I don't think they're wrong, but that's not the way I would put it. Ozai is not a particularly complex character, but he is deftly characterized to be a certain kind of terrible person that are not in fact that rare in the real world. He's not just "evil", he's an insecure sack of shit, who takes his fears and self-doubt out on everyone around him, and seeks status to prove to himself and to everyone around him that he isn't worthless. This characterization comes out much less in his official actions as firelord than it does in his interactions with his family.

We have heavily implied in the show that his father abused him, that he favored Iroh over Ozai and was cruel and dismissive of his younger son in profound ways, that left Ozai resentful, and also covering up a deep well of insecurity. Ozai's relationship with his wife and children is equally revealing. Azula's words with regards to her uncle make it very clear that Ozai talks smack about his brother around her all the time, while Ursa and Zuko's reactions show that he does not do this around them. I'm writing an essay that goes more in depth about what this means for Azula, but for now, suffice it to say that this is a sign that Ozai is using her as a surrogate companion in ways she is definitely not old enough to handle. When this happens, it's because a parent doesn't have another companion. It's because they either have no ability to find an adult companion to talk to, or because they are afraid to, so they use a child who is under their control, and who can't reject them.

Ozai is not seeking companionship from his wife. Part of this is because he bitterly resents her, for reasons that have very little to do with her, and much more to do with the situation of how they got married, which is to say, his father deciding to use them both in a breeding project. Likewise, it was not Iroh who was given a backcountry actress from a family of disgraced nobodies for a bride. It was Ozai. I find it hard to believe that Ozai wouldn't see this as a snub, as his father forcing him to marry a low status woman. This has nothing to do with who Ursa is as a person, and even if she were Ozai's ideal wife, she would have to work against this massive preexisting disadvantage.

But what is Ozai's ideal wife? The fact that he seeks out Azula as a surrogate companion also means he isn't seeking out intimate friends. Azula, as a child, is someone he can control, and who doesn't know enough about the world to see through his self-aggrandizing. Ozai resents and fears his father, resents and scorns his brother, resents and is cruel toward his wife, resents and dismisses his son, and uses his daughter as a companion he can control, as a supply of affirmation and even adoration. This paints a picture of a man who cannot have a relationship with an equal, who must either be under someone's power, or have them under his, and any relationship he has with anyone in his power is going to be somehow deeply abusive. He wouldn't be be receptive to a co-conspirator. He doesn't want someone who shares his agenda. The best wife, as far as he's concerned, is one who looks up to him, is in awe of him, buys into the self-serving lies he tells himself, and parrots them back to him. Anything else, including a woman who takes an active interest in scheming to put him in power, is too much of a challenge to his self image. She could see through him to the pathetic weakling his father convinced him he secretly is.

But even if Ursa were perfectly in awe of and submissive to him, he would eventually lash out at her, and take his anger and fear out on her, because there is no way for anyone to perfectly manage his fears and insecurities for him. When coming up with ideas, it's really easy to put things in terms of, what if XYZ character were evil, instead of good, and then we have to step back and think about what it actually means to be evil and good, and how to make a realistic character who does bad things, or wants to achieve destructive ends, before we can even consider how that changes how everybody acts around them. But in this case, none of that matters. Any kind of change to Ursa's personality and actions is almost beside the point. The dynamics of Ozai's nuclear family are entirely shaped by his power and his fears.

#avatar the last airbender #ozai #atla ursa #azula #posts i created #do you want to ask a question it doesn't have to be a question #noodle lord ozai #mother bear ursa #azula needs her own warning

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

I would like to hear more about how Uncle Iroh failed Zuko and Azula.

Also, about his relationship with his brother? I remember thinking that Iroh’s vision of conquering Ba Sing Se might have earned him undeserved favor and praise from Azulon in Ozai’s eyes.

Like I said, Iroh's fuck ups towards Zuko were basically him trying to put Zuko in the right path by doing what worked for himself, and not noticing it was not having the same effect on Zuko. An honest, totally forgivable mistake, but a mistake nonetheless.

As for his mistakes with Azula, it's much worse and very simple: He didn't try. At all. Don't get me wrong, he didn't have to blindly trust her or invite her for tea when she was literally hunting him and Zuko down, but he somehow found a way to continue mentoring Zuko while in prison (and he was only there in the first place because Zuko chose, of his own free will, to betray him in Ba Sing Se).

Yet he never said a word to Azula, never worried about her well being despite her spending three years with a parent he knows is willing to disfigure his own child in front of dozens of people just for speaking out of turn, and when Zuko so much as suggests that, as family, he maybe should try to get along with her, Iroh doesn't simply remind him "Hey, don't be too quick to let your guard down, she's still trying to throw us in prison" - instead he says "She's crazy and needs to go down."

What exactly makes her crazy though? Her breakdown had not happened yet (nor do I think Uncle Iroh would want her to be dealt with too harshily when she's in such a sorry state). Is it because she's following her father's orders blindly, even if it means harming her own family? Iroh should not be so quick to judge considering his own son died because the Fire Nation just had to go invade other people's land.

Even Iroh's voice actor agrees that this shit doesn't add up:

As for why Azulon favored Iroh instead of Ozai, it's impossible to say why that happened since canon never gave us any hints. I've seen many interesting theories, which go from a simple "Iroh was the first born and thus is more important in their hierarchy, and Azulon felt Ozai needed to be put in his place" all the way to "Maybe his wife died giving birth to Ozai and he was one of these asshole fathers that blames the kid."

Personally, I like the idea that there is no "reason". Azulon was just an unfair, cruel person that liked to abuse his power and picked a favorite target - considering his ONE scene with Ozai in "Zuko Alone" strongly mirrors Ozai's Agni Kai with Zuko, I wouldn't be surprised if he was also an innocent child once, but grew bitter after years of mistreatment and instead of choosing to be a better man than his father, he just wanted to be the one with absolute power over everyone.

Also, it does not surprise me that Ozai saw Zuko as the good-for-nothing firstborn, yet strongly favored his second, youngest child, who just happened to be a prodigy. He likely saw himself as "superior", and projected his own hang ups onto his children - and ironically ended up getting some karmic punishment thanks to the child he despised, much like Azulon himself.

#fire nation fuckery #fire nation royal family

[justanotherthrowaway1950]

Zuko and Azula Were Raised Differently

A common argument that people make in order to support their claim that Azula was born evil and/or that Zuko was always a naturally good person was that they were raised in the same household in the same way, and yet, even before Zuko got banished, he had empathy and was generally a decent person while Azula never showed any empathy towards others and was well on the path to becoming the monster she becomes later on in life.

However, in my opinion, this argument fails because its central assumption, that Azula and Zuko were raised the same way, is not true at all.

For even notwithstanding WoG statements by Bryke all but saying Azula is a product of nurture, not nature, the comics not only show that Azula and Zuko were not raised the same, but also explains why that is the case.

This is because Azula and Zuko were literally conceived to help Iroh's line's continued dominance from Azulon's POV, or to help Ozai gain and maintain power from Ozai's POV. 

However, Zuko appeared to be dud due to lacking the spark while Azula was everything that Ozai wished for in a child. So Ozai put all his efforts into raising her into the perfect conqueror and absolute monarch while essentially neglecting Zuko, only really interacting with him in order to emotionally abuse him for not living up to his standards.

Or in other words, Azula was the golden child while Zuko was the scapegoat, meaning that Ozai not only encouraged anti-social behavior in Azula, but also emotionally abused Zuko, often in front of Azula, whenever Zuko tried to act in a prosocial fashion.

Meanwhile, Zuko’s status as Ozai’s scapegoat meant that it was easier for Ursa, and later Iroh, to influence him down a better path since Ozai wasn't invested in him while it was impossible for Ursa due to being a powerless sex slave and Iroh deeming her too under her father’s influence to try.

In fact, Iroh in the Legacy of the Fire Nation all but says that Ozai neglected Zuko and stoked the competition for his favor between Zuko and Azula while at the same time lavishing Azula with “praise” whenever she acted in accordance with his values.

Also, it is implied in the “Zuko is a bastard letter” that Ursa resents Azula for justifying everything the Royal Family did to her since it appeared that, for most of her childhood, Azula was the child of prophecy that led Azulon to find her family and force her to marry Ozai.

“So are you trying to say that how Azula turned out and all of the horrible things she did was not her fault?”

No, because while I was showing how her environment explains her actions and behavior, it does not excuse them. For she was sane when she committed most of her heinous actions, and even when she is insane, the whole existence of “Ursa” shows that what knows what she is doing is wrong.

In fact, I think it reflects poorly on Zuko and Aang that they agreed to Azula’s terms in regards to the search for Ursa before having the unmitigated gall to lose custody of her. 

Especially Zuko since he knows how dangerous Azula is and the threat an escaped Azula presents to the post-war order he is supposed to help protect, and yet disregards all this due to his understandable, but selfish, desire to find Mommy, even though a major part of his redemption arc was learning to put the world’s needs over his desire to have a happy and whole family.

Moreover, I think they are idiots for not dropping everything to bring her in, have a moral imperative to arrest and/or stop Azula again, and would deserve all the scorn in the world if she hurts anyone permanently before they can stop her for good.

“Come on, even if your interpretation of the “Zuko is a bastard” letter is correct, Ursa never let her resentment towards Azula and/or her fear of Ozai affect her parenting towards Azula. For she treated Azula the way she treated Zuko. And if she didn’t, it is because she saw Azula’s latent darkness and decided to save the one child who she could save: Zuko.”

Well, I don’t think Ursa parented Zuko the same way that she did Zuko.

For when Zuko threw bread at the turtle ducks in an attempt to emulate Azula, presumably since Ozai would approve of such behavior, despite not hitting innocent animals being something that should be obvious, Ursa took the time to explain to him why that was wrong in a calm manner that was easy for a 11 year old to understand.

Meanwhile, when Azula burns flowers in the Royal Palace gardens in an attempt to get Ursa’s attention since acting violently gets Ozai’s (positive) attention, Ursa tells Azula to respect the flowers, never once paying attention to Azula saying she burned them because they weren’t perfect, or in other words, I am “perfect”, yet why do you not give me (positive) attention while lavishing Zuko with it?

And while Ursa was more than right to punish Azula by sending her to her room after she burns Zuko for snitching on her, there is never any indication that Ursa ever talked to Azula about why burning flowers is wrong, or why burning them because they aren’t perfect is wrong.

Or in another example, when Zuko fails in his impromptu bending display, Ursa immediately reassures him and praises him for his performance while she says nothing to Azula after her perfect performance.

For while I know that Zuko needed more reassurance, not only in that moment, but also in general, since Ozai had it out for Zuko from birth and Azulon is displeased with Zuko at best while Ozai and Azulon are more than happy with their prodigy/eugenics experiment, Azula is not privy to these dynamics, nor should she since she is a 9 year old.

So it appears to a 9 year old Azula that perfection is not enough to get her mother’s attention while Zuko can be a “screw-up” and still get their mother’s attention.

Or how about when she says out loud what is wrong with that child after Azula disparages Azulon and wishes for his death so Ozai can take the throne, even though she knows that Azula is all but parroting Ozai’s words.

For it might seem obvious to readers and a former peasant like Ursa that wishing for your Grandfather to die so your father can gain more power is utterly vile. 

But to a nine year old who has been repeatedly told that such desires are more than ok, and in fact are natural, it seems like from Azula’s POV that Ursa is berating her for no reason other than because something wrong with her notwithstanding her thoughts, like maybe the fact that she is monster….

(Yes, I know we never see Ozai ever directly talk to Azula about his feelings in regards to the line of succession pre-Azulon’s death, but considering the TTRPG says that Ozai made it a point to teach Azula that conquest is all that matters, even though we never see that on screen or on panel, I don’t think it that much of stretch to assume Ozai in private vented his thoughts about Azulon, Iroh, and Lu Ten to Azula.)

And in regards to the argument that Ursa saw Azula’s inner darkness, and therefore rightfully distanced herself from Azula? That is not supported by text.

For it is true that Noriko might have been motivated by self-preservation when she told Azula that, if she was her mother, she was sorry for not loving her enough, it still does not change the fact that an amnesic Ursa knew by looking at Azula’s face and hearing her raving that Azula’s issue was not that she was born evil, but that she never experienced unconditional love and proper guidance from a parent or parental figure.

And during Smoke and Shadow, Ursa expresses her worry about Azula and acts overprotective towards Kiyi because she did not want to lose another daughter on top of acknowledging during her confrontation with Ozai that Azula never had his love, only his approval.

So to conclude, while it doesn’t excuse any of her actions, the truth of the matter is that Azula turned out differently from Zuko because they were raised differently. For Zuko could not live up to Ozai’s standards for what an imperialist, colonizing, absolute monarch should be, and so was discarded by Ozai, thus allowing Ursa, and later Iroh, to be the primary influences in his life.

Meanwhile, Azula was everything that Ozai wanted, and so he poured all his time and attention into her, with Ursa and Iroh being unable to counteract it short of killing or imprisoning him.

So while it may be true that Azula is irredeemable as of current canon, it is because of how she was raised that led to her becoming irredeemable, not because she was born evil.

#azula #zuko #fire siblings #atla #atla comics #legacy of the fire nation #avatar legends rpg #fire siblings meta #atla meta #atla comics meta #azula is not a demon #azula is not a demon child #azula is not a product of nature #azula is a product of nurture #azula is a victim of indoctrination #azula is a victim of grooming #azula is a child solider #justanotherthrowaway1950meta

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Vicarious (Part 34)

Esukutai is an never ending feast of fruit; freshly cut slices of pineapple and squares of mango sit in bowls on window sills, sharing sweet aromas with those who walk down the streets. Even if everyone slammed their windows shut and kept their bowls to themselves there is plenty of produce to come by. Shop stalls and stacks of crates are absolutely teeming with fruit that has yet to be sold and then cut. Restaurants arrange slices of peach and lemon to look like the sun with a cherry for an eye. The more artful of them shape lemons, peaches, oranges, and strawberries into dragons and phoenixes and likenesses of Zuko’s face. Fruity interpretation that make her glad, for once, that she has fallen out of favor with the general public. At least she will never have to witness fruits being arranged to look like her face only to be picked at and eaten later. Intentions are appreciative in nature but, if she did say so, morbid when more thought is put into it. 

Many of these restaurants and houses have dried fruits hanging in pouches from the rafters. Some of them rest on platters while other folks have simply left the slices on their tables. No matter how they are arranged, it would seem that fruit is a manner of expressing oneself and one’s creativity in Esukutai.

It is doubly creative in that it is a clever work around in nation that banned dance and most forms of music. Whose theater, for the longest time, had been overran and bogged down by wartime propaganda. 

Azula is alone in the crowd. 

No one else is awake. 

At least not anyone from her group. 

The people of Esukutai, on the other hand, seem to rise as early as she—firebenders to the core, right to their internal clocks. Azula thinks that she could find a way to feel at home in this village. It is tiny and leisurely in a way that is exactly the opposite Caldera City. It would be hard to adjust in that regard but at this point, Azula craves quietude as much as she craves the frantic ways of the palace life. 

She scans the crowd, there is a man with a beard down to his ankles, peppery black and strewn with wooden beads. There is a woman with tired eyes and bracelets and bangles all the way up her boney arms. Fanning herself on a thatched porch there is a plump woman with the prettiest green eyes and her husband who very proudly wears a hat embroidered with the Earth Kingdom insignia. 

Behind one of the fruit stands is a girl with a crooked smile and a coiling scar upon her bicep. She passes an apricot to a little girl with chubby, rosy cheeks. Azula presumes that the girl with freckles on her forehead is the girl’s older sister. The next woman steps up, thick black curls bounce to her waist. She asks for a plum or two. 

And then there is the man whose hair looks like a fire. She has seen dyed hair before. Only once at an Ember Island show. She can’t say that she has ever seen anyone color their hair just to have it colorful. 

Esukutai is an expressive, colorful little village. 

Somehow it makes Azula’s heartache. 

She could have lived here. Things could have been simpler, had Ursa thought to take her with her. She wouldn’t have had to endure so much pain. She clutches her wrist—she wouldn’t have so many scars. 

Zuko could have lived here. He wouldn’t have any scars. Perhaps the two of them would have never grown as resentful as they had towards one another. They could have lived mundane, yet vibrant lives. 

By all accounts, Esukutai seems as though it has never been touched by the war. 

Azula shields her eyes against the sun as it peeks between the stalls. She ducks around a vine of grapes and inspects a display of handmade jewelry. They are all fine pieces, most of them crafted from stone or glass. A few have been fixed with small gems. 

She finds a wooden piece cut to look like a dragon with topaz tongues of fire tumbling from its mouth. She takes a few coins from her pocket and hands them to the man wearing seven necklaces. He nods and thanks her and she slips the necklace over her head. The dragon settles at her breast. Until she takes the pendant in her hand anyhow. She looks it over, admiring the woodwork as she walks along. 

Admiring the woodwork until she crashes into the woman with the thick black curls. 

With Esukutai being smaller than Hira’a—a village that is a very distant cry from large or even decently sized—Azula probably should have guessed that running into her mother in the crowd wouldn’t be outside of what was possible and what was not. 

Not that she would have been able to pick out the woman’s face but the woman could pick out hers. 

And she does. 

Right away. 

“A-Azula.” She gasps. 

Azula swallows.

Spirits, they had all been so focused on this idea that Ursa might be someone wholly different that they hadn’t even stopped to consider that the woman might still be tethered to her memories and all of the distress and regrets that come with them.  

Azula parts her lips but no sound comes out. 

“Azula.” She repeats so, so softly. It is almost a squeak. 

She should have slept in with the rest of them.

#avatar the last airbender #azula #sokka #sokkla #fanfiction

[sokkastyles]

Let’s Read ATLA: The Search pp1-30

We open on a quaint little sepia-toned town.

Guys, I'm sorry, but Ikem is adorable why do y'all hate him so much?

Also, I like how Love Amongst the Dragons mirrors the plot of this comic on a meta level. Might compose another post on it when I’ve read the whole comic because I have Thoughts.

This comic wants me to think that Katara is a killjoy and Zuko has family issues. What I actually think: zutara zutara zutara zutara zu-

In case you forgot, it's blaming Zuko for his family's abuse of him hours! Seriously, fuck this guy. I mean, I guess I can see how someone from the Earth Kingdom might feel especially negatively towards the teenage son of the tyrant of the nation that terrorized yours for a hundred years, but the problem is that the comic seems to agree with this sentiment. I can also see how Zuko would blame himself, but again, the problem is that the comic seems to agree.

Something I noticed about Aang's characterization in the Promise that also continues here is that while in the series he was whimsical and cheerful, he wasn't really clueless - even in the moments when the writers were using him to promote their nice guy narrative - but in the comics he often is, to the point of insensitivity, and it seems very out of character.

Also like, I cannot express how much I hate this plot line. No, Zuko, your family's dysfunction is not a reflection of you, as a person or as a ruler or of your nation. Zuko isn't even the one who made the decision about putting Ozai in prison. Even if it had been his decision, he is not wrong for doing something to protect himself as well as the world (and that goes for Azula as well), but he wasn't the one who made that decision, about Ozai OR Azula. What to do about Ozai and Azula was out of his hands because Aang and Katara were the ones who won those battles, and now Zuko is left to deal with the fallout. Which isn't their fault, either, but Zuko is left dealing with making the decision about what to do about family who would have not hesitated to kill him if they were in the opposite position, and he's still beating himself up over it, and it’s just sad, and not in the cathartic kind of way, either.

And Ursa, while I do want Zuko to find her, this shouldn't be the reason. And Zuko certainly isn't responsible for what happened to her.

The message here should not be that Zuko needs to somehow fix his family, especially when it comes to Ozai and Azula, who are not his responsibility and who are the ones who rejected him. Aang should have said "Zuko, we're your family and your family is from all over the world, not just the Fire Nation" and that would have fit with the theme of harmony between the nations and the idea of creating a new world.

Ursa's mother tearfully telling her to remember that she loves her as she says goodbye to her forever, and Ursa's father telling Ursa to "show respect” mirror her children’s relationship with their parents as well.

"It's almost as if Roku tried to hide you from us!" Ohohoho!

This raises a whole bunch of questions, though. Why would Azulon want to marry his second son to Roku's bloodline when Iroh is still in line for the throne? My headcanon is that Iroh married for love and was able to defy Azulon due to being the favored son, but usually I like to imagine that Iroh didn't marry at all and had Lu Ten out of wedlock. Or maybe they just couldn’t find Roku’s descendents before now and it’s too late for Iroh to get married (because his wife died and he refuses to remarry, or whatever reason. I still like the idea that Iroh is just an adamant bachelor.)

1. The dialogue is so bad it physically hurts me.

2. Why are they having this conversation while watching Ozai and Azula stare each other down?

3. Wait, Republic City is Aang's idea, now, and Zuko is saying it's too idealistic, when last time it was Aang saying that the four nations had to be separate while Zuko was the one trying to protect the people of Yu Dao?

4. "My usual dour self."

Azula could have been chi-blocked to begin with. There are like, a million things they could come up with to solve the problem of her firebending, but instead they go for the straight jacket and the Girl, Interrupted look. Thanks, I hate it.

Azula and Ozai both know they can manipulate Zuko exactly because of his compassion. I still don't buy that this is the best chance of finding Ursa, though.

What Azula doesn’t understand about controlling people through fear is that it is never going to get you more than shallow loyalty at best. Ty Lee didn’t defy Azula because she stopped fearing her, but because her love for Ty Lee was stronger. You don’t stop being afraid, you decide that there are things more important than fear.

Meanwhile, in sepia flashback land, Ursa is being taken away to marry Ozai and Ikem tries to um, fight the carriage?

"Whatever it is they're offering, it isn't worth the pain of never again belonging." Who wrote this dialogue I just want to talk. I don't think I like you anymore, Ikem.

Cut to Zuko, who is escorting Azula from the prison to the palace. Suki warns that the chi block will wear off soon, and Zuko is like, lol no it's fine I got this. This comic is really just a series of people saying nothing could possibly go wrong before things inevitably go wrong.

I don’t think that’s quite how it works, Azula, but that’s some nice, ahem, bending there,

In the flashback, Ikem is sad and decides to become a hermit or something idk, and then he meets a spooky wolf spirit voiced by Gillian Anderson.

Back at the palace, Zuko is chasing after the newly escaped Azula.

What is this, a videogame?

It’s interesting that Azula doesn’t say that Ozai showed her the secret chamber or she found it but didn’t know who it belonged to, she says that it’s one of Ozai’s many secret chambers and said Zuko should have come exploring with her but his fear held him back. Because Azula didn’t fear Ozai the way Zuko did. Which, of course, does not mean that Azula wasn’t also abused, but Azula didn’t have to think that she’d be punished for something like going where she wasn’t allowed or eavesdropping on their father’s conversations. And the fact that Azula was able to get this information out of Ozai whereas Zuko didn’t even know that this part of the palace existed shows how purposefully Zuko was kept out of the loop, how they were raised differently, and Azula’s rubbing that in his face, too, because it’s power she has over Zuko even when she’s his prisoner.

She hid one of the letters while making Zuko think she destroyed them all.

Yeah, still don’t like this “Azula is hallucinating Ursa” plot. It denies Azula agency as a sympathetic character and as a villain. The Azula of the series is tragic but also extremely intelligent and Machiavellian. 

It is kind of interesting that she says Ozai “overcame her control” though, because if Azula believes that Ursa is somehow controlling things, she doesn’t have to acknowledge that her father is to blame for the way her life went. Which is also why she believed Ursa hated her in the series, because then she doesn’t have to acknowledge that her father denied her a relationship with her mother. There are ways to get this across without a “crazy woman” plot, though.

Also, this raises other questions if Azula really is supposed to be hallucinating Ursa. Azula alternates very quickly between acknowledging that Ursa is not there - talking about finding her - and talking about her as if she is there in the room. I know this is because she is supposed to be “crazy,” but people who have psychotic delusions usually experience them as if they are real. They can learn to hide their delusions from other people if they realize that other people react negatively to them, but they still experience them as if they are real. Since Azula’s been in an institution she would probably be trying to hide the fact that Ursa was “there” in front of Zuko, especially since Zuko wants Azula to help him find Ursa, and especially after Zuko has a negative reaction to her behavior, “what’s wrong with you?” But I don’t think this comic is too concerned with accurate portrayals of mental illness.

What was the condition? We will have to find out next time, because there’s another time jump. And that’s for another post.

#atla comics #the search #atla comics critical #zuko #azula #ozai #ursa #ikem #abuse cw #mental illness cw