#azulas redemption

[because-its-so-sharp]

Unpopular opinion: Azula is more redeemable than Iroh

#atla avatar #azula #azulas redemption #i'm not hating on Iroh #a part of me loves him #but the fandom white-washes him like crazy and its making me a lil uncomfortable #avatar meme #iroh critical

[aakiwa]

So embarrassing but I’m having a zukka moment rn

Also Azula + Sokka bffs bcs if she got the therapy she deserves I’m telling u their brains together wud be unbeatable

(Ugh I keep flipping Sokka’s scars forgive me)

#fanart #art #illustration #zuko #zukka #sokka #atla #avatar the last airbender #azula #read this gorgeous fucking FIC AND AZULA’S REDEMPTION?? ATEEEEE SOKKA AND AZULA’S FRIENDSHIP??? ATEEEE #IT IS BURNED INTO MY BRAIN #IF I DIDNT HAVE FINALS ID BE PUMPING OUT ART LIKE NO TMRW #THAT FIC CAN TAKE MY SOULL #AND IT WAS ZUKKA SO LIKE FUCKKKK YEAH #sokka & azula

[bonksoundeffect]

Pov you've been judged and found wanting

Anyways, just felt like drawing older Zuko and Azula

+

#fanart #avatar #avatar the last airbender #atla #zuko #azula #imagine if azula got a good redemption arc #her and zuko working together would've been powerful #fire hazard siblings

[waywardavatarenthusiast]

this is the funniest thing i’ve ever seen on atla twitter

#atla #azula #avatar the last airbender #azula redemption arc #azula redemption

[jujuberii]

no matter the ship, i love the trope where toph can sense who has a crush on the other bc of their heartbeats. They'll be stuttering through a convo and she'll just be there like I Know What You Are.

#atla #atla toph #toph beifong #ok i admit i had zukka in mind with this one #I CANT HELP IT THEYRE SO CUTE #zukka #zutara #i guess... #kataang #the zutara tag is very hesitant #zukaang #sukki #zukki #the gaang #found family is my weakpoint #maybe also #kazula #azutara #if u squint #or apply it to an azula redemption au

[isthei]

redeemed!azula becomes zuko’s advisor

based on this post

#atla #fire hazard siblings #avatar the last airbender #atla fanart #my art #zuko #atla zuko #azula #atla azula #azula redemption #fire siblings

[commander-hill]

Azula: Mai, could you pass the salt?

Mai: Could you pass away?

Ty Lee (to a horrified Gaang): This is normal

Zuko: *nods in agreement*

#path to redemption and reconciliation is hard #incorrect avatar quotes #atla #avatar the last airbender #azula #ty lee #mai #zuko #the gaang #tyzula #maizula #maizulee

[bluespiritshonour]

Water Siblings and Fire Siblings as Foils

Katara and Sokka are peak sibling rep: they bicker, they hurt each other, they take turns being the voice of reason while the other goes batshit crazy—and they'd die for each other.

And very clearly Sokka's daddy's boy and Katara's momma's girl: and for most parts, they seem to be content with that dynamic.

Look, parents have favourites, let's establish that first: don't come at me for it.

But in a healthy environment, where all of the kids’ emotional needs are met irrespective of which kid gets along with which parent, they're less likely to tear themselves apart yearning for parental affection.

Sokka and Katara's family was a normal one, a healthy one—as healthy as one can be in a war ravaged world—and Sokka and Katara are normal siblings. Even after their mother died Katara doesn't seem to care much that Sokka gets more time with their father. And everytime she brings up their mother Sokka gets this weird look on his face, which, I think is later explained by the fact that he feels guilty that he doesn't even remember what their mother looked like. And it's not because Katara seems to know more about their mother despite being younger.

Neither of them grudge the other for having been close to one of the parents—let's call it ‘being close to’ instead of ‘dad/mum loved you/me more’ because that's what would come up with Azula and Zuko.

One can say that Azula's daddy's girl and Zuko's momma's boy... Except it isn't like that.

Azula wasn't loved by her father; neither was she close to him. If anything she had the illusion that she's close to him. But children can sense when they aren't loved, which can explain why she took her mother being close to Zuko so hard. Because she didn't get that from her father and isn't she supposed to be daddy's girl? But dad's good to her; mum... isn't. Dad lets her do what she wants... As long as she obeys him or she'd end up like Zuko.

For Ozai, both his children are pawns. He uses Azula to abuse Zuko, which in turn is to get at Ursa. And honestly, Ursa was a bad mum and an abuse victim and not the villain are takes that can co-exist.

A lot of mums in primarily patriarchal cultures end up abusing their own kids while trying to protect them in an environment where they themselves hold little power.

Ursa and Hakoda can be compared in this.

Katara haters can look away: she isn't whiny. And even if she is, well, she takes responsibility when no one else does so I guess she deserves to complain if that's what it takes. Katara is extremely mature. When she was mad at Hakoda, she still had the critical thinking skills to point out that yes, she understands why he left. He had to! She doesn't blame him for that, it wasn't his fault that there was war going on—but it still hurt!

And what does Hakoda do? He hugs her and apologises. He doesn't defend himself, because he doesn't need to. She understands! She said she does and he doesn't insult her by making excuses. He acknowledges and validates her pain.

Unlike Katara, who grew up in a healthy family with parents and grandparents and a whole community—Azula was isolated and under the influence of Ozai. And she was so young! If you remember being that young, you'd remember thinking that parents are always right. You don't realise that parents make mistakes too—and while her emotional needs weren't being met by Ozai, she turned to Ursa—but Ursa was at her wits end trying to undo the damage of Ozai's abuse on Zuko.

If she had given attention to Azula, Zuko, who thought that Azula was perfect and already had father's approval would have gone off rails—and since she didn't... Azula went off the rails.

Which was exactly how Ozai would want it. I don't like the comics much but it made sense that Ozai would hold both the children as bargaining chips against Ursa. Ursa made her choice, or rather, the illusion of her choice and Azula had to pay for it: the real reason Zuko could turn over a new page while Azula couldn't was because from the very beginning, Zuko had his mum and uncle.

Azula had no one!

Like Hakoda had to go to war and leave his children behind, Ursa had to choose between Azula or Zuko; Ozai orchestrated it as such.

But while there were people to pick up Hakoda's slack, there was no one to guide Azula. Sokka and Katara raised each other and they had Gran Gran.

Zuko and Azula were constantly pitted against each other by a war-mongering father.

I don't like this unrealistic expectations that fandom has of a family where both the siblings not only love each other equally, they also process emotions similarly (see: the Sokka vs Katara debate on how they both react to trauma) and parents who love all the kids equally.

Katara and Sokka are normal and realistic in the way that they are both different people: they process grief differently. Katara takes up responsibly and grows up too fast, it takes a toll on her and she's vocally expressive. She turns her grief into anger. Meanwhile Sokka internalises it in a survivor's guilt kind of way.

There's also gender involved in the way both pair of siblings interact. It's more subtle for the fire siblings than the water sibling. Plus, Suki makes Sokka drink his respect women juice, please y'all don't call Sokka sexist. That was character development for him which was addressed. I could make another post for gender and A:TLA.

And they both love each other dearly and they're okay with the fact that one is daddy's boy and the other is momma's girl. It's okay.

In contrast Zuko yearns for his father's affection and Azula yearns for her mother's. And while Zuko feels inadequate, for Azula it's “behave or you'll end up like your brother.”

She also learns to derive a sick sort of pleasure from watching Zuko suffer—which is entirely her father's doing. Because in rare moments when she doesn't have anything to gain by getting Zuko into trouble...she actually kind of looks out for him. It's extremely rare and sprinkled here and there to show us the Azula that could have been.

And I don't think Zuko really realised that Azula was abused too—not until he lets go of his father. Until the final Agni Kai. What I love about it is that despite portraying Azula as Zuko's tormentor for 3 seasons (and she was his tormentor) they did not frame the Agni Kai as some epic good vs evil shit.

Because from Zuko's point of view Azula was perfect. He's out here vying for his father's affection while she gets it freely. She's so lucky!—until he lets go of his father and realises what a monster he was... And he also realises that father never really loved Azula either...

They didn't say as much in words. But the final Agni Kai is proof enough. Zuko doesn't rejoice bringing Azula down (technically Katara did it). At this point, I guess, he realises that Azula's a kid too. Even younger than him—that their father couldn't care less about either of them.

Okay. I really do think that Zuko suddenly becoming invested in Azula's redemption would make sense after the Agni Kai. I also read this Twitter thread by Aaron Ehasz where he says he had plans for Azula's redemption and it was fantastic.

So yeah. Without being overt, the water siblings and fire siblings are contrasted by each other. Which is why I don't like the comics trying to do this brother-sister thing where they put Sokka and Katara and Zuko and Azula in back-to-back panels like... Even if I'm a huge supporter of Azula-deserves-redemption I didn't like those panels in the comics.

P.S. don't pit Sokka and Katara against each other. You aren't Ozai. They're different people who process trauma and loss differently and hence, react differently.

Adios.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #ink rambles #katara #sokka #zuko #azula #azula deserves redemption #katara defence squad

[lazyveran]

my favourite azula redemption arc is just azula chanting "im going to kill him later im going to usurp and kill him later just wait im going to kill zuzu in a moment" over and over and then just. never getting around to it. yeah girl you defo will kill zuko. its been four years and you've been helping him rule. totally part of the murder plan.

#she doesnt even change much she's just as delusionally villainous #but shes gotta get those shipping manifests looked over by the end of the week. killing zuko will have to wait #azula #zuko #azula redemption #atla

[oceanichymns]

Excited to share one of my illustrations for @recovery-zine !

#avatar the last airbender #atla #azula #turtle ducks #avatar universe #ursa #atla azula #atla ursa #digital art #illustration #fanworks #zine promo #azula redemption #is something that can be so personally important to me

[a-todd-illustration]

"Don't mess my hair up, dum-dum."

"I don't think I can do any worse than you did."

I wanted a tender moment between Azula and Zuko where he cuts her hair. Since touching hair is important, no one else can do it. She'll only let her stupid brother fix her bangs. It sets off the beginning of her healing.

#myart #fanart #avatar the last airbender #atla #avatar #princess #zuko #azula #prince zuko #fire lord zuko #princess azula #azula recovery #azula redemption

[samtamdan]

#avatar the last airbender #azula #ty lee atla #mai atla #post redemption arc #maizulee #tyzula #maizula #lesbian azula #she have some issues

[the-stranger-artist]

Aang: The path to inner peace begins with four words...

Azula: "Not my fucking problem"

#avatar: the last airbender #atla #avatarshitpost #atla aang #avatar #aang x azula #fire lord azula #azula redemption #team avatar #the last airbender fanart

[bunthebreadboy]

“The eclipse is Zutara coded” WRONG. It’s Azutara coded. It’s the final Agni Kai. It’s Katara standing in front of Azula, freezing them in water right before Azula tries to lightning bend. It’s Katara being the only character in the series who completely subdues Azula. It’s Azula, who burns hot, who becomes exhausted with heavy breaths, who begins screaming with flames coming out of her mouth. And it’s Katara, who watches with a heavy expression and Zuko at her side.

#atla #katara #azula #azutara #kazula #is this ship related? not technically but i do like them with a good azula redemption arc #I like to think of Azula as the sun because she’s the Fire Nation golden child who burns so bright and angry that it becomes unbearable #now that i think about it..azula is gifted kid burnout #maybe that’s why i resonated with her as a kid #also i don’t like zutara #they have divorced and hate each other energy tbh #zuko #avatar the last airbender

[crybabylulu]

UNCLE IROH HAS SPOKEN! (This tweet is old stfu I forgot I had this!) HE SAID AZULA DESERVES REDEMPTION! HE HAS SPOKEN!

#azula did nothing wrong #azula has mommy issues #azula is best girl #princess azula #lesbian azula #azula redemption #fire lord azula #atla azula #azula avatar #azula #atla #uncle iroh #dragon of the west #Jasmine dragon #azula avatar the last airbended #avatar the last airbender #UNCLE HAS SPOKEN

[zeke-best]

no make up azula looks exactly like zuko

#azula fanart #fire lord azula #atla azula #princess azula #azula avatar #azula redemption #zuko and azula #azula fanfic #prinzessin azula #atla zuko #azula zuko #zuko fanart #avatar zuko #fire nation #fire siblings #incorrect atla