#fire royal family

[atla-recluse]

I can't be the only one...

who felt like it was implied by the show that lightning bending was somehow a more "evil", "impure" or "cruel" form of bending in line with what bloodbending was made out to be, based on who we know was skilled enough to do it (Azula, Ozai, likely "past" Iroh). Am I?

I feel like that definitely could have been a bias that they chose to lean into, based on what we learned up to and past the point of lightning bending's introduction as well as bloodbending's.

Hama being an unforgiven-antagonist to the Gaang means that bloodbending was going to be framed as an especially awful form of combat from the start. (A form that seems to get implicitly compared in-show to a physical or spiritual violation.) Likewise, Iroh describes lightning bending as "cold fire".

Lightning? Cold? The surface of the sun would beg to differ.

The previously mentioned three from the Fire Royal Family are also the only ones we see and know of doing the skill. Two of them are show antagonists (Azula, Ozai). The other technically starts as an antagonist but eventually becomes someone that we're now supposed to believe views his past self as though they would have been a wrongful enemy of the Gaang and of world peace itself (Iroh). Meanwhile our poor, good-hearted, awkward turtleduck (*snickers*) Zuko, just can't seem to learn how to do it. Even when the time period of LOK comes, he's implied to have still not learned how.

Also, if we are to assume that no forms of firebending were looked down upon in Fire Nation culture, especially post-dragon extinction, then it makes even more sense that a form of firebending that's "harsher" wouldn't be disapproved of and would even be preferred over other forms for that very reason.

Now if true, that leaves the question of "what makes it worse than other forms of firebending?". I'd argue nothing, really. It seems, at worst, to only be faster and more deadly than other forms of fire bending. Like icebending compared to regular waterbending. A cherry on top for Azula seems to be that she looks fantastic and elegant when she aims her fingers at someone/something, and for Ozai, that he can prepare his shots extremely fast.

Of course, it could also have been the other way around and it was the characters that learned the ability who were having something implied about them, not necessarily the ability itself. Maybe even both.

#ATLA #firebending #lightning bending #waterbending #bloodbending #story parallels #implying character “morality” #Azula #Ozai #Iroh #Zuko #Fire Royal Family #Hama

[dieauster-und-diegarnele]

A:tla - fire meta and theories

water/earth/fire/air/general

Zuko and opium

Azula and non-benders

Zuko, Azula and Aang - height

Zuko is not hateful

Fireball in the face

Audience with Azulon

Zuko and Azula's Agni Kai - lightning

Zuko covering his face from the fire

Referring to Zuko as a "prince"

Zuko's pose

Zuko is both cool and awkward

Zuko protecting Sokka

Was Ursa scared of her husband?

Difference between Ozai and Zuko's childhood

On Ozai abusing Azula

Ozai, Parenting, and Abuse

Firebending during eclipce, night etc

Zuko's redemption arc

Azula's thoughts on Iroh

Azula's bending

Abusive father Ozai (pt 1 - Zuko, link for Azula is down there)

A parallel. Just as Roku did with Sozin, Zuko spares his father.

Asian view on heirs, sons and daughters

Zuko & Azula: Eyes

Azula is not the most powerful firebender in atla

Azula’s downfall is foreshadowed

Zuko should just follow the cabbage guy

Zuko is a theatre kid

Azula, conditioned love etc

“The Beach” in terms of Azula

Long meta about Azula

Zuko is not tall (as well as Sokka)

Zuko and Iroh's prison dialoge: the great directing

Zuko is being cared and healthy

Yon Rha and Iroh crimes

Zuko's scar camera framing

The fact that Zuko even considers having Katara heal his scar is probably a red flag for him siding with his sister

Zuko and Ozai camera framing

“You can’t treat me like Zuko!”

Ozai and Zuko - talking with father

About Iroh and Ozai's past and characters in general

Modern!AU Zuko and Azula

Ozai is very concentrated when bending - screenshots

Iroh and Ozai - Azula and Zuko (parallels)

Why does Iroh talk to Zuko in metaphors

Ursa’s departure caused Ozai to become worse

Aang and Zuko talking about Ozai

Iroh: "She's crazy and she needs to go down" line

Do we ever see Ozai actually care about stopping Aang?

How important firebending is to Ozai

Ozai: what having your bending taken from you must entail

Ozai is objectively speaking the worst firelord

Was it just “speaking out of turn”?

"Good" and "bad" guys in Fire royal family

Zuko and Iroh: waiting all night

Zuko Centric-Morality and the Fire Nation

Is Zuko is a better bender than Aang?

In defense of Mai and Maiko. Let’s talk about seashells

Ozai did cared about his family in the past

Iroh and Zuko’s wanted poster; there’s a specific line

Why Azulon had a second son in tags (I personally love the first and the last ones)

Zuko is canonically bisexual

Zuko, Jet and Jin: flirting

Zuko falls for Jin, restaurant scene part 2 (part 1 link is in the post)

Evidence that Zuko looks like Ozai

Zuko can find almost anything, a list

How many places Zuko has broken into (Zuko being competent while thinking he is not)

Iroh spends the whole show vibing with everyone

Why Zuko's redemption arc is so good

Zuko: it is so much easier to believe in the impossible than it is to believe that your father is a monster

About Zuko's trauma

Two Zuko's least popular hairstyles (spoiler: blame Iroh)

And a bit more about Zuko's ponytail

Firebending study: Why Ozai is the top Firebender in ATLA

How sexist is the Fire Nation?

#avatar the last airbender #zuko #azula #ozai #roku #sozin #ursa #uncle iroh #iroh #prince zuko #jet #jin atla #mai atla #fire nation #fire royal family

[asocial-inkblot]

Art Style and Emotions Evoked

One of the choices made for ATLA that I really admire is that they sometimes used intentional shifts in art style (such as lines and colors) to change the atmosphere in a scene (or part of a scene, such as an ink painting) and give off a certain feeling, often dream-like and with the occasional benefit of reminding us of real life art history. 

Some examples of this can be seen in the episodes The Storm, The Cave of Two Lovers, Zuko Alone, Tales of Ba Sing Se and The Beach. Basically, it tends to happen during Zuko’s trips down memory lane or when focus is put on other members of the Fire Family (but not always).

(Above Images from The Storm)

You can see the differences of course, but also the strong yet subtle similarities between the first three images above—and especially the third one where a younger Zuko can be seen standing next to his father—and the fourth one after, where Zuko is standing on his ship. The third and fourth images practically mirror each other; one younger with a more innocent vibe, the other older and hardened from the past.

Also, the first three, to me, have softer edges and warmer tones. And (when animated) appear more blurry. It reminds me of a sepia-hued, smudge-style canvas painting or even an edited photograph. It’s truly like a memory, which is exactly what that scene depicts.

***

(Above Image from Zuko Alone)

The above is yet another example of a memory being shown within scene, although it somehow seems more “real” than the previous images, imo.

I think it’s because of the way it’s made to look closer to the regular art style. A part of me wonders if this maybe was the “original” art style that they were going to go for, before they switched to a more commonly used one.

***

(Above Image from The Beach)

Now I'd say the above is akin to that of a caricature, which I absolutely love. The Fire Gang all look like themselves, yet not, due to the exaggeration that also helps to showcase their differing personalities. The beach was actually a goldmine for stuff like this: Exaggerated illustration of personality.

A few more beautiful examples:

All in all, the changes in art style were a very good, dynamic choice for a high quality, quickly-advancing show. I can look on the images used in this post alone for ages, just studying and enjoying them.

#ATLA #Avatar the Last Airbender #Zuko #Azula #mentioned character: Mai #mentioned character: Ty Lee #Fire Gang #Fire Family #Fire Royal Family #art styles #emotions #connection between art and emotions #The Storm #Zuko Alone #The Beach #The Cave of Two Lovers #Tales of Ba Sing Se

[kibutsulove]

atla twitter memes while I’m outside. filler post

#atla #the gaang #fire nation royal family #korra #zaheer #ty lee #tlok #avatar the last airbender #tyzula #sukka #ozai filmed the wrong kid on purpose #I made these months ago

[dianorayasiri]

Prince Lu Ten has tasted the bitter taste of betrayal, the adults have told him to tire out the children, he did not know, he was included.

#avatar the last airbender #zuko #azula #dianorayasiri #atla #prince zuko #princess azula #prince lu ten #digital art #artists on tumblr #chibi doodle #illustration #art #fire nation royal family #fire nation

[prodogg]

Royal drama queens

#fire siblings #fire hazards #fire hazard siblings #fire family #royal drama queens #fire nation royal family #zuko #atla zuko #zuko atla #azula #atla azula #azula atla #prince zuko #princess azula #atla #avatar the last airbender #the legend of aang #avatar #pd talks

[mugentakeda]

decided to doodle some more stuff for this au since the lu ten lives au ask i got from oomf has been haunting me

#to anon that asked me about things iroh and zuko have in common: Another thing they have in common is being extremely self sabotaging👍 #YIPEEEEE!!!!! #also im getting better at drawing babies. who else cheered #lu ten #zuko #azula #iroh #alicias art #atla #avatar the last airbender #fire nation royal family

[stardust948]

I love Lu Ten lives AUs

#atla #lu ten lives au #atla au #lu ten #zuko #azula #ozai #royal fire family #atla memes

[southsidestory]

Animated Ozai has exactly two redeemable qualities:

He's voiced by Mark Hamill

He's fine

Live-action Ozai also has two redeemable qualities:

He's played by Daniel Dae Kim

He's fine as fuck

#avatar the last airbender #atla #fire lord ozai #avatar live action #avatar netflix #mark hamill #daniel dae kim #lbh most of the fire nation royal family is both literally and metaphorically hot #300+

[doodlerose]

#avatar the last airbender #art #digital art #azulon #princess azula #prince zuko #uncle iroh #atla ursa #fire lord ozai #fire nation #fire nation royal family #lu ten #atla #atla fanart #atla spoilers #tw death

[perfectlypanda]

Zutara Week Day 5: Respite

These were actually meant to be part of a larger piece for the day 1 theme "Home", but... art was refusing to art (I have so many sketches and half finished pieces I started for ZK Week, but things were just not working). So instead, we'll use there peaceful family moments in the South Pole for "respite"!

Kya pops up the most in my art, but Kallik makes an appearance here! He's Zuko and Katara's second child, and only son.

♥ Please do not repost. If you like it and want to show people, share a link to this page instead. Thank you!

#zutara #zutara week #zutara week 2023 #zuko #katara #fire lord zuko #master katara of the southern water tribe queen consort of the fire nation #atla #avatar #prince kallik #pandaverse #zutara pandaverse #steambaby #steambabies #fire nation royal family #look I made a thing

[sinusoidaldisfunction]

Princess Burn. The collector.

#wings of fire #wof #wof fanart #wings of fire fanart #wof burn #dysfunction's designs #she's my favorite of the three #i love her stupid little chainmail sweater in the first graphic novel #anyways. burn has a different dad than the other two #king char (who i headcanon as half nightwing. hence the other two's darker scales) was oasis's second husband #and oasis has like. a skywing great grandpa or something #idk i feel like. at least the sand. mud. and sky royal families would have at least a little bit of hybrid marriages for politics #like look at Europe

[dieauster-und-diegarnele]

Fire nation portraits

Portraits are important for citizens of the fire nation. Seriously, they're everywhere! First of all, the official images of the Firelord or the royal family:

There are also more personal portraits, images of loved ones, a girl with her boyfriend etc.

But either the portrais are official or not, they look quite the same - calm faces, neutral poses. And yet there is one painting that is completely different:

Someone ordered this: a smiling happy baby, playing in the sand. We saw little Zuko and Azula on their family portrait - children are usually depicted the same formal way as adults. So I wondered, who would want to have such an image of little Ozai?

Iroh? I am not sure. They have a big age difference, they are very distant. When Ozai was born, Iroh was either a boy or a teenager. Why would he need that?

Azulon? Most likely not. He is everything but sentimental. And Ozai is not his favorite son. One can guess that Azulon did not plan to have another child and Ozai's birth was sort of accidental.

Sozin? Hahaha, no.

So I guess it was painted for Ozai's mother, lady Ilah. It seems she did not die at childbirth, as many fans think, but maybe she was very weak after this and spent a lot of time recovering on Ember Island far away from her little son. And that portrait stayed here after her death, cause Azulon and Iroh did not need it.

Someone once loved Ozai with all her heart.

Screenshots source

P.S. Off-topic. How could I forget this amazing artwork? Still symmetrical, but obviously very personal. And flirty :)

#fire royal family #lady Ilah #firelord Ozai #atla

[shiftywing]

"all of the icewings in the graphic novels look the same" all of them are related

#like yes they will look alike #the only one that wasn't part of the royal family was cirrus & he was drawn very distinctly #wof #wings of fire

[livrere-green]

Fire Hazard Siblings: Zuko & Azula + Tumblr Posts • 1/??

Bonus: what could have been...

#zuko & azula #fire hazard siblings #zuko #azula #princess azula #prince zuko #atla #avatar the last airbender #fire nation #fire lord zuko #incorrect atla #atla shitpost #fire nation royal family #AGNI KAI #atla + tumblr posts by liv #avatar comics #avatar zuko #avatar azula #zukka #azutara #azula and zuko #sibling dynamics #atla incorrect quotes #incorrect quotes

[fantastic-nonsense]

wonder how much chaos I would cause if I wrote a meta on how Bryke deliberately used family systems theory to parallel Zuko and Azula with Iroh and Ozai and do a "same story, different ending" narrative

#(edit: this post now comes with a short version of aforementioned meta in the reblogs. check the notes) #atla #atla meta #(sort of) #zuko #azula #uncle iroh #firelord ozai #fire nation royal family