#firebending masters

[phoenix-king-ozai]

Firelord Ozai’s Firebending Skills Analysis! ☄️🔥⚡️

This is an amazing & incredible post analyzing Ozai’s firebending power, skill, and talent why he is the strongest firebender of ATLA!🔥⚡️☄️

#atla #sozin #azulon #iroh #ozai #zuko #azula #fire nation #firebending #avatar #firebending masters #avatar the last airbender #fire nation royal family #fire family #fire fam

[blluespirit]

there are so many amazing and powerful benders in atla but what i love about zuko is that whether or not he can use his bending in that moment has zero (0) bearing on how much he’s going to absolutely kick your ass. no bending? that’s fine - he’s got swords. no swords or bending? that’s fine - he’s literally just going to beat you up. if you’re REALLY unlucky then you get all three. as a treat.

#like he’s surrounded by these amazing benders. #azula who’s a prodigy #the literal avatar #katara who mastered water bending in like -3 days #(literally iconic of her tbh) #and zuko IS a great firebender (his abilities as a firebender improve as his story progresses) #but it just absolutely cracks me up when i remember zuko will just. not use his bending sometimes #anyway zuko alone fight was special bc he really said i will use all three bc ur special 🤭 #zuko #avatar the last airbender #avatar: the last airbender #atla #jack talks #where’s that post that’s like zuko is a prodigy but his special skill is breaking and entering and he can’t tell anyone about that

[zukoisanawkwardturtleduck]

testing new brushes with the baby

#Zuko #Zuko atla #firebending masters #avatar: the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #Zuko fanart #atla fanart #avatar the last Airbender fanart #atla #The Firebending Masters #firebending masters atla

[zivazivc]

energy and life

#atla #avatar #avatar the last airbender #aang #zuko #screenshot redraw #the firebending masters #one of my favorite episodes #my art #avatar is one of those shows that i never really drew for because i felt like it's perfect enough that i don't need to touch it #i'm making no sense but yeah... #the show was too cool for my fanart #although mini me did make a plushie of appa :P

[azulasnailtech]

@pscentral event 17: vibrance

#mystuff #mygifs #user.tee #userchristie #usercharisse #userbess #usermeangirlcoded #usergiu #userlaro #userrainbow #usermadita #userriel #usernorah #atla #atlaedit #aang #zuko #the firebending masters

[sokkastyles]

Came across a few posts about how Azula is the best firebender in the series, and that subject is probably more based on opinion than fact I guess, but still feels like saying that is antithetical to the themes of the story. What do you think?

I agree that it's antithetical to the themes of the story. Azula cannot be the best firebender because she is not working with a complete understanding of firebending, which is linked to the themes of the story and bending as a metaphor for how we engage with ourselves and others.

I recently saw a post that said the dragons would judge Azula worthy because firebending is about drive. And oh, boy, does that completely misunderstand the themes of that episode.

The whole point is that the Fire Nation's post-Sozin relationship with fire, the idea of "having the power and drive to achieve what you want" and valuing that above all else is exactly what caused the world to fall out of balance. It is this drive for power that we see corrupt people like Sozin, Zhao, Ozai, and yes, Azula.

When Zuko faces the dragons, the original firebending masters, he learns that fire is so much more than just a drive for power. Fire is life itself, it's passion, it's warmth, it's something to be both kept in check and nurtured to become healthy. Like a little heartbeat that can be snuffed out if you aren't careful, or can burn out of control if not tempered.

So many people like to say Azula only lost the final agni kai because of her mental state, but the truth is that 1) Azula was never in a healthy mental state, at any point that we saw her in the show, and 2) she does not have the wisdom to see anything beyond her own drive for power, and that is going to prevent her from having a true link to her element.

The elements themselves are inspired by different martial arts. This is well-known. But martial arts is a form that emphasizes discipline over raw power, especially Xiaolin, which firebending is based on. It's all about self control and finding balance within oneself. Which is a theme that is cited over and over again in the show.

Iroh tells Zuko at the beginning of the show that he cannot move on to advanced forms until he has mastered the basics. He is trying to teach him how to develop the control he needs to be a true firebending master. Zuko acts this way towards his element because this is what he learned from Ozai, and from watching Azula, who has no self control and no patience. We see her practice her forms, sure, but we also see her get incredibly angry when it's not perfect. Azula has some moves that she's perfected to cause the most damage, but she's not comfortable when stepping outside of that zone, cannot take criticism at all, and threatens anyone who says she is not the best. She cannot possibly be the best firebender with such a limited understanding of her element.

Which is also why she loses even with the power of the comet on her side. Because all the power in the world won't help if the spirit isn't in balance. People will act like Azula's mental breakdown only existed to "nerf" her in the finale but it's like, literally the whole point, and was something that was building since the beginning of the series.

#azula #zuko #elemental symbolism #firebending #iroh #the firebending masters

[zuko-always-lies]

Unpopular Opinion

The people who become master benders without having to put in the hard work and without having to struggle aren't Azula or Toph or even Aang, they're Katara(becomes a master good enough to teach the Avatar within a month of finally getting formal instruction) and Zuko (get's a convenient dragon-shaped powerup rather than having to actually master the fundamentals).

#Azula #Toph #Aang #Katara #Zuko #Katara had trouble learning waterbending because literally all the other southernwater benders had been genocided #and that was her struggle #and didn't have it easy #But once she actually met a master waterbender she took so easily and instantly to it #Zuko refused put in the basic hard work #that's his introduction #and then we basically never see him practice #but got the dragons to teach him firebending #Azula had to practice hard to become as good as she did #Toph taught herself but I'm sure it took many years #Even Aang struggled learning new forms of bending despite literally being the Avatar

[ash-and-starlight]

hi i've fallen in love with the way you draw adult Zuko and this is your problem. never did i fucking ever think i'd be attracted to this emo candle lighter but here we are. in the year 2022. simping. i wanna bang my head against a rock. please make more i love you

anon i want u to know i’m stealing the emo candle lighter phrasing & using it forever. as for the rest,,,

#Yet Another Commute Doodle #trying to channel the absolute head empty smile aang brought out of him in the firebending masters ep #my art #ash replies

[starlight-bread-blog]

In The Boy in the Iceberg, Zuko rejects the true firebending for the Fire Nation's distorted version of it. Their version of firebending is pure destruction, because the Fire Nation values aggression.

In Zuko Alone, Zuko is faced with the reality that something was wrong with his upringing. He was given a knife as a child, and that's wrong. A child shouldn't be involved in violence and agression.

In The Day of Black Sun Pt 2, Zuko recognizes the Fire Nation's indoctrination and that this ideology is wrong. No violence involving children is justified. And the Fire Nation's agression wasn't justified as well.

In The Firebending Masters, Zuko is blessed with a vision about the meaning of firebending, thus unlearning the Fire Nation's destructive firebending, and replaces it with firebending based on life.

In The Southern Raiders, Zuko sees first hand that those who can be deserving of vioelnce aren't boogeymen. Thus, he can see that at times, even violence towards people who deserve it, isn't a solution to heartache.

In Sozin's Comet, Zuko is confronted by the truth that the ultimate boogeyman, Azula, is human too. Now, he can fully release black and white notions and view the world from objective lenses, not from aggression.

#zuko #zuko meta #atla #atla meta #avatar: the last airbender #avatar the last airbender #azula #iroh #fire nation #firebending #atla zuko #uncle iroh #general iroh #the southern raiders #sozin's comet #the day of black sun #zuko alone #the boy in the iceberg #the firebending masters #prince zuko #fire lord zuko #firelord zuko #avatar the last airbender zuko #a:tla meta #a:tla #a:tla zuko #avatar zuko #avatar #avatar aang #avatar the last airbender meta

[sleepy-hyperfixations]

after zuko's shit childhood i think he deserves a little babying

#zukka #admittedly sokka's childhood was also not great but his sister and his father weren't trying to kill him so #welcome to my ted talk #today's debate #zuko deserves to be treated gently while also acknowledging his master firebending

[shetolaeart]

shockingly, in the 16 years i've loved atla, i've never made fanart for it. so, here is my first ATLA fanart of my beloved Zuko and Katara. lets just say after inundating myself with fanfic after fanfic, i needed to draw something of them!!

#my art #shetolaeart #artists on tumblr #artists on twitter #atla #atla fanart #zutara #zutara fanart #zuko art #katara art #katara #zuko #zutara art #zuko fanart #fire lord zuko #master katara #yin and yang #tui and la #firebender x waterbender #fire x water #zuko x katara #katara x zuko #they belong together okay #they compliment each other perfectly #ill die on this hill of zutara #seriously #ill love them till my last breath #ugh #art wip #if yall boost this up more than the eventual final piece

[thatssroughbuddy]

#I know what y’all are gonna pick and also know that you’re wrong 😌 #almost put ‘imaginary toph one’ but eh #avatar #avatar the last airbender #gaang #atla #zuko #sokka #katara #aang #the firebending masters #the southern raiders #the boiling rock

[songazula]

azula was a lightning bending master at 14. it means she mastered firebending prior. which makes her the youngest firebending master!

#she mastered firebending as a pre teen! #azula #princess azula #atla

[dreamchasernina]

I know Aang was like

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #my babies #avatar the last airbender #avatar #aang #zuko #the firebending masters

[theerurishipper]

Not to barge in on the discourse, but @sokkastyles made a great post about the significance of associating Zuko with the rainbow fire, and I left a tag rant back there that I now want to elaborate upon.

Anyway, the rainbow fire is arguably specifically linked to Zuko because it connects to his arc. Not the rainbow colors themselves, but what they represent, which is the true essence of Firebending. Aang and Zuko both had to learn the true meaning of Firebending, but the moment was more significant in Zuko's arc than Aang's because Firebending is at the core of his story in a way that it isn't with Aang. Zuko's Firebending has always been a central point in his journey, and the whole scene with the dragons and the true meaning of fire is a metaphor for his arc of learning to accept and embrace that which the Fire Nation has rejected.

The two dragons have always been a motif in Zuko's arc and have symbolized the two sides of Zuko that he had to reconcile within himself. Zuko had to learn the true meaning of fire, which was rejected and erased by Sozin, and this directly connects to his arc about learning that his traits and qualities which his father rejected and punished him for were things to be accepted and embraced.

And it is also a very significant moment in his story of being the one to restore the Fire Nation's roots and the spirituality that had been lost because of the war his ancestors started. His role is to rediscover the roots of his nation and bring it back in order to restore balance and heal his nation. Him being able to bend the rainbow fire, which is the physical representation of the spiritual essence of Firebending and the Fire Nation itself that he is seeking to restore would be the perfect way to represent his arc as the one who will restore those spiritual roots. Him bending the fire with the colors, thereby bending the fire in its purest and truest form, which was formed by the two dragons merging their flames together, would be representative of him completely and fully reconciling the two sides of himself and embracing who he truly is.

The whole idea of the true meaning of fire, while being an exploration of the effects of war, is literally a metaphor for Zuko's arc of finding a new path forward while reconciling both sides of himself and rejecting the path his father set for him. That's why it's less thematically relevant to have Aang or Iroh bend the rainbow flame, because it is representative of Zuko's arc, and Zuko's role in the story is literally about being the one who embraces and restores it in order to redeem his nation and help bring balance back to the world.

#ATLA #Avatar: The Last Airbender #Avatar The Last Airbender #Zuko #Aang #ATLA Zuko #ATLA Aang #Meta #My Meta #The Firebending Masters #Zuko bending the rainbow flame would represent him embracing the aspect of the Fire Nation that they gave up which destroyed the balance #And bringing it back #TLDR Aang doing it isn't as good because it is not as important and relevant in his arc as it is for Zuko #Writing all this makes me kinda sad that we didn't get this in the show fr #They should have done it

[sokkastyles]

Do you know what?

Zuko in "The Firebending Masters" saying that he doesn't want to rely on rage anymore. Trying so hard not to get angry when the others are watching. Fearing what it might make him, as his father's son.

Standing before the dragons and letting their light and warmth wash through him. Seeing his fire in a way he's never been able to see it before, as so much more than just his anger, more than just rage and destruction. For the first time he sees his capacity for goodness, for life and warmth and love.

Maybe after the initial euphoria of that experience wears off, Zuko wonders why he's still angry.

Then in "The Southern Raiders" Zuko accompanies Katara on a journey to confront her past, the source of her rage and pain. He sees her angry, he sees her darkness, and he sees her not trying to hold it back. He sees her let it out and then wash it away.

Katara says at the end of the episode that she will never forgive Yon Rah, and she doesn't know if the decisions she made represent her weakness or her strength.

And perhaps Zuko, watching her, also realizes that it's okay for him to still be angry. On the days when he doesn't know whether his fire makes him strong or weak. On the days when it hurts so much that the only things he can feel are the hurt.

Strength is being able to sit with your pain and knowing that it doesn't define you, and choosing love despite it.

#zutara #zuko #katara #the firebending masters #the southern raiders