#i love azula so much

[mcapriglione-art]

azula panel redraw  🔥

#azula #atla #atla fanart #avatar fanart #avatar the last airbender #i love azula so much #my horrible daughter

[zutarawasrobbed]

Sokka: Are you sure it’s okay to bring Katara to meetings? I know you’re “together” and all, but she can be opinionated, and I know the Fire Nation- progressive as they are- still don’t look kindly on women who speak out.

Zuko: *Chuckles* on the contrary. She did exactly what this council needed to get things on track. Things have actually been relatively peaceful since she started joining 😇

Sokka: … Okay?

Meanwhile, in a meeting…

#zutara #katara #zuko #they skipped to ‘find out’ real quick. #Katara: They were scared of Azula because she was unmanageably chaotic. #They’re scared of me because I control them with the same precision I use in my water whips. #Zuko: I love you so much.

[bernard-the-rabbit]

"Azula was born lucky. You were lucky to be born"

#WOWOH IT'S THE TRAUMATIZED SIBILIIIINGS #the unhealthy ones #not to be mistaken with the traumatized sibilings the healthy ones #sokka and katara #not that they haven't issues but at least they don't wanna murfer eahothers #anyway..azula i love her so much esp in the last eps #my trashy art #atla #atla fanart #avatar the last airbender #avatar the last airbender fanart #azula #azula fanart #azula atla #zuko #zuko fanart #zuko atla

[comradekatara]

I’m curious if you have any thoughts about Ty Lee and Mai re: their reasons for and willingness to follow Azula during the course of the show? Their introductions — with Ty Lee initially reluctant and joining out of fear, whereas Mai was all in the moment she showed up in Omashu — contrasted with their endings — Mai growing resentful and eventually betraying Azula, and Ty Lee staying close to her right up to the moment she spots an opening — are so fascinating and emblemic of their characters

yes, exactly. ty lee has to be coerced whereas mai doesn't need to be told twice. more specifically, ty lee had the initiative to run away at some point (it's also far easier to leave your home when you have six identical sisters) and has settled in an environment that she actually enjoys, whereas mai is trapped with her family and takes up azula's offer specifically as a means of escape. that doesn't mean she particularly enjoys the prospect of hunting down the boy she used to like, but she gets to see the world and use her knife skills and hang out with her besties. it's not perfect, but it's still a far better deal than being stuck under the thumb of her controlling mother and scheming father in a foreign city that is essentially a ghost town (now that its entire native population is literally living underground). mai doesn't like being bossed around by azula – or being bossed around by anyone, for that matter – but she knows better than to question the commands of her princess, so she sticks to side-eyeing her as she complies, and only ever denying her requests when azula is too far away to notice ("she can shoot all the lightning at me she wants, i am not going in that wall sludge juice." "just take the bear." etc etc).

ty lee, however, doesn't just comply with azula's commands, she comports herself into the very image of obedience, she forces herself to embody exactly what it is azula wants in a loyal servant, but also in a best friend, and in a beautiful girl. because, like, the thing about mai is that she is really very normal. she uses apathy and sarcasm to mask her true emotions, whether they be fear, rage, or a combination thereof, but she's also quite sincere and blunt and kind. mai adapts to her environment in the sense that she knows to comply with the demands of her family and azula, she knows how to play the part of fire nation noblewoman, but she's not closed off from her feelings, she just presents that way. ty lee, however, is a complete and utter chameleon, to the point that she's somehow the one who seems more sincere out of the pair, even though nary an honest word comes out of her mouth throughout the entire show.

mai expresses her disagreements with azula when she knows that the moment allows for it, and she expresses her irritation, her vulnerability (to an extent), and her emotions when she can. but even when ty lee could choose to be honest, it's like she doesn't actually know how. the most honest ty lee ever actually gets before her betrayal is when she insults mai's makeup, and she's still putting mai down in azula's presence as to establish a hierarchy of affection. even when she's lovingly teasing mai by demonstrating how their friendship is genuine enough that she can insult her instead of vapidly praising her like she does with all those shallow, stupid boys and a certain princess, she's still strategically positioning herself in azula's favor. she operates in a coded language, simultaneously communicating to mai the sincerity of her affection and communicating to azula that they are in fact a pair, teaming up to put down and bully mai as they have been doing since they were children. in the beautiful words of shiv roy, ty lee has never eaten a grapefruit without an agenda.

even though ty lee does seem more loyal to azula despite having to be coerced into joining her, whereas mai seemingly agrees immediately, ty lee is an acrobat and a circus performer; contorting herself to suit the needs of others and appear a certain way to certain people is literally her wheelhouse. whereas mai is a thoughtful yet impulsive, apathetic yet sincere teenage girl. and the cracks in mai's agreeability begin to show as early as in her introductory episode, when azula decides to sacrifice tom-tom to keep bumi, and mai has no choice but to comply with her princess despite obviously wanting to save her baby brother.

mai's loyalty was always on a razor's edge; it was never an ideal situation for her, she just never found a better option. mai lived her whole life in an extremely stifling gilded cage, and she craves enrichment in her enclosure. but then she sees potential beyond the bars, as demonstrated by zuko, and she takes a stand for something she believes in. ty lee doesn't do that, because ty lee does not truly have beliefs beyond her own immediate survival. you can say she values entertainment, laughter, violence that doesn't kill, but i think she'd become anything the world demanded of her without a moment's hesitation. and in this moment, the world demands that she choose. choose between the girl she loved to put down and ostracize within their little trio so as to better curry azula's favor, or the girl who threatened to burn her alive if she did not comply with her every demand. and it should be so obvious, shouldn't it? of course ty lee would choose mai over azula, it's so clear in hindsight. but it shocks azula, and it shocks mai, and it even sort of shocks ty lee herself. because she has done such a good job of hiding her personhood so far beneath her facade that even mai, the one person she cares about more than her own survival, doesn't actually know it.

"anything to get me out of this place," is mai's response to azula's offer. mai was always looking for a better situation, striving for the best possible scenario within a very limited array of options. but ty lee knows what she wants, and she knows she cannot have it, and so she denies herself. denies her own agency, her affections, her desires, her personality, her intelligence, her values. she would do anything to survive, even if it means killing every single true part of herself. mai's betrayal against azula is decidedly a declaration of love, not only for zuko, but also for herself. but ty lee's betrayal is the greatest declaration of love there is. her willingness to throw away her so deliberately, carefully cultivated, precarious security and safety for the sake of someone who doesn't even know that ty lee loves her is such a resounding confession that it actually shocks mai into perfect stillness. mai, who is always so quick to act and react, frozen to the floor by the cosmic weight of this revelation, this paradigm shift. mai had always assumed that she was the discarded, neglected, bullied friend of the trio, the one who would always be second best to azula (and keep in mind ty lee never actually says that azula had to coerce her into joining, she simply says "azula called a little louder," because she is always making mai read between the lines). but here, ty lee proves that there is one she values over her own life and everything she has done to keep it, and it is mai.

"why?" asks azula. "why would you do it? you knew the consequences." i think that mai would gladly throw her worthless life away if it meant dying for something real, something true within a world of masks and lies and manipulations. she knows the consequences, but they no longer matter, now that she has sight of something that she truly, actually cares about. but ty lee is different. ty lee excels in the world of masks, lies, and manipulations, thrives in it to the point that azula, so-called "people person," doesn't even realize that the girl she loves is nothing more than a carefully cultivated phantasm. ty lee truly cares, far more than mai, about the consequences. and yet, when it comes down to it, when she weighs all her options, she not only hurts azula to save mai, but she stays by mai's side through it all. the girl who could effortlessly subdue every guard holding her in place and jump up onto the gondola cord and run across its length to the other side of the volcano within minutes stays next to mai with no resistance, merely sheds her mask to finally glare at azula with her true face. so it is not entirely accurate to say that ty lee's values are conditional and fabricated. there is, in fact, one thing ty lee values above all else, but only when it is true.

#flashhwing #asks #mai #ty lee #maixtylee #azula #analysis #azula&tylee #azula&mai #ohhhh you got me talking abt the atla ship i have been obsessed with since i was a baby who simply liked their contrasting aesthetics #you got me RAMBLING ABOUT MAI AND TY LEE 😭😭 #i love them so much...... #mai my babygirl my everything. ty lee my insanegirl also my everything #ppl who dont like the boiling rock are so crazy. dyke drama truly does not get better than this!!!!!!!!

[mugentakeda]

im like sooo nowhere near figuring out how i want the azula lu ten reunion to go but i wanted to draw them reuniting anyway because i love tjem

#if you havent been able to tell from the sheer amount of times ive drawn azula in her dai li outfit. its my favorite of hers. #the ribbon is So freaking cute i love her so much...... #idk why but i really like drawing in these weird green shades #like i do it cus the lake laogai/creepy ba sing se earth green #but i just like the way it looks idk #azula #lu ten #dai li lu ten #alicias art #atla #avatar the last airbender

[seyaryminamoto]

Fic-to-Art #39: Gladiator's ELEVENTH Anniversary! (+ BONUS: Fic-to-Art #36...)

And here we are! March 26th arrived and I did not forget about it, but I paid for my ambitious madness with my wrist and forearm. Somehow, I finished my intended pieces on time, but I do not advise that you ever try to make 9 artworks in 3 days. No, sir. Bad life decisions, that's what that was... but this fic, as anyone knows, moves me to do things I never thought possible, starting with writing the fic itself!

It's really crazy every time it hits me that I've been doing this for as long as I have. It's been a complicated, chaotic journey, with its many ups and downs, but ultimately, it has been our journey. For some people, this is just one more fic in the pile: for me, it's been the best adventure of my life so far. Everyone who has ever been touched by Gladiator, who has ever cherished this story, who's looking forward to the big conclusion, who wants to see how the chaotic war is going to end... you're all part of this crazy adventure along with me, and I can only thank you for joining me.

This year, I had no time to make as big a project as I usually go for. Thus, I did a sort of free-for-all edition of Fic-to-Art over at Patreon and challenged myself to draw as many scenes as I could, out of their suggestions. I even sprinkled in a few scenes I impulsively wanted to draw because I loved writing them or because I look forward to writing them... and this is the result!

In order, the scenes are as follow:

Sokka combing Azula's hair, a common occurrence throughout the story.

Azula watching over a convalescing Sokka in the Chase of Jeong Jeong arc.

The outcome of Sokka's final battle in the Superior Gladiator League, namely a moment where Sokka and Azula more or less gave away their relationship's true nature to the public by raising their hands towards each other...

And now, spoiler territory! Some were by my choice, some by Patreon requests:

An important moment shortly after Sokka and Azula reunite.

Azula confronting her father, with a LOT of backup.

Xin Long's long-awaited freedom.

The aftermath of the final battle.

The full-blown confirmation of their relationship to the general Fire Nation populace.

Sokka, Azula and Hotaru's first night together

And the big final one is ACTUALLY Fic-to-Art #36 but hahaha woops I didn't post it here on time because it was super hard to finish since I had a LOT of things going on... but here it is now! :'D it's a glimpse VERY far into the future of this fic's timeline!

Alright, that should be enough talking and explaining. Some things are vague, some things aren't, but ultimately I really hope you guys will be looking forward to the scenes you haven't seen yet, and to Gladiator's eventual outcome.

So now... with all this being said and done, I'm gonna go take a trip down memory lane and watch my Tenth Anniversary video once more! Feel free to do the same thing if you'd like to commemorate the fic, I think it's a good way to experience Gladiator all over again, hahaha.

Thank you if you read all this, and if you read all THAT: 5 million word landmark, here we come! Thanks for hanging out with me across ELEVEN years of Gladiator!

#sokkla #sokka #azula #gladiator #fic-to-art project #zuko #aang #katara #rui shi #fei li #tai wei #and a rando #yes that guy is a rando he's there to symbolize all the randos in that scene #do not look too deep into it it isn't deep at all hahahahahaha #Xin Long continues to be the bane of my existence I love him I hate drawing him #I don't know if he's good enough but I hope the emotional punch of THAT MOMENT #is enough to make up for any flaws ahahahaha welp #... also yes I'm not even sorry this was my excuse to go wild drawing as much Sokkla as I could #and my patrons were so damn nice to give me so many excuses to do just that! #how could I refuse? :'D #anyway I really hope you guys enjoy #the new pieces are glazed #nightshade killed itself when I asked it to work with them #I got annoyed and left it as it was #the last one did get both things #OKAY! DONE! #I HAVE AN HOUR AND A HALF LEFT OF ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION IN THIS TIMEZONE #Seyary out (?)

[trashfactorysstuff]

What are your headcanons for the fire family modern au?

Mostly all my modern au headcanons come from the fanfics I’ve read…which most of them consist in either them being owners of big companies lol. But I do have a phew on my own.

TW for Abuse!!

- I like to think that Ilah died in childbirth (like mostly all the fandom does lol) and Iroh being the one who took care of him as much he could, since Azulon was too depressed and neglectful to care about the baby.

- Iroh was meant to be the one who takes control of the company but when Lu Ten died, he just let Ozai to take care of it. Mostly like what happen in the canon.

- Azula tends to be alone in the big mansion, just taking Mai and Ty Lee for company.

- Following the previous one; Azula wants them to be on sleepovers most of the time so she doesn’t feel alone or invited them to vacations every summer.

- Zuko gets send to live with Iroh by Ozai, since he is basically an abusive ass who barely cared about him and since he knew that Iroh was depressed for Lu Ten’s death, he just manipulated him for it. Iroh is smart but he was vulnerable, y’know?

- Azula and Zuko have times where they go to Ursa’s hometown, showing how disconnected from reality they are.

- Ozai has them in a very strict academy, the slightest hint of imperfections gets with heavy punishments.

- Ozai is terrified of Azulon, he doesn’t show it but he can be nervous around him. He dies for his approval everytime.

- Along with the previous; Ozai is the type of jealous to be better than the other. Iroh has one son? He has two. Iroh owns a small business? Ozai owns a big company. You can get the idea I hope.

I have plenty of more and I can do a second part if you guys want but for now, stick to this and this old drawing from last year😭

#oof #I love modern aus so much #ozai #azulon #iroh #azula #zuko #ursa #ilah #mai #Ty Lee

[leocchisart]

IK I JUST POSTED THIS IN A EDIT I DID BUT IT LIVES IN MY HEAD RENT FREE 😭😭

"TY LEE GET OVER HERE NOW!"

literally has me giggling and kicking my feet

#i love them SO much #tyzula #😭😭 #azula #ty lee

[petricorah]

i'm. so excited

#it's a very cliche plot i feel but im having fun #been reading so much manga #it's about zuko realizing sokka has a crush on someone and not knowing who it is #cue fear of losing his best friend and not quite understanding his own feelings #also azula's there. because i love no explanation redemption but she still talks shit. its who she is #featuring also...betrothals...sword fighting...angst...maybe even kissing. who knows #i think to do it properly it would be more than fifteen because im just at the beginning but we'll see how long it gets

[ur-frndly-neighborhood-memer1]

Fans: Zuko looks exactly like Ozai and Azula looks exactly like Ursa. Therefore they can't look alike!

Meanwhile Zuko and Azula, looking nearly identical:

Honestly, both Fire kids look like a mix of their parents instead of being a mini copy of one.

Zuko remarkably looks like Ozai, but you can still see a hint of Ursa in him (softer eyes & eyebrows, relatively rounder jawline, straight nose etc.)

Meanwhile Azula looks like both her parents equally. Sharp eyes & hard-angeled eyebrows, widow's peak from Ozai. Straight nose, pointy chin, narrow face from Ursa...

#atla #azula #zuko #avatar #ursa #ozai #avatar the last airbender #fire nation royal family #fire nation siblings #Honestly I love how much they resemble their parents #But sometimes fandom acts so delusional about their appearance

[hyacinths-in-a-storm]

Ursa and Azula doodles :>

#my babiessss #my precious babies #that I like putting into a meat-grinder ♡ #I love them so much #look at them #my art #ursa #azula #atla #avatar the last airbender #hyacinth’s drawings

[jakejeffreyperalta]

how i feel whenever someone mentions azula

#i do NOT stop yapping i have so much to say abt her #she's just a 14 year old girl hallucinating her mother's love 😭 minus the war crimes #i support womens wrongs #atla #avatar the last airbender #azula #princess azula #azula atla

[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

[prodogg]

Artist: Artcraawl Their Patreon

#sokkla #azula #sokka #sokkazula #sokka and azula #artcraawl's art #atla #atla fanart #atla art #princess azula #fanart #I love this so much #I could pin Artcraawl's art on my wall #my otp #avatar the last airbender #avatar #pd stockpile

[comradekatara]

How conscious do you think Katara of Sokka's pile of neurosis surrounding her safety, their father, or the tribe in general?

Basically, how well do you think Katara understands her brother?

[thinks about my own incredibly weird, callous, prodigious, neurotic brother] does anyone truly understand their brother?

just kidding. sort of. i mean, this is a really difficult question to answer, because as i've already stated, sokka doesn't actually understand himself. and katara doesn't really understand other people very well in general. she has a deep, presiding love for humanity that accords her warmth and nobility, but she also has a pretty rigid way of conceptualizing any sort of moral quandary (she is in the eighth grade) and often misinterprets people's motivations and subconscious desires. (very dorothea brooke core)

for example, in "the painted lady," when katara says, "oh, sokka, you really do have a heart!" she's only partially joking, right? like she genuinely doesn't understand how he can be so "cold" and callous." she doesn't understand his point of view at all, she thinks he just doesn't care. and sokka could probably do a better job of explaining his point of view, granted, but i also understand why he's given up trying to reason with her, because she does not listen to him unless they are in grave danger (at which point she forgets that he is her stupid annoying brother and places all her faith in him lol).

so we, as an attentive audience, know that sokka cares about the wellbeing of impoverished villages destroyed by the fire nation, because we remember the first couple episodes wherein he was prepared to die defending his impoverished village that was destroyed by the fire nation, and we also remember his promise to prioritize katara's safety over the war at large, so we are not surprised when he says, "you need me and i'll never turn my back on you" (the sokka thesis statement). but katara doesn't really understand how much she means to sokka, or how sokka thinks, or how sokka sees himself, or how sokka sees their father, or anything beyond what sokka is willing to show her regarding his psyche, which is ultimately very little.

and it's not katara's fault, to be clear. katara is not a bad sister for not attempting to plumb the depths of sokka's twisted mind. even if she wanted to (which, who would tbh. don't look at me) sokka does not let her. being vulnerable with her (truly vulnerable, not just "i can't make things fly around woe is me") would go against sokka's core programming. protecting katara doesn't just mean protecting her physically (dying for her, attacking anyone who hurts her even if it's aang and he really didn't mean to, etc.) but also emotionally – protecting her innocence, her naïveté, her idealism.

like he'll say shit like "optimism and wonder are cringe and you're a loser for having love in your heart," but it's still so flippant, it's clear that he doesn't consider "provoking/annoying her" and "protecting her" to be mutually exclusive (frankly, anyone who doesn't succumb to the urge to provoke their siblings is simply not human and cannot be trusted) and has no problem criticizing her when he thinks that she's wrong for whatever reason, but he also avoids being vulnerable with her and uses flippancy and deflection to mask his more honest feelings most of the time.

notice how he basically completely shuts down in "the southern raiders," how even though he is standing there the entire time katara and aang are arguing, he says exactly one sentence and lets aang say literally everything else. notice how in the pilot he calls her a freak for waterbending instead of communicating either jealousy that she can do something he can't or fear that her ability will get her killed (again, it's probably a combination of both, but does he even understand that? probably not. because he refuses to introspect). which is why "you need me and i'll never turn my back on you" or even his admission in "sokka's master" that he feels insecure about being a nonbender shocks her so much.

katara and sokka's codependency is mutual, and they love each other a lot. while sokka isn't katara's first priority and entire identity the way katara is for sokka, when sokka is spirited away in "the winter solstice," katara basically shuts down, clings to his boomerang with a blanket around her shoulders and refuses to move from the spot he was taken until he gets back, and when sokka is gone for the day in "sokka's master," she spends the whole day waiting for him to return. and like, both of these take place in the span of no longer than a single day. but as much as they love and need each other, they also do not really understand each other, or themselves.

i would say that sokka understands katara better than katara understands sokka, but sokka also just understands people better than katara does, so that's not really surprising. for example, he knows that she would not benefit from killing yon rha before katara realizes it (and unlike aang, he is not a pacifist). but he does have some blindspots, like how he doesn't understand why she wouldn't want to see hakoda in ba sing se (he interprets it as a purely selfless act, which it just isn't), but again, that's more of a daddy issues blindspot than a sister issues blindspot. they also just have very different worldviews. katara primarily cares about individuals whereas sokka primarily sees systems (with the necessary caveat that he still prioritizes his family), katara sees the best in people whereas sokka sees the worst in people, katara misses the forest for the trees whereas sokka misses the trees for the forest yada yada.

but what's important to understand fundamentally is that katara and sokka have both been dehumanized by the fn imperialist project (true of every atla character, btw) and so their lack of self-knowledge stems from the formative trauma of cultural genocide. those gaps in understanding originate from the roles they have been forced to inhabit, and since sokka's entire identity revolves around what he can and must sacrifice for katara, it's understandable that katara would be unable to acknowledge or even recognize that.

and then again, even beyond the inherent tragedy of their situation, no fourteen year old little sister really understands the neuroses and contradictions and lamentations of her older brother. even if he wore his heart on his sleeve she wouldn't understand him, because katara does encounter plenty of people who are far more obvious about their intentions and she doesn't really understand them either. but she means well. and that's what matters <3

#the-wright #asks #katara&sokka #katara #sokka #analysis #i think the person who understands sokka the best is toph actually #at least by the end of the show #god i love katara so much #calling her dorothea brooke core made me rly emotional? lol #like she doesnt really understand but it doesnt matter because she loves she so deeply and cares so much!!!! #her enduring faith and love and sense of justice for her fellow man........ oh boy :'') #also i have a post in my drafts that i never published bc i still havent really figured out how to phrase it #about how when katara is mean to sokka she thinks she is 'punching up' in the same way zuko treats azula #i have a lot of drafts... #anyway. theyre insane or whatever

[mikasa-stan]

I'll just share it here 'cause I don't wanna type the same thing lol. But yes, it was soooo BEAUTIFUL!! I want to talk so much more about it.

#avatar the last airbender #atla #aang #zuko #katara #sokka #toph #iroh #azula #suki #MY GOD!! I LOVE THIS SERIES SO MUCH!!!