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FEAR

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Things Azula antis don't want to hear but need to:

Azula is a fictional character. She does not have schizophrenia, or narcissistic personality disorder. And were she real, she would not be diagnosed with either of those things because A. she is not even close to meeting the criteria and B. she is a minor. Stop armchair diagnosing cartoon characters because you read an article on Web MD.

Most of the things Azula did were acts of self-preservation, or to protect her family and her nation.

It is asinine to blame a 9 year old for having a poor relationship with her mother.

Azula is not a "psychopath" or a "sociopath". No one is. Those are loaded, ableist terms used against people who have or exhibit symptoms of Cluster B personality disorders.

Azula loves her dad and brother. Period. I don't care if you don't agree, the literal creators of the show say you're wrong.

Azula did not commit "war crimes". The Geneva convention does not exist in atla and even if it did, she hasn't done anything that would violate it. And even if she did, she is quite literally a child soldier. Child soldiers cannot and should not be held accountable for such things.

.....I'm tired.

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This needs to be said. "The Southern Raiders" is one of the best Katara-focused episodes, yet THE worst Zuko-featured episode. His unabashedly hypocritical, arrogant behavior is off the charts. And what's even more jarring, no one in the show calls him out on it, nor does he ever apologize. It also doesn't help that the fandom lauds him as "tHe mAtUrE oNE" there instead of the same entitled, obstinate, insolent, insensetive, ignorant child he was in the beginning who has apparently taken no stock on his core beliefs and attitude beyond what was detrimental to him personally.

Seriously, for a character with 'the greatest redemption arc in media', it makes him look so bad. Literally makes me want to skip the episode.

Agreed. He acted like he was entitled to Katara's forgiveness, refused to understand that she had legitimate reasons to hate him, mocked the culture of a genocide survivor, completely cut out Sokka out of everything because he had already forgiven Zuko, so Zuko didn't care about him anymore, and carried out an "enhanced interrogation." Not to mention that he trying to get Katara to murder someone, not because he actually cared about her and her trauma, but instead just so she'd like him. And by the way the person who Zuko wanted to murder was mostly guilty of the crime of doing the exact same thing Zuko had done less than a year before.

The episode really demonstrates that Zuko had learned very little in his "redemption arc"

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"fanon: azula is a killing machine"

canon:

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Why does Ozai hate Zuko and favor Azula?

According to fandom, Ozai loathes Zuko because of his "weakness," but there's one problem with that: at no point on the show does Ozai call Zuko weak. He calls Zuko a failure because he didn't capture the Avatar, but weak? Never.

So what's Ozai's real problem with Zuko? Let's look at a key scene: Zuko's confrontation with Ozai on the Day of Black Sun. I want to draw attention to two exchanges that I find particularly illuminating.

First...

Zuko: That's another thing. I'm not taking orders from you anymore.

Ozai: You will obey me, or this defiant breath will be your last!

It's defiance, not weakness or failure, that provokes Ozai's rage. But is this a one-off thing, or a pattern? Let's see.

In "The Storm," what reason does Ozai give for challenging Zuko to an Agni Kai and burning his face?

Ozai: You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher.

And they revisit it again on "The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse."

Zuko: For so long, all I wanted was for you to love me, to accept me. I thought it was my honor I wanted, but really, I was just trying to please you. You, my father, who banished me just for talking out of turn. My father, who challenged me, a thirteen-year-old boy, to an Agni Kai. How could you possibly justify a duel with a child?

Ozai: It was to teach you respect!

Respect is a key theme behind Ozai's violence toward Zuko. What does Zuko do that's so disrespectful? He talks back. He disobeys. He challenges Ozai's authority. This is normal behavior for kids, especially teens and preteens who are learning autonomy. But if you read Ozai as an example of narcissistic parenting, a child who makes it clear that they're their own person, and not merely an extension of the parent, would definitely trigger intense rage against that child.

By the same token, the child who most behaves like an extension of the parent will receive more (highly conditional) favor. So, of course he favors Azula. She does what he says and tells him what he wants to hear. Yes, her talents and accomplishments benefit and reflect well on him, but what matters most is her unquestioning obedience.

When do we see Ozai lose patience with Azula? When she displays a flicker of disobedience, which we see in this conversation.

Ozai: I've decided to lead the fleet of airships to Ba Sing Se alone. You will remain here in the Fire Nation.

Azula: But I thought we were going to do this together.

Ozai: My decision is final.

Azula: You...you can't treat me like this! You can't treat me like Zuko!

Ozai: Azula, silence yourself.

Azula: But it was my idea to burn everything to the ground! I deserve to be by your side!

Ozai: Azula!

Look what Azula does here. She talks back, raises her voice, and makes demands. How does Ozai respond? He sharply cuts her off, making it clear that he has no patience for such "disrespect." And Azula instantly rolls over, silent and compliant, knowing full well that if he's willing to treat her like Zuko, he might burn her like Zuko too.

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Please reblog to increase the sample size.

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There’s that post that’s like ‘everyone should get into a tiny niche fandom at least once’ fully agree, that was really fun -- but I would like to add that everyone should get into a fandom where their opinions run counter to major fanon because it really teaches you about sticking to your guns and trusting your interpretation of the text without having to rely on peer validation

because WHAT are people talking about sometimes

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ik people have said this before (i think) but IMO azula doesn't need a "redemption" arc. a lot of non-azula fans always say she does but i don't think they understand what that'd mean. genuinely she needs help. the fact that other atla fans just disregard her mental illness simply as "being crazy" when she'd actually having SERIOUS mental health issues.

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Eclipse posting

#ATLA #Funny ATLA

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Am I'm the only person who thinks Azula's love language is really, really clear?

Like, what does she do?

Hugging her friends when she's sees them again.

Telling Mai that she's very glad to see her again.

Humiliating her friend's awful, abusive, neglectful parents in front of her.

Giving her (distinctly non-royal) friends seats on a throne.

Making the impossible happen and sacrificing her status as heir to the throne so that her brother can come home.

Openly telling her honor-obsessed brother than he's restored his honor in her eyes.

Repeatedly trying her best to comfort her super-angsty brother whenever he got worried or stressed or sad.

Using physical touch to try to make her brother feel better.

Getting her brother invited to a party.

Doing what she can to try to prevent Zuko from doing something stupid that will get him banished again.

When she screws up and makes her best friend cry, apologizing and using physical touch to comfort her in order to make her feel better.

Risking her life in order to protect her defenseless father.

This is not an ambiguous list. It's probably more clear and straightforward than what we see of Toph's love language, for instance, and if any character less demonized by the narrative than Azula did what Azula does, the fandom would have zero doubt about how deeply she loves people.

And sure, Azula is a bad friend who does plenty of other things which badly screw up her relationships, but I don't think Mai or Ty Lee or Ozai ever doubted for a second that she cared deeply about them. Zuko was the only one so oblivious he couldn't notice, and I'm sure it was blindingly obvious to both Ty Lee and Mai that Azula loved him very deeply.

And all this clarity of love language came despite Azula not having a single family member who ever showed her clear and unconditionally love and affection.

#Azula

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Character: Azula

Imagine being betrayed by your best friends, abandoned by your mother, and humiliated by your brother. It’s enough to make any teenage girl act a little nutty. Add to that the pressure of becoming Firelord and running an entire nation by herself, and Azula was bound to crack sooner or later. After Zuko defeated her in the Agni Kai, Azula was shipped off to a mental health facility on a nearby island where she is supervised around the clock.

#Azula #was all alone #and needed understanding #technical canon

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Ugh, I still can't stop thinking about how truly repulsive some moments from the comics are.

How could they do this to us (fans with basic empathy that also extends to Azula and many others)?

It’s crazy to me that the comics put Azula in an abusive asylum that caused her mental state to deteriorate, turning a temporary mental breakdown into full-blown psychosis, and yet fandom still calls her “pure evil” and blames her for lashing out at hallucinations that terrify her.

How much abuse does this exploited teen soldier need to endure before this fandom is capable of extending a single ounce of empathy or understanding for her?

How can you read Zuko dangling a delusional Azula over a cliff, threatening her life, and think Zuko is in the right?

Is it that fandom hates Azula that much?

Or that society hates mentally ill women that much?

#Azula

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Finally a serious discussion about this episode 🙏

this is so important ‼️

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I understand that some aspects of fandom aren’t for everyone: but like when people on Twitter get so utterly scandalised about people shipping Azula and Aang together, because she tried to kill him, I have to laugh.

#Azula #Aang #Azulaang #Fandom stuff

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my meow meows too bad their silly streak ended 💔

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2. Rams his ship into the remainder of the Southern Water Tribe. Behaves threatningly toward the SWT inhabitants, even manhandling Sokka and Katara's grandmother.

I think we need to make a list of all the cruelest things Zuko does over the course of the series. Not the worst things he does but the cruelest and meanest. Just so we have something to reference when someone goes "look how mean Azula is, she's inherently evil."

#Zuko-critical #Southern Water Tribe #Put all characters equally on blast for bad behavior not just one.