Can I ask you why do you see Azula as someone who have BPD? Not to be rude or condescending, just really curious, and do you have any other headcanons about mental health of other chars?
hi nonnie!! first off don’t worry you don’t come of as rude nor condescending, i can understand your curiosity or even confusion why i headcanon azula as bordeline. as i’ve mentioned before, i have severe bpd myself so it might just be a case of me projecting onto a character that has been very important to me since i was a kid myself and helped me understanding own trauma. so with that being said i’m going to try sound as coherent as i can!!
Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment
i see her deep need for love and “be normal” tied to her abandonment issues. even though she talks about ursa in a bit cold manner, i think it’s just a defense mechanism, as if she was mad at herself she misses her mother. however, ursa leaving them and not having real bond together even during the time they were living together deeply traumatized azula. azula sees herself as this “monster” that needs to intimidate people into staying with her, because she doesn’t believe someone would actually love her for who she truly is. which is such a massive bpd thing i can’t even..... azula is constantly hiding behind her mask. i don’t perceive azula we see in tv show as her real self, rather something she was taught by her dad and something she had to learn in order to not be punished. she tries to force people to stay with her (mai, ty lee), manipulates situations so that people come back to her (zuko) and do anything for wrong people just to gain their love (ozai), or do bad stuff so she gets attention (ursa). i don’t see her as a bad person for this, rather mentally ill abused kid who tries to receive love through wrong way. i can’t really blame her for that, though.
Unstable and chaotic interpersonal relationships, often characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation, also known as "splitting"
basically her whole relationship with zuko, mai, ty lee, ursa, ozai, etc. see how happy azula was when zuko came back home and the way how she jumped at him the second he left? yeah. also this “i don’t need you, go away!!” only to regret it seconds later.... her pushing people away so they don’t betray nor abandon her first.... psychotic episode tied to the fear of being betrayed, abandoned, triggered by the actions of her now ex friends and ESPECIALLY own father. i don’t see her final mental breakdown as result of just mai and ty lee simply turning against her. it’s a result of her longtime trauma and mental illness. i think the thing with mai and ty lee really did hurt her, just like zuko, but the final nail into her coffin was ozai leaving.
Markedly disturbed sense of identity and distorted self-image
again, azula we see isn’t neccessarily azula that she is. she came of to me as this confused child with no real sense of self and personality that was just created by her dad and grown men that has surrounded her since childhood, rather than her real self. she struggled with this a lot during her final mental breakdown and during beach episode. i perceive beach episode more as about a kid that wants to desperately fit in but has no idea how to exist in normal situations, not extremes like war, and doesn’t know who she is, so she just tries super hard and hurts herself during the process (kissing a boy that had no real interest in her).
Impulsive or reckless behaviors, Intense or uncontrollable emotional reactions and rapidly shifting between different emotional states
azula is seen as cunning, manipulative, calculating and cold. and yes, she is... on the outside. however, i think azula is much more emotional in the inside, just hides it because that’s what she was taught since childhood. she never learned how to process emotions in a healthy way, so she just represses them until they violently explode. again, her final mental breakdown. she becomes very impulsive and reckless with her words and actions there, because it’s too much and ozai isn’t there to punish her for being “foolish”. also telling guards to throw mai and ty lee to jail after betraying her and attacking zuko. i do believe she blamed zuko for being “weak” and leaving her alone with their dad, basically.
Chronic feelings of emptiness
it was mentioned in books how often she feels empty and even depressed. many time she seems to be bored and empty compared to others which just deepens her feelings of being “different” and “broken”.
Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger
the same thing mentioned before. most of the time she knows how to control her anger, but it’s because she had to. when she doesn’t it becomes more apparent she struggles with severe anger issues.
Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms
speaks for itself i think.
again, she would burn rose bushes in order to get her mother’s attention, became an overachiever to win her dad’s affection, constantly needs to be the best (perfectionism tied to the need for attention), gets easily jealous (which fuels her anger and her otherwise hidden impulsivity), does things to point at herself (flirting with guy because he’s liked by other girls rather because of her genuine interest in him), etc etc.
she’s very emotionally dependent on her father, becoming depressed when she doesn’t live up to his expectations and feeling elated when he praises her. being very uncritical of him because she loves her dad.
hope this helps and that i make a little bit of sense!!
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