Go Forth And Be Filthy

Kyler, human disaster. She/her. I talk a lot about fandoms, whatever I'm interested in at the moment. I write and I ramble and give meta opinions nobody asked for. I try to stay out of fandom drama, but I’m always willing to chat!

[babushkahihi]

The Fallen Angel Levi Ackerman

[sugaaz]

@animangacreators challenge 60 ☆ brothers ELRIC BROTHERS OVER THE YEARS

[ajvihn]

- Older Ed and Younger Al -

Siblings in media really hit hard for me and i absolutely adore the relationship between these two! I just started brotherhood and i am hoping to see them have some sort of happy ending lol compared to the doom and despair they keep getting themselves into :,)

[Posted this on my tiktok and insta so might aswell hope on here lol]

[birries]

i took one of my sketch squares from a meme and colored it-

[sockruse]

Oops wrong fandom. I’ve never been to the Avatar fandom actually. How are they?

Tried to keep them halfway on model without spending more than two minutes on google images. Oh my gosh Aang is fun to draw. 

[tamiyne]

[goldielocking]

[kylermalloy]

(via goldielocking)

[chessb0r3d]

Analysis so bad you don't even know what it's talking about anymore.

[chessb0r3d]

What??

[chessb0r3d]

[chessb0r3d]

[chessb0r3d]

Sarcasm.

[chessb0r3d]

[chessb0r3d]

This is hopeless.

[chessb0r3d]

IT WAS FUCKING

HORRIBLE

[sobcat]

ready for what the next week brings...

[likealittleheartbeat]

Zuko’s character is crafted from the very first episode with an intense interest in striving toward moral goodness, it’s only that his concept of moral goodness is distinctly nationalistic then. Honor is the keyword for him, and his stated reason for doggedly searching for the avatar. Satisfying his father has to do with this moral obligation (to follow the patriarch’s orders and to preserve the safety of the nation which those orders entail and therefore to be Good). Zuko wants to be a good boy, and much of his initial angst derived from his father’s judgment that he’s not a good boy, when he spoke out of turn and then, worse!, refused to defend himself. His turn toward team avatar has less to do with a moral turn or even learning how to care and more to do with an expansion of who he includes within his circle of care (so that the well-being of those outside of the Fire Nation matter and he, himself, begins to matter), which coincides with his shift toward a new leader to trust with a less dogmatic relationship. Yet, his core of stringent morality remains.

Azula, on the other hand, is driven by success. Her ease with firebending gave her a taste for affection derived from performance rather than reverence. Her moral muscle is ignored and weak because of this. With her prowess and bemused charm, she got to be the Good Kid with no dark nights of the soul, no internal conflict about her place among others because she was at the top. Fans are right to be sympathetic to her experience of abuse. She’s a rich depiction of the abusive development of narcissism and the tragedy that’s required to disrupt that egomania.

I think a lot of comparison between these two responses to the abusive family dynamic places the blame on their mother Ursa. The worst takes emphasize Ursa’s passing remarks about Azula’s misbehavior as sites of abuse themselves, which ignores the high pressure environment created by Ozai and the Fire Nation Royal Family to neglect and punish vulnerability in pursuit of hierarchical power. That Azula latched onto one of these comments might be better read as Azula’s own sensitivity to criticism within such an extreme social environment. A more interesting perspective is that the development they got to experience with Ursa, the implementer of moral explanations as seen in Zuko Alone, might’ve shaped their responses. Zuko had more time with Ursa and got to experience her teachings of familial piety at a more mature age than Azula before their mother’s departure.

But I think the most all-encompassing perspective is something I mentioned earlier. Azula had the gift to perform what her abusive family valued without strain. Zuko had many things to offer but not prodigiousness, charm, or strategy—the skills his family valued. Their natural abilities (beyond their control) influenced the treatment they received from their parents (within Ozai and to a lesser but still a meaningful extent Ursa’s control). So Zuko dedicates himself to his family and to achieving his family’s expectations that are out of reach for him because he is offered no other options. He believes he is Bad for failing his family’s expectations and strives to be Good. Azula doesn’t have to work hard to embody her family’s abusive desires and knows that maintaining her prowess, beauty, and cunning is all that’s required to retain her place as the apple of their eye. She believes she is Good without concern for the possibility of being Bad.

I think those Good and Bad relationships are important for those dealing with abusive family dynamics. Therapists use archetypes to describe dysfunctional family roles (golden child and scape goat are the most familiar, but you’ll also see the mascot, the lost child, the flying monkeys, and the peacekeepers alongside the abuser and the enabler). They’re oversimplifying and force one’s attempts at self-identification towards sitcom tropes. Failing to fully identify with these rigid roles fed into me doubting the reality of my abuse. But Zuko’s relationship to morality felt familiar and I could see a similar development in my own life—the flexibility and tacit obedience my parents valued in children weren’t things I could easily offer (I’m a little too spectrummy for either of those to be easy options). Their corporal punishments did not change this, but they left me with the desire to act and be more flexible and obedient—the desire to be Good—and the shame of failing every time—the knowledge that I was Bad. It’s something I still struggle with. This categorical view of a self as inherently good or bad is a key marker for the experience of someone whose developed in an abusive, neglectful, or recurrently traumatic environment, and it’s what’s so well done throughout ATLA. Zuko and Azula provide such clear examples of what that moral coding can look like, and, as siblings, provide a really clear depiction of how and why it can be experienced and create outcomes that are so different even within one family.

[coldasyou]

Eurydice was a hungry young girl A runaway from everywhere she'd ever been

[jennipond]

getting into atla for the first time this little bald baby makes me so emo

[darkspaceboytoy]

Incredibly violent take of mine but I actually don’t think you need to relate to a story in any way to enjoy it. You can enjoy a story even if you can’t point at a character and insert some aspect of your personality or identity into them. In fact I would argue the need for a character like that to be present in every single story you experience is a sign of stunted growth.

[headspace-hotel]

It is a peaceful and serene take, actually.

[theprettiestnoise]

The incredible @cthulhusrightarm initiated me into the loveliness that is Zukaang with amazing fic and art. I’ve come to adore the way these characters complement each other in their motivations, principles, and story arcs. What a fascinating and beautiful dynamic, and what a wonderful author to show me the way! <3

[tadpole-art]

"You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher"

[tsukiyo-7]

Full piece on my ao3! 🕊

This is the last second chance (I'll point you to the mirror) I'm half as good as it gets (I'll point you to the mirror) I'm on both sides of the fence (I'll point you to the mirror) Without a hint of regret I'll hold you to it

[sundaysadghost]

Season 4 confirmed