a sense of dissonance.

azula rambles | intj | she/her

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Although Azula is my favourite character, Zuko will forever be my favourite comfort character. I think that notion has a even higher regard sometimes.

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Dawn of Yangchen releases today, I enjoyed reading the Kyoshi novels, although it had its faults, I really do love reading insight and exploring the lives of past Avatars. As I’ve gotten older I’ve found myself more critical of the show and sometimes I forget to simply enjoy and indulge in the content without being overly pessimistic. So I hope I can read the book and enjoy it as I always tend to enjoy expansions on the Avatar universe! :)

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Zuko was still a child when he became Fire Lord. Why did anyone think making a traumatized teenager lead a country after a war was a good idea? That is incomprehensible responsibility for anyone let alone a 16 YEAR OLD.

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How on Earth did Azula do that-

[oakaiarts]

hama’s escape room 👻

finished piece for the fall edition of the Elements fanzine @cosmiccowzine 💖 thank you to @.darkerstaredits on Instagram for all the graphic work!!

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azula and lu ten were close. 

Unpopular take but I imagined that Azula and Lu Ten were close, I think he was the first one to recognize her talents and fostered her drive to firebend. He probably adored Azula and would teach her the next set of firebending techniques when her tutors refused to. 

If Lu Ten was like Iroh I would like to think he also poked fun at his younger cousin and wouldn’t seriously duel her much to Azula’s distaste. However, he would always reward her with mochi after every training session. 

And when he died Azula’s reaction to Iroh not burning Ba Sing Se to the ground as revenged irked her because he had failed her and Lu Ten. So when Azula conquered Ba Sing Se she was reminded of Lu Ten and felt a sense of closure and relief. 

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An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

One of my favourite post-war Azula fanfiction, read it right now! GO GO GO!

[azulaakgae]

what azula stans say: azula is a complicated and complex character who grew up in an abusive home, being groomed by her father and lacking attention from her mother. all she knew was war, violence, and power and was taught that ruthlessness and extreme displays of power were to be rewarded and praised. her breakdown is due to years of being manipulated and used by ozai who basically abandons her, who is the last person to "leave" her. she was only 14 by the end of it all, and her life was never her own to live, so she deserves another chance and deserves to live a life where she isnt a weapon or pit against her brother. her redemption would probably take years since she has a lot to change and heal from. she doesnt have to be a hero, but she shouldnt remain as the villian when she has her entire life ahead of her.

what the atla fandom hears: Actually azula did nothing wrong 🤪 #FreeAzula shes an angel and shes the real victim and shes better than zuko! 😂😂😂

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iroh...

So after he raged a 600-day siege on Ba Sing Se (all because he had a vision that apparently justified ruining the lives of millions) he goes on an enlightenment trip yet he still continues to contribute to the war as a general for the Fire Nation and actively participates in the war meetings following for at least three YEARS. And while he voluntarily goes to these meetings and furthers the efforts of the war (which he knows all of this is wrong) he doesn't do anything to stop or prevent the horrendous acts the Fire Nation commits... ok.

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How on earth did this girl do a full planche in armor and then proceed to go launch a fire blast all while on the edge of a boiling rock?

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azula headcanons.

She likes to read and spends most of her time in the palace's library, she especially likes to read old fantasy stories about dragons though she doesn't admit it

Azula is an artist, she secretly likes to draw the guard beside the throne room because his armor is especially polished

She doesn't know how to do her hair so when she was traveling to find the avatar Ty Lee helped her put her hair in the signature top knot

She used to have vivid nightmares about the Agni Kai against Ozai and Zuko, she always dreamt of her being burned instead of Zuko

Azula is more of actions over words type of person, when she makes a mistake she doesn't admit it but rather tries to fix it

The palace staff makes her mochi every year for her birthday

She has incredibly neat handwriting

She has a book of poems she would read every night before bed

Lo and Li genuinely cared for her and that's what makes her hate them even more

She was born on the winter's solstice (I think it's canon that most fire benders are born in the summer so her being born in the Winter could be something that sets her apart further?)

Azula wakes up ridiculously early

She has small lightening scars running along her hands after lightening bending for so long

Unlike most fire benders, Azula has never burned herself

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mai gave azula her knife in DoBS.

I like to think that the knife Azula pulls out in DoBS was given to her by Mai because Mai was genuinely worried about her friend and wanted her to be extra protected after realizing what Azula was planning.

Perhaps she was thinking, "You're going to be up against the Avatar's group without your bending, at least have a weapon on you if things go south."

I know this is more of an unconventional take because it's a common opinion that Azula simply stole/took the knife from Mai's inventory but I like to think that the trio had a more nuanced and stronger friendship where actions were demonstrated more than words of affirmation.

[hello-nichya-here]

I have unfortunate news, Hello Future Me has released a Zuko Psychology video. Be prepared for more awful characterizations of Zuko to come

I have not watched it, but plenty of Azula fans have already started talking about that disgrace - including the freudian slip in which the dude refers to 14 year old Azula as an ADULT, while still treating 16 year old Zuko as the teenager he is.

Yet more proof that his videos cannot be taken seriously, but unfortunately this fandom tends to latch onto anything that confirms their bias, no matter how little sense (if any) it makes.

[zuko-always-lies]

For some morbid reason, I want to hear more about this. Is anyone willing to bite the bullet?

[black-velvet-lady]

I watched it. @likeadragonfruit also watched it.

The only line I agree with is Zuko's arch is about overcoming abuse.

[likeadragonfruit]

Since I’ve been summoned, I’ll say I let a lot slide. I didn’t make a note of every line I took issue with (didn’t want to drag it out). But the broadest points

early on a lot of talk about honor and shame

unlike the Azula video, talks about his early childhood environment upfront rather than burying it deep towards the end of the video (which is the same as Azula’s…)

if there’s any big diagnostic label that’s slapped on Zuko, it’s not a personality disorder, but C-PTSD. That’s like 1/3-ish of the video

towards the end brings up the nationalism and imperialism of the Fire Nation and brings up radicalization… again, unlike the Azula video. (Though this leans very hard into comparisons to Imperial Japan, which is a shallow read of the Fire Nation)

And as a personal point, I kept track of Azula mentions to see how she was framed in this video

I’ll be fair and point out that he did say Zuko “for a time blamed Azula for his childhood, however damaging and unhealthy this is.” Accurate insomuch as he does place the blame on Ozai during the DoBS confrontation. Less accurate when taking into account that he still largely bares a grudge against her for the rest of the show. Also, for a video that takes the comics into account, that feels like not really acknowledging the cliff incident during The Search.

but also gems like the aforementioned referring to 14 year-old Azula as an adult:

later when talking about how abusers will reinforce their victim’s idea that anyone trying to help them (the victim) doesn’t understand and is interfering, he refers to Azula as “doing so on Ozai’s behalf multiple times.” 

Also acknowledges Azula was abused, even if phrased as “but where Azula serves to remind us some people are still lost in the mires of abuse…”

Far more than upset, I was more disappointed about the night and day difference between the Psychology of Azula video and the Psychology of Zuko. Where Azula’s video got a string of highly stigmatized diagnoses thrown around (even if those diagnoses can’t be applied to children), Zuko got only one diagnosis directed towards him with less stigma. Where Azula’s video only talked about the influence of her family life at the end, Zuko’s puts it front and center. Zuko’s video mentions the influence the culture of the Fire Nation would’ve had, where Azula’s video does not. And where Azula’s video starts with a montage of clips with an IMO ableist framing, Zuko’s video opens with this content warning:

basically Zuko’s video (rightly) takes his traumatic childhood seriously. Azula’s video in contrast, fixates on throwing around highly stigmatized diagnoses and largely skirts around that if this all applies to Zuko, most if not all of it also applies to Azula.

[prodogg]

the double standard is strong with this one. Like I always repeat myself on, the fandom double standard is the biggest problerm and thats just sad.

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the problem with azula redemption fics.

Fanfic writers need to stop making Azula's redemption based on making amends with Zuko. Sure, amends with her family is a huge part of her healing which definitely plays a role in her redemption, but it should not be centered around her being a better sister by kissing up to her brother. Let's instead, make Zuko a better brother, and have him actually care about her well-being instead of acting like he does to use her for his own personal gain. Why diminish her characterization by making her say yes to everything Zuko asks because that's what you think redemption is?

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future azula: the possibilities i wanted the comics to take.

The comics are lazy.

Instead of having Azula’s destined redemption arc, which was apparently going to be even grander than Zuko's, we get a shell of the villain she was with no other motivation except being an inconvenience to poor ZuZu. The writers love to baby him while they use Azula as a scapegoat.

Azula deserved better than being reduced to a mere villain. The way she was written in the comics is an injustice to her struggles, skill, identity, motivation, and most importantly her whole character. 

So here’s a list of other ways the comics could've given Azula the closure she deserved instead of locking her up until they desperately needed a villain. 

1. Psychiatrist 

I like the idea that Azula becomes a psychiatrist after seeing the way the Fire Nation treats people with mental illnesses and their attitude to people who are mentally ill after her experiences in the asylum. Because putting people in straitjackets is incredibly inhumane, also the language that is shown in the comics towards her just creates/reinforces an awful stigma about people who are struggling mentally and reduces them to "they are insane therefore they are a bad person." It also proves that this perception is normalized when it should not. 

I believe Azula sees this, understands this, and fixes it because no one else will.

Drawing from her own experiences she makes the incentive to help those who didn’t get the help they deserved. Veterans, child soldiers, and anyone else who was affected by the war all over the four nations. 

She will reform the mental health services and additionally enhance the healthcare system because of the fact no one else would ever make the effort to.

2. Inventor

Azula is a fantastic technician, her mind works incredibly fast and creatively. (e.i, the instances where she uses her feet to propel herself when she’s in a pinch, feeling to her death or trying to get somewhere fast) I believe her genius can go a long way in innovating the Fire Nation. 

We’ve already seen her be incredibly skilled in light bending and eventually redirection. We could possibly see the reality where Azula expands and utilizes the skills of Firebenders (like what we saw in the Legend of Korra employing lightning benders for work) to create energy that powers the whole city, like some sort of power plant. And with the energy created there are limitless possibilities. 

Perhaps Azula creates the city's first electricity lines or telephones, or even automobiles.

Inventing would be a passion she would pride herself in this too and like it as we've seen her have an interest in big innovative projects (for example, her dialogue of the drill in the Earth Kingdom Chronicles).

3. Student → Teacher

Relearning what Fire is and coming to realize her full potential. Instead of destruction, she learns it is life and the fact proper firebending isn't drawn out of anger, or for her, her need for perfection/self-control.

Azula’s hero’s journey would start similarly to Zuko’s when she notices that her fire isn’t burning as bright or not even burning blue. She goes through an adventure to get her flame back where she has to use her fire differently as it becomes weaker. Perhaps she goes to the dragons or maybe makes the realization herself. 

Maybe she travels the four nations and employs her firebending differently after visiting the Water Tribe or the Earth Kingdom. She could learn lightning redirection, fire shields, healing with fire, proper breathing techniques, etc just from traveling and gaining experiences elsewhere rather than sitting in the Fire Nation.

And when she does learn all she can, she decides to spread the knowledge and opens a Firebending school (much like Toph’s metal bending Academy?) 

Azula will truly make the Fire nation better by teaching the new generation of Firebenders the true meaning of firebending, ushering in a new age of healing for the Fire Nation.

4. Minister/Royal Advisor

Azula is smarter than Zuko. As seen time and time again when she conquerors Ba Sing Se, or distracted the Gaang. Azula's cunning is her greatest skill, and being able to have her cunning would greatly help Zuko following the events after the war.

I like to think there’s a reality that Zuko realizes this and enlists her help after the disaster of the developing Ozai supporters who question his rule.

Azula has wonderful experiences in politics as a princess, and not just a regular princess, but a princess the whole nation loves. Her skills and reputation will be a great asset to the Fire Nation.

The comics suck.

Azula had so much potential and they just decided not to use it. That is the greatest mistake the series made in my opinion. I hope one day we get to see Azula have the closure she needs and deserves.