#ningka

[jaydude1992]

You: "DNI:..."anyone who tries to insist Azula was abused in the mental institution Zuko put her in post-series"

"Interviewer: Speaking of Zuko's family, what's Azula been up to? Her stay in the Fire Nation mental institution has got to be incredibly interesting.

Gene Yang: In "The Search," we'll see what a prolonged stay in a Fire Nation mental institution does to a person."

https://www.darkhorse.com/Blog/1027/avatar-last-airbender-search-cbr-interviews-gene-y

"When Ningka was a young girl, she could not control her firebending and was prone to violent outbursts of frustration. At one point, she fought off a group of bullies and lashed out with a blast of fire to keep them from hurting her. This was the final straw that led Ningka's parents to send her to a secure mental health facility to treat her instability. Her anger and despair only increased at the institution, however, as more care was placed in keeping her subdued than getting to the root of her problems. Her teacher at the facility would often punish her. Little by little, the young girl's vibrant gaze diminished after repeated admonishments, until she became a tired young woman quietly sitting in the corner of an institution, too exhausted to keep fighting."

https://avatar.fandom.com/wiki/Ningka

I don't think Zuko ever intended for Azula to get abused in the asylum or sent her there because she was a non-conforming member of royalty like Azula implies. Nor do I think he is aware of any systemic abuse present in Fire Nation asylums since he would fix it as soon as possible because he is a good man and ruler and because they created terrorists that have threatened his rule and the post-war peace. I also think there aren't really any humane ways to contain mentally ill firebenders and that Azula would rather have suffered abuse in her asylum than have her bending removed.

But considering Yang's word of god statement, the fact that Azula's mental state slowly but surely improves after she gets out of the asylum, and the fact that several girls would rather join a disgraced princess whose enemies include the Avatar and the Fire Lord than stay in their asylums, why are people wrong to come to conclusion that Azula was abused in her asylum?

The problem I have with using Gene's answer as proof that Azula was abused in the institution is that it's really too vague about what exactly happened for me. Obviously Azula's time there didn't do much for her mental health, judging by her actions in The Search, but I personally don't have enough information to decide if that was more due to the staff mistreating her/refusing to help her, or Azula herself being beyond treatment prior to her reunion with Ursa. It doesn't help that a mental institution is likely going to be a massive standard of living downgrade for a princess like Azula. Nor does it help that we don't really see any signs of abuse happening, no flashbacks to Azula's time at the mental institution or anything. The most we get is Azula being put in a straitjacket when she meets with Zuko - an enemy of hers whom she previously attempted to murder and got gleeful about hurting/killing - at the end of The Promise, a shot of another patient in a straitjacket being wheeled through a yard for some undefined reason, and Azula being put in a straitjacket again when she's taken out of the asylum to meet with Ozai. And I don't see these as "acts of abuse" so much as security precautions.

A related problem is that a number of fans - typically the hardcore Azula stans I complained about - tend to downplay her negative traits while exaggerating the scale and effects of offences committed against her, because they want to see her "redeemed" (i.e. rehabilitated/becoming good) and that's apparently the only way the only way they can think of facilitating that. I've seen Azula stans claim that Azula knowing she'd be able to escape the straitjacket after being chi-blocked by Ty Lee is proof that she was chi-blocked regularly without provocation. I've seen Azula stans claim that Azula being put in a straitjacket while around Zuko is proof that she was kept in one 24/7. These days, if someone tries to use the "Azula was abused in the mental institution" argument without going into detail, I can't help but question whether they're speaking in good faith.

I wasn't aware of Ningka's backstory when I made my statement. And yeah, there's definitely a vibe of the people at the institution caring more about keeping her confined than helping her with her issues. That said, the work it was in was published in 2023, ten years after The Search started being published, and people have been playing the "Azula was abused" card plenty enough before that time.

I agree with your points about Zuko, and your one about Azula likely preferring abuse over the loss of her firebending. As for confining Firebenders, I do believe that cells reinforced enough to withstand firebending could work, but of course that's not going to be an option if the Firebender needs to be moved about.

I've given my thoughts on Gene's statement above. Regarding Azula's mental state slowly improving after she's taken out of the institution, if we're talking how it changes over the events of The Search, that's kinda hard for me to judge since I don't exactly have anything to go on regarding what her mental state was like inside the institution. She definitely seems a little better after her confrontation with Ursa, but I don't know how much of that was due to her being outside the institution, and how much was down to what Ursa said to her during that moment.

With regards to why the girls/Fire Warriors decided to join up with Azula after she broke them out of the institution despite the repercussions, Azula in the Spirit Temple indicates that at least some of them were only put in there due to refusing to confine to the wishes of their traditionalist families, rather than any mental issues - meaning they'd have even more reason to despise the place - and that Azula spun them some bullshit about how they'd be helping out the less well-off of the Fire Nation as opposed to strictly trying to fuck over Zuko. When it became apparent that Azula's claim was a lie - and that she didn't particularly care about their wellbeing - they ditched her that same night.

I believe that's everything. Thanks for the ask.

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Just Hair

Note: Quick little one shot inspired by the preview pages (more specifically that Chiyou has a name now so I can properly ship it).

Summary: Azula lets her friends give her a haircut. She isn't sure of the results.

“I don’t know about this.” Azula mutters, folding her arms over her chest. 

“Come on, it’ll be cute.” Zirin insists. 

“Cute?” Azula frowns. “I’m not aiming for cute.”

“Neither are we.” Ningka quirks a brow. “Trust me, neither are well.”

She does trust Ningka on that one and that is precisely what scares her. That and the scissors in Chiyou’s hand. The scissors that are snipping away. Locks of hair fall to the grass below and with each strand, Azula’s heart leaps. 

What if this ends up looking stupid. The shaved hair works for Ningka. And the dye works well for Chiyou. But for her? She has always been so…

So traditional. 

Every little bit of her itches to tell Chiyou to stop. That she isn’t like them, that she is regal and extravagant. That she is the beauty standard that they juxtaposed themselves against. Her hair has been so long for as long as she can remember. It has always been elegantly combed and extravagantly styled, adorned with elaborate headpieces and hair ornaments. 

Her face is soft and delicate, with just enough edge to make her look fierce. 

She is so unlike her new friends. 

Her new friends who are so bold and unapologetic. 

She can wear her hair like theirs but she has a feeling that she will definitely be issuing some apologies not just to herself but to everyone who has to look at her and her perverse haircut. A style that is surely going to deviate very far from what the Fire Nation is used to seeing. Let alone seeing on her. 

Somehow there is intrigue in that. 

Somewhere deep down she craves it. 

Someplace within there is a need to cut and prune away parts of herself. 

But she is afraid. Afraid that it will look ugly if she does. That this new look won’t suit her. It is silly, it is just hair. It will grow back, just as it had the last time. And then she will be the same person that she had been before. And nothing will change.

“That’s enough, Chiyou.” Zirin closes her hand around the girl’s wrist. “She’s clearly uncomfortable.”

“I’m fine.” Azula insists. “Keep going, please.” She straightens her back. She needs this. She needs to be someone new. Even if it looks ugly and ridiculous. Even if it doesn’t flatter her at all. She needs to cut these parts of her away. Maybe she will like the result. Maybe she will just have to wait until her hair grows out again so that she can fashion it in a new way. 

“Azula…” Zirin frowns.

It isn’t just hair. 

It is never just hair. 

“Continue.” She prompts and so Chiyou does. She snips and snips until Azula is someone new. Her head feels lighter and her stomach sinks. She can feel the morning breeze on her scalp. Her tummy flops twice over. Just how much had Chiyou cut? She stares at the ground, at the total carnage. That has to be all of her hair! There is so much!

Chiyou reaches out and fluffs her hair so she certainly has some left on her head. 

One of the other girls whistles her approval; she wishes that those three would just take those masks off already; it isn’t as though they are on a mission at the moment and those are not toys. She had very painstakingly crafted all of them. 

“She does look kind of cute.” Says the tallest of the three.

“But you can tell that Chiyou styled her hair.” Adds the smallest. 

Azula isn’t certain if this is a good or a bad thing.

“Do you want to see?” Ningka asks. 

“I don’t think that she does.” Zirin laughs. 

“I–I do want to see!” Azula flushes. She gets to her feet and makes her way over to the pond and it’s undisturbed surfaces. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before letting her gaze settle on her reflection. 

She swallows, for a second she isn’t staring at herself, but someone entirely different. She has to touch her cheek just to be sure that the girl with the jagged, slightly asymmetrical bangs is her. It…it’s so short. Perhaps not shaved but a bit too close for comfort. She swallows again, her lips part slightly. 

“It’s not quite done yet.” Chiyou startles her. 

“N-not done!?”

“It still needs some floof!” Chiyou declares, giving her a peck on the cheek. 

“Volume.” Ningka adds. 

Before she can protest, Chiyou is massaging some sort of gel into her hair. By the time she is done, Azula’s hair is delicately spiked and her stomach is fluttering wildly. Chiyou’s face falls, “you hate it, don’t you?”

Azula shakes her head. “I–it’s different.” She replies quietly. “I didn’t realize that it would be so…” sharp, bold, dramatic. “Different.” 

Zirin chuckles. “I warned you.”

And she hadn’t listened. The haircut makes her chin look so pointy. She hadn’t realize just how starkly a simple haircut would alter her appearance. But she certainly seems to fit in much better with the group that she had created. 

“Is different good?” Chiyou takes her hand.

Azula squeezes it back. “I think so?”

Chiyou stoops slightly and kisses the tip of her nose. “Well let me know when you decide. One day I’m going to open up a haircutting place and I think that ‘princess approved’ is a good advertisement.” 

Azula sniffs. “We’ll see about that.” She runs her fingers through her hair. She supposes that she will see about many things. She takes Chiyou’s hand again, eyeing those black nails. Not for the first time she wonders what she has gotten herself into. Not for the first time, she considers that this thing, whatever it is, might be a good thing.