#“she only proposed genocide because she seeks approval from her father and is mentally ill” DO YOU HEAR YOURSELF

[azula-hates-men]

i love azula but i hate how her stans absolve her of the bullying she put zuko through, even going as far as saying that zuko was the abusive one. in the show, the only glimpses we get of what azula and zuko's relationship pre-banishment are through flashbacks in zuko alone. in these flashbacks, it's clear that ozai pitted against each other and that azula often taunted zuko for being the black sheep of the family. idk how anyone could watch those flashbacks and be like "yeah zuko definitely abused azula". i understand being sympathetic towards azula's struggles with mental health and suffering from golden child syndrome, but that doesn't excuse how she treated her friends or her brother at all. acting like it is very dangerous because in real life, it is common for people to justify their awful behavior by talking about their difficult childhood, mental health struggles, etc. and it's perfectly fine to like characters who are awful people. my favorite arcane character is jinx and although i often make jokes like "hehe jinx did nothing wrong, those pilties had it coming", i acknowledge that many of her actions are unjustifiable, but i still like her because i find her to be a sympathetic character because it's obvious that she has self-esteem issues and suffers from psychosis, bpd, and schizophrenia. the same can apply to azula, she's a manipulative character who lacks empathy, but she also suffers from golden child syndrome and mental health issues, both statements can co-exist.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

I saw this post. Thoughts?

“i love azula but i hate how her stans absolve her of the bullying she put zuko through, even going as far as saying that zuko was the abusive one. in the show, the only glimpses we get of what azula and zuko's relationship pre-banishment are through flashbacks in zuko alone. in these flashbacks, it's clear that ozai pitted against each other and that azula often taunted zuko for being the black sheep of the family. idk how anyone could watch those flashbacks and be like "yeah zuko definitely abused azula". i understand being sympathetic towards azula's struggles with mental health and suffering from golden child syndrome, but that doesn't excuse how she treated her friends or her brother at all. acting like it is very dangerous because in real life, it is common for people to justify their awful behavior by talking about their difficult childhood, mental health struggles, etc. and it's perfectly fine to like characters who are awful people. my favorite arcane character is jinx and although i often make jokes like "hehe jinx did nothing wrong, those pilties had it coming", i acknowledge that many of her actions are unjustifiable, but i still like her because i find her to be a sympathetic character because it's obvious that she has self-esteem issues and suffers from psychosis, bpd, and schizophrenia.

difficult childhood, mental health struggles, etc. and it's perfectly fine to like characters who are awful people. my favorite arcane character is jinx and although i often make jokes like "hehe jinx did nothing wrong, those pilties had it coming", i acknowledge that many of her actions are unjustifiable, but i still like her because i find her to be a sympathetic character because it's obvious that she has self-esteem issues and suffers from psychosis, bpd, and schizophrenia. the same can apply to azula, she's a manipulative character who lacks empathy, but she also suffers from golden child syndrome and mental health issues, both statements can co-exist.”

The tags said: #again i love azula but her stans are insufferable #why are we woobifying a colonizing war criminal? #"she only proposed genocide because she seeks approval from her father and is mentally ill" DO YOU HEAR YOURSELF #azula critical #i guess???

1 - If we're talking only about the original show, then yeah, "Zuko abused Azula" is an absurd statement. His biggest "crime" in canon was not really caring about being her older brother - which is understandable considering all the trauma he was struggling to process and the way Ozai made them fight for his approval, making it nearly impossible for Zuko to trust his sister.

If we're taking the Yang comics into consideration, then I'm sorry to say that "Zuko abused Azula" becomes completely true. He locks her up in an asylum that is only making her worse by abusing her (unnecessary restraining and beatings, which his friends also engage in), takes her on a dangerous mission knowing nothing about her condition, and threatens to throw her off a cliff when it all inevitably backfires on him.

Now, is all of that EXTREMELY out of character for Zuko? Yes, but people keep insisting I take those bullshit comics as canon just 'cause Bryke approved of them (and because it constantly says "Azula bad"), even though they're literally just a result of a former DC comics writer not understanding that not every villain is the joker, and I'm not gonna stop reminding them that said comics RUINED the story and thus NOBODY should take it as canon. I'm a petty bitch.

2 - I wouldn't say that Azula's mental health struggles and desperate need for Ozai's validation are the ONLY reasons why she was cool with imperialism and genocide. That was 90% a result of literal indoctrination that the entire nation has been under for an entire century. Mind you, that doesn't absolve her (or anyone) of responsibility either, but it is dishonest to ignore these factors and go "she was just bad". Much like her brother, Azula needs both a brutal reality check of "You're the bad guy, sweety, get your shit together and stop being awful" and for the people around her to understand "This a traumatized, brainwashed TEENAGER we're dealing with here."

You can hold somebody accountable for their actions without dismissing their reasoning for doing what they did. The entire fandom does it by acknowledging how being abused by Ozai sent Zuko on a downwards spiral in which he was constantly hurting himself and others, WHY is it suddenly impossible to do that when it's Azula's turn? Why is "she's just evil" the only acceptable explanation for all that she did when that directly contradicts canon?