#Ursa Beach

[quo-usque-tandem]

Ursa Beach, Sintra, Portugal

[demaparbat-hp]

soooo… any news on the kyoshi warriors au?

The girls are fighting

[worldtalks]

Praia da Ursa é nomeado após as rochas na praia.

'Bear Beach' is named after the rocks on the beach.

[biostatprof]

Praia da Ursa

[stardust948]

Trip to the beach

[zukosdualdao]

the way azula sounds so genuinely, sincerely baffled when she asks why? in response to zuko admitting he’s angry at himself.

azula genuinely cannot conceptualize this because she’s so thoroughly bought into the lies of inherent superiority ozai has instilled in her. she cannot imagine feeling angry at herself or guilty for her own actions because why would she when she knows she’s stronger, smarter, better? whatever she does, it’s because she has a right to it.

her bafflement is so strong that for a moment, she wonders why even zuko would ever feel that way, even though she sees him as someone so much weaker and less than her, so of course he’s subject to all those pesky emotions she would never possibly deign to feel.

(because things like regret and guilt and anger at oneself are an admission of being wrong, of some kind of fault, and azula could never admit to that.)

the way she recovers from that brief bout of sincere confusion and calls him pathetic for it, for feeling those things at all, for caring about what’s right and what’s wrong, and for daring to admit it.

the way the first time we see azula even get at all close to admitting anger at herself, she’s all alone, except for her subconscious appearing to her in the form of her mother in the mirror. the way she reels back from it and breaks the mirror, aiming for her mother but really shattering the image of herself, the part of her that might feel at all guilty or at least understand it was her own actions that led her here, that led mai and ty lee to betray her. and she destroys it and doubles down. because she can’t admit that. ever.

[sokkastyles]

I was reading your Azula metas. I kinda had in my mind that a redemption for her would come from her resolving her issues with her mother. I think because Zuko is similar to his mom (or at least more similar to her than to his dad) it's possible that she could understand her mother better by getting to know him more. I remember some bits on the show like when Azula warned Zuko about him visiting Iroh in prison, because of her tone I sort read that as she really trying to protect him and not just a threat or something. I think there's something there with him being the last connection to her mother. I wonder if she felt betrayed by him once he left the family and joined the gaang, not just because it ruined the plans or anything but because her mother also "left" her. Idk if this makes any sense lol I'm just rambling now. But what do you think?

I love the idea of Azula learning to understand her mother by getting to know her brother more!

I think that most discussions about Azula's relationship with her mom fall flat in two ways. One, people forget that Azula is an unreliable narrator, especially when it comes to her family. It is strange that when we hear Zuko talk about how Ozai will restore his honor, we know that he is unreliable, but people don't question it with Azula, who absolutely worships her father and blames her mother for her father's abuse because of course she can't blame Ozai. It's actually a pretty typical dynamic in homes with a parent like Ozai, for that parent to try to turn the children against the other parent, and since Ozai resents Ursa and treats Azula like his golden child, is it hardly a surprise that Azula also feels resentful of Ursa? Especially when Azula whole-heartedly believes what Ozai wanted her to believe about how she was better than her brother and deserved to be treated better. Ursa treating Zuko kindly is a threat to that belief, a threat to what Azula's father made her believe was where her sense of self-worth lay.

Two, what Azula says about how their mother "liked Zuko more" is really more about her relationship with Zuko than it is about their mother. Remember the context of that conversation in "the Beach"? It comes right after Zuko's big revelation where he realizes that he's angry at himself for making the wrong choice and choosing to go back to the Fire Nation. When Zuko says he's angry at himself, Azula asks him why, and the voice acting in this bit is interesting, because Azula sounds suddenly curious. Before she was dismissive, although this is also the episode where we get an Azula who does, deep down, long for a human connection. We see glimpses of this curiosity when she asks Ty Lee how she is able to get boys to like her.

Azula's response to Zuko is equally dismissive, because just like in the scene with Ty Lee, Azula can't show vulnerability for long, can't let others know that she wants something from them without masking it in dismissive language, but before that, the camera does something interesting. The shot is a closeup of Zuko, who says he's afraid he doesn't know the difference between right and wrong anymore.

But while Zuko is talking in the foreground, the camera actually pans to shift focus to Azula in the foreground, watching him.

The purpose of this kind of shot is to position Azula as equal to the audience, as we watch Zuko grapple with worrying that he doesn't know the difference between right and wrong.

Which implies that Azula is also thinking about the same thing.

Of course, she calls him pathetic a moment later, but remember that this is Azula masking her feelings of vulnerability. What's really interesting about this situation is that Azula usually seems to have the upper hand against Zuko, and she keeps it here by doing what she always does, and reasserts that she's better than him. He's "pathetic" and his trauma is a "sob story," which of course she doesn't have. But even in his moment of confusion, Zuko actually has more clarity than Azula has, because he's able to question the way they were raised in a way Azula never has been able to do. The positioning of the shot also emphasizes this by showing Zuko as dominating most of the frame while Azula appears small in the background.

And then of course what Azula says about not caring about how her mother thought she was a monster is her being an unreliable narrator again, and we know she's attempting to blow off something that deeply bothers her. But it's not her mother that is the source of this, it's Azula's own confusion. Because Azula also is starting to realize that she's not sure if she knows the difference between right and wrong, and she's not brave enough to admit it the way Zuko is (Zuko who can't help but wear his emotions on his sleeve, which is something Azula is normally able to take advantage of, but here it gives him an advantage over her). But she knows that her mother tried to teach her to do the right thing, and she experiences confusion over the competing demands of trying to please both parents when the parents' demands are not aligned with each other.

Because she couldn't please both parents, Azula made the choice long ago to please the one who was the most powerful, and of course that's Ozai. But that doesn't mean her internal conflict went away. When Zuko stops making that choice, it's a threat to her entire worldview. That's a big reason why she needs him to come with her in Ba Sing Se, why she sees Iroh as a threat, and why she's dismissive of the bond Zuko and Ursa had, and why she goes after Zuko when he joins the gaang, with intentions of killing him.

Which is also why I don't see Azula doing things like encouraging Zuko not to look at things that remind him of Ursa or telling him not to visit Iroh as beneficently as some. I do think it's more complicated than just a threat, and that there's some affection there, but it's also a way for Azula to affirm her own flawed beliefs. If Azula cares for Zuko, it's in a similar way to the way her father cares about her, as someone she can control and use to reinforce her own feelings of superiority.

Azula can't understand why Zuko would cling to the relationship with his mother, or Iroh, when these relationships cause him pain. But these relationships make Zuko strong in a way that Azula isn't, and she knows this, deep down.

There's an interesting moment in "The Search" when Azula can't understand why Zuko would still be fire lord even though he doesn't want it, and why he would try to help people who resent him. Which also has to do with his relationship with his sister, because in this comic he also offers to help her despite Azula trying to sabotage his search for Ursa the entire time, and Zuko tells her that she's still his sister. She tearfully tells him that "even when you're strong, you're weak," before running off.

Which reminds me of this quote from the movie "What Dreams May Come":

He was a coward! Being strong, not giving up, it was just his place to hide. He pushed away the pain so hard, disconnected himself from the person he loved the most… Sometimes, when you win, you lose.

The things that Azula regards as weaknesses in Zuko are actually the things that make him stronger than Azula in the end, and that's also at the heart of Azula and Zuko's differing relationships with their parents. Zuko learns to confront things from his past that are painful in order to make himself stronger, to free himself from Ozai's influence and embrace meaningful relationships that don't revolve around control and fear, whereas Azula is largely in denial about her own trauma. So yeah, I do think that if she could understand Zuko and learn from him, she could potentially repair her relationship with both her brother and her mother. There's a lot of contention about what Ehasz said about Zuko being "Azula's Iroh" in discussion about a possible redemption arc for her, and I myself have said some things against that idea - most notably the idea that Zuko needs to be responsible for "fixing" her when she is a huge part of and contributed to his own trauma - but there is some truth in Zuko being somehow involved in a possible redemption arc for her because Zuko has achieved what she hasn't been able to yet.

[reiraseju]

Chapters: 9/22 Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Tyzula - Fandom, azula - Fandom Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Azula/Ty Lee (Avatar) Characters: Azula (Avatar), Ty Lee (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar), Mai (Avatar), Ty Lee's Sisters (Avatar), The Gaang (Avatar), Ozai (Avatar), Ursa (Avatar) Additional Tags: tyzula - Freeform, Lesbian Azula (Avatar), Lesbian Ty Lee (Avatar), Protective Azula (Avatar), Happy Azula (Avatar), Crazy Azula (Avatar), POV Azula (Avatar), Child Azula (Avatar), Firelord Azula (Avatar), Bisexual Ty Lee (Avatar), Airbender Ty Lee (Avatar), Minor Azula/Ty Lee (Avatar), Pansexual Ty Lee (Avatar), Tyzula Week 2020 (Avatar), Tyzula Week (Avatar), Fire Nation Royal Family, Fire Nation (Avatar), Yuri, Girls Kissing, girlslove, girlxgirl, Best Friends, Friends to Lovers, Bad Parent Ozai (Avatar), Mentioned Ursa (Avatar) Summary:

𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞 火 𝐓𝐲𝐳𝐮𝐥𝐚 - 𝑃𝑠𝑦𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝐷𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑎, 𝑅𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝐸𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑐 - ❤️🔥

Azula and Ty lee had been best friends since they were kids, but after they graduated from the Royal Fire Academy for Girls, Ty Lee left the Fire Nation capital to join the circus and they stopped seeing each other for years. It wasn't until Azula paid her a visit one day, asking her to join her elite team with the objective of capturing the Avatar. So many years had passed that maybe they had forgotten how deep their connection really was...

A story of love and healing.

+18

[bearbrainrot]

his name is Sludge,,,, he loves going to the beach ✨️✨️

[benetnvsch]

been rlly sick these past few days but !! Made his ref finally :) my silly guy,,,,,,

this is a more general ref for him versus Kitson's highly specific AU one which,,, whoops,,, good for him...

In The AU that Kitson's ref is from, Koi is the son of the guy Kitson is trying to hunt down (a bit awkward) and Koi himself is a type of vigilante and the two work in a reluctant type of team to try and find his dad

[prying-pandora666]

Azula Respected Mai The Most

I just saw another Reddit comment saying Azula wasn’t friends with Mai and mostly only cared about Ty Lee. And I just gotta say…

I respectfully disagree.

The Boiling Rock proves Mai meant a lot to Azula.

First, Mai publicly commits treason and betrays the Fire Nation and Azula.

What does Azula do? Order the guards away and gives Mai a chance to explain herself. She even says “I never expected this from you” and “you of all people know the consequences”. Put a pin in that for a moment.

Giving a traitor who just publicly and flagrantly betrayed you and your nation to help an even worse traitor to your nation (Zuko, who on a personal level hurt both Mai and Azula by doing so) a chance to explain themselves is already significant. But even moreso is the fact that Azula doesn’t make a single move to harm Mai until Mai purposely and effectively hits Azula’s trauma weak point like the master marksman she is.

When Mai says “I guess you don’t know people as well as you think you do” this is already an insult. She’s putting down Azula’s intelligence and manipulation skills, things Azula clearly takes pride in. And yet despite how insulting that is, Azula still waits for Mai to explain herself. Even as Mai throws that barb at her, Azula wants to hear her out. Until Mai throws the even worse insult right at Azula’s weak point.

“I love Zuko more than I fear you” isn’t a statement of Mai being afraid really. It’s Mai throwing a powerful dig at Azula’s biggest fear and trauma, the one Azula tried to dismiss during The Beach with a joke to avoid showing her own vulnerability: Azula fears that Ursa hated and feared her but loved Zuko. It’s why during the mirror scene, a grief stricken and emotionally volatile Azula bitterly says to the hallucination of Ursa “even you fear me”.

Only then does Azula get triggered enough to lash out in return. Mai was only capable of hurting her so much precisely because Azula loves and trusts Mai so much, and precisely because Mai knew what to say to hurt her.

Even so, Azula does the forms for fire, not lightning. And after she is chi-blocked, Azula orders both Ty Lee and Mai jailed, not executed or banished despite having every right to do so since they just publicly committed treason against the Fire Nation.

See the quick strike? It’s more like when she attacks Iroh in The Chase with blue fire:

Lightning, by comparison, always has a wind up for her. Even when comet-boosted or otherwise.

Remember Azula’s line we put a pin in? Let’s go back to it now. Why does Azula say “I never expected this from you” and “you of all people”. What is the significance here?

We know Azula is a perfectionist. She can’t stand a single hair out of place. This informs her frustration with Zuko and Ty Lee, both whom she adores, but whom are constantly failing to stay in their place and play their role. Zuko messes up, gets himself banished. Ty Lee runs away and joins the circus. What does Azula do? Endeavor to use any means necessary to bring them back into the fold. It sounds crazy, but from her perspective, she’s helping them shape up.

But Mai? She’s different. Mai knows her place. She knows what’s expected of her. She says herself that she learned to be quiet and still so as not to risk her dad’s political career. She hates it and searches for any excuse to leave her stifling expectations at home, but she only does this in an acceptable way: when ordered by the princess to join her on a mission for the Fire Nation.

This is why Azula is especially shocked. Because of all people, Azula thought Mai was the only one of her friends who understood their duty to the nation and wasn’t a colossal fuck up.

Azula may be more affectionate with Ty Lee, but she definitely respected Mai more.

And I think the fandom doesn’t give their fascinating relationship or how it breaks down enough credit.

[nana-luvy]

. 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 .

based off unaware - south arcade

part 2

warnings: fluff, intended claimed!fem!reader, mostly description

In which unfinished words carried too much weight.

˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗

You couldn’t help the way it replayed in your mind, over and over again, the sound of his voice crowding your mind, the way your name had rolled off his tongue as he ran a hand in his already messy curls in unconcealed nervousness…

That night, you’d been invited to some sort of small gathering your friends had planned on the beach, a bonfire crackling on the sand as you arrived with Clarisse just before the sun set. Covers had been laid out on the sand, you two had brought pillows to make the place more comfortable, and the few sons of Hermes there had brought whatever left contraband they’d smuggled into camp last. The place was just the cozy place to be.

You’d spent most of the evening chatting away, playing stupid drinking games and sharing loud fits of laughter at everybody’s antics, and, quickly, two hours at already passed. But if you had to be honest, you’d also mention that a significant part of those two hours you’d spent looking Luke’s way, watching how the warm light of the fire reflected on his face, on his side profile, how the cast shadows highlighted the sharpness of his jaw, the piercing amber of his eyes, the apparent softness of his curls you just wanted to run your hand through…If you had to be honest, you’d mention that his presence was one of the reasons you had come that night in the first place, knowing he’d be there too.

Because, as much as you were okay with just being a face in the background of his life, you also knew you longed for more, even more in moments like this, where he sat almost right in front of you across the small bonfire, your eyes catching his from time to time, his catching yours when you stared for too long. And you couldn’t help but wonder how it must be to be sitting in Chris’ place, right next to him, chatting away like you two rarely did.

You were mostly one among the others in the boy’s life, talking sometimes during training sessions, or when you ended up coincidentally next to each other in a crowd, but nothing much more. You weren’t one he’d go out of his way to talk to, and you’d come to terms with it. But one line turned it all upside down.

You all had started to run out of a few things, the bowls of snacks emptying and bottles of multiples drinks running dry, the air getting more chilly as the night reached its peak, and a few had offered to go search for the missing things. So now there you were, sitting awkwardly on the cover, hugging a pillow to try and stop your fidgeting when the only other person also there was Luke, staring up at the beautifully lit sky, stars shining in every corner with little to no clouds blocking the view. But the only view you were admiring in the end was him, leaning back on his arms behind his back, legs crossed over his own cover, his head thrown back to look up and exposing the perfect lines of his neck, your gaze running up to his jaw, the lines of his face…

”It’s beautiful, isn’t it ?”

You snapped back to reality at the sound of his voice. “Uh, what ?”

“The sky, isn’t it just mesmerizing ?” he asked again, his voice like a soft caress to your ears, every sentence sounding so euphonious when it came from him.

“Oh, yeah, yeah, so pretty…” you whispered back, looking up to the blinking stars too, though you couldn’t help the few times your eyes wandered back to him.

The curly haired boy broke the silence again after a little pause. “Do you have a favorite constellation, y/n ?”

“Hmm…” You thought about it for a second, not wanting to appear too nerdy in front of him, nor totally shallow. “I’d say Ursa Minor, probably ?”

“Yeah ?”

Butterflies went flying in your stomachs at the simple word, the raspy tone, the slight drag… you almost felt weak. “Yeah… I mean, it’s always there, easy to find and recognizable, always protected by Major in a sense… I don’t know, she feels comforting, she feels she’d understand me…” You mentally face-palmed. ‘Fuck you mean, she ? It’s a constellation, what are you gonna look like, dear gods…’

There was another silence, a longer one this time, and this time you stared up at the sky without getting distracted, training your eyes to the Little Bear as you felt the light blush warming your cheeks. You couldn’t find the strength to break the silence, and would've been relieved when he did if he didn’t say what he said.

“I think…” he started, marking a beat with a deep sigh, running his finger through his curls. “I got this thing I need to get off my chest, I-”

“Hey, back with bottles and more plaids!” Travis exclaimed, cutting the other Hermes boy off as he emerged from the thick foliage that separated this part of the beach from camp, and completely unaware of how he’d interrupted a moment that left your heart racing. “What are we doing ? Stargazing session ?”

You couldn’t see Luke’s face as he still stared up, the way his eyes moving frantically from one star to another in frustration after he’d been cut off. You forced yourself to talk when he didn’t answer the question, confused as to why. Maybe he was just so absorbed in the sky ? You’d never taken him for one to be interested in astronomy.

“Something like that, yeah…”

You’d quickly went to bed after that, too confused to concentrate on whatever game the others wanted to play, and it was now the afternoon, two days later, your head still that much of a mess. You put your face in your pillow on the top bunk, thinking the muffled screaming session would relieve your nerves in the littlest, but all it brought you was an earful from your counselor, and no peacefulness whatsoever.

How could those short, unfinished words could carry so much weight to you ? It didn’t make sense, or rather, it shouldn’t make sense, because you had convinced yourself you’d get over it, the whole feeling thing. But you knew deep down you couldn’t: being in the background was one thing, dropping all hope was another. And now he’d made his way to the front of your head, not letting you think of anything else for hours on end, making your dreams restless with the thought of what might’ve happened.

Yet at the same time, nothing had happened since, not a step of his in your direction, not a glance your way in the dining pavilion, not a shared practice in the training area, and you were left with memories of the scene, your heart longing to relive the moment until it would burst. And you were left there, in your bed, wondering how you’d gotten here, knowing it wouldn’t happen anymore, whatever had been.

The next day, you couldn’t take it anymore. So you walked to the Hermes cabin, sticky notes and pen in hand when you knew the building would be empty because of the upcoming ‘Capture the Flag’ game in preparation. You had very little concept of a plan, you just knew you had to get it out of your chest somehow before it ate up your sleep and your sanity both. Because you couldn’t find a way to forget it, wondering for hours on end what might’ve happened if his friends hadn’t walked in on the conversation, what might’ve happened if he’d continued his sentence instead of cutting it short at the distraction.

Because now it was weird, seeing him around camp, busying himself with his head counselor tasks, not sparing a glance your way when your eyes couldn’t help but follow him, all but burning a hole at the back of his head trying to figure all that he could’ve said instead of staying mute, looking up at the stars. It was weird because whatever you would’ve ever considered yourself in his life, an acquaintance, a friend, a simple friend of a friend… all of that was thrown away in a split sentence, a string of unfinished word that made you even question if you could act as if nothing happened, stay good friends like the moment never occurred.

By now, you’d easily sneaked into the painted-brown cabin, quickly identifying Luke’s bed from the shoe-box under the mattress, MAYA written on the side, as you knew it to be one of his most prized possession, and finally made a stop. You’d reached your destination, but had little to no idea of what to do now, starting to regret sneaking in with just sticky notes to write on and not some kind of…already read-through and thoroughly composed letter. But it’s not like you had much time to think about it anyway, so you started writing.

Hey, I was wondering what

‘Nope, scratch that,’ you thought, crumpling the pink note in your fist to a tight ball, putting it in your pocket and taking a new one.

Hey, well, I was thinking back of the last night, and I was thinking that you never actually finished your sentence, and i haven’t really had a chance to talk to you since, not that i would’ve seized he opportunity but

You scrapped the piece of paper again, frustratingly tearing it in half when you realized pouring the whole content of your mind on a piece of paper was neither space-ly possible, nor a smart move. So you shoved it in your pocket again, taking a new untouched sticky note.

Hey

‘Well yeah, that could be a good start,’ you thought, moving to stick it on the inside of his bunk, where no one could see it without laying on the mattress, and hoping no one else would.

So, i’m probably gonna regret this whole note thing once i finally get some sleep, but

I wanted to tell you

You never got to finish what you were trying to say

- And it is all kinda starting to get to

But just as you were about to finish writing another one to stick for Luke to see, you unexpectedly heard noise coming from right outside the door, footsteps and chatter on the other side and in your urgency, you rushed whatever you were writing, simply crossing out what you’d started writing on the note still in your hand, adding two words next to it.

Forget it

Unfortunately, your pen slide out from your clammy hands as you tried to put the cap back on, but the steps were obviously right outside the door and time was running away from you.

You just had time to stick the note in with the others before the door opened and you had to act like nothing happened, passing by a couple of campers who threw you confused looks but nothing more, while you made your way out. Once you finally stepped back on the grass and pebbles of the ground, you released a breath you didn’t even know you held, quickly going back to your cabin and climbing on your bed, rolling around on the mattress in frustration. What was he supposed to get from those notes, now ? You’d written them in a rush, half of it probably indecipherable, stacked on top of each other in a broken speech you couldn’t exactly fix anymore, the sense barely even clear with the final ‘Forget it’ to top it off. But you couldn’t help your feet kicking the air either, feeling that you’d made a step in the right directions, somehow.

The relief took over you, your mind growing a little quieter, and you soon found yourself dozing off, completely letting go of the idea of participating in the day’s Capture the Flag. But as your eyes closed on their own, among the relief and the flutters in your stomach, it also dawned on you how stupid and remorseful you’d feel from your thoughtless, impulsive action.

Do we want a part 2? The fic is based off a song (unaware - south arcade, go listen to it rn.) and the lyrics kinda stop to this point, so i was contemplating whether or not to continue.. you tell me ~

Love, Nana -

[biostatprof]

I greatly admired the brown mop of hair reading a book in just this location.

[zuko-always-lies]

Azula is the family member Zuko cares the least about, by far [and no, it's not because she's mean to him and no, this is not a post about Zuko's morality or anything like that]

So the entire premise of Zuko's arc is he spends years and years trying to regain his father's love and appreciation, that he spent three years trying to capture the Avatar so that his father would like him again. We even see in a flashback that exiled Zuko misses his father badly.

And when Zuko decides to completely break off his relationship with his father, he decides that this merits a dramatic confrontation, since his relationship with Ozai is so important to him. Even after that, the second to last scene of the series is Zuko visiting Ozai.

Zuko often takes Iroh and his support for granted, but even in Books 1 and 2 there are plenty of moments which act to reaffirm how much Zuko values and appreciates his uncle. He goes out of his way to protect his uncle on a couple occasions. And in Book 3, after Zuko has screwed up his relationship with Iroh, one of Zuko's core motivations becomes fixing his relationship with his uncle and regaining Iroh's love, trust, and appreciation.

Ursa is someone who Zuko talks about far less, yet the series makes it very clear how much Zuko misses her, with "Zuko Alone" and "The Earth King" and "The Day of Black Sun: The Eclipse." And the second to last scene in the series is Zuko trying to find her.

That leaves Azula. Zuko never seems to miss Azula the least, even though he hasn't seen her for years when the series begins. In fact, when she unexpectedly shows up and greets him, instead of being happy to see her, he's angry and suspicious (to be fair to Zuko, she did turn out to have ulterior motives due to Ozai's orders, but if he really deeply missed her, he'd probably be at least a little happy to see her regardless. Mai and Ty Lee reacted with joy the first time they saw Azula again). And in Books 2 and 3, there is essentially nothing to suggest that Zuko misses the better relationship he had with Azula when they were younger.

For instance, in "The Beach," Zuko angsts over an old photograph of his family.

His eyes focus on Ozai

and he remembers a happy memory associated with Ozai:

and then Zuko's eyes focus on Ursa

and he remembers a happy memory associated with her

Yet Zuko never looks at younger Azula in that picture, nor does he think of her at all. The "Happy Family" that Zuko misses includes Ozai, Ursa, and even Iroh and Lu Ten (shown in a separate memory sequence at little earlier), but not little Azula.

Ultimately, what we see in the first half of Book 3 is that Zuko is willing to take advantage of Azula's kindness, when she shows it to him, but he never acknowledges it, thanks her for it, or reciprocates in the slightest.

In the end, in the DoBS Zuko leaves Azula behind without a regret or even a thought. Ozai gets a big confrontation; Azula gets nothing. And after that, we see that Zuko misses Mai, and still feels complex feelings for Ozai ("Fatherlord," anyone?), but there's nothing to suggest he misses Azula at all or feels a deep attachment to her. The penultimate scene of the show even features Zuko visiting Ozai, not Azula.

Some people might point out that Azula is a bad sister to Zuko. That's definitely true. She says and does plenty of awful things to him over the series.

Yet that doesn't explain things. Ozai is far, far worse to Zuko than Azula ever is, yet Zuko cares deeply about Ozai to the degree that Zuko's entire arc is about it. Merely talking about "look how mean Azula is" explains almost nothing. Is possible to explain why

This does bring me to my main point. The ATLA fandom tends to believe that Zuko cares about Azula a lot and that he places a lot of value in having a good relationship with her, tends to believe that Zuko is obsessed with Azula.

However, the reality is that Zuko by far cares about Azula the least of any member of his family and that he places almost no value on having a good relationship with her. She is never a priority for him and is at most only an obstacle. All of Zuko's other family members loam far higher in Zuko's priorities and headspace than Azula. And if he is obsessed with her, it's not in a loving way. Maybe "Azula the enemy" and "Azula my advisor and emotional caretaker" are significant to him, but "Azula my sister" never seems to be.

Again, this isn't a moral judgement, merely a fact.

[beifong-brainrot]

In my opinion, Azula's love language is quality time. (This is a sequel to the Zuko love language post)

Even since her childhood, Azula seemed to be a rather social child. As opposed to Zuko, who didn't seem to have any friends of his own and didn't feel the need to spend time with others except his mother, Azula was seen initiating playtime multiple times. One particular moment of interest is when she pulled Zuko along with her to spy on Ozai and Azulon. There was no need for her to do this, and it would only make it easier for them to get caught, so it only stands to reason that she wanted to spend some mischevious time with her brother.

We also see that Azula seems to act out if she feels left out, such as when Zuko and Ursa excluded her in a flashback in the comics, so she set a bush on fire.

We see that not much has changed after Azula grows up a bit. When given the slightest excuse, she goes out of her way to essentially go on a roadtrip with her friends. She seems to genuinely enjoy having Zuko around, and encourages him to return home, after which she will occasionally approach him to check in. I think the beach showcased a lot of this quality. Azula, despite wanting her father's approval, she doesn't seem as upset to be sent away as Zuko. In fact, she is often the initiator of the group doing 'normal' kid activities. She was the one to initiate the group playing Kuai Ball and seemed excited to go to the party. After the fiasco at the party, she approaches Zuko and invites him to come down to the beach with her and the others.

We also shouldn't forget is that the final straw that lead to Azula's breakdown was Ozai passing up on daddy daughter bonding time during the day of Sozin's Comet.

As Azula's breakdown ensues, she is esentially abandoned by all thouse she cared about. This being the physical manifestation of Azula feeling unloved and uncared for by those she loved is a very good reason to break down, isn't it.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Have you noted that no one from Azula's family was shown to express love and affection towards her?

That is mostly true. Ozai's affection is clearly conditional (and full on manipulation at worse, like we see in the finale), Ursa canonically favors Zuko to the point that we never see her spending any alone time with Azula like she did with Zuko, and while Iroh gave her a toy like he did to Zuko the toy in question was so OBVIOUSLY wrong for a kid like Azula that it's comical AND show's he did not really know his niece at all.

But there is a constant exception.

Zuko's relationship with Azula is complicated. He clearly admires her strength and power, but he hates how she uses it. She lied to him many times, was seen apparently cheering Ozai on during the Agni Kai, tried to have him imprisoned and even said she'd celebrate being an only child - and then allows him to come home as a hero after Ba Sing Se, even though SHE had the control of the Dai Li and was not yet aware Aang could have survived, meaning she had nothing to gain from it.

And when she lets him know that if he's caught talking to Iroh people might think he is a traitor too, and explicitly says "Believe it or not, I'm actually looking out for you" Zuko drops his innitial suspicion that she wanted something and that's why she was helping him.

On The Beach, he just follows her when she say their old family home is depressing and they shouldn't waste their time there. When she's asking him who she is angry at, she mentions herself and Zuko explicitly says that is not the case.

He doesn't trust her and know she has a tendency to mock or full on lie to him... yet when he wants to know about Fire Lord Sozin he asks her about it, and lets it slide when she mocks him by saying he should make sure the royal painter got his good side - for a character as quick to anger as Zuko, that is a big deal. In Nightmares and Daydreams he also goes to her to find out if he'll be allowed at the war meeting.

More importantly:

1 - Iroh's infamous "She's crazy and needs to go down" line was only said because ZUKO, without anyone putting that idea in his head before, suddenly went "I know what you're going to say. She's my sister and I should be trying to get along with her"

2 - Zuko only jumped into the fight in Ba Sing Se when Azula was being cornered by Aang and Katara.

3 - Zuko looked genuinely shocked and even distressed when she was falling off that cliff. He just sounded so shaken saying "She's... not gonna make it..."

4 - In the writer's own words, Zuko felt no hate but only pity when seeing her breakdown. Katara tried to comfort him because, canonically, even though Zuko and Azula are enemies, this was never what he wanted because he still sees her as family. That's why the Last Agni Kai's music is not the epic you'd expect from a battle, but a tragic one.

5 - Aaron Ehasz, the lead writter for the show, probably the person with the most influence after Bryke, has REPEATEDLY said that he always felt Azula should have gotten a redemption arc, Zuko being an Iroh figure to give her advice and be the only one still by her side when all else was seemingly lost to her forever.

Even the comics (most of which I HATE, mainly because Azula's storyline checks nearly every box for "the mentally ill are inherently evil/less human, so it's fine if literally every other person on the planet mistreats them") didn't fully abandon their complex dynamic.

Zuko is not a perfect sibling, and for a long chunk of the story he seemed too focused on his own issues for Azula to ever be a factor in his mind (aside from the moments in which she was a potential/explict threat), but he DOES still feel a sense of obligation towards her, to the point that it made him do something no one else in their family had done before or since - actually look at Azula. Not the prodigious daughter/perfect weapon, or the problem child that is difficult to handle, or the pontentially deadly enemy that was in the way, but Azula.

His 14-year-old sister that got on his nerves a lot, was far from the kindest person alive, and that he had a ton of issues with, but that he could never fully hate or even be indifferent to. Because she's family. Because he remembers a happier time in which the gap between them didn't seem so big. Because if things had been slightly different he could have been her. Because he went from wanting to be her to seeing just how miserable her life ended up being - especially compared to the one he now had - and feeling deeply sorry for her.

Now if you guys excuse me, I'm gonna go cry in the corner. Have some wholesome/bittersweet fanart if you wanna cry too.