#at most i give them a freudian excuse for being what they are

[time-to-write-and-suffer]

My actual most problematic non-jokey toxic trait as a writer is that I sometimes like putting really petty female romantic rivals into my stories. I just have too much fun writing mean, shitty little women. Just for the drama of it. Read too many high school romcoms as a kid and now I'm permanently evil.

[codenamesazanka]

I think there are too many things about the AFO gave Decay theory that do not work out. It would cause more problems than it would solve, and although Horikoshi is no stranger to bad/lazy writing, the memory does feel like a red herring. Perhaps it is also notable that both the Tenko from the one-shot and the Sazanka concept character were (apparently) born with their Quirks.

(This is mostly me clinging to hope, though... But it feels like if this was all supposed to be AFO's doing, Shigaraki's character arc would have played out differently. I like your idea that even if AFO gave Tenko Decay, it doesn't matter anymore because Shigaraki has embraced the Quirk as his own, but that leads to another problem: if the reveal doesn't change anything, it doesn't have a point. It would just be there for shock value, and that would be some frighteningly bad writing.)

Yesssss, Tenko and Sazanka! Love them so much. Yeah, Oneshot Tenko says he has had 『the power to disintegration things he touches with both hands』 ever since he was born - doesn't know how or why, but that's his power; meanwhile Sazanka seems to have simply manifested the power to 『take away life with only a touch』 as his quirk (which is the freudian excuse for why he becomes a 'peacekeeping' vigilante who prowls the streets targeting people who has quirks "too chaotic for society"). I have also clung to these two as flimsy reassurances that Decay is Shigaraki/Tenko's original quirk, but gotta admit - doesn't mean much. Shigaraki Tomura Hero Academia is ultimately his own character with his own backstory. 

It would be fun, though, if the memory is a red herring. Like, in-story, Deku himself thinks he's getting 'there', getting 'closer'...

...but to what? The root cause? the foundational trauma? The pain Shigaraki put a lid on? What exactly does Deku think he's getting closer to? More importantly, why? Is it because the memories are, for the most part, chronologically going backwards, and he hasn't cracked all of the Shell of Hatred yet? Is it because he sees black-hair child Tenko, and thinks he's reaching The Crying Child moment? But we readers know The Crying Child Full Of Sadness he saw back in 305 was after Suit Man Brings Tenko Home?

So maybe you're right, that that glimpse of the memory is for the readers. Make us wonder, because we already know all/nearly all the shit that went down with Shimura Tenko—because Deku probably shouldn't know what meaning that memory has? (Unless we get another flashback to explain that Deku had some hidden knowledge all along, somehow. That is also sadly very possible.) 

Like I said before, AFO being revealed to have given 'Decay' to Tenko is something I'm not too opposed to in and of itself; what worries me is how the story will use it. And my worries are the same as yours - imo lazy writing, everything evil in the world is AFO's doing, and how it doesn't really do anything for Shigaraki's character beyond giving him one more tragic backstory element among many.

I've seen people argue that that's fine, it fits with what we know about Shigaraki already - he's just a pawn, he has no agency and never did, he's basically an overgrown Eri who needs to be saved and swaddled and then the Heroes can put on a concert in Tartarus 2.0 to make him smile. :D 

As you've noticed, though, Shigaraki's character arc haven't quite played out like that. Those same people mentioned above might argue that nothing Shigaraki does is actually by his own choice, that he's been so manipulated that he doesn't know up from down and basically everything he is and does is trauma/engineered by AFO/brainwashed into him (except for conveniently, magically, the good things), he needs to understand he’s actually Shimura Tenko, the sweet kid who only cried and made people feel awkward but could carry on the pretense of peace, thank goodness he doesn’t get angry and make people feel threatened and have to change things - but in the story, Shigaraki hasn’t forgotten that he’s Shimura Tenko - he remembers, he acknowledges, and he only says he’s become Shigaraki Tomura.

He still hates being rejected and being denied. He hates being looked down on. He's declared he doesn't want to take up AFO's previous title of Emperor of Darkness, or even be like AFO, eventually breaking out of AFO's possession with his own indomitable will; he's been literally shouting about following his own dreams. He's gone and found his own followers, his friends, and part of the reason he destroys is because of those friends. He’s wrong in choosing destruction, and yeah, maybe he was spurred on by trauma, but he’s not wrong in his reasons - same as Toga, Dabi, the heteromorphs, who were also spurred on by trauma, who were wrong in choosing violence, but not wrong that they were failed by society and not wrong about being angry. Like them, Shigaraki has fought to be seen, to live. Shigaraki has fought so insistently and consistently to be himself. 

But if so, and if we still get the ‘AFO gave Decay’ reveal and it doesn’t change anything, does it have a point? 

It does, actually! Not for Shigaraki, but for Deku. Currently Deku still has the excuse of not knowing a single thing about Shigaraki, so he can still only care about saving Shimura Tenko. Readers don’t have that excuse, so they have to blame everything that went wrong all on AFO. What the ‘AFO gave Decay’ reveal can do, though, is to shut both of those down. AFO gave Tenko Decay… but Shigaraki doesn’t care anymore, he’s actively choosing to pursue the path regardless. AFO gave Tenko Decay, but it doesn’t change anything about how the house his father built was abusive and enabling. AFO gave Tenko Decay, but that was 15 fucking years ago, and in all that time, from the moment the massacre occurred to when All Might raided the bar, no Hero had ever arrived to save Tenko/Tomura from AFO’s clutches. 

And Deku should have to reckon with that.

Let’s cope together. Thanks for the ask! 

[sneakystorms]

Can you tell us more about Marya being a horny mess please? It's such an interesting interpretation of her character and has extra bonus points for the potential to make Tolstoy livid 🤭

Sure! Honestly i don't even feel like I'm going against tolstoy on this one because it's an interpretation i somewhat extrapolated from her canon characterisation.

One of my favourite marya moments (and there are many) is when she gets annoyed at mmelle bourienne for something or else, and her internal response to this is horror at herself for harbouring anything but the most amicable of emotions. So she forces herself to be friendly with amelie, but the repressed animosity is left to fester until it grows into disproportional hatred. A similar thread appears in her relationship to her father - because she believes she has no right to be anything less than loving and appreciative, she represses her negative emotions for him, but they continue to work their way in her subconscious. Speaking of her father, he has a very direct role in reinforcing this pattern of behaviour - when he mocks marya for dressing up for anatole, for enjoying the thought of romance or being courted, this causes such intense shame in her that she tries even harder to rid herself of any romantic inclinations, which is reflected in her social isolation once in moscow. I also love the moment where marya sees anatole making out with amelie and, rather than react in justifiable anger, appears more sympathetic to Amelie than ever, swearing to help her and anatole realise their love for each other. I read this as marya internalising shame so fully that she's relieved at an "excuse" not to indulge in that which she desires, because years of self denial have resulted in pursuit of her own wishes appearing frightening. Although i certainly am not opposed to reading this scene as her lesbianism peeking through and making her all too happy to have a reason to give up on her relationship with anatole lmao

All this to say that marya is an incredible portrayal of freudian repression a hundred years before freud, and particularly of the way one can repress shameful or impossible to realise desires and sublimate them - redirect their libidinal energy - into other, more acceptable pursuits. For freud this is most often art, but in Marya's case i think you can read her as sublimating all her shameful desires or emotions into religion, which is of course a highly moral thing for her to obsess over, providing an even stronger barrier against sinful thoughts than something like an artistic hobby might have. But as always in freud, urges that have been rejected by and banished from the conscious seep into the unconscious, where they threaten to fester and develop. Iirc the metaphor freud uses is that of a blocked water passage which causes the stream to leak through whatever other paths or cracks it can find - this is how you get repressed urges manifesting in weird, roundabout ways like dreams or odd fetishes.

This is kind of what i see happening to marya - both with her anger, which escapes in her teaching nikolushka, and with her desire for sex and romance. But I'm also throwing in a half-serious observational tidbit about how christians who have an unhealthy relationship with their own faith and repress their "sinful" urges sometimes go on to attach so much importance to rituals of self-protection, self-cleansing or self-punishment in hopes of saving themselves from sin that those very rituals end up as subconscious escape routes for the repressed horniness and other undesirable things. This is how you get jokes about medieval catholics being little too into lashing, or about people for whom the religious bliss that comes from prayer borders on the erotic, or about those who are a little too obsessed with staying virgins until marriage...

That's kind of what i was alluding to with the "kinky in that way some xtians are" comment (or however i phrased it). But that's only an aside, the main point is my girl is pushing down all her horniness and one day, hopefully, that bottle is gonna burst and as far as I'm concerned it might as well burst in Helene's nimble fingers. I also think she'd find it fun and gratifying to mess with Marya's head by convincing her that the wild gay sex they're having doesn't count or isn't really sin or something like that, which is obviously a narrative marya would cling to if she did ever slip up and give in to the throes of sodomy

[somereaderinblue]

MAWS S2 Trinity Theory

So, everyone is theorizing how S2 might introduce more superhero characters to the point the finale involves the formation of the JL.

But yk what I think? I think we should take a step back.

For it to be the whole JL, it'd mean introducing a lot of new characters. Keep in mind that if S2 also contains only 10 eps, that's not a lot of time for each one to develop & for us to subsequently connect with. It'll also encroach on Lois & Jimmy's screen time.

Thus, instead of the JL, it should be the DC Trinity.

Introducing Bruce Wayne/Batman:

-It can be the usual playboy vers or maybe a younger rougher vers like Battinson. 

-MAWS can subvert his usual 'Beware the Superman' attitude & he instead comes to Metropolis for help (after some testing & stalking observing). It’d also be a huge middle finger to a lotta writers if he outright says something along the lines of ‘This guy? A threat? Please, actual puppies have more malice than him.’

-Maybe he strikes up an unexpected friendship with Jimmy over his conspiracy theories, bcz Bruce being Bruce would definitely be investigating similar cases with dead seriousness.

-He can also bond with Clark & Lois by making fun of other corrupt ppl in power (*koff* Lex *koff* Vicki). 

-He unknowingly shows them that like Clark, he too is a good person at his core. Instead of using his trauma as a Freudian Excuse to be horrible, he uses it to be better, stronger, all so a family can safely go home after a great movie.

Introducing Diana Prince/Wonder Woman:

-Maybe Clark assumes she's also a Kryptonian refugee. 

-She isn't, she's an Amazon but they still connect. They understand what it's like to have that inherent feeling of being an outsider bcz you'll always be that one adoptee amongst the billions of others born in the world you've given your heart to.

-Maybe Diana/Wonder Woman bonds with Lois. Lois confides with her abt the struggles with being a minority woman (due to her half Korean heritage) & Diana also admits her uncertainty in navigating Man’s World which isn't as black/white as her mother & sisters painted it to be.

-Jimmy is mostly fanboying bcz Amazons are real! Now he just has to know if they rlly live on an invisible magical island (they do).

-She meets Superman both inside and outside of the cape and she sees that this is what Man’s World is capable of bcz at the end of the day, despite the blood in his veins, Clark was raised by Man’s World. All his virtues and strengths were taught to him by Ma & Pa Kent, not Kryptonian soldiers or Amazon warriors.

I love the JL as much as anyone but I wouldn’t mind if the show finds a middle ground in focusing more on the DC Trinity. Each of them have endured loneliness, each of them are full of so much love they want to give to a world that’ll always choose to take first, each of them will always go above and beyond to do what’s right and save others naysayers be damned.

Most importantly? All of them deserve to be happy and maybe they can find some happiness with each other too.

[thethirdromana]

Sydney Atherton's Very Heterosexual Description of Paul Lessingham

I am free to confess,—I have owned it before!—that, in a sense, I admire that man,—so long as he does not presume to thrust himself into a certain position.

Have you been thinking a lot about what positions Paul might be thrusting in, Sydney?

He possesses physical qualities which please my eye—speaking as a mere biologist.

As a biologist, mm-hmm.

I like the suggestion conveyed by his every pose, his every movement,

His every pose? His every movement? You have been watching him closely.

of a tenacious hold on life,—of reserve force, of a repository of bone and gristle on which he can fall back at pleasure.

Isn't the usual expression "at leisure"? Freudian slip?

The fellow’s lithe and active; not hasty, yet agile; clean built, well hung,

No comment.

—the sort of man who might be relied upon to make a good recovery. You might beat him in a sprint,—mental or physical—though to do that you would have to be spry!—but in a staying race he would see you out.

It's important to Sydney that Paul has stamina.

I do not know that he is exactly the kind of man whom I would trust,—unless I knew that he was on the job,—which knowledge, in his case, would be uncommonly hard to attain. He is too calm; too self-contained; with the knack of looking all round him even in moments of extremest peril,—and for whatever he does he has a good excuse.

Quite a sexy flaw, isn't it? He's hot as hell but I just don't know if I can trust him - don't worry, Sydney, we've all been there.

He has the reputation, both in the House and out of it, of being a man of iron nerve,—and with some reason; yet I am not so sure. Unless I read him wrongly his is one of those individualities which, confronted by certain eventualities, collapse,—to rise, the moment of trial having passed, like Phoenix from her ashes. However it might be with his adherents, he would show no trace of his disaster.

VERY SUBTLE FORESHADOWING. But also Sydney goes very quickly from the collapse to the phoenix-like rise.

And this was the man whom Marjorie loved. Well, she could show some cause.

Even more cause? Beyond him being admirable, and good-looking, and well-hung (!), and full of stamina?

He was a man of position,—destined, probably, to rise much higher; a man of parts,

Back to his parts again.

—with capacity to make the most of them;

It's not the size of the boat etc.

not ill-looking; with agreeable manners,—when he chose; and he came within the lady’s definition of a gentleman, ‘he always did the right thing, at the right time, in the right way.’ And yet—!

And yet you think you might still be in with a chance?

Well, I take it that we are all cads, and that we most of us are prigs; for mercy’s sake do not let us all give ourselves away.

Sydney, I fear it's too late for that.

[thegayhimbo]

Stranger Things The Bully Review

Synopsis: It’s been a year since Troy had his arm broken by Eleven. Still struggling with nightmares over the encounter, Troy enlists James’s help as he attempts to prove that what happened to him was only a trick. However, as he becomes entangled in events beyond his control, he begins to realize he might be way in over his head........

Of all the tie-in comics, books, and graphic novels related to Stranger Things, this is by far my least favorite. I didn’t have high expectations when I first heard what the premise was going to be, and reading it did nothing to endear it to me.

I’ll say right now that the only thing I liked about this graphic novel was the artwork and coloring. This is by the same team that did Stranger Things Zombie Boys and Stranger Things Erica the Great, and it looks amazing. Sadly, that’s all it has going for it because the story, and the main character they chose to focus on, ends up bringing this down.

This will be a short review because there isn’t a lot to talk about. Nothing that takes place here will likely play any important role in season 5, and it's seriously doubtful the Duffer Brothers are bringing back Troy and James for the final season.

The entire time I was reading, there was one persistent thought going through my head: What is the point of this?

I get the comics, graphic novels, and books are meant to expand the world of Stranger Things and flesh-out aspects and characters that the show didn’t have time to focus on, but this particular instance felt pointless and time-consuming. Troy and James are not characters that have appeared since season 1, and they’ve had absolutely no role in driving the plot forward since that time. They were just there to exist as stock bullies who made the main characters lives a living hell (similar to Angela and her ilk from season 4). Once they served their purpose (and got a humiliating comeuppance for their behavior), there was no need for them to be on the show anymore.

So you’d think if they were going to bring those particular characters back, they’d do something meaningful with them. Unfortunately, they don’t.

The story is set during season 2, with the major difference being we get to see it from Troy’s perspective as he witnesses key events: Will getting bullied on Halloween Night and (unbeknownst to Troy) hallucinating the Mind Flayer, the pollywogs, the rotten pumpkin patch, the demodogs attack in the junkyard, and so on. Troy and James basically act as observers during all of this.

It’s a similar premise to the Stranger Things Summer Special comic that came out last year: It rehashes the events of a certain season, except they stick in unimportant side characters who coincidentally happened to be there when those events were taking place. The difference is the Summer Special focused on Officers Callahan and Powell and was set during season 3.

Like Callahan and Powell in the Summer Special, Troy and James don't have a purpose here. You could cut all of their scenes in The Bully, and it would have no impact on the overall plot of season 2.

It doesn't help that Troy is extremely unlikable during all of this. If you despised him in season 1, you're not going to think any better of him here. He spends most of the story being an asshole, continues to harass Mike and his friends (and at one point is about to slash their bike tires out of sheer spite), throws rocks at squirrels because he can, and repeatedly treats James like shit (to the point James starts to get fed up with him).

They try to give Troy a Freudian Excuse in the form of his parents (similar to what they did with Billy on the show) with Troy's mom being a Karen and Troy's dad being one of those "Don't Apologize, It Shows Weakness" type of guys. However, it still doesn't do anything to make Troy likeable because the problem is Troy doesn't have any other redeeming qualities to fall back on. He's still a bully, and whatever measly attempts there are to make him look sympathetic fall flat. I remember this was discussed on the Stranger Things TV Tropes page at one point when someone tried to put Troy in the "Unintentionally Sympathetic" category, rationalizing that it's hard not to feel bad for him even if he's irredeemable, to which other users pointed out that since Troy is irredeemable, he isn't sympathetic.

The ending is where the graphic novel completely falls apart. Long story short, Troy and James end up near the same junkyard the night Steve is fighting off the demodogs to protect Dustin, Lucas, and Max on the bus. Despite James's meek suggestion that maybe they should go help Steve and the others (bonus points for that I guess?), Troy flat-out refuses. Both Troy and James later get chased by demodogs, and James ends up tripping and falling down as one of the demodogs closes in on him. Troy initially looks like he's going to help James, but chooses to save his own skin instead. Just when the demodogs are about to attack them, the Mind Flayer calls them back to raid Hawkins Lab. In the aftermath, Troy begins berating James again, and James finally reaches his limit with Troy, gives him a scathing "Reason You Suck" speech, and leaves. The next day, just before Troy is set to move out of Hawkins with his parents (because his dad lost his job), he goes to apologize to James and they briefly reconcile before Troy heads out.

Putting aside how the ending glosses over the severity of Troy leaving James to the mercy of the demodogs and expecting us to buy that James would ever want to be his friend again after that, the biggest problem is the moment doesn't feel earned. You can't spend 99% of a story having your main character be this awful, have him do the bare minimum to make up for it, and still expect the readers to care about him.

It doesn't help that this small, pathetic reconciliation Troy has with James doesn’t address the issues audiences had with Troy in the first place. Fans were angry and disgusted with him because of things he'd done on the show: Bullying Mike and his friends, making homophobic (and in Lucas's case, racist) remarks towards them, mocking Will's death when it supposedly happened, and threatening to cut out Dustin's teeth with a knife if Mike didn't walk off a cliff that would have inevitably led to Mike's death had El not intervened. They made Troy too much of a Hate Sink to the point it's borderline impossible to make him redeemable, and this graphic novel does nothing to alleviate that.

If Troy's story had been about realizing how awful of a person he'd become and making a genuine attempt to atone for his treatment of the Party, from apologizing to them to putting in the hard effort of making amends and maybe even trying to become their friends (similar to the arc Steve had in the first 2 seasons), that would be one thing. I don't know how many people would have bought it or cared, but there would have at least been a purpose in that. It would have given Troy some much needed character development, and it would have added depth to a character who was pretty one-dimensional to begin with. But the way it's done here doesn't work. It also doesn't help that other comics (like Zombie Boys and Dungeons and Dragons) demonstrate that Troy really hasn't changed and is still the same bully he's always been:

Imagine if they came out with a comic or graphic novel centered around Angela from season 4 that had Angela continue to be a vicious bully to others (even after El smashed her face in with a roller-skate), gave her a flimsy sob story to justify her cruel behavior (which would do absolutely nothing to make her look sympathetic), enlisted her friends to get revenge on El by following her all the way to Hawkins, consistently treated her boyfriend Jake like shit during all of this, ran afoul of Vecna's monsters by chance and proceeded to abandon her friends to save herself like the coward she is, and then offered a measly "I'm sorry" to them later which would get treated as a heartwarming moment. All the while, Angela would have no further role in the show and wouldn't ever appear in season 5.

Would anyone care about this story? Would there be any point to this? Would it change anything about how awful of a person Angela is?

If your answer to these questions is a resounding NO, then you can understand the issues I have with The Bully.

I wouldn't recommend this graphic novel. It's a shame because, as I said before, the artwork and coloring is pretty, but that arguably makes it worse. At least with the Summer Special starring Officers Callahan and Powell, it was a one-shot comic that's currently available on Kindle for a low price. This graphic novel clearly had effort put into it, it's pretty pricey to buy, and the result only highlights just how mediocre and inconsequential it is.

And to be clear: I've liked other graphic novels Greg Pak has written (Zombie Boys is one of my favorites). I don't know if this was a story he decided to write, or if it was mandated from the higher-ups at Netflix and/or Dark Horse, but either way, it's a major miss.

[themattress]

For the Send Meme: Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold/Weaver

1: sexuality headcanon - Not a headcanon so much as an observation of canon: he’s firmly heterosexual and attracted to a very specific kind of woman - a young, lean brunette with a bold attitude and high aspirations. Of course, the key here is that they will ultimately be loving and nurturing and submissive toward him; he gets angered if they end up defying him. Examples of this kind of woman include Milah, Cora, Regina and of course Belle. This also explains why he felt nothing toward Zelena: a needy, clingy redhead just doesn’t do it for him.

2: otp - Rumple/Cora. It’s such a shame this relationship didn’t work out since Cora was the closest any of Rumple’s partners came to being an equal to him. If she hadn’t ripped her own heart out and chosen love, she would have provided Rumple with his healthiest romance.

3: brotp - What’s funny is that I have one for each of his guises. For original Rumple, him and Jefferson. For Mr. Gold, him and Isaac. And for Weaver, him and Rogers / Wish Hook.

4: notp - Rumple/Belle, aka Rumbelle. I was relatively fine with at first, but starting from him lying to her with his wedding proposal and onward, it just became more and more toxic, and when we reach him threatening to take her unborn child away from her unless she submits to letting him stay in her and the child’s lives, it becomes just despicably abusive. The fact that the writers allowed them to get back together as a happy couple after that was unbelievable. 

5: first headcanon that pops into my head - Again, this may very well be canon, but Rumple was psychologically ruined by his parents. The absence of his mother gave him his issues with women and the Freudian sort of attraction to a specific type I mentioned before, and his specific need to have power and not be a coward and assert his masculinity stems from his cowardly manchild of a father abandoning him to remain a literal child forever and little Rumple being powerless to stop it. It doesn’t excuse his evildoing, but it really is tragic.

6: favorite line from this character - The always classic ”All magic comes with a price!”

7: one way in which I relate to this character - I do feel for his anxiety about things going beyond his control. I’m not a coward about it like him, but I can empathize with the sentiment.

8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character - You’d think it would be his imp self running around with that ridiculous voice, giggle and mannerisms, but I love that. What I don’t love is most of what he did after he woke up from his coma early into Season 5. Precious little of it worked and just ended up making his character less enjoyable.

9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave? - PROBLEMATIC FAVE.

[nobodyfamousposts]

Hey nobody, quick question: in your opinion what’s the worst problem in ml? The consistency, the zodiac's existence or the contrasting informations? Personally my bigger cons are the zodiac since they make everything so DAMN EASY to deal with. Like just a few minutes of Bunny and Horse can easily take the miraculous back before Origins even started. Which to me is weirder than the Agreste's drama not really been EXPLAINED.

I'd say it's the laziness and lack of commitment.

Miraculous is a case of a story with a lot of really good ideas and a lot of potential that could be born of those ideas, but it's undermined by a lack of capability to use those ideas well or follow through with them.

They give "powers" through potions that amount to little more than costume changes and only use three out of the seven in the three seasons they are known to exist.

They have 15 other Miraculous the heroes have access to (with many of which that are substantially more powerful and useful than the Big Two) and don't use them.

Dual wielding is an option but they insist on calling in civilians as allies to help even though by all counts, those allies have no training or fighting experience and are CHILDREN which would make them heavily handicapped compared to any adult that could have been grabbed to help out.

They have Kagami and Luka as legitimate love interests but have each of them break up in the only episodes that allow any focus on their dating.

They have Lila as an adversary but force everyone to be stupid to make her work, and then sort of have her just disappear for a season after each time she manages something serious.

They have Chloe zig-zagging between bully/rival character and hero-in-the-making but can't commit to either interpretation. They have her be an unrepentant bully but make the lesson of the episode be that calling her out or holding her accountable is wrong, then turn round and have her be a sad girl with mommy issues but she does really lousy things that show she's in no way a good person.

And on top of that, they have Chloe's mother be an even worse person than Chloe who doesn't love Chloe and is her Freudian excuse as to why she's so horrible, going so far as to have Chloe call her out and ask why she doesn't love her...only to about-face seconds later and have her and Chloe suddenly get along and all follow up episodes make her Chloe's staunch defender like there weren't years worth of issues between them.

Marinette moves on from Adrien only to about face by the next episode and in ever more cringe-inducing ways.

Adrien continuously prioritizes his feelings over the responsibility he was given the Miraculous for and this is never acknowledged or addressed.

They show Adrien having issues all throughout season four in there being heroes besides him helping Ladybug, but he doesn't have any growth in this regard at any point and the one episode that involves a moral about working as a team and that it can't always just be the two of them (Penalteam), the lesson ends up going to Ladybug, the one person who has all this time been doing nothing BUT acknowledging when she needs help and working with other people as a team. Meanwhile, Chat is supposed to be the sensible/rational team player after having been a brat all season about other heroes helping out. And we're not supposed to find this jarring?

The over reliance of the "rule" that "Marinette is always wrong and must learn a lesson every episode" that prevents anyone else from getting growth or recognizing their faults.

This all ultimately leads to wasted potential, which is perhaps the thing I hate most when it comes to a story.

Wasted potential of characters that COULD get focus but don't. Wasted potential of lessons that COULD have been done appropriately but aren't. Wasted potential of growth or regression that COULD have been accomplished but won't be. All wasted in favor of the same "comedy" of a lovesick girl chasing about an oblivious boy. For four seasons.

Then there's the wasted potential of magic and lore and world building. The wasted potential of relative intelligence of the characters. The wasted potential of anything that could make this world truly seem like it's supposed to be real.

There is so much wasted potential of the narrative and conflict that could have played out with intrigue and plot as the heroes and villains actually try to plan around and out gambit each other. Where the heroes try to find the villain while the villain also tries to find the heroes. Where they try to stop his plans but he has layers of plans so even if he loses the day, he makes little gains over time.

And wasted potential of a plot and conflict that, much like any conflict, should NOT BE STATIC. No conflict is just the same thing over and over! Going on four seasons now and the episodes are still following the same basic formula of Hawk Moth sends out a monster, heroes defeat the monster, everything goes back to normal and the heroes don't take any further steps while the villain is ineffectual in making progress towards his own goals because Status Quo is God.

But here's the thing: if you have a "status quo" in a superhero story, you're doing it wrong.

[ashley-slashley]

margaret, why the fuck are you so obsessed with me? i know i've made weird/creepy/sexual statements in my past, but i've deleted a vast majority of them in the mass post editor, so no one can use that to blackmail me. unlike you, i've grown since then. yes, i have said weird statements about paul mccartney, roger waters, keith moon, harlan ellison, john densmore, and other men that exist/existed in reality. i regret the disgusting and sexual statements i have made about said men, i am embarrassed by it, but i know i made those actions, and i accept them. you, however, still make very sexually charged and explicit posts about john belushi and expect people to be cool with that. you have recently brought up that i reblog posts about my own sexual fantasies regarding fictional men, and you have the audacity to shame me for having sexual thoughts about men that can not exist because they are fictional. the difference between me having sexual thoughts and desires about ash williams, steve harrington, eddie munson, and other fictional men is that they are all fictional. if i was anything like the vile little shithead like you, i would be making explicit posts regarding bruce campbell, joe keery, and joseph quinn. but i do not since i know the characters they play are not them at all. i can actually separate fiction from reality, unlike you who gives off the impression that she believes john belushi actually is bluto or jake blues - fictional men. i got rid of the evidence long ago because i did not fathom i would have to deal with your pathetic bullshit again, but i did have screenshots of how you want to perform oral sex on john belushi, as well as performing sexual acts on john belushi. also, i vaguely remember you somewhat hating judy belushi, john belushi's widow, solely because she actually got to know john belushi as a person and actually spent time with the man. i do know you did make sexual posts about the characters he played, but, unlike me, you never put any tags on them to mark they're sexual or nsfw. i obviously never knew belushi or any of his colleagues or loved ones, but i would think they would all be appalled by your constant, vile, lusting for him.

about my chris chan comment, you are acting exactly like he was in the golden age of chris chan. you get pissed off over the smallest, most minuscule bullshit that mildly inconveniences you, you try to get sympathy from people with the "freudian bullshit: tragic upbringing" card (you brought up how you were bullied growing up or how your crush dumped you at prom - i'll get back to this). one of my friends gave me the intel that you’re receiving death threats. I do not believe that, I believe you are making puppet accounts and sending yourself death threats to fuel your own fantasy where you are the victim and did nothing wrong in your life - exactly like chris chan. margaret, you yourself are so pathetic and a horrible excuse for a woman in her 30s, that literally nobody would want to send you death threats. you seem to believe there are heroes and villains in your life, exactly like chris chan. you believe i am clyde cash, you believe the world is out to get you, you believe everybody hates you. if you keep acting like you’re a pathetic, scrawny, miserable, pile of shit, people will loathe your existence and ignore your cries for help when you’re being “harassed”. i too am a survivor of bullying, but unlike you, i have matured and learned that not everybody is out to get me, and that some people say shit solely to piss me off.

another thing about your actions. literally every single time you go on a self hatred parade and beat yourself up, we have tried to help you and, at least i, have suggested healthy coping mechanisms to vent your frustrations (e.g. writing in a journal), but no, you choose to wallow in your own filth and suffering like a demented pig. 

i have absolutely no idea why you’re so obsessed with me. am i a surrogate for judy belushi? what did I do to you to genuinely hate me, margaret? i tried to help you get out of your pity party cesspit and show you that the world is not out to get you. but no, you’re too wrapped up in your victim complex fantasies that you neglect to have the self awareness that you are the one who is pushing people away. you are the one who scared away your high school crush. i understand why your crush did not take you to prom - you are a sick, perverted, friendless, creep that nobody wants to be around. you are exactly like the perverted and vile fangirls of rock who sent musicians their stained panties for attention. i am fully aware of the sexually explicit statements i have made on my blog for years, but at least i tag that shit or i’ve wiped it from my archive since i am embarrassed by it. i am not the fangirls who send their nudes to celebrities, i am the fangirl who has fantasies about fictional men - and i actually tag that content since I know there are people who do not want to read that shit. in my pinned post, i make it loud and clear that i have a tag for nsfw/sexual content. you, last time i checked, do not. you blatantly make explicitly sexual posts about john belushi and the characters he played. i do not have any evidence since I do not want to go onto your disgusting cesspit of a blog and rake through all of the nonstop sexually graphic content of your posts. you have no tagging system. you make sexually explicit posts about actual people. you do not have break ups of your sexual posts with non-sexual posts. we are not the same. i fail to see why you paint me as a nymphomaniac who thinks of absolutely nothing but sex and only wants to be passed around fictional men as their crew slut, when i make shitposts, i reblog cats, i reblog others’ artwork, i reblog things that i find amusing. my blog is not an explicit issue of playgirl, i am a circus with a freak show and clowns. We are not the same, Margaret. Please, do not try to contact me again, seek therapy, and delete all social media.

Have a lovely day,

Audrey

[queenoftheworldisdead]

Gaslight Chapter 1

Summary: Reader has issues with their mother and seeks therapy. Loki is the reader’s therapist. He gaslights the read to break the reader down. Warning: Slow burn, and i mean slooooooow, manipulation, mind games

Note: Thank you so much @dreamslikeaheartbeat​ for making the mood board! It’s so beautiful.

Dark Loki x reader, evil, diabolical characters

You had never been to therapy before, in your family there had always been a stigma around it. So when you finally set out to make an appointment you were a bit apprehensive. When you settled on a doctor you googled their location. You were delighted when you saw that their office was a cute little house instead of an office building. The house seemed so warm and inviting that it eased you a bit so you booked a session.

Arriving 20 minutes early you parked your car in front of the pastel cottage. There were rose bushes and you could swear you had never seen a yard so green. Opening the short metal gate, walking through it, it clanked quietly as it closed behind you. Walking the path to the porch you hesitated at the door. Debating with yourself if you should just walk in or knock. Biting your bottom lip you decided on the latter.

Knock Knock

You could hear a voice telling you to enter. Opening the door you were greeted by an older woman. On her desk you saw a name placard that read Frigga. The foyer felt like you fell into a West Anderson movie. There were vivid colors accented everywhere, the walls papered with floral wallpaper. You introduced yourself and let her know you were a first time patient here for your appointment. She smiled warmly and asked for your insurance card and ID. Handing them over she gave you a few documents to fill out. You took them and sat on one of the chairs lined against the wall. Sitting back a bit nervous still you set to completing the forms.

As you wrote she made a call notifying the doctor of your arrival. When you finished you handed her the documents back and she told you to go right in to the door off to her right.

You were about to knock when Mrs. Frigga stopped you and told you to walk in. You took a deep breath, twisted the door knob and opened it. This room was not as brightly colored or lit as the reception. Even the air seemed cooler sending a slight shiver throughout your body.

"Hello?" You call out softly.

Looking around the room you spotted the doctor scribbling away at a desk in the corner. Walking over still a bit nervous. Her body hunched over her desk, her long black hair dusting over   the papers she wrote upon.

With the deep forest green curtains drawn it was hard to make out her features.

"Miss Laufeyson? Excuse me, sorry I'm here for my appointment"

Her head lifted slightly, turning her gaze from the papers it wrote upon to look at you. Your stomach sank as your eyes widened in shock.

She was a he, a handsomely striking he. You didn't have any particular issues with men. You just thought that a woman could relate more to you.

You could feel your face burn under his gaze. His allure was palpable it almost felt hypnotizing so much so you had to look away to the floor.

"I'm sorry I'm looking for Mrs. or Miss Laufeyson" you fidgeted with the strap of the purse on your shoulder as you spoke. He looked at you almost amused, then laughed softly pushing up his black framed glasses that had fallen down the bridge of his nose.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know of any Mrs or Miss Laufeyson aside for my mother. And I'm afraid in that case she has long since remarried. I'm Doctor Laufeyson." His rich sultry accent did little to quail the pounding of your heart and the sight of his face only worsened it. 

"Oh no... I've must've made a mistake. I'm sorry. I thought I scheduled an appointment with um... a woman doctor." You said as you fidget again with the strap.

"Would you like to cancel this appointment then?" At his suggestion your head shot up. Obviously he understood your simple mistake you thought. Keeping eye contact was hard though. The longer you looked at him the harder it was to keep his gaze. He was a breath taking sight so you found comfort at turning your eyes away to the floor.

"Yes sorry" it almost came out as a whisper.

"We have a 24 hour cancellation policy. If you cancel now I must inform you that you will be charged a cancellation fee on top of your co-pay"

"But it was a mistake." Your voice almost shrieking.

"Look....stay for this session and at the end I will give you a few recommendations to other 'Female' doctors in your network. How does that sound?" He offered.

Contemplating you thought about it. You could just sit and talk for a while of nothing important. No harm in that right and at least you would be sure to be given the information for a woman doctor.

"OK" you resigned.

"Alright then. Please take a seat where ever you like"

Looking around the room again you noticed a stag's head. The poor creature mounted above the fireplace, its antlers so large and wide that it seemed impossible that it came from such a small creature. The stained wood floors and wall washed the room with dark tones. The cobblestone fireplace unlit, surely due to the season, but you could still pick up the light sent of burnt kindling.

In front of it sat a circle of chairs with matching upholstery. Two arm chairs and a couch. Colored in a light cognac, circling a small glass coffee table held-up by blackened tree trunk.

The couch was the most appealing so you made your way to it. There was a comfortable distance between it and the other chairs that surrounded the table.

As you sat he began straightening a pile of papers on his desk. When he finished he stood and walked over with a yellow notepad and pen.

He rolled up his sleeves as he approached the arm chair opposite you. His forest green tie tucked meticulously into his waistcoat that cinched at his waist. His lean figure made you regret all the broken promises you made to yourself about going to the gym or dieting. The whole look coupled with his black framed glasses gave him the look of a tenured professor.

Compared to him you felt under dressed for the occasion. You could almost hear your mother nagging about your appearance. Making you doubt your dress and demeanor.

"Would you like a cup of tea? Water? Coffee?" Dr.Laufeyson asked. He chose the arm chair closest to his desk and sat. Crossing his tailored slacks he placed the notepad in his lap.

"Oh no no thank you" replying sheepishly.

He bit the end of the pen as he considered you for a moment than began to write again. You sat anxiously waiting for him to instruct you on what to do.

But he didn't, the minutes ticked away and he just wrote paying you no mind.

"Um.... I don't know what to do here?" After some internal debating you finally spoke.

He didn't look up he just kept writing.

"Um excuse me Mr.Laufeyson" you shouted a little louder than you attended.

"Dr. Laufeyson" he didn't look up as he corrected you.

"I'm sorry it just that I thought"

"Hmmmm?" Lifting his gaze from his notepad to finally look at you.

"Dr. Laufeyson. I thought you were supposed to ask me questions or something. Like do you ever have dreams about going on dates with guys but when they turn around they have the head of my mother?" You rambled.

He cocked his brow." Are you having dreams like that?"

"Sorry, No! No no no! It was a bad Freudian joke" You covered your face with your hand in embarrassment.

Great now he is going to think you have an Oedipus complex? Why do you even try and speak? Ugh.

He was writing again you could hear his pen scribble on the pad. You didn't feel good about it.

Tilting his head back straightening his posture. His eyes took you in. You could feel his examining gaze.

Was he diagnosing you?

"It's OK to be nervous and that's not the worst Freudian joke I've ever heard by the way" you could hear his slight chuckle. "Think of this as a get to know you session. You can't fail at this or get this wrong I'm here to help you."

He asked you many questions. Some about your likes, what you did for work, how you liked it, about your family. You answered and the conversation flowed. You had never had someone take genuine interest in you before, but that was his job right? To try to listen. It was just all so new to you.

Your session went over the allotted time. Then finally after an hour overtime he stopped the session. You apologized, but he only smiled and reassured you that's what he is here for.

By the end he gave you the information to an actual female doctor by the name of Odinson. A part of you wanted to continue with him, but another part of you still wanted a woman's touch.

After your appointment with Dr. Laufeyson you made the appointment with Dr. Odinson. Over the phone you had confirmed with the receptionist that Dr. Odinson was indeed a woman. To which you were relieved. Your appointment with her being the following Monday.

Dr. Odinson's office was less wholesome than Dr. Laufeyson's. It was located in an office building. Mirrored glass encased the exterior, it looked so sleek, cold yet new. Walking from the parking garage to the main building you were intimidated by the massive structure. Once inside you took a deep breath and made your way to the security desk. After choking up the nerve to ask for directions he pointed to the elevator and the floor.

Unlike Mrs. Frigga he made you feel as if your presence was a nuisance.

The soft elevator music did little to loll your nerves as you rode it up. You were having second thoughts, maybe you should've stuck with Dr. Laufeyson. The session wasn't bad at all and at least his office felt like a home that made you feel invited and it was so wholesome. When the elevator finally arrived on the floor you were still nervous. Despite the luxurious feel of the floor you felt even more out of place. This only stoked the fire of your anxiety and inferiority complex.

The receptionist at Dr. Odinson's office was young and beautiful. Surely if she didn't work here you would find her on Instagram laying out on some island that you could never pronounce or afford.

When you reached her desk she was unaware of your presence. A common theme of those whose beauty you could only dream to attain. Staring at her computer screen she yelped when she finally noticed you.

"Oh I am so sorry!" You apologized. " I didn't mean to I..um have an appointment with Dr. Odinson"

She was startled but collected herself and smiled up at you. "It's OK. You must be Y/N, we tried to contact you."

You knitted your brow and tilted your head.

"Dr. Odinson had to cancel your appointment today. She had a family emergency and had to leave abruptly."

"Don't worry we won't charge you for the inconvenience" she smiled up at you.

You were relieved that you wouldn't have to pay for not paying attention to your cell phone.

"Since you're here would you like to reschedule?" She inquired.

"Oh Um....... I need to check my schedule. Is that OK?" rubbing the back of your head as you thought about the question.

"Sure thing just call me and I will get you rescheduled right away." She smiled at you brightly, but something about it almost felt robotic. You mirrored her forcing a smile before turning to the elevators to retreat. Walking back down the hall to the elevator as you wait for the doors to open you felt anxious. Tapping your feet you thought something with this place didn't sit right with you. You preferred the small sweet home of Dr. Laufeyson.

When the doors opened you were surprise by the size of the giant inside the metal box. You scurried inside apologizing to him as you looked at the number pad to press the lobby button, but it was already highlighted. The mirrored walls of the elevator allowed you to steel glances at him through your lashes. At a glance you could see his eyes were red and looked irritated, but his stoic face would not betray him. His hands shoved in his pockets he stood in the back of the elevator. Through his uniform you could make out the perfectly sculpted physique. He adorned black scrubs with an insignia you couldn't make out from your distance, his golden hair tied his a high bun. The sheer sight of it had you biting your bottom lip. You had only seen men like him on tv or Instagram.

In your corner you felt a nagging, a nosiness to ask what was wrong, ask if he was OK. There was a part of you that felt bad for even interrupting his descent, surely he wanted to be alone.

Why didn't I wait for the next elevator?

Your self hatred was mixing with your need to nurture and fix things. Finally the overwhelming urge to comfort him won out and you spoke.

"Um I'm sorry are you OK?" Looking at him through the mirrored walls you ask. As the words slipped out you mentally started to beat yourself up.

You immediately regretted your actions. You should've stayed silent. You don't know him why did you even care.

"I'm fine my lady" the deep intonation of his voice hit your ears like honey.

My lady? What is this?

In less than two weeks it felt like you landed in a foreign land filled with accents that you only dreamt of.

"I'm so sorry its just.... You look so sad and I'm so sorry." You frantically try to apologize for sticking your nose in where it didn't belong.

His deep chuckle filled the space between your frantic apologies. Covering his mouth to hide a smile he tried to compose himself before the elevator announced the lobby floor.

When the doors opened you managed to shut your mouth. Regret and disdain filled you. He motioned for you to leave first and without another word you two departed. Since you figured he was going to the parking garage you went the opposite direction. Going to the lobby restroom to hide out for thirty minutes until he had gone completely from the area.

You felt stupid for even talking to him for bothering him. You always felt weird talking to people. You always had that nagging feeling that people hated you when you opened your mouth, breathed their air or shared a spaced anyone.

That was one of the reasons you wanted to go to therapy. To understand yourself. To stop feeling this way.

Pulling out your phone as you waited in the stall you called Dr. Laufeyson. You didn't want to come back here. To risk running into him again.

*Ring

It felt like the phone barely got off the first ring before someone answered.

"Hello Dr. Laufeyson's office how may I be of assistance" it wasn't Mrs. Frigga.

"Um.. Sorry." You were expecting Mrs. Frigga.

Who was this person?

"Sorry" you apologize again " I.. wanted to make an appointment with Dr. Laufeyson.

"Miss Y/N?"

How did this person know your name?

"What huh?" you were still caught off guard.

"Mrs. Frigga is out today so I have the double duty of answering my own calls." The voice laughed. It was Dr. Laufeyson.

"Oh. Oh OK. Sorry" you said frazzled.

"You don't have to apologize. Where you calling to make another appointment?" There was a pause "Did things not work out with Dr.  Odinson"

"She wasn't available for our appointment. Something came up"

"Well I'm sure you can reschedule" he assured you.

"I just don't like it here. May I book another session with you?....Please?" Your voice went soft again unsure if you should've even asked.

You had rejected him as a doctor why would he want to see you again?

"Are you sure" he asked coolly.

"Yes please"

And with that he scheduled your next appointment for the next week.

[cobra-diamond]

Mirror & Misdirection - The Distortions of the Mirror Scene

How excessive, myopic emphasis on the Mirror Scene distorted both the fandoms and Brykes’ understanding of Azula, and what the Finale actually says about Avatar’s most controversial villain.

Executive Summary

           To understand any fictional character, you have to understand their Goals, Motivations and Conflicts. This applies to Princess Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender. 

           Ever since Azula was humanized in the Finale, arguments have raged over whether or not she has the capacity for meaningful growth and change like any other character, or any other human being.

           At the core of these arguments has been the infamous Mirror Scene where, while talking to an hallucination of her mother, Azula expresses doubt, regret and tear-stricken grief. As a thoroughly established villain who had never before shown such feelings, this scene was taken as character-defining.

           However, the Mirror Scene alone does not reveal all of Azula’s Goals, Motivations, and Conflicts. Instead, the Mirror Scene, when taken by itself, is only a Conflict. As a result, the Mirror Scene has distorted both the fandoms and Brykes’ perception of Azula by assuming she is entirely the work of complex, vague and puzzling psychological phenomena surrounding her mother, versus a variety of well-defined Goals and Motivations.

           In actuality, the Finale gives us two other scenes that, combined with the Mirror Scene, give us everything we need to understand Azula’s Goals, Motivations and Conflicts.

           In this article, I will provide an alternative explanation of Azula’s character that relates directly to the source material and which does not rely on psychological theory.

           First, I will summarize the “Azula Debate” to provide proper context for this subject.

           Next, I will explain the character-building concepts of Goal, Motivation and Conflict and why they are especially critical to devising a workable understanding of Azula.

           After that, I will explain how the Finale yields Azula’s Goals, Motivations, and Conflicts, and I will provide an alternative explanation of the Mirror Scene as it relates to them.

           I will then explain why the fandom incorrectly fixated on the Mirror Scene and how this distorted both the fandoms and Brykes’ understanding of their most controversial villain.

           And finally, using these Finale-revealed Goals, Motivations and Conflicts, I will suggest a “path forward” for Azula’s further involvement in the Franchise.

The “Azula Debate”

           When the Finale aired in 2008, one of the most striking and controversial developments was the rapid humanization of Azula. For the first time, we saw the fearsome and always-winning Princess scared, paranoid, emotionally fragile and crying. It was a radical shift from our previous image of Avatar’s most hated villain. Nothing like it had yet happened in the Franchise.

           The topic of Azula’s newly-revealed humanity was so compelling that even Mike and Bryan were asked about it in the Sozin’s Comet novelization. While their answers were vague and disjointed, the fact they had an affirmative answer shows that Azula’s humanity wasn’t an accident; it was intended.

           And the fans saw this: they saw an Azula that was more complex than what they had been previously shown, or lead to believe existed.

           While Azula’s breakdown in the finale was well-animated, scored and voice acted, and the show wrapped up nicely overall, the Finale created more questions than answers for the Fire Princess, most of which still have not been answered to this day.

           What is Ursa and Azula’s relationship? What is Azula’s moral compass? What does she value? What is the extent of her empathy? What lines will she not cross? Why does she use fear to control people? Does she enjoy hurting people? Can she feel love? What does she want in life? Why did she throw bread at turtle ducks? Is she a sociopath? Will she reconcile with Ursa? Is she mentally ill? Will she ever rise from the ashes of her shame and humiliation? What happens to her next?

           These were the sorts of questions fans were asking in the aftermath of the Finale, and which fans are still asking.

           Unfortunately, the fandom did not approach this topic with unity.

           What began after the Finale was an endless back and forth about morality and affective empathy; psychology and personality disorders; juvenile delinquency and abuse dynamics; Dracos in Leather Pants and Freudian Excuses, with one side arguing that there wasn’t anything inside Azula worth exploring, while the other side desperately clung to the hope that there was potential for compelling growth in Azula. You could term the “anti” side the “Azula Haters” and the “pro” side the “Azula Fans”.

           The “Azula Fans” are a diverse group that cannot be generalized. In summary, they found Azula compelling for a variety of reasons, they had questions they wanted answered and they desired to see Azula fleshed out fully.

           The “Azula Haters” are equally a diverse group and so cannot be generalized. Overall, their motivations are primarily to relate Azula to real-world bullies and abusers, thereby preserving her as a platform to talk about escaping domestic abuse situations and how to give up on toxic family members. Relating Azula to the real-world in this way is not to develop the world of Avatar and its characters, but to express their own anger, cynicism and heartache over what’s occurred in their own and other’s lives, and teach lessons about it.

           The key point is this: the purpose of the Azula Debate was not to discover the truth about Azula and determine how to tell a story about her. It was to either admonish “Azula Fans” for being misguided and ignorant in their understanding of Azula, or to prevent the “Haters” from discouraging their last, major interest in Avatar.

           In the twelve years that have followed since the Finale, neither side has “prevailed”.

           Aaron Ehasz has spoken about the potential for a Post-Finale Azula arc whereas Mike and Bryan have said little, or nothing. Wheras the fandom can all agree about their love for the heroes, Azula is like talking politics at a family gathering; it will not be pretty and passions will be inflamed.

          While Azula was brought back in The Search and Smoke and Shadow comics, these works yielded few, if any, answers to her developments in the Finale, and she remains a divisive character. In fact, much of her complexities established in the Finale were ignored in The Search and erased entirely in Smoke and Shadow.

          It can be argued that the Azula from the show did not actually make it into the comics and still remains “in an asylum off the coast”, waiting to be further developed.  As a result, both Azula Fans and Haters argue to this day with no end in sight.

           Driving these debates is the fact that nobody, not even the Creators, have provided a comprehensive, question-answering, Franchise-consistent explanation for Azula that combines her wickedness with her humanity.

           To Haters, Azula is the embodiment of all things awful and terrifying that must be removed from society. To Fans, she is the potential for another compelling character-driven story utilizing the original cast.

           A word frequently used to describe these “compelling” additional stories about Azula is “redemption”. This is a vague word with multiple meanings. Typically, both Avatar fans and the Creators interpret this as a character who is morally good on the inside realizing their mistakes and atoning for them; these characters are not truly bad people; as long as we don’t think they have crossed any moral “lines in the sand”, they can be accepted into the circle of “good people”.

           This is what has caused debates surrounding Azula to be focused on questions of morality, affective empathy and psychological disorders instead of her Goals, Motivations and Conflicts; if “Haters” can prove that Azula is genetically bad, then there is no potential for a story about her because it is impossible for her to change and grow, and stories require their characters to change and grow. On the other hand, if “Fans” can prove she is “human”, then she does have the capacity to change and grow, and the themes of the Franchise can be applied to her.

           Unfortunately for Azula Fans, there are two seasons of wickedness, smirking and bedeviling Zuko to back up the Haters’ position.

           But Azula Haters also have to contend with the Finale. It demonstrated the existence of Azula’s humanity and was an intentional decision by the Creators; Fans are not “reading into” it. Even Katara felt Azula’s humanity.

           So who is correct?

           Well, the Haters are, for the most part.

           The show spent a lot of time portraying Azula as unnecessarily cruel without a shred of self-doubt, suggesting her villainy is not just a matter of her upbringing and choices, but intractable psychological defects. Even the Creators wanted Azula to reflect a “deeply rooted malevolence.” To counter this, Azula Fans point to the Finale, and more specifically, to the infamous Mirror Scene.

           The Mirror Scene shows Azula expressing doubt, remorse, hurt and even tear-stricken grief. The Mirror Scene has been used by Azula Fans to explain all of Azula’s humanity, sort of as a Rosetta Stone of her innerworkings. Even the Creators seem to think this way, as shown by their answers to the Sozin’s Comet interview, and their choice to make Azula’s relationship with her mother in The Search take center stage, and drastically so.

           THIS. IS ALL. WRONG.

           In order to understand a character, you have to understand their Goals, Motivations, and Conflicts. Any character, especially Azula.

           The Mirror Scene and her relationship with her mother are not what’s vital to understanding who Azula is, what she wants and how she fits into the Avatar world. This is not an attempt to be “edgy” or “different” or “contrarian”. You will never, ever find your answers in The Beach or in the Mirror Scene alone, no matter how hard you try. This is because the Mirror Scene is only one of three scenes from the Finale that must be taken together to understand Azula on a fundamental level.

           The Mirror Scene is not enough. It has not answered the fandom’s questions about Azula’s Goals, Motivations and Conflicts. It has not provided a compelling argument against the evidence that she is a monster whose villainy was only limited by the censors and, most importantly, the Mirror Scene is not Azula’s most defining moment.

           These three, together, are:

And I will explain why.

Understanding Characters: Goals, Motivations, & Conflicts

           This section gets into some of the “nuts and bolts” of storytelling, but it is necessary for understanding Azula; she is too complicated and the source material too thin on her. Stick with this and you should learn something.

           In order to understand a character, you have to have a clear understanding of their Goals, Motivations, and Conflicts. Other writers have different terms for these concepts (Need, Want, Desire, Obstacle, etc.), but they are universal to storytelling.

           Stories are not meant to be exact replicas of real life. Yes, they can say something about life, but ultimately, stories are about characters having problems to solve and their journeys to solve them. It is not enough for a character to just “feel”. They have to want things, need things, do things, and something has to prevent them from getting what they want and need.

           Conflicts are what prevent characters from achieving their goals (their wants and needs). Motivations are what drive characters to pursue their Goals, and Goals are what characters strive to physically achieve.

           Goals are physical; they can be touched, held, acquired. They can be a person, a place, or a thing. They are not emotional or psychological. “Love” is not a Goal. Being in the arms of someone or waking up in bed next to them, however, is a goal. Goals are what enable characters to be active in the story, to move through the world, exert force on their surroundings. Sitting on the sofa, or ruminating in a prison cell are not Goals; getting up to join the protest or hatching an escape plan are. At the same time, “wanting power” is not a goal, but “becoming president” is.

           For some Avatar examples, “Capture the Avatar” is a Goal. “Master all four elements” is a Goal. “Liberate Ba Sing Se” is a Goal, but “My mother thought I was a monster” is not.

           Goals, however, do not exist by themselves. They are the result of Motivations.

           Motivations are internal. They are abstract. They cannot be touched or acquired. They derive from the thoughts, feelings, philosophies and psychologies of the characters. Some motivations can be caused by external forces, such as fear of breaking the law, a military commander giving an order to a soldier, or the threat of dying from starvation, but those external forces are not Motivations: fear of imprisonment, commitment to one’s leaders, and the will to survive are because they are emotional, philosophical, psychological.

           Motivations are where characters encounter those moral “lines they won’t cross”. It’s where they doubt themselves and wonder if they are willing to go “all the way” to stop the villain. Motivations are what drive a character to question if they should kill the man who murdered their mother, if they should kill the Fire Lord and ignore their culture, or betray their uncle to return home. Without Motivations, characters are robots. With Motivations, characters become people.

           But a story where characters face no opposition is not a story. This is were Conflicts arrive.

           Conflicts prevent characters from achieving their Goals. They can come from a variety of sources: internal or external; emotional or religious; psychological or philosophical, or combinations thereof. Conflicts can stem from Motivations (for example, somebody violating their moral code), but they are not themselves Motivations. For example, if a character is motivated to carry on the cultural values of their lost people, but their duty requires them to violate that culture, their struggle to reconcile the two is a Conflict. Or, if a character is motivated to be the image of the son his father wants, but finds out that image is completely against everything he stands for, his struggle to remain at his father’s side or leave is a Conflict.

           The type of Conflicts that “build character” are the ones that result from Motivations, not merely external forces. A character simply climbing over a fallen tree is not as compelling as a character who must decide if they should cut down the tree when there’s a nest of endangered owls living in it. Characters must decide for themselves. They must struggle with their feelings and values.

           However, Goals, Motivations and Conflicts are not the end-all-be-all of character. Characters can have secondary goals and motivations. They can have quirks, flaws and personality traits that give them depth and round them out, but their Goals, Motivations and Conflicts are what creates a story about them. They’re why Zuko being willing to burn down Kyoshi Island does not tell us the full story of Zuko, but it tells us something about him. They’re why Azula hanging Ty Lee over a burning net does not tell us the full story of Azula, but it tells us something about her. And they’re why Aang killing a buzzard wasp in cold-blood does not tell us the story of Aang, but tells us something about what he’s going through and what will make him ignore his values.

           In short, we have to know a character’s Goals, Motivations, & Conflicts in order understand them, only then can a character be fully fleshed out in a story that makes them overcome diversity, change and grow.

 The Goals, Motivations & Conflicts of Princess Azula

           In order to answer the lingering questions about Azula, including how to tell a story about her in the Post-Finale world, you have to understand what she wants, why she wants it and why she is unable to have it. In other words, you have to understand her Goals, Motivations & Conflicts.

           As it turns out, the Finale gave us all of this. Now, keep in mind, the Finale doesn’t tell us everything about the Fire Princess, just like how the show doesn’t tell us everything about General Iroh prior to Lu Ten’s death, but the Finale tells us enough in order to develop a workable explanation of her character. This explanation of her character was revealed in three scenes, starting with the one in The Phoenix King where she is speaking to her father on the platform, followed by the scene in Into the Inferno when she is talking to Lo and Li in the throne room, and, finally, the Mirror Scene.

           Not everything is explicitly stated and neither does it explain her bullying, teasing, smirking and smugness, but it doesn’t have to. Those are flaws, quirks and other personality traits. These three scenes in the Finale give us the big stuff; the information that’s needed to tie her into the franchise at large and make her a product of the Avatar world versus a mere set of villainous qualities.

           And it begins with The Phoenix King.

Pivotal Azula Scene #1: The Phoenix King

           I’m sure you can picture it: Azula racing to join her father on the platform, getting told she’s being left behind, frightened because she thought they were going to burn the Earth Kingdom together, snapping at her father for treating her like Zuko, desperately insisting she deserves to be by his side, and, finally, flinching as she gets yelled at.

           That’s some big, heavy stuff, huh? She’s been afraid of being treated like Zuko all this time? Burning down the Earth Kingdom is some child-like, emotionally needy ploy to be with her father?? She feels she deserves to be by his side?!? Azula has problems?!?!?

           This scene reveals a portion of Azula’s Goals, Motivations and Conflicts.

           Before I begin, I must warn you: I’m not going to spend a lot of time using clever words and metaphors to convince you. If you ever have the urge to shout “But wait! I disagree with that and here’s all the reasons why!!” I encourage you to slow down, approach this with an open mind and try to ignore your existing ideas about Azula.     Forget about her smirking and smugness, her throwing bread at turtle ducks, her tormenting of Zuko and especially the psychological disorders that people have tried to tie her to. We are focusing on her Goals, Motivations & Conflicts as revealed by the Finale, not essays and fan interpretations. We are applying time-honored storytelling principles to Azula as if we were trying to tell a professional story about her.

Azula’s Goal #1: Be With Her Father

           In the Phoenix King scene, Azula said she wanted to “do this together.” She said she deserves to “be by his side.” She doesn’t want to stay behind. These are physical, tangible things. They comprise a Goal.

           Why does she have this Goal? Don’t worry about that right now; we’ll get to that later, but right now, the Phoenix King shows and tells that Azula wants to be in the presence of her father. She wants to stand next to him. She wants to do things with him, and she is willing to snap at him over it. This scene also reveals her Motivations.

           Hold on. Wait. Stop. I know you’re doing it; you’re thinking, “”But they’re both predators feeding off each other! ‘Be with her father’ must actually mean something sinister and her real goal is to extract power and influence off of him!”

           Stop.

           Relax.

           Forget all of that. We are exploring what the Finale shows and tells us. Ignore fan theories. We are in unexplored territory right now.

Azula’s Motivation #1: Not Be Treated Like Zuko

           Not being “treated like Zuko” is abstract. Being “treated like Zuko” means being openly disrespected, thought of as irrelevant, viewed as a disappointment, not being wanted, sent on fool’s errands, belittled and cast aside.

           Being challenged to an Agni Kai isn’t being treated like Zuko as the Agni Kai is a standard Fire Nation practice; child Zuko was perfectly willing to fight the general over his mere “disrespect”. If the General had burned him, would the General have been treating Zuko “like Zuko”? Neither is the act of being physically punished being “treated like Zuko”; lots of kids in the Avatar world probably get physically hurt by their parents. Terrible, but not unique.

           It’s not the physical abuse that makes someone be “treated like Zuko”, but the emotional. In a society where Agni Kais are commonplace and soldiers are expected to be tough and aggressive, being “treated like Zuko” is a state of mind; it is emotional, philosophical, psychological. Think of it this way: if Azula had been challenged to an Agni Kai, fought with aggression, and Ozai “merely” burned is favorite on the arm somewhere to end the fight because it had served its purpose, and later expressed pride to her because of her aggression, would that physical harm be treating her “like Zuko”? The Fire Nation’s leadership is supposed to have a warrior culture.

           In the Phoenix King scene, the Motivation behind Azula’s Goal of “being with her father” is not merely to avoid the physical harm of an Agni Kai, but her fear of being “treated like Zuko” and everything that means. This isn’t the entire message of the Finale, but it’s what this particular scene is saying, and Ozai’s response to Azula’s fear reveals one of Azula’s Conflicts.

Azula’s Conflict #1: Her Father Doesn’t Want Her

           Imagine if Ozai had taken Azula with him and they drank tea, played Pai Sho while and, together, lost to the Avatar. She’d probably be far less distraught than she was at the end of her Agni Kai with Zuko. Certainly her hair wouldn’t have been disheveled and she wouldn’t have been screaming and crying.

           What prevents Azula from achieving her Goal of “being with her father” is that her father doesn’t want to be with her.

          Look at that sequence closely, in particular the change in Ozai’s expression after Azula arrives. Is that the face of a man who wants his supposed favorite around?

           Wait. Stop. I know you’re doing it again: you’re thinking about Ozai’s capacity or lack thereof for love, why Azula feels this way or what her ulterior motive is or what psychological disorder is driving her to cling to him like a parasite.

           Once again… Relax. We’ll get to that. Just focus on what the Finale is telling us here: Azula wants to be with her father (a Goal), she is scared of being treated like Zuko (a Motivation), and her father is not giving her what she wants (a Conflict).

           Does Ozai assure her that he isn’t treating her like Zuko? Does he put his hands on Azula’s shoulders and tell her that that isn’t what’s happening?

           No!

           He buys her an expensive car to get her to shut up. Azula hasn’t been given what she wants in this scene. “Fire Lord Azula” is not being at her father’s side. Being coronated is not “doing this together”, in fact, it’s leaving her alone. It can be argued that Ozai manipulated Azula in this scene by giving her something she wanted, so how was he able to manipulate her?

           By understanding her Goals and Motivations, next of which are revealed in the Throne Room Scene.

Pivotal Azula Scene #2: The Throne Room

           Ever hear the phrase “show don’t tell” in storytelling? Show the reader what the characters feel and what they want? Show what a character is willing to do to achieve their goals? Well, sometimes you do need to tell a reader what a character is thinking in order to make it starkly clear to them, and in the Throne Room scene, we get just that: a clear statement by Azula of what her Goal is, and it is a whopper.

           In fact, this stated Goal by Azula is so monumental that it can be considered character-defining. It ties her royalty into her relationship with her father into her being a prodigy into her high standards (“almost isn’t good enough”), even into her struggles to be a “normal” teenager in The Beach. It makes the “Princess” in Princess Azula actually mean something. It makes “Princess of the Fire Nation” actually relate to the Fire Nation.

           Azula’s second Goal, as stated explicitly in the Finale, is to be the greatest leader in Fire Nation history. Those are her exact words.

           Be something; a physical condition. It requires her to take action, to be active, to accomplish things. It is a Goal.

Azula’s Goal #2: Be the Greatest Leader in Fire Nation History

           In the Throne Room scene of the Finale, Azula says that she will be the greatest leader in Fire Nation history. She says it. This is not an interpretation or “reading into” things. The Finale has told the viewer what the Princess component of Princess Azula wants to be when she grows up: the greatest leader in Fire Nation history. This is a Goal; something that can be physically achieved. While it is true that what constitutes “greatest” can be subjective, certainly it involves a combination of reputation and physical accomplishments, especially given the goals of the Fire Nation at the time: conquering other nations and advancing the country’s wealth and power.

           That this scene has flown under the radar for so long is mind-boggling. It is akin to asking a child what they want to be when they grow up, only this is a flame-throwing, feudal-era teenager who is being raised to command armies. Look at it this way:

           “Little Jimmy, what do you want to be when you grow up?”

           “An astronaut!”

           “Little Susy, what do you want to be when you grow up?”

           “A doctor!”

           “Little Princess Azula, what do you want to be when you grow up?”

           “The greatest leader in Fire Nation history!”

           Azula told us what she wants to be when she grows: the greatest leader in her country’s history. That is a pretty lofty goal that has been tempered by age or experience, something a young person could easily think they could achieve, but then again, maybe it wasn’t so unreasonable for her: she captured Ba Sing Se, defended the Capital from invasion and can bend blue fire and lightning at a young age.

           So, why would a princess strive to be the greatest leader of her country versus just lounging around all day? That is for her Motivation to explain.

Azula’s Motivation #2: Her Father’s Expectations + Pride & Belief in Her Royal Title

           This Motivation is really multifaceted, but in order to simplify things, it is being tied to her royalty in order to emphasize its connection to the Throne Room scene.

           If “being the greatest leader” is a Goal, then the reason why she wants to be the greatest leader is her Motivation.

           This is where some speculation becomes necessary. Even though the Throne Room scene stated this Goal very clearly, it doesn’t say much about why she desires this. You have two ways you can approach this question. First, you can cynically assume that Azula is motivated by nothing honorable or relatable, therefore she is closer to a parasite feeding off of the Royal Family, or second, you can assume she is a product of the world she lives in and so is motivated by things that can tell us about the Royal Family, the Fire Nation, and life under her father. Because the former results in no room for growth and change, and is entirely based on psychological theory, this article will assume the latter.

           Because there are no clear answers for why she has this Goal in the Finale, I am simply going to list a variety of potential Motivations. Most likely, the answer is a combination of these at the same time:

·         Ambition to achieve (like a great athlete striving for excellence);

·         Enjoys challenging herself;

·         Desires to be someone (famous, notable);

·         Internalizes her role as Princess and sees herself as nothing else;

·         Enjoys fighting, firebending and military subjects;

·         Enjoys politics, ruling and statecraft;

·         Excels at her royal role, so enjoys being good at it;

·         Believes in the purpose of the Imperial Government;

·         Takes pride in Fire Nation history and wants to contribute to it;

·         Enjoys having power over people;

·         Seeks praise;

·         It’s what her father expects of her;

·         Believes her father is a great leader and so wants to be like him;

·         It’s what’s expected of a Fire Nation Princess;

·         Wants to maintain the legitimacy of her family and “prove her worth”;

·         If there’s any sort of sexism in the Fire Nation, maybe she feels she needs to work “twice as hard to get half as far”;

·         Following the sexism angle, maybe she wants to distance herself from any “limiting” feminine roles;

·         And others.

           In the Throne Room scene, we are given a hint as to what might be one of Azula’s motivations for wanting to be the greatest leader in Fire Nation history: not being treated like Zuko (i.e. living up to her father’s expectations).

           Right before she gives the aforementioned line in the Throne Room scene, she says to Lo and Li that her father doesn’t think she “can handle the responsibility of being Fire Lord”. Perhaps one of the reasons for pushing herself toward ever greater achievements and abilities is to prove to her father that she truly does deserve to be “by his side” and not “treated like Zuko”.

           But Azula is also a princess. That is extremely important.

           Azula is a member of the Royal Family and is a military and authoritarian leader by default. The Throne Room scene is the chance to inject the Fire Nation into Azula’s character, not just emotional disfunction and psychological dependency. Remember what kind of country Azula lives in: it is full of walking flamethrowers who must be kept in line.

          Remember all the warfare in ancient Japan? No? Then take a look at this article, The East Asian Origins of Fire Nation and Its Villains, for an idea as to why the Imperial Government exists and why the Royal Family is very concerned about being successful, and using force and intimidation to do so.

           “I want to be the greatest leader in Fire Nation history” is the chance to use Azula to convey broader subjects about the Fire Nation’s politics, history, culture and how they effect someone who is either too young or unable to be what is expected of them: a feared military ruler in a militarized society at 14 years old.

           Also note that her goal of being the “greatest leader” was stated after she learned she would be Fire Lord. This means the Goal was not accomplished; the Motivation didn’t go away. Being Fire Lord is not being a great leader; it is simply being Fire Lord. To her, wanting to be the “greatest leader” comes from a much deeper source and, in fact, could be argued as a character-defining Motivation. Along these lines, Azula is not merely Azula; she is Princess Azula at all times, everywhere. To her, there is no “Azula”, but only “Princess Azula”. Her title is her identity.

           You might have to apply some artistic license here, but you can do so in a way that is both faithful to the source material and builds upon it. For example, while the show was active, there was a description of Azula from the viewpoint of the Fire Nation on Nickelodeon’s website. Note that it sounds very similar to what Zuko said about his sister in Siege of the North: Part 2. This heavily suggests that not only is Azula what her father wants, but also what the Fire Nation and Imperial Government want in a princess.

           To summarize, Azula’s second Goal is to be the greatest leader in her country’s history and her Motivation for this Goal is a combination of wanting to meet the expectations of her father and flat-out believing and taking pride in her role as Princess. But what about her Conflicts as a result of this Goal? Well, as the Finale demonstrates, she isn’t the greatest leader yet. Once more, some reasonable speculation is required.

Azula’s Conflict #2: She Struggles to Be a Great Leader

           Azula felt she had to compel the Captain into taking the ship through the tides right now in order to exert her dominance (this is explained in the Tale of Azula novel). She relies entirely on fear instead of using a combination of trust and fear, like someone who read Machiavelli but wasn’t old enough to actually understand what it was saying; she failed to understand Zuko’s motivations and so he turned against the family; she failed to understand that people are willing to sacrifice their lives for loved ones, or even make stupid mistakes, so she felt personally wounded by Mai; she didn’t know how to handle both Mai and Ty Lee’s betrayal and so lost all faith in her subject’s loyalty; and she banished all of her servants and guards instead of figuring out how to act differently.

           If Azula’s father is her “measuring stick” for success, then being at his side and doing things with him is not only protection against “being treated like Zuko” but also a sign that she is doing everything right as a leader in training. Remember that her Goal of being the greatest leader didn’t go away when Ozai gave her the crown; the Goal is coming from someplace deeper.

           But Azula begins to doubt herself in the Finale. She begins to feel paranoid and she doesn’t have the life experience and knowledge to tell her why Mai and Ty Lee betrayed her, how to adjust accordingly and what to do differently. She’s never failed before. She’s unsure of what the future will be and she doesn’t have her father to measure herself against. She is not yet a great leader.

           She wants to be the greatest leader in Fire Nation history, but how will she become that if she keeps failing and her father left her behind? She wants to be by her father’s side, but how can she be if she’s back in the Fire Nation struggling to have the loyalty of her closest subjects (guards and servants)?

           If Azula’s second Goal is to be the greatest leader in her country’s history and the Motivation behind it is a combination of her father’s expectations and pride and belief in her royal title, then her second Conflict is that she doesn’t know how to be a great leader or live up to her father’s standards. In the Finale, she is trying and failing and she doesn’t know what to do.

           This leads to the third and final pivotal Azula scene: the famous Mirror Scene.

Pivotal Azula Scene #3: The Mirror Scene

           If there were any key emotions during Azula’s breakdown, they were paranoia, fear, anxiety, grief, uncertainty and doubt.

           It’s been established by the Phoenix King scene that she wants to be with her father to avoid being “treated like Zuko”. Knowing what happened to Zuko, that must create a hell of a ton of fear, anxiety, stress and doubt within her.

           It has also been established that she wants to be the greatest leader in her country’s history. That must also create a ton of fear, anxiety, stress and doubt: will she be the greatest leader? Will she fail? Does she even have what it takes? What if she doesn’t? What if Zuko is better than her? What will her father think of her? What will her country think of her?

           During the Finale, she is paranoid about the consequences of disobedient, vengeful subjects who might assassinate her.

           She doesn’t know what to do or what the future holds.

           She is doubting herself, she is afraid she might fail.

           She feels grief, but about what exactly?

           There is a pattern emerging from the Phoenix King and Throne Room scenes. You have a teenage girl (remember, that is what Azula is) who is anxious and panicky about being left behind and mistreated by her father; you have a young, military ruler-in-training who has very high standards for herself and is failing to live up to those standards; and you have a member of royalty who is alone, afraid and doesn’t know how to deal with failure or handle what she is feeling.

           Remember what I said earlier about ignoring your existing conceptions and feelings about Azula? Well, you also have to ignore the 30-year old voice actress and general appearance of being older. You need to think about the franchise at large.

           What were the ages of the main characters: 12? 14? 16? 17 at most? Kids and teenagers, essentially. That is a unique selling point of the franchise—young people going through adversity—and it makes it easier to feel sympathy for them, just as the youth of the characters in the Hunger Games made it more relatable to kids and teens, and allowed adults to feel sympathy as well (adults are the ones who take care of kids and teens).

           In fact, the characters of Avatar being kids was an important part of the story: themes of family were critical to Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, Mai, Ty Lee and even Azula (in the end). Therefore, you have to keep in mind the importance of youth to the main cast and franchise at large.

           How old is Azula? 14-15?

           Do you now see the pattern?

           Who do kids and teenagers rely on when they are in trouble?

           Who helps them understand their feelings?

           Who is supposed to have all the answers?

           Who tells them they’ll be okay, they’ll figure it out, they’re not alone?

           Parents.

           What is Ozai to Azula? A parent. A terrible one by our eyes, but still a parent. Is he there for her during her time of need in the Finale? No. Does he help her understand the myriad of feelings that are causing her to unravel? No. Does he provide guidance as to why Mai and Ty Lee betrayed her and how to learn from it? No. Does he tell her she’ll be okay, to not worry, that she’ll figure it out and she’s not alone? No. Could he have done these things? Yes, because he’s a parent of Azula. Did he? No.

           Would it have helped her to have a parent who could walk her through her struggles? You’re damn right it would have. She would have still had a platoon of Dai Lee and Imperial Firebenders to protect her and she’d have been Fire Lord.

           But she didn’t have Ozai, either physically or emotionally. She didn’t have a parent to help her. Teenage girl, military-leader-in training Azula couldn’t handle the tidal wave of adversity that struck her, and so she drowned. Lo and Li weren’t parents; they were advisors; subjects. Her servants weren’t her parents; is she going to expose her weaknesses to the people she doesn’t trust and whose respect she must command? Neither were her Dai Lee or Imperial Firebenders (her guards). But she wanted a parent to help her… And she has two.

           One of them, her father, not only wasn’t physically present, but also made it clear, in subtle ways, that he wasn’t ever going to be there for her “in that way”; she didn’t jump to the “you can’t treat me like Zuko” conclusion if it wasn’t clear to her that that’s exactly what was happening.

           So who is the only other person in the world who can say the things a parent can to Azula? Who is literally her only other parent?

          Her mother.

           Ursa is not Azula’s conscience speaking to her. Ursa is not a Freudian Excuse. Ursa is not a Shakespearean metaphor for god knows what. Ursa isn’t even a spirit talking to her through the Spirit World. Ursa is, in Azula’s mind, her parent and this reveals Azula’s third Goal.

Azula’s Goal #3: Have a Parent Who Can Help Her

           Remember what Avatar is based on: kids and teenagers going through adversity. Ask yourself this: do you believe that all of Avatar was a “lie” and that the “real” Avatar is full of nudity, torture, rape, grotesque violence, “grimdark” themes and the cast is really 18+? I don’t. Work with the source material; it’s what we have, it’s what was made.

           Azula is a teenager at the top of a feudal, military government who has extremely high expectations for herself, a father who has her living in fear of being spurned and abused, and who has certain proclivities (i.e. flaws) that are causing her harm. As a result, she is full of fear, anxiety, stress and doubt as a result of her struggle to achieve her Goals. She wants a parent to say and do the things that parents can: sooth their children’s fears, teach them life lessons and help them understand why they’re wrong and how to set them straight.

           Azula’s third Goal is to have a parent who can help her, physically be there for her, do and say the things that parents are supposed to in order to make her fears, anxieties, stress and doubts go away.

           You always had such beautiful hair?

           I wouldn’t miss my daughter’s coronation?

           I think you’re confused?

           I love you?

           Who the hell says those things to someone like Azula?

           A parent, or at least Azula thinks a parent would. She might not be able to put this combination of Goal-and-Motivation into precise words, but the teenage girl in her feels it. Her Motivation to achieve this Goal is her feelings.

Azula’s Motivation #3: Alleviate the Stress Caused by Her Goals

           Is having a parent the only way for Azula to alleviate her fears? No. She can achieve great things for her country, make marked progress in firebending, be praised by her father, be with her father, have friends to hang out with and, most importantly, she can alleviate her stress by making sure she never fails. If she works hard enough to never experience failure (“almost isn’t good enough”), then eventually she’ll come to believe that she can’t failure, and so won’t be burdened by it. It’s simply impossible… Like an inexperienced person would believe. There is certainly no shortage of highly talented young people in the real world who are both very confident and afraid of failure.

           No one wants to live with fear or anxiety or stress; it’s painful and draining. Same for Azula. In her time of great adversity during the Finale, these feelings were not unknown to her; she was already afraid of failure; she was already full of stress over meeting her father’s expectations and becoming the greatest leader; she was already guided by very high expectations. She already lived with fear, anxiety, stress and doubt and it was kept in check by being naturally talented, working exceptionally hard, having the personality for the environment she lived in and never failing. But in the Finale, she was struck by a tidal wave of failure and did not have the knowledge, or support, for staying afloat, like a teenager.

           In the Mirror Scene, Azula wants a parent—Ursa, Ozai—to help her with her problems, with her feelings, because she can’t handle them. She is motivated by the fears, anxieties, stresses and doubts of a flawed, inexperienced teenage girl who was raised to be a feudal, military dictator in a rapidly changing world, and is failing.

           But as we know, she didn’t find a way to alleviate her feelings in the Finale. Why? Because of her third and final Conflict.

Azula’s Conflict #3: She Doesn’t Have a Parent Who Can Help Her

           Could Ozai have helped her? In theory, yes. He knows how to rule through the same manner that Azula is emulating and he’s a 40-50 year old man with the experience, emotional maturity and, most importantly, respect of his daughter. Does he help her? We know he doesn’t. So during the Mirror Scene, Azula retreats to the other parent who could help: her mother, the one who, while not a military leader who rules through fear, can still tell her the sweet, soothing things that mothers are known to say, and say it with the authority of a parent.

           But Ursa is not physically present to say those things. Not only this, but Azula doesn’t even believe her mother would say those things, let alone mean them if she did. Why is her relationship with her mother this bad? We don’t know; the show or comics never showed or told us.

           However, “my mother thought I was a monster” is not a revelation of Azula’s Goals or Motivations. It is a statement that reveals one of her Conflicts: she doesn’t have a parent who can help her. Either she literally doesn’t have parents who are physically and emotionally present (Ozai), or she doesn’t believe she has parents who are (Ursa).

           To repeat, we do not have an explanation for “my mother thought I was a monster”, but ask yourself this: if the “Bear Mother” had actually been standing there during the Mirror Scene, would her words have sounded so haunted, shallow and detached-from-the-moment as if an inexperienced, confused teenager was saying them? Hell no. We’d have gotten the earth-shattering Mother-Daughter heart-to-heart that has eluded the franchise for 12 years (and which likely will never occur).

           In the end, Azula did not get the parental support she needed and she didn’t accomplish any of her Goals. She got swallowed by the tidal wave of failure, bashed against the rocks, swirled in the mud and dragged off to an asylum where she will wallow in her misery for all time, never to rise from ashes of her shame and humiliation. Her motivations did not leave her, though; they will burn inside her until the end of her days…

           Unless her story is advanced.

The Flaws, Quirks and Personality Traits of Azula

           Before this article explains how and why the fandom and Creators misunderstood the Mirror Scene, I want to spend some time exploring Azula’s Flaws, Quirks and Personality Traits.

           These are general terms for the variety of additional features that add “depth” to a character. Flaws, quirks and personality traits are separate from Goals, Motivations and Conflicts, but they can cause Motivations and create Conflicts.

           For example, if a character wants love (a Motivation) but they struggle with feelings of jealousy (the result of a flaw, quirk, or personality trait), then their Conflict becomes their struggle to overcome this part of their personality when dating their romantic interest. This is a rudimentary example.

           Another example would be a husband enjoying watching and hearing his wife scream when she finds fake spiders in the bed (YouTube can reveal lots of example of family members playing pranks on each other). Scaring his wife is not his Goal or Motivation in life; he simply enjoys doing it, and if he is trying to maintain a happy marriage with his wife, this flaw, quirk or personality traits creates a Conflict.

           This is how you have to approach Azula’s wickedness in the series. Remember how I said earlier not to think about all of that? Well, now you can.

           Smirking triumphantly while Zuko is burned for refusing to fight? Threatening the Ship Captain over a reasonable concern in order to exert her dominance? Throwing loaves of bread at turtle ducks as an 8 year old and still having turtle ducks swim away from her when she’s 14? Shoving Ty Lee to the ground and laughing at her because she upstaged her? Tormenting Zuko over something as awful as his father being ordered to kill him and enjoying it? Smugly hanging Ty Lee over a burning net to make a point? Enjoying teasing and inflaming Zuko? Smirking deviously? Has little respect for others perceived as beneath her? Makes flippant, dismissive comments? Can’t separate herself from her title? Doesn’t appreciate the “softer” sides of leadership (trust, loyalty, love, etc.)? What are these things?

           They are Flaws, Quirks and Personality Traits.

           Azula’s primary Goals, Motivations and Conflicts are independent from whether or not she feeds turtle ducks by hand or throws the entire loaf at them, or smirks while bullying Ty Lee to establish her dominance, or enjoys teasing Zuko for his perceived weaknesses; Ty Lee would remain a subject to the Crown and Zuko’s problems with his father would not go away.

           Azula’s smirking, smug, nasty, sassy, Hyeena-woman persona is what makes her distinct. They are her flaws that create additional Conflicts and exacerbate existing ones. They are the quirks that make Azula a warm body and not simply a set of villainous specifications moving around on screen. They make her feel “alive”. They are the personality traits that separate her from all others in the show.

           Remember what Azula’s Goals are: be with her father, be the greatest leader in Fire Nation history, and have a parent to help her. For two of those, her wickedness will both help and hinder her.

           Not being concerned for peoples’ feelings and having no tolerance for weakness? Makes her able to manipulate corrupt, militant organizations like the Dai Lee. Pushing Mai and Ty Lee too hard and making them resent her? It got her their cooperation, for a time, but it ended up creating the chain reaction of fear, anxiety, stress and doubt that eventually ruined her. Embracing her father’s treatment of Zuko and doing everything necessary to avoid the same? Well, she never really got “treated like Zuko”, did she?

           Not having appreciation for trust and love and focusing solely on leading through fear? Makes her able to thrive in the current Imperial Government, but also incapable of adapting to failure. Teasing Zuko? Tormenting him? Perhaps her acting in “evil” ways strained her mother’s relationship with her and lead to the “monster” impression. Now that would be quite the flaw.

           Azula’s wickedness both helps and hinders her, and in the case of the Finale, contributed to her downfall. Her wickedness is a flaw. It harmed her. It prevented her from achieving her Goals.

           Flaws, Quirks and Personality Traits only tell half the story of a character, and in the case of Azula, they’re not enough to understand who she is and what she wants, and more specifically, they’re not enough to advance her story in the Post-Finale world.

The Distortions of the Mirror Scene

           By not paying attention to the two other pivotal Azula scenes in the Finale, the Fandom and Bryke developed a distorted, myopic understanding of the Fire Princess where mental illness, unexplained issues with her mother and violent action against hallucinations comprised the sum total of her complexity.

          As a result, just about every piece of the Mirror Scene, from physical actions to key words, along with Azula’s Flaws, Quirks and Personality Traits ended up becoming stand-ins for her Goals, Motivations and Conflicts in official franchise content: The Search and Smoke and Shadow.

           By focusing on Azula’s feelings and feelings alone, the Mirror Scene wound up becoming perceived as the pivotal scene for exploring her depth and even became the source of Bryke’s understanding of her when they wrote the comics. Take a look at these panels from The Promise and The Search to see what this means:

           Where are her unresolved feelings concerning her father?

           Where is her relationship with her country?

           Where is her connection to the “Princess” in her name?

          This is not to say that Azula’s time in the asylum couldn’t have resulted in her developing such extreme feelings for her mother. In fact, it does make a certain amount of sense: if she is spending her days racked by endless, gut-wrenching shame, humiliation and hopelessness, then the idea of her temporary psychosis from the Finale getting worse is reasonable; it becomes a Conflict for her to overcome.

          However, this is not portrayed as what has happened to her. Instead of the Azula from the Finale getting worse, we get the Azula from the Mirror Scene falling off the cliff; all of her complexities from the Finale are absent. Once more, it isn’t that Azula couldn’t have gotten worse, she definitely could have, it’s that Azula’s relationship with her mother alone does not explain the depth of her complexity established in the Finale, which includes her father and country. If she really is suffering from gut-wrenching shame, humiliation and hopeless, leading her to succumb to wacko delusions about her mother, those feelings have to be coming from something already established: her father and country.

           If you think I’m cherry-picking, go back through The Search. Scenes like the above happen over, and over and over again with zero mention of anything close to her Goals and Motivations from the Finale. Remember, feelings are not Goals or Motivations; crying about “destiny” and having “proof” in a dream sequence are not enough, especially when the Finale already established the myriad of things she wants, why she wants them and why she can’t have them.

          In The Search, Azula is not shown to be motivated by a sense off shame or humiliation over her defeat in the Finale, or sense of responsibility for failing to stop Zuko’s take over of the country. You would expect that someone who wanted to be “the greatest leader in Fire Nation history” would not be dismissive of what their failure resulted in, whether or not her enemies had outside help or not. The closest The Search comes to giving Azula Goals and Motivations separate from her mother is wanting to claim the throne from Zuko over arbitrary reasons of “destiny”. Never in the Finale did Azula espouse “destiny” or a desire to be Fire Lord just for the sake of being Fire Lord; it was tied to her desire to be the greatest leader and please her father. Instead, Azula spends the entirety of The Search lashing out at hallucinations of her mother and wanting to make the voices stop. Not once is her father or country mentioned as Motivation.

           Azula does not get portrayed like this unless “love” and “hallucinations” and “being confused” and “my mother thought I was a monster” are taken as the full extent of her Goals, Motivations and Conflicts. You do not portray Azula like this if you properly understand the Mirror Scene as depicting a troubled teenager believing their parent is lying to them (”Don’t pretend to act proud. I know what you really think of me...”) versus her conscience trying to “weaken” her with “love” (”Same as always, Zuzu. Even when you’re strong, you’re weak). In The Search, Ursa is not Azula’s parent in any capacity, past or present, and we are not shown how she has come to feel this way.

           You do not make Azula’s relationship with her mother this drastic unless you fully believe that everything about Azula can be acquired from the Mirror Scene and the Mirror Scene alone, and it appears this is precisely what Bryke believed.

          In a way, the Azula in The Search is an answers to the macabre question: “How much further out of her mind can Azula go if she believes her mother is the source of all of her problems and every key word and emotion from the Mirror Scene is carried forward?”

           To further this point, here are some key lines from the interview in the Sozin’s Comet novelization where Bryke discussed Azula’s “evil”, with commentary added:

           “As The Beach and Sozin’s Comet showed, she has a lot of unresolved issues with her mother.”

           Yes, it appears she does. Where do they come from?

           “She really feels that her mother didn’t lover her as much as Zuko, and this drives her crazy, literally.”

           Wait, what? She was already falling apart by the time the hallucination occurred. What about Mai and Ty Lee, her father and her role as Princess?

           “There are some truly evil people in the world, but in the case of Azula, her repressed emotions and jealousies corroded her spirit and made her become that way.”

           Made her become what way? She’s the Fire Princess; she enjoys being mean and powerful, and she just had a mental breakdown and fell flat on her ass in front of her nation’s capital. What “corroded spirit”?

           “And who knows, she might have a chance to heal.”

           Heal from what, her villainy? Her personality? Her breakdown? She wouldn’t be Azula anymore?? What are you referring to??

           By itself, the Mirror Scene does not reveal Azula’s Goals, Motivations and Conflicts. By itself, it only shows examples of things that give Azula grief and confusion and clearly recognizable human emotions that the viewer can relate to. In other words, feelings.

           Feelings are not Goals. Feelings by themselves are not even Motivations; they have to be in the context of wanting, needing, desiring something in order for them to become Motivations.

          “My mother thought I was a monster” is not a want or a need or a desire. It is a statement of a Conflict and nothing more, whereas, “My mother thought I was a monster (Conflict) and this eats at my soul (Motivation) because I want my mother in my life helping me (Goal)” is getting somewhere.

          Using the mirror scene as a sole reference is how Azula’s throwing of the hair brush in the Finale turns into shooting lightning at water, or her gripping her hair and screaming to reject the words of “love” from the hallucination, or her desiring to literally murder the physical embodiment of the hallucination; it’s because the writers are trying to wring every drop of meaning from this out-of-context interpretation of the Mirror Scene.

          It’s how her want for the throne is based on vague, brand new notions of destiny instead of duty to her country. It’s how you get not a single word from Azula about wanting to correct her image in the eyes of her father... Because the Mirror Scene didn’t say any of this; it was all about her mother, love and confusion.

           And don’t think this myopic, excessive emphasis on the Mirror Scene and Azula’s feelings was limited to Bryke. Oh no. Nobody is getting off easy.

           Take Aaron Ehasz’s comments about his brain bugs for a Post-Finale Azula arc in a hypothetical Season 4, which many fans have found inspiring and also devisive:

            He focuses on “pain”, “love”, “feelings”, “change”, even uses the magic word “redemption”. These are all abstract. Where are Azula’s Goals, especially those revealed in the Finale? Where is “I will be the greatest leader in Fire Nation history?” What does she want to accomplish in this Season 4? What will she be doing? Feelings are not enough. Motivations are not enough. There have to be Goals attached to them.

            “Azula is in the depths of her abyss” is not a Goal, whereas “Azula is in the depths of her abyss (Conflict) because she wakes up every day with gut-wrenching feelings of shame and humiliation that she wants to go away (Motivation), so she wants her normal life back (Goal)” is, once more, getting somewhere. And better yet: “she will do whatever it takes to end her misery” is the beginnings of a story.

           Now take a look at what author Gene Yang wrote when he was asked by a fan if it is possible for Azula to have “happy closure.” What does “happy closure” mean? Well, as someone who now understands Goals, Motivations and Conflicts, you know that it means a character achieving their Goals and no longer having any Conflicts, but what is Gene Yang’s answer?

           He says it’s not even possible.

           Of course it’s possible for Azula to have “happy closure”. Any character can. It’s a matter of them achieving their Goals or losing the Motivation for them. She’s not a robot.

           But hold on! Wasn’t Gene Yang just being vague? Wasn’t he only trying to make a point to get the fan to think for themselves? Maybe even hide the plot of Smoke and Shadow?

           You could have thought that at the time, but as we now know from Smoke and Shadow, Gene Yang wasn’t making a vague, thought-inducing comment to that fan. He was stating that Azula can’t achieve her Goals or change her Motivations. Remember what her Goals and Motivations were from the Finale: be with her father, be the greatest leader in Fire Nation history, and have a parent who can help her. None of those Goals and none of the Motivations behind them were resolved at the end of the Finale, or by the end of The Search; they were ongoing. We didn’t even find out if they had changed between the Finale and The Search. Now take a look at these two scenes from Smoke and Shadow:

           Not even Azula’s mother and brother know what she wants, and in fact, neither do Gene Yang, Bryke, and for the longest time, the majority of the Fandom.

           Why can this conclusion be made about the Creators? Because Azula’s Goals, Motivations and Conflicts established in the Finale, and which had not been resolved by the end of The Search, disappeared entirely in Smoke and Shadow.      

           Without hallucinations, without her mother’s voice giving her haunting assurances of love, without feelings directly attached to the Mirror Scene, there is nothing else inside Azula in the minds of the Creators. Once she runs away into the forest at the end of The Search, after hearing hollow platitudes from her brother, she becomes “weightless… free”.

           There are no unresolved issues with her father. There is no goal to be the greatest leader in her country’s history. There is no desire to absolve herself of her failures to prevent the old regime from falling. There is no sense of personal responsibility for failing to stop Zuko and thereby prevent the destruction of the colonies. There isn’t even a relationship with her mother if it can’t be tied to hallucinations.

           By placing all emphasis on the Mirror Scene in the comics, everything about Azula became searching for “love” and feeling “confused” because those were the key words used by the hallucination in the Mirror Scene. “Love” becomes just a word she needs to hear (“I love you, Azula” from the hallucination, “You’re still my sister” from Zuko) without regard to who it comes from (supposed to be from her parents) or whether it is actually meant (there is no reason for Azula to believe Zuko, or even seek it from him; he’s not a parent and he’s a mortal enemy responsible for her ills).

           There was nothing about one’s duty to their country as a Princess; there was nothing about living up to her parents’ standards, both parents’ standards; there was nothing about becoming the greatest leader in Fire Nation history, and becoming Fire Lord (either via the letter or vicariously in Smoke and Shadow) is not becoming the “greatest leader” to Azula. It simply means being Fire Lord. This is what was revealed  in the Finale when she still wasn’t satisfied despite being on the verge of being crowned. And finally, there was nothing about resolving her feelings of fear, anxiety, stress and doubt that resulted from her failures to achieve her Goals during the Finale.

           So why did this happen?

           On the Creators’ side, it’s impossible to speak for them, but judging by the interview in the Sozin’s Comet novelization, not even Bryke paid attention to the Phoenix King and Throne Room scenes. They became myopic about Azula’s relationship with her mother too, and forgot all about her other relationships and motivations, namely those involving her father, country and self. As a result, their understanding of their “favorite villain”, as they described her in the Art of the Animated Series, became a vacuous, distorted mirage (literally a ghost in Smoke and Shadow) of her former self and her Arc that was begun in the Finale was abandoned entirely.

           On the Fandoms’ side, it’s a combination of things:

1)    The Fandom had not been “primed” to have their view of Azula challenged, so the “subtleties” of her relationship with her father and country got overshadowed by Ozai donning a ridiculous outfit, Azula banishing people in a blue-colored throne room and “Oh my god, Ursa!!”;

2)    The Mirror Scene was “sexy”; it was eye-opening, jaw-dropping; it made you go, “Holy crap!” The eerie violin score was haunting, the voice acting was top notch and it had big, bad Azula on her knees sobbing like a wimp. Naturally, it stood out in peoples’ minds whereas the Phoenix King and Throne Room scenes fell behind the desk, and thirdly;

3)    Azula’s relationship with her mom is primarily about feelings. A show as visually stunning and well-voice acted as Avatar is, first and foremost, about inspiring feelings in the viewer. In fact, all stories are about inspiring feelings. The Fandom did not go into the Finale looking to learn about Azula’s complexities, so The Phoenix King and Throne Room developments did not receive the same amount of intense, emotional attachment as the Mirror Scene. Simply put, the hallucination of a mother telling her teenage daughter that she loves her, and that same teenage daughter collapsing into tears over it, is much more heart wrenching and relatable to kids and teenagers than the pressures of ruling a military feudal dictatorship in the image of the Big Bad.

Summary

           To understand a fictional character, you have to know their Goals, Motivations and Conflicts. Next, you have to identify their Flaws, Quirks and Personality Traits, which add distinction and depth and provide internal sources of Motivation and Conflict.

Azula’s Goals, as revealed in the Finale, are as follows:

Be With Her Father;

Be the Greatest Leader in Fire Nation History;

Have a Parent Who Can Help Her;

Azula’s Motivations, as revealed in the Finale, are as follows:

Not Be Treated Like Zuko;

Pride & Belief in Her Royal Duties;

Alleviate the Stress Caused by Her Goals;

Azula’s Conflicts, as revealed in the Finale, are as follows:

Her Father Doesn’t Want Her;

She Struggles to Be a Great Leader;

She Doesn’t Have a Parent Who Can Help Her;

           The Mirror Scene and Azula’s relationship with her mother are not enough to reveal her Goals, Motivations and Conflicts. The Mirror Scene, by itself, is only a Conflict, whereas the two additional scenes in the Finale—the Phoenix King and Throne Room scenes—provide her other Goals, Motivations and Conflicts that make the meaning of the Mirror Scene clear: a teenager looking for the support of a parent.

           Excessive emphasis on the Mirror Scene and, by extension, Azula’s relationship with her mother, have created a distorted view of Azula that has harmed her portrayal in the comics and stymied explorations of her value to the Franchise. Instead of Azula being a feudal military leader-in-training who struggles with both her feelings and Goals, she has been reduced to both a myopic interpretation of the Mirror Scene and is limited to her Flaws, Quirks and Personality Traits, none of which are enough to advance her story in the Post-Finale world.

Closing Remarks: How to Move Forward with Azula

           For those fans of Avatar who are curious about what to do with Azula’s Goals, Motivations and Conflicts, and makes use of her Flaws, Quirks and Personality Traits, you have to ask this question: what value can more Azula bring to Avatar?

           No individual character will be more popular than the franchise itself, especially a hated villain who might have the ability to change and grow. Below is a screenshot from Google Trends showing the relative popularities between Azula, Zuko and Avatar: The Last Airbender search results. It demonstrates that secondary characters like Azula are nowhere near as popular as the franchise they are a part of.

           In order to make a character like Azula worth exploring in detail, they have to be made important to both the Main Cast and the Franchise at large. It’s not enough to just have “a” story about Azula; her Goals, Motivations and Conflicts have to be valuable to the Heroes and world of Avatar. There are no hard and fast answers as to how to achieve this, and the franchise has clearly moved on from Azula, but with Avatar being rebooted in live action form, here are some ways to begin approaching this in case the live action version moves into Post-Finale territory.

Azula’s Unique Selling Points

           These are the things that make a character fun, interesting and enjoyable to have on screen. In other words, likable. Toph’s cheekiness, for example, is a Unique Selling Point. Aang’s free-spiritedness is a Unique Selling Point. These can also be called the “fun and games” of a character. They are what viewers want to see, hear and feel when these characters appear on screen. For example, if Toph and Azula are going to appear on screen together after Azula is taken out of the asylum, there better be sass, like in Day of Black Sun.

Azula: Um, right. I think your friend just said that genius. And since you can't see, I should tell you I'm rolling my eyes.

Toph: I'll roll your whole head!

           So what are some of Azula’s Unique Selling Points?

Blue fire;

Lightning;

Skilled martial artist and firebender;

Royalty;

Intelligent;

Snarky and smug;

Smooth-talking;

Confident;

Female in a militarized society, but who does not eschew femininity;

Makes “princess” associated with power and aggression, not passivity;

Dark subject matter surrounding her (e.g. the unresolved emotions in the Finale);

Determination;

Emotional fragility;

Youth (the kid/teenager themes of the show).

Azula’s Value to the Franchise

      This is what makes a character more than just a background character or plot device. It’s what makes them create new fans of the Franchise, add interest, sell product. In other words, add value.

      Haru, for example, adds little value to the Franchise because he’s just a regular Earthbender with no Unique Selling Points and his relevance to the plot and characters is over. Iroh, on the other hand, is absolutely full of Unique Selling Points and provides insights into the Avatar world and its characters. His perspective adds value. His abilities add value. His importance to the Heroes adds value.

      So what makes Azula relevant to the franchise beyond just being a villain?

She can teach us about firebending through her blue fire and lightning;

She can provide an aggressive firebending female, which ATLA does not have;

She can teach us about the Fire Nation through the eyes of someone who doesn’t appreciate Zuko’s transformative policies;

She can teach us about what it means to be a girl/woman in the Fire Nation;

She can teach us about the Fire Nation’s military, government and history;

She can represent the “old” Fire Nation that Zuko must reform.

Azula’s Critical Relevance to the Heroes

           Since any story is ultimately about its characters, Azula not only has to be relevant to the Heroes, but critically relevant to justify deeper exploration. So to which characters is Azula critically relevant?

           Ursa, Zuko, and to a lesser extent, Iroh.

           As Azula’s mother, Ursa will be implicitly concerned with her daughter’s well-being regardless of how us fans feel; as a young member of the Royal Family who can firebend, she is relevant to the Royal Family’s continuation, and by extension, Zuko’s legacy; and as the sister of Zuko, she is Iroh’s niece, in other words, family.

           Essentially, if there is any drama surrounding the Royal Family in the Post-Finale world (and how could there not?), Azula is a fundamental part of it. I call this the “Royal Family Drama Triangle”.

Azula’s Critical Importance to the Plot

           Azula must also be essential to both resolving the Primary Conflict of the story. This forces the viewer or reader to implicitly care about Azula’s Goals, Motivations and Conflicts since she impacts the fate of the Heroes directly.

           What are some of the problems that Azula can be critically necessary in solving? To begin answering this question, you have to sit down and think about what kind of problems the Heroes would face in the Post-Finale world. This article series, How to Develop Avatar’s Season 4, provides one such scenario.

           One way to answer this question is to look at the unchanging aspects of Azula’s character, the thing’s that don’t go away whether she is a villain or not, and these are: 1) she is a young, firebending member of the Royal Family; 2) she is a member of the old regime that Zuko must reform; and 3) she is Ursa’s daughter. This suggests that the type of plot that Azula can take a major role in is one where the Fire Nation and Royal Family are at the center. Princess Azula of the Fire Nation might not care about the rest of the world like Zuko, but certainly she will care about the Fire Nation and its Imperial Government.

           Some of the specific problems in the Post-Finale world that Azula can help solve:

Quelling unrest in the Fire Nation over Zuko’s policies;

Stopping a rebellion against Zuko and the Imperial Government;

Saving the Royal Family from assassination/coup (i.e. eradication);

And others if you can come up with them.

How to Develop an Arc for Azula

           Finally, how do you go about developing an Arc for Azula in the Post-Finale world? Remember that to understand a character you need to identify their Goals, Motivations and Conflicts. This also applies to creating a character, but when it comes to creating an Arc, you have to add in the Epiphany.

           A character’s Epiphany is simple to describe, but difficult to execute: it’s how they grow and change in order to either achieve their Goals, or lose their Motivations and move on in life. The Epiphany is the result of the character’s journey to achieve their Goals combined with their Motivations, Conflicts, Flaws, Quirks and Personality Traits. It is, in essence, what the story is all about. For example, Zuko did not arrive at his Epiphany easy and his decision to betray Iroh in Crossroads of Destiny was not a random step backwards: it was the result of everything about him. An Epiphany for Azula would undoubtedly be complicated and multi-layered, probably much, much more so than Zuko’s.

           To begin developing an Arc for Azula, you first have to identify what remains of her Goals, Motivations and Conflicts from the Finale when the story picks up with her in this new Post-Finale story. Remember that she suffered a mental breakdown, was humiliated in the eyes of her nation and has been locked away in an asylum for some length of time.

           Next you have to devise a new Central Conflict that drives both her and the Main Cast through the story, something that requires all of their actions to solve. Then you have to establish her new Goals, Motivations and Conflicts in relation to that Central Conflict and the Post-Finale situation she faces, and finally, you have to put her in situations that test her, make her think, challenge her values, that make her change and grow. How you do this is up to you, but her are some pointers:

           Always think about her Unique Selling Points. Blue fire? Make her ability to produce blue fire important to the story and not just a thematic decision. For an idea as to how to tie blue fire into the Avatar world at large, see the article, The Science and In-World Reason for Azula’s Blue Flames.

          Azula was locked in an asylum? Make it have lasting effects on her that she struggles with. She is royalty? It better be more than just a title, but responsibility and a part of her personal code. Snarky, confident, intelligent and brave? There’s a lot you can do with someone who doesn’t shy away from danger and enjoys infuriating people, especially when they have the literal firepower to back it up.

           Always strive to make her add value to the Franchise. She is a female firebender, something that ATLA has a dearth of. This is good; make her femaleness mean something. Along these lines, she is a great opportunity for a “Female Power Fantasy”. Just ask R.F. Kuang about it. She is also not the victim of circumstance or the actions of others as many characters in Avatar are. This gives her a different type of change and growth story compared to Zuko’s.

           Use her to talk about the Fire Nation’s militarized culture, the same culture that “pure heart and unquestionable honor” Zuko somehow has to change. Use her to reveal the Fire Nation’s history and politics as it pertains to Zuko’s rule without going into “Info Dumps” since, as a princess, Azula would naturally be concerned with those subjects. Also use her to help advance Avatar’s East Asian themes. The fact that Azula is a feudal leader-in-training and female can give you a lot of material to work with (east Asian origins article).

           Maker her critically relevant to the heroes. Find legitimate reasons for why Zuko, Ursa, Iroh and even members of the Gaang would care about Azula’s thoughts and feelings; if they care we care. Don’t think this is possible? It is definitely possible.

           And finally, make Azula critically important to the plot. She cannot be a side character; she is too loathed and hated and has too much bad blood with the Gaang for her presence to be tolerated without some pressing need for her to be around. Whatever role she takes, it has to be big. It has to be obvious that Azula’s involvement is required. The Gaang has to think, “Well, damn, we need Azula’s help.” Zuko has to think, “I hope she makes the right decision and helps me. I know she can.” Iroh has to think, “I hope my niece isn’t killed.” Ursa has to think, “I want the love of my daughter. I want my daughter back.”

           In short, you have to make Azula important.

           Remember: her Arc in the Finale was not finished. It still can.

[onebadwinter]

Baron Helmut Zemo Tropes

Taken from Here and Here

Anti-Villain: Sometimes verges on this, though it's a case of Depending on the Writer.

Arch-Enemy: After his father's death, he takes this role to Captain America and leads the Masters of Evil after inheriting the title.

Aristocrats Are Evil: He's a baron after all, and believes his aristocratic heritage entitles him to rule.

Avenging the Villain: Helmut's original motive was to kill Captain America because he killed his father. Eventually, Helmut came to the realization that actually, Heinrich was an awful father and an even worse person.

Badass Normal: Has no powers, but regularly fights the likes of Captain America and the Avengers. He usually has a contingency that will allow him to deal with his opponent's plans anyway; it's only when these contingencies fail (as happened during his battle with Moonstone at the end of the initial run on Thunderbolts) that he's in trouble.

The Big Bad: Of his fare share of arcs, particularly those involving the Masters of Evil.

Brain Uploading: He only survived being decapitated because Techno uploaded his consciousness to a computer.

Butter Face: A Rare Male Example. He has the body you'd expect of somebody who can keep up with Captain America in terms of physique... but that handsome form is contrasted by a hideously malformed visage. For a while, he had a young, dashing look again after hijacking the body of the Helmut from another Earth, but only two years later his face got disfigured again. When he got Carla Sofen's Moonstone, he used it to fix that, but when Melissa broke it again...

Calling the Old Man Out: During his trip back in time, he ran into his father while the latter was gleefully doing mad science for the Nazis. Helmut had long since discarded any Nazi prejudices he had once had, and was fuming watching his father put down other races, the handicapped, etc. Finally he had enough and started beating the hell out of him while giving a "Reason You Suck" Speech. Quite the sign of Character Development for the guy who started out worshiping and avenging his father's memory.

Captain Patriotic: At the beginning of the Thunderbolts, he disguised himself as Citizen V, supposedly the son of a previous hero who'd gone by that name, whom Zemo had killed. Zemo went the whole hog, even decking himself in a cape designed after the American flag.

The Chessmaster: Zemo has a plan for everything, and lays them out months in advance.

Cool Mask: Wears a tighter fitting version of his father's mask.

The Cynic: Has a generally negative view of humanity.

Daddy Issues: He loved his father, and his father loved him... until the Adhesive X incident, where he became outright abusive in every way. Originally, Helmut blamed Captain America. Now, he acknowledges that his father was just a horrible human being.

Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: He once shot the Grandmaster, one of the Elders of the Universe and a being way outside his normal weight class, through the head. Admittedly, there were mitigating circustances that allowed him to do this, and the Grandmaster did get better (because, hey, comics).

Disney Villain Death: Many, many times (see Never Found the Body below).

Even Evil Has Standards: Arranged the death of one of his ancestors during a time-travel jaunt, after he found out the man was a rapist and a mass-murderer who did it all For the Evulz. He later clashed with another ancestor when he thought he was harassing a girl (the two were actually in love, and he quickly apologised).

Evil Genius

Evil Is Petty:

The Faceless: He rarely ever removes his mask, due to his face being horribly scarred in a accident.

Facial Horror: His head has been slashed up so badly that it's practically a skull, with ribbons of flesh draping over his eyes and sliced-off cheeks and lips. The sight of his face visibly disgusts everyone in the original Thunderbolts.

Freudian Excuse: Raised by his father to believe in his inherent superiority. There wasn't a lot of dad hugs down in that South American jungle, mostly just rants and lectures.

Good Scars, Evil Scars: Hideously disfigured beneath his mask.

Grand Theft Me: After becoming a "ghost", his mind was transferred to the actual son of Citizen V (Techno noted it was basically him playing a joke). That is, until an energy conflict - the V-Batallion tried to teleport Citizen V as the body was being sucked into a portal - made his mind be expelled into Techno's machinery. But given he arrived at Counter-Earth, this meant Zemo could do a literal case of the trope, and took the body of his self from this world.

Heel–Face Revolving Door: Cannot make up his mind which side he is supposed to be on. He even once took a bullet for Cap despite being his sworn enemy.

In the Blood: The arrogance and the drive for control certainly are.

Joker Immunity: Unlike his father, he can never seem to be put down for long.

The Leader: Of the Masters of Evil and the Thunderbolts.

Legacy Character: To his father, Baron Heinrich Zemo XII.

Manipulative Bastard: Zemo's very good at getting other people to do what he wants, playing on their emotions and desires.

Master Swordsman: One of the best in the Marvel Universe. Zemo's dueled the likes of Captain America and survived several decades worth of warfare on a time travel jaunt.

Nazi Nobleman: Started out as one, though he's moved away from fascism in recent years. Nowadays his goals align more with Dirty Communists.

Never Found the Body: During the run of Thunderbolts alone he was declared dead on four separate occasions, all of which turned out to be false. In each instance, his body was never found. By the fourth time, most of the team just assume he'll turn up eventually (not that they want him to).

Noble Demon: He's much more noble than his father,for sure.

Purple Is Powerful: Signifies his aristocratic leanings.

Secondary Color Nemesis: Purple, to oppose Cap's blue and red.

Take Over the World: He insists it's to save it. Some people (like Songbird) aren't convinced.

Taking the Bullet: Once leapt in the way of an energy blast an insane Moonstone aimed at Captain America. Messed his face up bad.

There Are No Therapists: This guy is seriously messed up and would probably have turned out differently if he got professional help.

Token Evil Teammate: Alongside Techno, he serves as this for the first iteration of Thunderbolts. While most members of the team fall somewhere between The Hero and the Anti-Hero, Zemo shows no signs of having softened whilst playing-hero, and alongside Techno manages to almost conquer the world and turn it into a Darwinist nightmare. He also constantly mocks his teammates for wanting to be heroes, calling them "weak" and "traitors to the cause" when they show the smallest signs of heroism outside of their pubic duties.

Unlucky Thirteen: He's the thirteenth Baron Zemo.

Well-Intentioned Extremist: In his mind, at any rate, after some Character Development, he becomes determined to take over the world for its own good. That doesn't mean that he's not an Axe-Crazy terrorist who's willing to perform some truly heinous actions for the sake of the "greater good." Zemo: I would never have hurt a world I worked so hard to save.

Western Terrorists: More like this than a Nazi.

Wicked Cultured: When being held at swordpoint by his worst ancestor, an evil aristocrat who believed only in the absolute of power, said ancestor's son (who'd struck up a friendship with Zemo) asked what was more absolute than power. Zemo's answer? "To be, or not to be."

Worthy Opponent: Sometimes sees Captain America this way, and definitely sees Sharon Carter this way.

Xanatos Speed Chess: He's good at incorporating the gambits of others into his plans, as evidenced by his deft manipulation of Moonstone when they were both members of the Thunderbolts.

One of his nastiest acts of spite was destroying a box of Cap's treasured belongings, including some of his last links to the past, right in front of his eyes.

What was his initial plan in founding the Thunderbolts? Pretend to be heroes, earn America and the world's trust, become famous and respected, and then gather knowledge on the other heroes to... sell to the criminal underworld? Eventually, Moonstone points out this is a freaking stupid plan.

Taken to the highest extreme possible. When he actually did have the power to implement whatever change he might have wanted, Songbird shut him down with the intention of killing him out of not trusting him. What were what he believed could have been his last words?

MCU Zemo Tropes

Adaptational Attractiveness: He's quite handsome here, while his comic counterpart usually has to wear a mask to hide his hideously charred, disfigured face. This is true to his first appearance in the comics as a one-shot villain, before he was scarred upon becoming a recurring character.

Adaptational Heroism: In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, when he does don his iconic comic book alter ego, unlike in the comics where he was a straight-up one-note supervillain, Zemo here is depicted so far as an Ambiguously Evil Anti-Hero ally of Avengers Sam and Bucky without mostly ever betraying them until his escape from the hotel in the fourth episode with most of his redeeming and justifiable qualities shown upfront more than his villainous qualities that Civil War mostly showcased, but still likely an on-and-off antagonist simultaneously during his Enemy Mine with the two superheroes.

Adaptational Nationality: In the comics Helmut Zemo is German, but here he is a Sokovian. Ironically, his actor actually is German, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier sees a bit of his German accent creep in. He also has a vast array of vehicles and a private plane in Germany, and seems very familiar with both Berlin and the German language. Whether this is a Retcon into making him part German or just a Mythology Gag is yet to be seen, though he does identify Sokovia as "his country".

Adaptational Nice Guy: His comic counterpart and that of his father were literal Nazis who wanted mass genocide and world domination, and while the Helmut of the comics did grow out of the former, he still tends to try the latter. This version of Zemo, despite being on a black ops killing team, has a much simpler and more sympathetic motivation, while his father was merely a civilian. Neither have any ties to HYDRA (aside from Helmut's exploitation of HYDRA's Winter Soldier project), while the versions from the comics are both prominent members of that organisation.

Adaptational Wimp: In the comics Zemo is a major adversary of Captain America and the Avengers, with a particular emphasis on his skills at fencing and manipulation. While this version retains his cunning, he is also presented as much less of a direct threat to anyone despite being a former black operative; when Black Panther decides to bring him in alive, he goes down with barely a struggle. Most of his success ties into this, with him exploiting his lack of obvious supervillainous affect to stay under the heroes' radar until his plan requires him to show his hand, then relying on Steve and Tony's flaws and personal issues to do most of the work for him. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier shows that he hasn't forgotten how to do his own dirty work, however, putting his soldier skills to use alongside his usual guile and strategizing once he gets back into the fray.

Adaptation Personality Change: In the comics, Zemo is generally depicted as an unapologetic villain who is primarily driven by a selfish desire to rule over others. His film version, on the other hand, has a much more sympathetic motive for his villainous actions, as he's just a victim of the Avengers' collateral damage in Sokovia seeking revenge for the death of his entire family.

Affably Evil:

Alas, Poor Villain: His defeat in Civil War is treated as an utterly somber affair, with him having nothing left after completing his plan and hoping to commit Suicide by Cop at T'Challa's hands before trying to kill himself when T'Challa refuses to be consumed by vengeance as Zemo has. Even though he got what he wanted (up to a point), it doesn't change the fact that his family is gone forever.

The Alcoholic: Following his escape from prison in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Zemo reveals himself to be a little bit of a tippler, partaking in shots, champagne, helping himself to Sharon's expensive liquor collection, then taking more shots at a club. He apparently approves of the way they party in Madripoor.

All for Nothing: He wanted to destroy the Avengers and was content with them dividing. Thanos's arrival and the events of Endgame undo all of that. In fact, the Avengers are no doubt more beloved than ever as a result.

Anti-Villain: Despite the grim and often hypocritical in hindsight actions he resorts to, he does have some good traits and was hoping for a cleaner way to get what he wanted first. Also, his motive — revenge for the collateral damage-induced loss of his family — is at least a little sympathetic.

Apple of Discord: His Evil Plan is to find evidence that Bucky Barnes murdered Tony Stark's parents while under HYDRA control and show it to Stark, so Bucky's friend Steve Rogers and Tony will turn on each other over whether to spare or kill Bucky, and the Avengers will be ripped apart as they side with one leader or the other.

Arch-Enemy: Since the death of Ulysses Klaue, it seems Zemo has taken his seat as Wakanda's most wanted for the death of King T'Chaka. Not a day after he breaks out of prison, Ayo is already hot on his trail to capture him.

Aristocrats Are Evil: It's revealed in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier that he is a nobleman like his comic counterpart. Though unlike said counterpart, his upbringing had nothing to do with him becoming a villain since his father was by all accounts a decent man in this universe.

Badass Longcoat: The events of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier have Zemo wearing a stylish winter coat, complete with Conspicuous Gloves.

Badass Normal: Unlike most of the Avengers, he's just a plain old human. But, through sheer patience and ingenuity, he still managed to tear them apart. During the trip to Madripoor he proves to be no slouch in combat either, reminding everyone he was former special forces. He also comes much closer to permanently stopping Morgenthau than Falcon or Bucky have ever managed so far, largely because he's fully willing to kill.

The Bad Guy Wins: Downplayed. Zemo has achieved his goals but with never with the fully desired outcome.

Batman Gambit: He's good at finding ways to make other people do things for him by exploiting their predictable behavior.

Beard of Evil: He has grown a beard during his eight years in prison as seen in Episode 2 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Beware the Superman: His return in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier reveals his own take on the idea. While he is against the idea of a Super Soldier on principle, he is not specifically against them as people, but more how they are precisely put on a pedestal, their flaws washed away/ignored and subsequently inspire Blind Obedience. He specifically notes how the personal loyalty inspired by Steve Rogers to Sam and Bucky (then, even now) precisely drives them to such extremes—even breaking the law much like they did to free him. Sam and Bucky do not protest the point. He admits that Steve was not corrupted by the power he was given but points out there was only one of him compared to the many who would abuse it. He is proven right on this point by John Walker taking the super soldier serum and going off the deep end.

Big Bad: Of Captain America: Civil War. He exploits and exacerbates the ideological differences between Captain America and Iron Man, resulting in the eponymous Good vs Good conflict that threatens to destroy the Avengers.

Big Damn Villains: As Sam, Bucky, and Sharon are pinned down by bounty hunters in the Madripoor shipyard, Zemo suddenly makes a grandiose entrance in full villain garb on a ledge, killing several assassins by shooting a nearby gas tank with his pistol before going to ground and taking down the rest in close combat, opening up the heroes' window of escape.

Blue Blood: The Falcon and The Winter Soldier reveals that he was always a baron. While the fall of Sokovia took away most of the power of the title he still has a lot of money and connections as a result of his position.

Breaking the Fellowship: Thanks to his efforts, the Avengers are severely compromised, with several of the foundational friendships that held them together torn apart and anyone who sided with Cap imprisoned or branded a fugitive. Even Tony and his supporters still bear physical and mental scars caused by fighting their friends.

The Bus Came Back: After being imprisoned at the end of Civil War, Zemo returns in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, with the title characters seeking his assistance in tracking down the source of the Flag Smashers's Super Soldier powers.

Cape Busters: Has a personal grudge against the Avengers and plots to destroy them by pitting them against one another. By the time of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he has apparently narrowed his vendetta to all super soldiers, stating that they "cannot be allowed to exist." At the same time, as stated above in Beware the Superman, his is more nuanced compared to other versions of this trope.

Character Tic: He has a habit of tilting his head whenever he's attempting to manipulate someone. It seems to be a subconscious thing he does, as he immediately stops doing it when Sam notices and lampshades it in Episode 4 of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.

The Chessmaster: He plays all the Avengers like pawns. He frames Bucky for a crime, to have the world hunt him and lure him out of hiding. This partially causes the Avengers to turn on each other, divided over Bucky's innocence. He takes the UN interrogator's place, extorting information out of Bucky and using the trigger words to activate Bucky's soldier conditioning. Before finally showing Tony the tape of what really happened to his parents, sending him into a murderous rage to kill Bucky.

Colonel Badass: He used to be a Colonel in the Sokovian Special Forces, and he is one of the most effective foes the Avengers have faced — though not because of his combat abilities, but because of how effective he is about executing his plans.

Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: In Civil War, he's never called "Baron Zemo", the title he goes by in the comics, and is instead referred to by his military rank Colonel. This is subverted in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which reveals that he was Sokovian royalty and has several characters address him as "Baron".

The Comically Serious: His stoic demeanour tends to stick out when he's in the same room as Sam and Bucky, like when he awkwardly jumps to the defense of Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man" soundtrack, or his crappy dancing in Sharon's nightclub.

Composite Character: He takes Klaue's role as the man who murders King T'Chaka.

Cool Car: He actually has a lot of these. His family owned an impressive collection of classics, with plenty of Rolls' and Bentleys in his garage. It's a taste he himself had acquired, as he, Sam, Bucky and Sharon make their getaway out of Madripoor in a super-charged muscle car he had stashed in the docks.

Crusading Widower: His wife was among the civilian casualties in Sokovia. He keeps a recording of her last voice message on his phone.

Cunning Linguist: Zemo's multilingualism allows him to assume different identities. Aside from his native Sokovian, he speaks English, German, Russian, and presumably French, given that he was able to convincingly impersonate a French-speaking psychologist.

Death Seeker: Once he has put Iron Man against Bucky and Cap, he first attempts to persuade Black Panther into killing him, then decides to shoot himself. Black Panther catches the bullet before snagging him a headlock so he can face justice.

Determinator: He manages to find new resolve after Civil War, and Iron Man's sacrifice has done little to change his views. With Iron Man dead and Captain America retired, he decides he will stop the creation of any and all super soldiers in the world no matter what happens.

Divide and Conquer: His plan against the Avengers, seeing that there's absolutely no chance he can fight them on his own. He even compares the Avengers to some sort of a mighty empire, which can only be felled by using this tactic.

Driven to Suicide: Tries to goad T'Challa into killing him, and then to shoot himself when he refuses. Neither works out for him; making enemies of a guy with Super Strength and a bulletproof suit was a bad idea, evidently.

Elites Are More Glamorous: His family is Sokovian nobility and he was colonel in EKO Scorpion, Sokovia's black ops kill squad. Even if Sokovia was a developing Balkans country, that still makes him pretty dangerous.

Enemy Mine: Downplayed Trope. Despite not personally hating Sam and Bucky, the latter two consider their alliance with Zemo this due to Civil War and the damage he caused; the only reason they tolerate him is that he can accomodate them with the resources they need to take down the Flag-Smashers. To his credit, Zemo doesn't hesitate in helping their cause because of his Beware the Superman beliefs, even expressing interest in facing Karli Morgenthau herself.

Even Evil Has Standards:

Evil Genius: While he has combat training, his greatest strength is his intellect. Aside from his abilities as The Chessmaster, Zemo was able to crack the encrypted HYDRA files on the Winter Soldier program that Black Widow released to the Internet and build a very effective EMP bomb in his hotel room.

Face Death with Dignity: When T'Challa finally catches up with him at the end of Civil War, he's completely calm and fully prepared for T'Challa to kill him to avenge his father, even seeming to acknowledge that in his mind T'Challa's revenge against him is just as justified as his own revenge against the Avengers. Later, in episode 5 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he's completely calm and accepting when it looks like Bucky is going to execute him, and later he calmly walks away with the Dora Milaje when they show up to take him into custody, knowing there's a decent chance he's going to be executed in a spectacular fashion in Wakanda for killing the king (for some reason the Dora Milaje went to all that trouble just to turn him over to the U.N. where he'll be held in the same prison that used to hold Captain America's half of the Avengers, but he's got no way of knowing that).

Facial Scruff: His brief appearance in the second episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has Zemo with this due to his time spent in prison. Downplayed in that it looks relatively thin despite having been locked up for eight years at this point, and he shaves it off shortly after.

Fantastic Racism: He has a distaste for enhanced individuals in general, and super soldiers in specific. Specially if such super soldiers are put on pedestals he deems completely unearned.

Flaw Exploitation: He turns the Avengers, particularly Steve and Tony, against each other through a series of Batman Gambits with the ultimate goal of making them fight each other to the death — or if not that, at least to the point of no longer being a cohesive unit. In particular, he reveals to Tony the truth of what happened to his parents knowing that he'll go into an Unstoppable Rage against Bucky and that Cap will prioritise keeping Bucky alive even at Tony's expense.

Friend to All Children: Invoked in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. In the fourth episode, Zemo earns the trust of a few children in Latvia by offering them sweets in exchange for information. But he also uses to opportunity to manipulate them into thinking Bucky and Sam aren't to be trusted.

Four Eyes, Zero Soul: When he infiltrates the UN compound to activate the Winter Soldier, he wears a pair of glasses as part of his disguise.

From Nobody to Nightmare:

Gambit Roulette: The final part his master plan relies on little other than his assumptions on the personalities and capabilities of various characters after studying thousands of pieces of intel from HYDRA and S.H.I.E.L.D. that Black Widow dumped online back in Winter Soldier. The whole thing would have fallen apart if...

Godzilla Threshold: Sam and Bucky see recruiting him to stop the Flag-Smashers at this...and ultimately cross it when they run out of options.

Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: Even if any of the above had happened, Zemo still would’ve won because his entire goal was for the Avengers to disband - whether through an amicable parting-of-ways or a bloodbath - it was always a matter of how big his win would be. The only real flaw in his plan was the interference of Black Panther, and the creation of the Sokovia Accords, both of which he’d have no way to account for.

He Who Fights Monsters: He wants to take revenge for the death of his family, which he blames on the Avengers for causing collateral damage in the Battle of Sokovia. In doing so, he is responsible for the deaths of dozens of innocent people himself. He even earns someone coming after him for revenge in T'Challa.

Hidden Agenda Villain: His motives remain unclear for much of Civil War and are only revealed as the final battle is taking place.

Hidden Depths: Like Sam, he's a fan of Marvin Gaye and considers "Trouble Man" a masterpiece.

High Collar of Doom: He does the Marquee Alter Ego and Not Wearing Tights through the whole of Civil War, but his winter gear in the third act features a large collar turned up, giving off this vibe. His supervillain gear in Falcon and the Winter Soldier also features one of these, albeit with his comic self's fur trim included.

Human Shield: Thanks to his EKO Scorpion training, is fully capable of taking hostages to hide and shoot behind, as a group of assassins in Madripoor discovered.

Hypocrite:

Interrupted Suicide: After explaining his motivations to T'Challa and apologizing for the death of his father, Zemo tries to shoot himself in the head. T'Challa, however, has none of that, and stops him to make sure he pays for his crimes and turns him over to the authorities.T'Challa: The living are not done with you yet.

It's Personal: Zemo has a personal vendetta against the Avengers. His family was killed during the Battle of Sokovia and he simply wants revenge on those he holds responsible. As pointed out in Beware the Superman, he extends this to any Super Soldier held in such high regard, which is why he has no problem teaming up with Sam (who's more or less Badass Normal like himself) and Bucky (who is a Super Soldier, but isn't exactly held in high regard).  When he, Sam, Bucky, and Sharon come across the HYDRA scientist responsible for creating more Super Soldiers after the failed Siberian Winter Soldiers, Zemo quietly and stoically shoots the man before the team is attacked.

Jerkass Has a Point: In episode 4 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Zemo explains why he doesn’t believe that super soldiers should be allowed to exist. By his own previous statements, Sam would probably agree with much of what he says, and John Walker spends the rest of the episode illustrating his arguments.

Kick the Son of a Bitch:

Kill and Replace: Murders the psychologist who was supposed to be evaluating Bucky and takes his place, taking the opportunity to activate Bucky's brainwashing during the evaluation.

Knight of Cerebus: He's a Villainous Underdog, but he manages to tear the Avengers apart through tactics. Unlike previous villains, his methods includes manipulating Tony into trying to execute Bucky to avenge the deaths of his parents and turning on Steve in the process. Averted in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier when his Laughably Evil side lightens the mood.

Know When to Fold 'Em:

Laser-Guided Karma:

Laughably Evil: Downplayed the next time he makes an appearance as he becomes The Comically Serious in an Endearingly Dorky kind of way when he joins in Sam's conversation with Bucky to praise Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man" soundtrack, or his lame dancing in Sharon's nightclub.

Manipulative Bastard: He is very skilled at manipulation, having studied the Avengers' psychological profiles in order to exploit their individual weaknesses and play them against each other.

Man of Wealth and Taste: Zemo is a baron and more than loaded, owning a private jet, a fleet of classic cars, a personal retainer, and plenty of money and stashed resources.

Marquee Alter Ego: In Civil War, Zemo does not wear a mask — or any kind of costume at all, unlike his comic book counterpart. This changes in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Master of Disguise: Zemo uses prosthetics and heavy makeup in order to convincingly make himself look like Bucky Barnes in the security cameras, fooling just about everyone into thinking the latter was responsible for the UN explosion. He later pulls a Kill and Replace on the psychiatrist who was intended to interview a contained Bucky with no one none the wiser until things start going wrong. Although the latter example is downplayed as when Tony finally discovers the real psychiatrist's body, he looks decidedly nothing like Zemo's impersonation of him.

Misplaced Retribution: Zemo holds the Avengers responsible for all the damage Ultron caused; while Tony and Bruce did create Ultron (after the former was influenced by Wanda), the "end all human life" thing was still his idea. The rest of the Avengers, however didn't know about Tony's plan, and did their best to stop Ultron once he went rogue.

Moral Myopia: He seeks to avenge his family, but he ends up killing multiple innocents who surely had family of their own. He acknowledges this, seeing as how he apologizes to Black Panther for killing his father but by that time he’s hoping to be killed so he can join his family, either by T’Challa or his own hand, so it’s more about easing his conscience rather than remorse for what his actions indirectly caused.

Movie Superheroes Wear Black: Instead of the purple and gold costume he had in the comics, he sticks to dark civilian clothes. Near the end of Civil War, he has a pitch-black coat with a large collar. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier trailers and promo images however reveal he’ll be getting a new costume featuring his signature purple mask and even incorporating the classic ermine trim on his collar.

Nazi Hunter: As part of his Adaptational Nice Guy he's no longer a member of the Nazi-affiliated and fascistic HYDRA group, but is shown to despite and openly oppose them, telling Karpov that "HYDRA deserves its place on the ash heap". The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has him openly despise Nazis and reveals that he'd been hunting down and killing HYDRA members for years as part of his quest to destroy the Super Serum, long before the destruction of Sokovia.

Necessary Evil: How Bucky, and especially Sam, view him in their fight against the Flag-Smashers. No one knows more about the super-soldier serum and Hydra than Zemo, and fortunately for them, they have a common enemy in the Flag-Smashers.

Nice Job Fixing It, Villain!: While his plan does succeed in its goal, it does allow Steve to find Bucky, after fruitlessly spending two years scouring the Earth for him, and gives them an ally who can get the brainwashing out of Bucky's head.

Nice to the Waiter: He is quite friendly and courteous to both a staff member of the hotel he stayed at for Civil War, and his old family butler.

No-Nonsense Nemesis: Zemo is an extremely pragmatic man who knows full well that he's just an ordinary person in an extraordinary world, and realizes that it will give him no quarter if he were to dally about with regards to his vengeance. He has no choice but to be utterly cutthroat if he wants to complete his goal. This is especially shown in his first full-blown action sequence in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, taking down assassins after himself and the heroes in a surprise attack that wouldn't be out of place in a first-person shooter game.

Non-Action Big Bad: Although he has military training, he never directly fights any of the Avengers in Civil War, acknowledging that he could never physically stand up to the likes of them. Instead, he relies more on subterfuge and deception. Becomes a Subverted Trope by the time of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, showing he's fully capable of taking down several assassins after the heroes, though all of them are still normal humans.

Not So Above It All: After being freed from prison in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Zemo shows that he isn't a stoic and unpleasant individual 24/7. Notably, he jumps in on Sam and Bucky's conversation about Marvin Gaye's Troubleman soundtrack to give his own thoughts on the record, and he can be seen thoroughly enjoying himself Madripoor, drinking quite a bit of hard liquor and awkwardly dancing at the Little Princess nightclub.

Nothing Left to Do but Die: After getting Tony to fight Steve and Bucky, Zemo decides to listen to his wife's voicemail one last time, before deleting it and attempting to commit suicide.

Nothing Personal: He tells T'Challa that he is sorry for killing his father and that he seemed like a good man in Civil War. While conversing with Bucky for the first time since the events of that film in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he says this verbatim about using him to tear apart the Avengers.

Not Wearing Tights: He doesn't wear anything remotely resembling a costume in Civil War. However, he dons the purple mask in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Outliving One's Offspring: His son was a casualty from the Avengers' fight with Ultron.

Old Money: He is generationally wealthy due to his family being Sokovian royalty.

Only Sane Man: In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, it says a lot about Sam's present circle of associates that (other than Sharon Carter) Zemo is by far the most mentally well-balanced individual Sam has around him at his job.

Papa Wolf: The reason he's out to destroy the Avengers? His family was killed in their fight with Ultron.

Patriotic Fervor: Averted. As Zemo himself remarks ruefully, while he served in Sokovia's armed forces, his drive for vengeance isn't out of any love for the country, as he never actually had much patriotic feeling. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier shows that he does have some serious grievances over how it ended up, though, even chastising Sam and Bucky for not visiting the memorial.

Politically Correct Villain: As part of his Adaptational Nice Guy he's no longer a member of the Nazi-affiliated and fascistic HYDRA group, but is a fan of Marvin Gaye and understands Trouble Man (Sam's favorite album) to be a condensation of the African-American experience. Also berates Sam for stereotyping himself as a "pimp" just because he's flamboyantly dressed.

Purple Is Powerful: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier sees Zemo don a purple mask, coat, and gloves as he resurfaces to the criminal world.

Put on a Prison Bus: Zemo is taken to prison by Black Panther before he can commit suicide, ultimately sitting out the next few years until his return in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.  And it happens again in Episode 5 of the aforementioned series, where he's taken by the Dora Milaje to the Raft.

Pyrrhic Victory: Zemo succeeds in fracturing the Avengers and getting the majority of them branded as fugitives, but he is also captured by Black Panther and still has to face prosecution for the murders he committed. It also works vice versa on his capture being a Pyrrhic Victory for the heroes. Best summarized by the following exchange:Everett K. Ross: So how does it feel? To spend all that time, all that effort, and to see it fail so spectacularly? Helmut Zemo: ...Did it?

Revenge Myopia: Getting his revenge was worth anything — including inflicting upon others the same pain he complained about suffering. Lampshaded at the end of the movie, when T'Challa observes that the revenge he seeks has consumed him. Worse still, because he tore the Avengers apart, they had no gameplan and were unable to present a united front against Thanos, leading to even more families the universe over being devastated by the Snap.

Rogues Gallery Transplant: Downplayed. While Zemo is still an enemy of Captain America and The Falcon as he was in the comics, he also ends up becoming an enemy of Black Panther's, due to his involvement in King T'Chaka's death. It extends to the entire nation of Wakanda as well, as they immediately dispatch Ayo to apprehend him when he escapes from prison in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Royals Who Actually Do Something: His noble lineage while serving in the Sokovian special forces makes him this.

Secretly Wealthy: He may have been living the gritty villain life in Civil War (probably to fly under the radar), but The Falcon and the Winter Soldier reveals that he is a wealthy Baron like his comics counterpart. Sam even reacts with "So all this time, you've been rich?"

A Sinister Clue: Zemo is left-handed and is the Big Bad of Civil War. Shooting a gun with his left hand starts off his Big Damn Villains moment in Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Sucks at Dancing: While the gang rests and spends the night at Sharon's club in Madripoor, Zemo's dancing moves leave him wanting. Let's just say he was channeling his inner Commander Shepard.

Suicide by Cop: After apologizing to T'Challa for killing his father, he says that he seemed like a good man "with a dutiful son", saying this last part with a meaningful glance, obviously hinting that he's fine with T'Challa taking vengeance upon him now. When T'Challa refuses to do so, Zemo attempts to just shoot himself, but T'Challa thwarts this effort as well.

Superhero Movie Villains Die: Subverted. After completing his plan to turn Iron Man and Captain America against each other, he first attempts Suicide by Black Panther. Attempts being the operative word, as T'Challa refuses when he realises how close he came to turning out like Zemo. As a result, Zemo attempts to shoot himself in the head, but Black Panther stops him and turns him into the authorities, leaving him incarcerated but very much alive.

Supporting Protagonist: Of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, as most of Bucky's and Sam's story and dynamic are sometimes told from his viewpoint during his team-up with them.

They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: There's nothing from his looks that would suggest that he's more than just an everyday guy.

Took a Level in Cheerfulness: He's much more upbeat in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier than he was in Captain America: Civil War. Which makes sense: in the latter he had just lost his family and was on a revenge quest whereas in the former the stakes aren't as personal and he's had time to grieve for his family in prison, meaning he has the time and temperament to joke around, make fun of "allies" and dance badly.

Took a Level in Kindness: Downplayed, but in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he's much friendlier with Sam and Bucky than he was with Tony and Steve in Civil War. Justified, as this time around he's working together with them to take down the Flag-Smashers and even then he still takes the time to engage them in relatively civil conversations.

Tragic Villain: He pursues his vengeance purely because he feels he has nothing else to live for without his family. This is highlighted by his decision to goad Black Panther into killing him and, when that doesn't work, shoot himself.

Tritagonist: Of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, when he teams up with Sam and Bucky in their crusade to defeat the Flag Smashers, while being more developed as a character in contrast to his debut in Civil War along the way of the narrative.

Tranquil Fury: Despite spending the whole movie on a murderous crusade, Zemo avoids all the theatrics of Loki or Ultron and seldom even raises his voice. This includes when he finally spells out his motives to the heroes.

Troll: Even when he's not manipulating or killing everyone around him, he's kind of a dick, as seen in his reappearance in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, reciting Bucky's trigger phrase, knowing it doesn't work, just to upset him, needling Sam about his experience in the Raft, and later telling his retainer to serve Sam and Bucky them any food that's gone off.

Truer to the Text: Zemo in Civil War was a borderline In Name Only depiction of him. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier retroactively adds a lot more aspects of the original comic character, such as his noble status, his costume, and his physical prowess.

Unknown Rival: To the Flag-Smashers, particularly Karli Morgenthau. Do to being enhanced with the super-soldier serum, Zemo considers the Flag-Smashers to be dangerous individuals, and is more than willing to form an Enemy Mine with Sam and Bucky to take them down. Karli on the other hand, isn't even aware that Zemo exists until he shoots her and destroys the serum right in front of her. Even then, she seems more content to get up and run than to try to confront him for his actions.

Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He successfully managed to break up the Avengers, hoping to bring down the most powerful team of beings in the universe to avenge the deaths of his family. Unfortunately for him, it worked a little too well, as they don't stand on a united front when Thanos arrives and, despite putting up a good fight, get flattened by the Mad Titan. Said Mad Titan then uses the Infinity Stones to wipe out half of all life in the universe, turning the world into a total mess that it spends five years trying to recover from until the Avengers find a way to set things right. Even when they do undo the Snap, the world falls into utter chaos once again trying to handle those that were restored to life, leading to the Flag-Smashers taking rise and causing just enough trouble to force Bucky and Sam to bust Zemo out of jail to help them.

Villain Protagonist: So far of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, when he teams up with Sam and Bucky to take down the Flag Smashers, getting more screen time and more of his development unlike in Civil War.

Villain Respect: As of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Zemo develops this towards Sam Wilson due to his refusal to be ehnanced into being super soldier while maintaining his idealistic outlook. He also concedes that Steve Rogers was not corrupted by the power he held but holds him as an exception.

Villainous Underdog: He's not a Physical God, not an alien, nor a Super Soldier. He's just a former military colonel with patience, a simple yet effective plan, and The Power of Hate. This is exactly why Sam and Bucky decide to bring him into their crusade against the Flag-Smashers.

Weak, but Skilled: Invoked. Zemo is a professionally trained special ops colonel who has the combat skills to take down regular men with ease. However, he knows that no amount of skill can destroy a group of enhanced individuals like the Avengers, and so relies on his manipulation and espionage skills to turn them against each other instead.

Weapon of Choice: A Smith and Wesson 6906 pistol, which he uses to execute the other Winter Soldiers and attempt suicide.

Well-Intentioned Extremist: Zemo's objective in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is to stop the creation of any and all super soldiers, believing that they create symbols of facism like the Red Skull once did. He accomplishes this in the fourth episode by shooting Karli Morgenthau multiple times and then smashing the remaining vials as Nico is helping her escape him.

What You Are in the Dark: When Zemo corners Karli and discovers the last of the Super Soldier Serum in her possession, rather than take it for himself, which would have made his mission a lot easier, he smashes the vials and would have successfully destroyed them all had Walker not intervened.

Wicked Cultured: He's a connoiseur of music and art, as revealed in Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: He has quite a sympathetic motive for his mission of revenge against the Avengers, namely that he blames them for the death of his family.

Xanatos Speed Chess: He's not in control of everything that happens in Civil War (for one thing, he has nothing to do with the Sokovia Accords), but he's good at taking advantage of unexpected situations to further his plans. Even more so in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. In Civil War, at least he still instigates most of the events, but in the show, he's broken out of prison without having expected to and is more or less thrust into an ongoing conflict he has nothing to do with. He still manages to play the heroes and the villains—that he utterly disagrees with—and so far has gotten away completely unscathed, once again having succeeded at what he set out to do.

He's the Big Bad of Civil War and is more than willing to commit mass murder to achieve his ends, but the times he acts polite or remorseful are genuine. He states he'd rather avoid unnecessary deaths if he can, has a few standards, apologizes to T'Challa for killing his father, has regular courteous interactions with a staff member of the hotel he's staying at, and even eventually apologizes to Bucky for using him. Considering he's just a grieving man who's dedicated to avenging the deaths of his family, it makes sense he wouldn't act like a cackling maniac.

By The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, he is shown to be fairly courteous to those around him (who, apart from his family butler were his enemies before) and he is capable of holding civil conversations with Bucky, even offering him a genuine apology for his actions in Civil War. He also agrees to join Sam and Bucky's crusade against the Flag-Smashers, without the driving of a hard bargain one might expect from him. He is also fully willing to lend his resources from the criminal underground to Sam and Bucky to take the Flag-Smashers down, no questions asked.

While none of the Avengers die as a consequence of his plan in Captain America: Civil War, he accomplishes his main goal in dividing them and is content with this. While the looming threat of Thanos forces them back together in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the reunion turns out to be temporary — by the time of Spider-Man: Far From Home, WandaVision, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the Avengers are still very much defunct.

In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he successfully killed the man who recreated the super soldier formula and destroyed all but one of the remaining samples while inadvertently leading to John Walker gaining the Super Serum for himself. This turns in Zemo's favor after Walker brutally executes a defenseless Flag Smasher in broad daylight in front of civilians, corrupting the image of super soldiers in the public eye. He willing gives up a chance at pulling a Villain: Exit, Stage Left to visit a memorial and allows him self to be captured, his work done.

He framed Bucky Barnes for bombing the United Nations, then relied on everyone else including Captain America hunting him down for it, and further that no one but the Avengers would even be capable of killing Bucky, to get access to Barnes and his knowledge of HYDRA bases.

He arranges for his ruse to be discovered by the media, relying on Tony to find out and make amends with Captain America, so they'll both find the Siberian compound where Zemo reveals to them that Bucky killed Tony's parents.

His entire plan is based on assumptions from the S.H.I.E.L.D. intel on the Avengers he's studied that Captain America's over-protectiveness of his friends and Iron Man's complex over the death of his parents would mean not only that the two would turn on each other if Bucky's involvement in the Starks' death was revealed, but that Steve wouldn't have talked to Tony about Bucky's potential involvement beforehand.

His setup gambled on the fact that it is a conflict that only works if there are no voices of reason to hold either of them back. The fact that the airport fight left only two active members of the Avengers, Bucky and a third party present in the Hydra compound in a place where no one would interfere was a happy accident for him since most of the Avengers present could have prevented things from reaching the breaking point. Of course, this is covered under Heads I Win, Tails You Lose.

Notably, this is also why he finds Bucky a bit tolerable, since he is being bewared of.

In a stark contrast to his comics depiction, he lacks any affiliation with HYDRA and outright states that they deserved to be brought down. A conversation in Falcon and the Winter Soldier reveals he despises the Red Skull and those who idolize him, and he kills Doctor Nagel while the man is gloating about being a god.

Despite his profound hatred of the Avengers, he declined to unleash the other five Winter Soldiers and shot them dead rather than risk someone else doing so, as they were worse than Bucky and would do untold damage to the world given the order. He also seems uncomfortable with the concept of experimenting on humans in general.Zemo: If it's any comfort, they died in their sleep. Did you really think I wanted more of you?

Zemo was "just" a special forces operative, but when his family was killed, he used his intel on HYDRA to take on the Avengers and came closer to destroying the team than any previous villain.

Falcon and the Winter Soldier reveals that at some point, he became involved with the criminal underground, under the simple but accurate alias of "Baron".

A) Captain America and Bucky had captured Zemo before Iron Man arrived (then again, he was in a fortified bunker that would take serious fire-power to break through).

B) Iron Man had not figured out where Cap and Bucky were headed in the first place.

C) Iron Man had not come alone, meaning there might have been someone to restrain him or talk him down after he learned the truth.

D) Black Panther had succeeded in killing Bucky during one of their three fights during the course of the film (of course it’s highly unlikely that he even knew the Black Panther existed).

E) Captain America told Iron Man that the deaths of his parents were orchestrated by HYDRA.

Zemo hates the Avengers after the collateral damage they caused killed his family. So he decides to split the team up and in the process causes collateral damage that kills other people's family members.

Zemo believes that "gods" like the Avengers should not be allowed to exist. Sam points out that be decreeing who deserves to exist, he's speaking like a god.

Tortures and kills Vasily Karpov for information. Karpov is not only a still loyal HYDRA operative but one of the main leaders of the Winter Soldier project and ordered the death of the Starks and his slow death is just desserts. He does the same to  the HYDRA scientist responsible for making more Super Soldiers in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, finishing his work from Siberia.

He also happily participates in the interrogation of Doctor Nagel, the Mad Scientist who recreated the Super Soldier Serum via human experimentation, and personally guns the man down.

Zig-zagged; he knows very well that he can never kill the Avengers himself, since more powerful men than him have tried and all have failed, which is why he makes a plan to get them to kill each other for him.

In the secret HYDRA lab in Madripoor, he and his comrades come under attack. Not knowing where the assailants are, Zemo makes a quick getaway, causing Sam and the others to think he bailed... only to show up moments later when the assassins are in plain view, making it much easier for him to take them down.

 When the Dora Milaje apprehend him a second time in episode 5 of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he surrenders himself without a fight, presumably both because he knew he had no chance of victory and because he had already achieved his goal of destroying the current iteration of the super-soldier serum.

He uses Bucky's Trigger Phrase while the latter's locked in an apparatus, making him go on a rampage. By the end of Civil War, he himself is locked in the same apparatus.

He kills T'Challa's father in the course of his Evil Plan. After T'Challa learns the truth about this, he foils Zemo's attempted suicide to ensure he faces justice for his crimes.

[spaceskam]

it’s smarter to be lucky than it’s lucky to be smart

for @malexweek day 1: meet ugly! warning for mild violence

ao3

"How'd you like to make some money?"

Alex looked up over his drink to the set of pretty eyes across from him. They belonged to a face Alex knew well, a little older and a little more hardened than he remembered, but the eyes were the same.

"You sure know how to rope a guy in," Alex said, putting his drink down and smiling. Kyle rolled his eyes.

“I know how to rope you in,” he said, sitting down and leaning back, “So, you wanna?”

“I’m gonna need more information.”

“There’s this guy, he’s a collector,” Kyle said, looking around before leaning forward and raising his eyebrows, “You know, a collector.” Which was Kyle’s not-so-subtle way of saying he collected alien artifacts.

“Okay, and?”

“And I think you would benefit from him,” Kyle said. Alex snorted a laugh.

“No one’s listening, just spit it out,” Alex prodded. Kyle narrowed his eyes at him which just made Alex even more amused. He missed Kyle. You know, even if he was always scared of taking risks or getting his hands dirty. “Alright, I’ll do it, whatever it is. You clearly need help.”

Kyle took a deep breath to bury his annoyance.

“Tomorrow, 6 PM, I’ll text you the coordinates. Wear a suit.”

“Always.”

-

“A pen? You went through all this trouble so I could steal a pen?” 

Alex’s day job was working IT for a big, boring office building. His hobby was stealing from the guys who owned big, boring companies. He was a good con man, always had been. He hadn’t gotten caught since he was six and didn’t understand the concept of security cameras. So Kyle bringing him to an alien dinner party to steal a pen felt like a waste of his talent.

“It’s not just a pen,” Kyle hissed, grabbing him by the elbow and tugging him to the front door, "It's made of alien technology, it can help translate the thousands of pages we can't read."

"Why do you want to translate it? You sound like those guys who want to blow up the Sphinx of Giza to see what's inside," Alex told him, "Gotta have what's not ours, right?"

"Wrong," Kyle said, squeezing his arm. Alex grinned.

"I like it when you get all rough."

"Stop," Kyle groaned, "I need it because those papers are the last thing I have that might tell me where my dad is." Alex very quickly got serious.

"Okay," he agreed, "I can get it, don't worry."

"Thank you," Kyle breathed, letting him go before knocking on the front door of the large house that was already bustling with humans and aliens alike.

Shockingly, the owner himself, Michael Guerin, answered. He was just like the pictures: slightly tamed curls, a specially tailored paisley suit, and a charming smile tying it all together. A martini glass was in one hand, resting in a fist full of expensive rings. Alex knew those rings. He'd stolen some just like them from another rich alien with an ambiguous job. It was like their calling card. But this alien was much more attractive and his eyes immediately landed on Alex.

"Forgive me, I would know if you were in my invite list," he said, voice smooth and fitting.

"Well, I know who you are, Jay Gatsby," he said and Michael smiled wider, "Oh, sorry, Freudian slip."

“He’s my plus one,” Kyle interjected. Michael reluctantly gave him his attention. “You didn’t specify if there was anyone off-limits.”

“There isn’t,” Michael said, eyes drifting to Alex again, “And if there was, he would not be on that list.”

“Alex,” Alex introduced, deliberately excluding his last name. Michael nodded, looking him up and down slowly despite Kyle saying he was his plus one. Alex raised an eyebrow and Michael just hid his grin behind his glass as he took a sip.

“Come in,” he said after a few seconds of staring.

They walked into the house and Alex’s mind immediately started to calculate when would be the best time to sneak up the stairs and to his office where the pen was. Kyle had shown him a map of the place that he’d gotten his hands on. Up the stairs, hang a right, fourth door on the left. The pen was on his desk, probably, blending in with regular ones that looked just like it.

“So, Alex,” Michael said, leading the way towards the main room. Alex didn’t let his eyes linger on the stairwell or the balcony from the second floor that overlooked the large dining hall. It’d be harder than he wanted to sneak up there without someone noticing. “What do you do?”

“I work in IT at Pryze Inc,” Alex answered. Michael gave him an impressed look. “It’s just IT.”

“That’s where it starts, though, just IT. Give it a few years, you’ll be something great,” he said. Alex hummed, stepping past him to steal two champagne glasses from a caterers tray.

“I’m already something great.”

“I can believe that,” Micahel breathed.

“We all can,” Kyle agreed, accepting the second glass from Alex’s hand. They both took a sip and Michael looked between them.

That’s sort of how it went for the next hour. Alex made small talk and tried to find a good way to slip away. Michael eventually had to make nice with other people, but his eyes did stay on Alex for most of the night. It was a little more than infuriating. Did he know why he was here? Was that why he was watching him?

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom, watch my drink,” Alex said, tilting his head at Kyle. He seemed to understand well enough and grabbed the glass from him. Alex dragged his hand over his arm as he passed, heading for the bathroom.

There were two options, he figured. Either the bathroom excuse would make Michael go the fuck away for long enough to let him get upstairs or, if it didn’t, make he could get Michael to show him upstairs himself. The man was clearly interested.

Alex checked himself in the mirror before pulling out a flask from his suit jacket pocket. He poured a little bit of acetone over his fingers and then dragged them over the underside of his jaw and then dabbed some on his lips. If Michael wasn’t going to leave him alone, he might as well distract him some other way.

When he stepped out of the bathroom, he saw that he made the right decision because Michael was still fucking lingering. He either knew exactly what Alex was here for or Alex was hotter than he even realized. Both were entirely plausible.

Alex walked right up to him.

“You’re not subtle,” Alex said. Michael grinned, his eyes drawing towards his lips and his jaw. Alex decided not to let his smug smile show.

“I’m rich, I don’t have to be.”

“Yeah, well, rich is boring,” Alex responded.

“You really believe that, Robin Hood?”

“I do.”

“Right,” Michael said, enunciating the word deliberately. Alex tilted his head.

“Why don’t you show me upstairs?” Alex asked.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Michael led the way and Alex looked over the banister to wink in Kyle’s direction. He gave a small smile of encouragement and Alex absorbed it, ready to woo this rich alien for long enough to steal the pen. Then he could leave and never deal with him again.

Alex became more sure than ever that Michael didn’t know why he was here whenever he took him directly into his office. It was pristine and well put together, something out of a movie set that didn’t factor in that most people left shit out on their desks in real life. There was a pen cup in the right corner. Four of them looked identical, but only one of those four had that distinct blue tint to the metal clip.

“Have you ever modeled?” Michael asked, “Because I think you would be fantastic at it.”

“Funnily enough, I never was interested in that,” Alex said, turning his back to the desk to make it seem like he hadn’t spotted the pen, “I’m more about brains.”

“So am I,” Michael agreed, stepping closer.

“Are you? I would never have assumed that. It seems you like the show of being rich,” Alex said easily. Michael shrugged.

“Maybe it’s just the best way to meet new people when you’re in my position,” Michael said. Alex eyed him.

“Maybe.”

He got closer and Alex waited for him to go in for a kiss. He knew he would. They always did. And, inevitably, he fell right into that trap.

He pressed into Alex’s space as he kissed him which made him stumble a step back against his desk. Perfect. Alex grabbed his jaw, holding him in place as he let him get a little intoxicated off the taste of his lips. It was just too easy.

Alex used that hold to switch places, pushing Michael into his own desk. He stepped between his thighs, all but holding him in place with one hand on the back of his neck and one on his jaw. Michael seemed to enjoy being manhandled which worked for Alex on more than one level.

It was a slow process. Alex kissed him, drawing out little, pathetic sounds. Alex grinned against his lips and slowly let go of his jaw. He kissed him harder and Michael grabbed his hips, pulling him in closer. Honestly, if he wasn't on a mission, he'd probably let himself get carried away. But, Alex was on a mission and he opened his eyes through it all, checking that Michael was completely distracted before memorizing where the pen was on the desk. He slowly started to edge his hand in that direction, pulling on Michael’s hair for good measure. He groaned in response.

It was a slow process, but Alex managed to slip the pen up his sleeve and hook the clip onto the little armband he had beneath his shirt. Too easy. Way too easy.

Alex kissed him for a few more seconds, but he stopped it when Michael’s hand started to wander.

“Probably a bad idea,” Alex breathed, “We should get back downstairs.”

Michael nodded, reluctantly letting him go. Alex was halfway to the door when he felt an outside force wrap around his arm and the pen was taken from him. Alex snapped his attention to Michael who was still leaning against the desk. He no longer had that kissed-out look on his face.

“You should know who you’re dealing with,” Michael said simply as the pen hung in the air between them. Alex stared for a moment before he dug his hand into his jacket pocket, putting out a little vial of yellow powder. He unscrewed it and tossed it in Michael’s direction easily.

“And you should know who you’re dealing with.”

In the few seconds that it took Michael to get over his shock, Alex dove forward and caught the pen before it hit the ground. Then he turned and quickly exited the room, slipping it in his pocket. Michael was right behind him.

Instead of heading down the stairs, Alex decided to save them both the troubles of making a scene and took a right. He ran down the hall, grinning with satisfaction, and Michael ran after him, decidedly less giddy. Sure, this technically was him getting caught, but Alex knew he was still going to get away. He always did. This was no different. Simply a temporary setback.

The last door in the hallway was a closet that apparently had a secret little latch that led to a set of stairs that led outside. The house was old enough to be built in a time where servants were commonplace and that was a nice way to make sure they didn’t directly interact with your company. Alex was going to use it as a getaway.

He quickly closed the door behind him once he got in there and shoved a conveniently placed umbrella beneath the doorknob. Alex was smiling ear to ear as he found the latch and ran down the steep staircase, taking them two at a time. Kyle would be outside with the car running, waiting for him to just jump in and they’d peel off. He just knew it.

However, when Alex busted through the door, Michael was standing in the way.

“How the fu‒” Alex started to ask without thinking. There was no way any human could make it all the way down the winding staircase and out the door and all the way to the side of the house in the same time it took Alex to get down those stairs. But, then again, he wasn’t human. So, instead, he stopped talking and just threw a punch.

“Alex!” Michael exclaimed, somehow shocked again, and Alex broke into a sprint towards Kyle’s car.

But the car wasn’t started. And Kyle wasn’t in it. He was outside of it, sitting on the hood.

“What the hell are you doing?! I got it, let’s go!” Alex said. But Kyle just gave a smile and shook his head. A feeling of dread slowly started pooling in his gut. Did he really let his childhood fondness for Kyle distract him from a fucking trap? Was that what this was? 

Alex turned and saw Michael coming closer, wiping his bloody lip with his thumb.

“You have good instincts,” Michael said as he neared them. Alex was already trying to figure out how he could get out of this. He could run down the street, maybe hide in the shed of one of the other rich people he lived near until the next morning and people wouldn’t be looking for him. “You think fast and you trust yourself. That’s a good quality to have.”

“This was a setup,” Alex said, whipping back around to face Kyle, “Why the hell would you set me up?!”

“Just listen to him,” Kyle urged, nodding his way, “You’re not in trouble.”

“You still set me up!”

“Yeah, set you up for an interview, one you clearly passed,” Kyle said. Alex’s eyebrows furrowed.

“An interview?” Alex asked. Kyle again gestured towards Michael. Alex slowly turned to face him again, feeling more confused than he cared to admit.

“I run a little underground business, so to speak,” Michael said, “I have a collection of alien artifacts, but it’s harder to get my hands dirty, so I have other people do it for me. Whenever I needed a new face, Kyle suggested you. And he was right. If I didn’t know exactly what you were stealing, I probably would’ve had no idea. And you still almost got away. I could use someone like you.”

“Sorry, I’m freelance,” Alex spat, feeling betrayed as he looked back to Kyle, “You could’ve told me what was going on.”

“If you knew it was a test, you would’ve gotten too cocky. I wanted to show him what you’re actually capable of,” Kyle said, “Don’t be mad.”

“You could quit your day job,” Michael said, “You could make this your full-time gig.”

“You’re a piece of shit, I don’t want to work for some guy who collects artifacts,” Alex said.

“Better than working for Pryze,” Michael pointed out.

Alex stared at him and then Kyle. He didn’t know what to say or how to feel about any of this. He still felt wronged, but also… 

“So what do you say,” Michael asked, “How’d you like to work for me?”

--

if you’re interested in this universe, it’s expanded a little more here :)

[generaleferri]

I often read in comments that Gavin Reed is a plain character with little to no introspection and that he’s nothing more of a jerk.

While I totally agree on him not being a positive character throughout the game, I actually disagree with the idea he wasn’t given some deeper characterization.

Since dissecting characters’ minds and behaviours is one of my favourite pastimes, I tried to give it a go with Gavin, and these are the results.

I’m keeping this analysis shipping-free, since I only want to focus on Gavin’s actions and behaviours with the least possible emotional involvement.

This is going to be long, brace yourselves.

 1. Body language and general behaviour All Gavin's dialogues make us perceive him as an arrogant and aggressive person, yet his body language (when Connor isn't there) is the one of an Introvert™️: his posture is closed, his arms always crossed and if he can he tends to lean on some element of the surrounding space (the wall in the interrogation room or the table in the break room).

If Gavin had no dialogue lines and we were to judge him solely by his "passive" behaviour, we would think him a somehow reserved character, probably not at ease with himself and with a low self-esteem.

When he talks, however, he instantly becomes aggressive and raises his voice, all behaviours taken to extreme that one would indeed expect from an insecure subject who does not want to show their flaws and insecurities. Gavin clearly exaggerates certain sides of his character in order to hide others.

Bonus: the fact he abandons his usual closed posture when he's around Connor -who is incidentally the only one we see having direct physical contact with Gavin- is interesting for  two reasons.

First, we know Gavin doesn't think of him as a human being, so he feels less emotionally scrutinized by Connor. Second, he's so attracted to him (with "attracted to" meaning "irresistibly curious about") that he momentarily forgets he's constantly ashamed of himself and trying to censor his insecurities.

Connor makes Gavin show a certain kind of courage (sheer impulsiveness would be a more fitting way to put it) that he would not display in any other circumstances.

This, of course, doesn’t mean Gavin feels safe around Connor, since his aggressive attitude still shows an attempt at defending himself. In this particular scenario, Gavin doesn’t defend himself from judgement, but from someone he perceives as a competitor.

 2. Unconscious process of acceptance

When he follows Connor just out of the Evidence Room, Gavin already knows the android has been removed from the case, and we can tell it for a very specific reason: Connor is ranked Detective and he has all rights to get into the Evidence Room and do his job, so Gavin would have no right to stop him doing so. Unless, of course, he already knows Connor is not officially a detective anymore and lost his right of access to the Evidence Room.

This leads to the thought that just as soon as Gavin found out Connor had been dismissed, the very first thing he thought/felt the urge to do was dropping everything he was actually doing to go chasing the android.

Now, I think at this moment Gavin had no real interest in/plan to kill Connor, and again I have two reasons to provide.

First, if he had rushed to kill him with no repercussions he could have just shot him right there in the corridor without any real need to go away and then come back all the way down to the Evidence Room. He could have just said Connor had gone deviant and was attempting to corrupt the evidence.

Second, he calls him "Connor". It’s the first time ever he calls him by name and it is very curious he does it to stop him before he leaves for good. Maybe, just for one moment, Gavin forgot he was having to do with an android and not with a real human being? Maybe the urgency to tell him something, anything, before he left for good was enough to let the name slip through his lips?

This, if we consider it as a sort of Freudian Lapsus, would imply that Gavin refers to Connor by name in other circumstances, meaning he actually talks about him with the other colleagues/people in general or that he simply thinks about Connor quite often and in his thoughts he addresses the android by name.

(Which shows however a certain -small yet existing- level of empathy and feeling for him. Not talking about romance here, it's more of a super tiny and irrational process of acceptance through the subconscious act of humanizing him, something Gavin will never be aware of if nobody points it out to him)

In addition to this, it’ curious how Gavin is basically the only one in the game (among the anti-android people, of course) who refers to Connor using he/him pronouns and not the neutral “it”.

 3. Impulsiveness and learned behaviour

In this scene right out of the Evidence Room, if Connor acts all polite and submissive and says he's about to leave, Gavin looks sad disappointed.

Instead, if Connor acts snarky, we see Gavin being more or less calm until Connor mentions their "bromance", implying the existence -sarcastic or not is none of our business now- of a bond between them.

That's when Gavin loses it. He cannot hold his mess of emotions anymore and he draws his gun, but he immediately puts himself together.

We already said that plausibly Gavin already knows Connor is leaving and plausibly he's chasing him to unconsciously talk to him one last time.

With that line, Connor outs him shamelessly and Gavin feels suddenly exposed and without excuses to deny this indefinable yet existing bond, this inexplicable attraction he feels towards him.

That's why he reacts impulsively, and the impulse is to silence Connor before he can say something even more tragically true.

In the light of what we just said, it’s hard to define the following scene inside the Evidence Room.

If Gavin really wanted to kill Connor, as we said before, doing it in the corridor with the excuse Connor had gone deviant would have made sense, so again, why going away (after winking with both eyes or “jokingly” threatening him with the gun) and then coming back?

Still, Gavin actually attempted to kill Connor, so in the window of time between the “bromance” scene and the shooting scene, he must have had some sort of epiphany that made him make up his mind to kill Connor.

This, of all Gavin’s actions throughout the game, is the one that puzzles me the most.

According to my analysis up to now, the only reason I can think of is something very twisted and problematic in relation to Gavin’s way of thinking.

Since his very first appearance in the game, Gavin gave me the vibes of the classic homosexual character with internalised homophobia, but with androids.

Shipping or not, it is undeniable that Gavin is obsessed with Connor (first he tells him to stay away from him, then he doesn’t miss the chance to interact with him, he always makes sure to touch him somehow, he always tries to get his attention and that “since the first second I saw you”… really, Gavin? Are you that obsessed?)

If we add to it the fact that Gavin often unconsciously humanises Connor as we said before, it is highly likely that during that five minutes after the “bromance” scene his head and heart felt like a dumpster on fire: part of him wanted to hate Connor and rejoice of his departure, but the other part of him was strong enough to be clearly heard and didn’t wanted to let him go.

What I think is that probably Gavin realised Connor was right and there was a bond, he felt something for him. Again, I’m not speaking of romance, but of a general and undefined feeling. At this point, Gavin’s fear of admitting it was strong enough to make him take the worst possible decision: to remove the temptation once and for all from his path.

  In conclusion, it is undeniable that Gavin is strongly coded as a negative character, but there are many clues that lead to an interesting interpretation of him.

It is plausible that he had a rough childhood, maybe he was bullied or he had a difficult family situation, but everything in Gavin points to a time previous to the game in which he had to learn how to defend himself, and now this learned behaviour sticks with him on many levels. This prompts to some chance for a redemption arc, even though I don’t think it’s the better way to define it.

Thing is, learned behaviours can actually be un-learned. It is a difficult and complicated path, often requiring specialised assistance, but it’s not impossible (and by the way I really think Gavin would need therapy). So, with the right circumstances and a lot of work, Gavin could actually become less of a jerk and maybe even a decent person.

 This analysis is of course related only to Gavin’s behaviours around/towards Connor, but there are other things to be noticed regarding how Gavin deals with his colleagues and other people. But maybe I will save that for another post. ;)

[a-student-out-of-time]

“Good afternoon, everyone. I’m sure many of you remember me, and for those who are new here, I’m Gekkougahara Miaya, the one to whom they gave the title of ‘Ultimate Therapist.’”

“Looking back, it seems a little silly, doesn’t it? Giving that role to a woman who uses a text-to-speech device to communicate. It’s not that I can’t speak, of course. I’m just far better at articulating my words through text than I am through speaking, and my job requires listening as much as it does speaking, perhaps even more so.”

“This is my last year at Hope’s Peak Academy, and I’ve done a great deal of thinking and reflecting, seeing how much things have changed. To say it’s been a tumultuous time would be the grandest of understatements. It’s been home to...some of the highest highs and lowest lows of my life.”

“When I was a first-year, I was so nervous about actually dealing with patients. I was just a girl who enjoyed studying psychology, then I received a letter in the mail asking me if I’d like to attend the most prestigious academy in the world. I knew that meant starting my planned career early, but I worried if I could really help people. I was a high-school student being asked to jump into work as an actual therapist.”

“And then, I met the other students of Class 75. I met some of the kindest, friendliest people I’ve ever known. They were all so excited to begin their work, I felt some of that determination rub off on me. I felt as though, maybe, I’d been judging myself prematurely. That maybe I was more capable than I’d given myself credit.”

“But in my second year, as I’m sure you’re all aware, I was in an accident that left me paralyzed from the waist down. An accident that...also lead to a close friend of mine dropping out of school. A friend I haven’t seen or spoken to since. That remains one of the darkest days in my life, and I hope it remains that way going forward.”

*She takes a breath before continuing*

“During my stay in the hospital afterward that I really started to read through the Hope‘s Peak Forums, and I got to read the...criticisms of me that had been floating around for some time. Discussions about whether I was qualified to act as a therapist if I can’t talk, and especially now that I’d been confined to this wheelchair.”

“And it would be easy to just brush those aside, but I didn’t. I also used that time to really think about what I wanted to do from there. Whether those criticisms were justified, and if I’d failed at what I’d set out to do. And if I had, what could I do differently? What would be the best decision for me and for my patients?”

“I briefly contemplated also dropping out of the Academy, but then I really started to think. I wondered how I could channel what I’d experienced into helping my patients. I started speaking with some of my past patients and with friends through email, and I learned a lot.”

*She brings her hands together*

"There’s this recurring idea in much of our media that we should praise disadvantaged people for their all of accomplishments. That there’s all these ‘inspiring’ stories about, for example, people getting out of their wheelchairs and walking down the aisle, even if it’s painful. It’s what Stella Young has called- if you’ll excuse my use of the term- ‘Inspiration Porn.’”

“I won’t lie, my condition comes with a lot of pain. Every day of the last year, I’ve dealt with chronic pain and difficulty breathing. I’ve had to figure out how I was going to live like this from now on, and it’s been pretty scary.”

“But you know what’s scarier? The idea that this chair is going to define me for the rest of my life. That my role now isn’t as a therapist, but as just an object of inspiration. My goal is to help people, don’t get me wrong, but I aim to do that as an actual hands-on worker.”

“The reason I bring this up is because I’m fairly sure that, after my graduation, someone is going to make a captioned photo of me meant to be inspirational. That’s the last thing I want. I don’t want to be pitied for my condition, and I don’t want to be praised for overcoming the restrictions that have now been put on my life.”

“It’s part of this ongoing idea that to be disabled is an inherently bad thing. That your life is not a life worth living, and that the only role you have now is to be an inspiration for able-bodied people. That using a wheelchair or prosthetic limbs is a shameful hindrance, and that you should call someone outstanding for being able to get out of bed in the morning.”

“And that ties back into the ideas about mental illness as well. The depictions of them as violent serial killers and criminal masterminds, or romanticizing conditions like depression and schizophrenia, causes of real psychological pain, as sources of artistic inspiration or creativity. The fact is, they’re not.”

“There’s also this over-emphasis on letting these qualities be the defining features of people, rather than just small components of who they are. People live utterly normal lives with them every single day, doing what they enjoy even if they struggle with physical or psychological conditions.”

“For example, hello, my name‘s Gekkougahara Miaya. I’m 18 years old, I grew up in Akihabara, and I spent most of my childhood watching magical girl anime and probably thinking too hard about how weird Freudian Psychoanalysis really is.”

*The crowd laughs*

“I know, right? It’s okay, you can all laugh.”

“I don’t blame anyone who’s held these beliefs or who were trying their best to actually be positive. I’m certain your hearts were in the right place if you’ve ever reblogged images like those. The problem is that, regardless of intent, it applies this ‘otherness’ to disabled people, that they’re inherently disconnected from the rest of us and only exist for our benefit.”

“Would I be making this kind of speech if I hadn’t been in that accident last year? In all honesty, I probably would be. Because my goal is not to be an inspiration. It’s to knock down that pedestal we’re often placed upon and to be down there with the rest of you.”

“If there‘s one thing I’d want to ‘inspire,’ it’s a shift in society’s attitudes toward disability. Where achieving normal things is seen as normal, and achieving great things is seen as great. Where the expectations on us are the same as anyone else’s.”

“As for my achievements, as of this month, I’ve helped over 355 patients since I came to Hope’s Peak Academy. I’ve studied different treatment methods, been granted opportunities to work with some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met, and I’ve been able to use what I love to help others. And this was a path I was on even when I could walk.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little more praiseworthy than telling me I did a good job getting out of bed this morning?”

“What I want is to break down that barrier between abled and disabled, and you can start very easily. Talk with people, get to know them, educate yourself, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Above all, please listen to what they have to say too.”

“Thank you all for indulging me.”

[beevean]

People being salty over Steven Universe is a good way to sum up people currently throwing around the Redemption Arc term in general. I think a lot of people are confusing redemption arc with character development(which doesn't always involve a character becoming a better person, its just means significant change or progress in fleshing them out). I would try to give an example of a theoretical redemption arc, but Tumblr and it's whole character limit with sending asks.

It’s just... I wasn’t being cheeky. I seriously don’t see this so called trend of redeemed villains. Pretty much all the cartoons I’ve watched in the last 10 years involved a horrible villain dying because they were too evil for this world, and if an antagonist was redeemed, they were painted in a much more sympathetic light (yes Catra did horrible things that get acknowledged in the show, but she was always paired with a more “evil” antagonist with no redeeming qualities or freudian excuses, such a Shadow Weaver and Horde Prime, and even at her rock bottom in season 4 we were meant to pity her). MLP kinda averts it with Discord, but I remember people complaining that turning a new leaf in 11 minutes felt rushed, which yeah that was a problem with the format of the show.

SU is the only cartoon I can think of where everyone is given a chance and no villain is killed as a punishment for their actions. They may get demoted, humiliated, and forced to recognize the damage they’ve done and how their entire mindset was built on lies, but they get another chance to fix what they’ve broken if possible. Even the ones who reject redemption, such as Eyeball and Aquamarine, are allowed to exist. Just because it’s one of the most famous cartoons of the decade and you see discourse about it everywhere it doesn’t make it a “trend”.

I suppose that in my last post I forgot to talk about Hazbin Hotel? That is a cartoon completely revolving around the concept of redeeming horrible souls in Hell, and man did it make people mad. But since we only have a pilot and a music video as of date, we don’t know what kind of path it will take.

(if you wrote a post about what you have in mind, I’d gladly read it!)