#i think we as a fandom ignore how obsessed azula actually is with mai and all the boiling rock situation

[beeturtlle]

Maizula nation please where r u

[the-genius-az]

You're welcome!

It can have lots of drama before the little pack has their happy ending. I think part of Azula's redemption + healing arc would involve her eventually understanding that they didn't think they had an option + didn't know it could hurt so much. (Original!Azula herself only realized what was happening in the night before she passed away). With the bond still there, Azula tends to be protective, and a little more forgiving once she sees Ty Lee and Mai do love and need her.

I already am thinking about a "Izumi is Maizula's baby" tbh, now that the A/B/O obsession has infiltrated the Azula-centric part of my brain.

Ty Lee needs more fics where she's not the silly, stupid little girl. In the KS AU, I'm making Azula much worse than in canon to make it work with the plot, considering how canon!Azula is a jerk but definitely not a psychopath or anything of the sort. I really don't like the way fandom demonizes her, for a few reasons, and it also makes me feel weird for writing AUs where she is, indeed, a monster.

Yes. Here's the thing, I like the parallel of Oh Sangwoo, a straight man, being SA'd by his mother & Azula, a lesbian woman, being SA'd by her mother (+ I think Oh Sangwoo hallucinates her at some point? So that's a good parallel). Like, something that works into this specific character hating women so much they abuse and kill them in horrific ways.

(I don't like it either, which sounds almost like a hypocrite with the way I have multiple OCs that have SA in their backstory and I do write fucked up content. And because I also have read a lot of fics that have it in them – thankfully they do tend to work it so, so well. Like, not as a torture porn kind of thing, but another layer of her character. Azula x Ozai CSA seems to be almost a must for Maizula fics, and I eat it up every time.)

When I say "everything possible", I do mean it. It's a dragon AU and when Azulon asks for Azula's life instead of Zuko's (because she's Ozai's favorite), Ursa kills Azulon + takes Azula out of the palace (and Azula's hatred comes from how they abandon Zuko in the palace). Like, Ursa up until that point gave Zuko lots of attention, but there's a silent agreement between mother and daughter that goes like "this boy is ours" because they're dragons and all of that. I can talk for days about this AU too.

- Ash 🔥🍌

Thank you for this, Ash!

Original! Azula herself only realized what was happening in the night before she passed away.

I wonder how sad Azula was at that moment, she must have been screwed.

I already am thinking about a "Izumi is Maizula's baby" tbh, now that the A/B/O obsession has infiltrated the Azula-centric part of my brain.

I have an idea about a baby Maizula, maybe I'll post it later!

Ty Lee needs more fics where she's not the silly, stupid little girl.

I needed to bookmark this...

I really don't like the way fandom demonizes her, for a few reasons, and it also makes me feel weird for writing AUs where she is, indeed, a monster.

I know, sometimes the Aus completely change the characters, that makes them interesting or worse.

I like the parallel of Oh Sangwoo, a straight man, being SA'd by his mother & Azula, a lesbian woman, being SA'd by her mother (+ I think Oh Sangwoo hallucinates her at some point? So that's a good parallel).

I see the potential! I still don't like the SA though, but it's because of the plot.

(Honestly, I'm glad that we agree that it is Ursa who commits the act, sometimes everyone ignores that she is not a saint)

I don't like it either, which sounds almost like a hypocrite with the way I have multiple OCs that have SA in their backstory and I do write fucked up content.

Oh, I actually hate that kind of stuff, any fics, novels, manga and more, I'll leave it quick and fly away! I can't stand him, that's why I don't like Bl very much, he always has those things and the fans normalize him.

Seems to be almost a must for Maizula fics.

They are the only Fics that keep me on a leash, there is little content and I am hungry for Maizula.

It's a dragon AU and when Azulon asks for Azula's life instead of Zuko's (because she's Ozai's favorite), Ursa kills Azulon + takes Azula out of the palace (and Azula's hatred comes from how they abandon Zuko in the palace).

You are a bomb from Au's Azula!

(Sometimes my mind spins because of so much information in English, please have mercy next time).

Azula is a VERY loyal girl, it makes sense that she would be a little confused and angry about abandoning one of her own.

Actually, I think I talked something about Azula/Dragon, and her possessions that are people.

Like, Ursa up until that point gave Zuko lots of attention.

What did Ursa change to leave everything for Azula? I'm not saying she doesn't love her, I just don't think she would leave Zuko for Azula.

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

For the ask game Mai??

MY GIRL MAI!! PERHAPS THE MOST UNDERRATED AND UNDERAPPRECIATED ATLA CHARACTER!!

Why I like them: EVERYTHING ABOUT HER. EVERYTHING. her dry sarcasm (literally mai's witticism is on level with azula's she's just quiet about it), her talent with knives, the way she subtly rebels against azula and her parents (despite their intense restrictions of her), how BEAUTIFUL she is, how she stands her ground when zuko was being a possessive jerk in the beach, her blasé attitude that actually hides her very intense loyalty and care she feels for her friends, the fact that her trauma is presented in a different way than women, especially women of color, are often "allowed" to possess (e.g. she internalizes it rather than acting out; compare to toph. not saying either is more correct than the other!! absolutely not!! just that mai's portrayal is one i hold close to my heart), and really just how complex and nuanced she is in general. how can you NOT adore her??

Why I don’t: mai is perfect because she is a realistic character. i do not take criticism

Favorite episode (scene if movie): nightmares and daydreams because we get to see her softer side with zuko but also boiling rock part 2,, for obvious reasons. she stands her ground against azula!! she trusts zuko's judgement despite his refusal to be fully honest with her!! (which was to protect her, not shading zuko here lmao.) mai was truly the star of that ep 😤

Favorite season/movie: i love mai in book 2 ("just take the bear" LMAO) but i gotta go with book 3. her arc is so amazing!

Favorite line: OKAY im gonna be cliché: "You miscalculated. I love Zuko more than I fear you." like holy crap. that's a contender for the most powerful line in atla, regardless of if you ship maiko or not. mai stands up to one of her primary abusers and it is incredibly satisfying to see. comeuppance!! she refuses to be pushed around any longer, and we're all rooting for her 👏

Favorite outfit: the classic, of course

OTP: probably maiko because of the canon content, but mailee is such a close second. honestly im due to write some mailee

Brotp: mai&aang!! they are besties okay! and obviously maiko and mailee in platonic contexts are phenomenal, too. ooh - i've also grown partial to sokka&mai and suki&mai

Headcanon: appa loves mai. his list of favorite people is aang, mai, end list. he loves the rest of the gaang, of course, but mai likes brushing him whenever he's visiting the fire nation and takes him flying in her spare time so appa thinks she's the coolest person ever.

Unpopular opinion: this isn't even an unpopular opinion, it's straight up canon - mai was not toxic and abusive. odds are, people who think she was are racist, sexist, and usually too obsessed with ships to acknowledge the complexity of characters outside their favorite pairings.

A wish: besides my wish that fandom would stop ignoring her or worse blatantly misinterpreting her character? i wish we could get some more content of her post-atla! maybe her as fire lady?

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: it's kind of already happened, sadly, but i really want some mai content that shows her existing outside of romance. smoke and shadow at least included a lot about her relationship with tom tom and her father, but the whole kei lo subplot felt really unneeded. her and zuko breaking up was fine, but kei lo? was the point of him just to have mai break his heart at the end? nah. i ain't about that

5 words to best describe them: collected, sarcastic, funny, loyal, powerful

My nickname for them: no nicknames!

[themachofan]

Endeavor’s complexity and why it has become such an issue

As those who have decided to read this have likely already gathered. This is a bit of analyse on a character who has become quite controversial among the fan base of My Hero Academia. Endeavor is a character who is much more complex than you would imagine when he is first introduced. I want to get a little more into why this is and why it seems to be so upsetting to certain readers.

Upon his introduction Endeavor is shown as little more than a terrible husband and father. He neglected most of his children and put his youngest child through brutal training that would have been more in place in ancient Sparta rather than modern Japan. His wife suffered emotional, mental, physical abuse at his hands. These things are terrible and this is as far as many people who hate Endeavor get when examining him as a character. He is simply these past actions as far as they concerned.

I'll say it again, Endeavor’s abuse of his family is awful but there are other aspects of this character that people simply refuse to acknowledge. We get a small glance at this long before we really get an in depth look at him. First and foremost is the objective fact that, despite what he has done to his family, is an empirically proven force for good in the world. He has as a Pro Hero with the highest tally of resolved cases in history. That means he has resolved more cases than even All Might.

Now I know what some people will think “He’s a Pro Hero, of course he solves crimes and saves lives.” But that is kind of the point here. Enji’s ambition, drive, pride, anger and “win at all costs” attitude could have, and perhaps should have, driven him to the life of villian. Without the restrictions of law his potential to overtake All Might would have the possibility to increase. He even acknowledges this himself when he is fighting High-End

So what kept him on the path of a hero? The answer is a combination of personal pride and the fact that he does, at his core, have some desire to good. This however is buried and covered up by rage and ambition and his single minded focus. Even his hero name is a nod to this obsession . His whole personality and life are based around surpassing All Might, but not just surpassing him he needs to do it legitimately.

This blind obsession turned him from man to monster. His treatment of his family was, in his mind, an acceptable price to pay for his ambition. His abuse is never seen to particularly hateful in nature. I will clarify what this means. Everything he did was a means to an end, we are not given the impression he enjoys what he does to his family but neither does care about the damage he has done. This in no way makes what he did any better, the abuse is just as bad as if he was doing it simply because he enjoy being cruel.

I will repeat myself, this in no way excuses what he did to his family, there is no good reason to EVER abuse anyone. But what this mean is that Enji, if granted clarity and a new perspective, he is more capable of personal growth than say characters like Ozai or Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender who both seemed to actively delight in their torment of others.

We see this moment of clarity with retirement of All Might. After he rages and destroys his training room he is struck with an epiphany. When he finally obtains his life's ambition, to surpass All Might, it is a bitter and hollow victory. He never cared about the title or prestige of being the number one hero, it was all about beating All Might. He was handed this win and this was the worst possible outcome for him. He is man who does not want anything handed to him and to have this just given to him was a wakeup call. He will never legitimately beat All Might and with that he realizes everything he put his family through simply was not worth it.

This change of heart begins to show almost immediately and we see it in several instances.

When he swallowed his pride and asked All Might for advice. This shows him changing from simply being a hero in title and profession to really trying to be a true hero.

He has made up his mind to try and be better and become a hero his son can be proud of.

He has been visiting his wife and he left the gift of a flower. I know people will say abusers will apologize and bring gifts to try and get back into their victims lives but this is different. It's not the gift itself that is important here but the fact that Enji remembers a specific detail mentioned only once over twenty years ago. But more than this show a genuine change as opposed to a superficial one for the public as no one, not even his children, knew he was making these visits. This was an act contrition.

Expanding on the previous point about visiting his wife. Rei knows he's visiting and states she isn't ready to see him yet and he does not seem to press the issue. While there is no direct proof, it seems as though Enji has accepted this and not trying to force his presence on her. This is a big shift from his previous domineering and controlling nature.

When Natsuo, justifiably, shouts at him Enji calmly stands there and accepts his son's rage, because he knows he's not wrong to be angry and to hate him.

This change is genuine and despite what some may think it is not an act. I pointed this out in another post in how Horikoshi has changed how he draws Endeavor. This change is indicative of a genuine shift in character. It is something artist do across media. The artist makes the choice to represent a character with a softer design to give the reader a visual indicator of this shift.

Now I will address why this has become such an issue with some in the fanbase. Endeavor has been shown to be more than simply an abuser and this complexity confuses some people. This is not to say that just because Endeavor is complex you must like him. Some people will simply just never like the character be it for his past, their personal life experiences, or any reason at all and that is perfectly fine.

The issue I take is when these individuals start to inflict their rage about the character redemption at others.

Redemption arcs are always among the most popular in any series for the simple reason that it shows someone can be better than what they were. They can be better than their past crimes. This is why Endeavor has seen an increase in popularity as of late. But this redemption has caused a very ugly side of the fandom to crop up.

I don't care when people post hate about Endeavor as a character. He's a fictional character and nothing any fan does will ever harm him, or really affect how the author decides to handle the character. But when this rage crosses over into the real world and becomes directed at real people I start to take issue. There is no good reason to attack people on a personal level because of a view on a fictional character.

So why do these people feel the need to attack others? Again this is not about people who simply hate/dislike the character. Those who post hate about Endeavor but don't insult/attack other fans have actually managed to garner respect from myself for not making it personal. But why are others not able keep themselves from attacking others?

The answer is could be a few things but the most likely is that they can't handle the character complexity. They are unwilling or unable to see the other sides of a character, be it emotionally or mentally. They want a simple villain and don't want the see the grey areas of the character. Endeavor has done terrible things but he has also done a great many good things. They have decided to hate this character regardless of what happens as he moves forward. To these people he will never be more than his past and don't care about his attempts to atone.

They will ignore that reconciliation is better than revenge. Forgiveness would help to heal the family. A better Endeavor is better for everyone in his life and they refuse to see that because of their feelings on the character.

[the-genius-az]

Exactly, your whole mouth is full of reason and your thoughts are clear and decisive.

It's true that Azula was fucking obsessed with Mai, but no one else notices.

Maizula nation please where r u