#if Ozai can see himself in Zuko

[zukosbangtan]

sorry but can we take a second to acknowledge just how impressive and iconic this scene of zuko redirecting lightning for the first time is please??

like hello??? can we talk about how he did not only redirect one lightning bolt but TWO LIGHTNING BOLTS?? at the same time!!! and again, this is his first time redirecting lightning okay i need yall to keep that in mind cause girl what.

(and while i hate to praise a bitch i don't like i must say it's crazy that ozai is even able to shoot two lightning bolts within a second like phew okay girl i'll give u that i guess)

like that's insane!! and ozai was literally out for blood like he wanted zuko DEAD yall. and he managed to redirect it in the blink of an eye without any preparation and still walk away after that in one piece. and he was like? just fine afterwards??? the longer i think abt it the crazier it just gets liiike this is seriously so impressive.

[insipid-drivel]

As an adult child of an abusive psychopathic biological father, Zuko and Azula strongly represent and reflect the 2 primary ways children of malignant narcissists and abusive psychopaths tend to develop without a mother figure that I've both been, and experienced in other survivors.

An important and key aspect to pay attention to is the kind of abuse Ozai inflicted on his children. To be honest, there are moments in ATLA that are almost on the verge of triggering when it comes to the sheer accuracy of Ozai's performance as an abusive, narcissistic, probably-clinically-psychopathic father for me. There's a general playbook these kinds of parents follow, whether knowingly or not, that leads to the destruction of the aspects of their family life that they find threatening or displeasing:

Discredit/remove the possibility of reliance upon the other parent. Ozai does this by having Azula and Zuko's mother executed. In flashbacks, it's shown that their mother was aware of Ozai's growing destructiveness and abusiveness toward their children. Instead of falling under Ozai's sway and doing little to nothing to protect Azula and Zuko from him, their mother works her hardest to undo and reteach the dangerous and toxic values and habits that Ozai wants Azula and Zuko to grow up with. Killing their mother took away their only line of defense against him. The trauma and grief of losing their mother is essentially the first major crack Ozai makes in their respective psyches and personalities where he can influence and manipulate them later.

Choosing a "Favorite" child and negatively comparing any other siblings to the favorite. For abusive parents like Ozai, his natural narcissistic traits made Azula the obvious favorite for him to manipulate and fixate on. Azula demonstrates more character traits (neither positive nor negative; simply similarities) to Ozai, as well as resembles him physically more than Zuko does. Narcissistic and abusive parents almost always focus on the child that resembles them in the most favorable light, and then that child has the burden of perpetually meeting the abusive parent's increasingly unattainable standards. This keeps the "favored" child from rebelling against the abuser, and can even result in the "favored" child assisting in abusing their less-"favored" siblings. The enforced schism between siblings is another foothold Ozai uses to manipulate Azula and humiliate Zuko.

"I won't admit that I'm inadequate at this, but you're going to be a genius at it. Or else." It's obvious from the first time Azula and Ozai are respectively seen in serious combat that Azula outmatches her father in skill and talent, while Zuko's martial skills and predilections are much more oriented toward manual combat (See: The Blue Spirit arc). On his own, Zuko is phenomenal as a swordsman and martial artist, but he's never shown taking any real pride in it compared to Sokka, for example. Zuko's deepest insecurity is his firebending, while Azula's greatest strength is firebending. Zuko reflects Ozai's sense of inadequacy as a firebender and reminds him of his shortcomings. Because Ozai can live vicariously through Azula's successes and reputation, Azula is only praised for her skills. In essence, Ozai's a mediocre firebender and martial artist, but cares more about the firebending, and therefore Azula.

Abuse and manipulation culminating into neglect. Zuko's personality is much more derived from the merits of his mother more than Ozai. He tries to be like Ozai, and to be everything he thinks Ozai wants him to be, but that's the Catch 22 in their relationship. Ozai knows Zuko will never measure up to his standards for his children, but tolerated Zuko so long as he fell in line and remained obedient to Ozai's worldviews. In the pivotal scene before the Agni Kai where Zuko's face is scarred, Zuko makes a hill-I'm-willing-to-die-on stance against Ozai with regards to the actions and future of the Fire Nation. In Ozai's mind, the Fire Nation belongs to him like it's his most valuable possession (note that he doesn't actually show any real care for the people of his nation; only its ability to dominate others, which further reflects Ozai's personality). Because Zuko didn't back down from challenging Ozai over the major aspect to his character that gives him a sense of power and control, Ozai had enough and snapped. The abuse evolved into a violent, public outburst that left Zuko disfigured, and then Zuko was banished. This is the moment where Ozai's abuse turns into abject neglect, and it's because he's had enough of Zuko resisting him as a parent and being too much like his mother.

Under just those 4 steps in the Abusive Parent Handbook (there are plenty of other steps lol), you have the makings of chronically dysfunctional and deeply damaged adults. Azula's obsession with being the next Firelord is one that was drilled into her by Ozai as the foundation of her personality. With narcissistic parents, it's not about raising children out of love, but ambition.

Azula clearly discovered from her earliest years that appeasing Ozai would simultaneously tame the severity of his parenting and earn her a sense of self-esteem. Ozai, as a father, does nothing but undermine and set out to destroy the self-esteem of everyone around him, but particularly his children. Zuko eventually realizes the futility in trying to be the image of the son he thought Ozai wanted thanks to Iroh's influence and interacting with the Gaang.

Azula is chronically and consistently cut off from meeting or interacting with anyone that could bring her to question the life path she's been set on by her father. Ty Lee and Mei are really her only friends, who themselves have similarly tailored and needle-thin world views, and their friendship is primarily due to their parents' relationships at the Fire Nation royal court. Azula's advisors are on Ozai's payroll, so neither of them are going to be reliable maternal figures for her. Azula is trapped in a toxic biome tended and edited exclusively by Ozai and those he trusts to extend his manipulation regardless of where Azula goes, and Azula simultaneously copes with her grief over the loss of her mother by buying into Ozai's presentation of her: As a traitor that deserved to die. It's the only perception of her mother Azula can accept that won't simultaneously destroy her on a fundamental, psychological level.

But we see that later, when Ozai begins unraveling as his attempts to stop Aang and conquer the world result in failure after failure. He takes the pressure out on Azula, who's a better firebender than Ozai, and Ozai knows it. When Azula can't stop the Gaang at the 11th hour, Ozai's real feelings for Azula are revealed when he abandons her. Ozai built her up by telling her that, since the world would soon be under Fire Nation rule, he would become Emperor, and abdicate his title as Firelord to Azula.

Then he commands her to do something impossible - which he probably knows is impossible - in order for her to earn that final reward and cement what Azula's warped perception of paternal love is in her mind. When she fails, and realizes it, she doesn't just become hysterical.

She has a psychotic break.

She's just a 14-year-old girl, and as she's thrashing against the chains the Gaang hastily get her in, she's having a fucking psychotic break. One her own father planted the seed for too early for her to know it was growing. Her entire identity, like the ice that ultimately defeats her, is shattered. Every value and belief she has for herself is dashed against the rocks, and her father doesn't care. He isn't even there.

She was just a 14-year-old girl.

Sorry but I don't trust you if you think Azula was evil.

She was a fucking 14 year old girl and you lack literary comprehension if you think the narrative condemned her forever by the end. You're not supposed to be gloating over her crying and screaming desperately on the ground, knowing that no one loves her and she's lost everyone who might've even slightly cared about her.

I don't trust you if you spend your time arguing with people over whether or not she's a psychopath.

Yes she's a villain. Yes, she's done bad things. Really bad things.

But she was also a teenager who was warped by her father's abuse just as much as Zuko.

I once read a great comment about her that really summed up how I feel about the abuse of Ozai's children.

The only difference between them was that Azula had scars from their father that you cannot see.

Which is true, but you do see it by the end.

I don't know how anyone could watch Azula's breakdown and think this 14 year old is a bitch.

Not unless you're a misogynist and an idiot.

Also like wtf, look at Zuko and Katara's fucking faces.

They're our protagonists. They are OUR stand ins. They are looking on her with pity, not anger or pride or happiness. The music isn't triumphant. It's hollow and sad.

No.

I don't trust anyone who says Azula is just evil and was destined to be bad. I don't like people who say she was a psychopath from the start.

This isn't fucking bnha.

You don't have the right to enter my home!! You are rancid.

You are untrustworthy.

[wileycap]

I think we in the A:TLA fandom have missed the absolute potential of the fact that Ozai Firelord is canonically a fucking idiot. I mean the dude's straight up stupid. And I want to be very clear that this isn't a plot hole, this isn't a flaw in the show, this is a fantastic and super realistic element that honestly enhances my enjoyment of it! Dictators are often stupid and breed a culture of cronyism-over-competence. Any similarities with real world leaders, dead or alive, are coincidental yet inevitable.

What do I mean?

Well, let's take the Drill. When faced with the problem of Big Wall, Ozai's Fire Nation comes up with Big Drill. One singular Big Drill. Which, as anyone except an idiot could have predicted, immediately breaks down and accomplishes nothing. And if the Fire Nation had made it past the wall, then they would have been fighting through a narrow opening against people who can hurl long distance rocks! Which, if your face or body is vulnerable to high velocity rocks, is a bad thing for you and also for the battle.

Not to mention the resource cost of that thing! It's so insanely gigantic, it must have cost the Fire Nation the equivalent of trillions. For ONE drill. Not ten smaller drills. Just ONE drill. (Fanfic fuel: how much did Ba Sing Se profit off of stripping that drill for parts? Did they reverse engineer it? Did Long Feng keep that for himself?)

And you might be thinking, fairly, that it was War Minister Qin who came up with the drill and you'd be right, but it's Ozai who's approving all this shit. Instead of doing the reasonable thing and asking Qin if he et the whole edible, or even the in-character thing of burning him to death, Ozai just goes... big drill. Makes sense. We should have the biggest drill, because we are the biggest nation. Drill, baby, drill. sorry

It's not the first time, either! He also approves Zhao's invasion of the North Pole, apparently just because Zhao is good at kissing ass and hates Zuko? I couldn't tell you what merits Zhao has. We do not see him lead a single successful mission. The closest he comes is Pohuai, and even then its the Yuyan archers who do most of the work. (My longstanding headcanon is that the reason we don't see the Yuyan archers again is because Zhao blamed the whole thing on them and they were disbanded. This is great fic fuel for displaced Yuyan archers just, wandering around, being elite.)

He approved a massive naval invasion of the North Pole, surrounded by and made of water and ice, inhabited by people who bend water. A nation that was, by its own choice, completely out of the war.

Every time we see Ozai doing something, it's something stupid. Like disfiguring and banishing his firstborn child in a culture that has primogeniture. And then (once he's done pissing away a massive fleet of ships) he does the logical thing and sends his only other heir to bring his first heir back - even though his first heir would have been willing to return with a simple invitation. Like he could have sent a letter saying "dear son come home miss u pick up 200 000 tons of steel qin wants 2 build a drill lol", and Zuko would have come. (Okay, he did have a valid reason for having Zuko escorted, since he thought Iroh was a traitor, but there's absolutely NO reason to risk Azula. Why not send Combustion Man? It's the luckiest stroke of luck ever that Azula is 100 times more competent than her dad.)

Of course, a dictator(-wannabe) sending his daughter on high-level diplomatic missions is pure fiction. Nobody would do that.

The best part of this is that it's entirely realistic and in-character. I could absolutely imagine Ozai purging all of his competent admirals and generals, and then promoting brownnoses like Zhao and crackpots like Qin, because they promised him glorious destinies and secret knowledge of Big Drill.

I also really, really want a scene of Zuko and Azula realizing that their father is a fucking idiot.

I would also like to note that all this stupid shit happens after Iroh leaves with Zuko. So, here's a headcanon: the only reason the Fire Nation didn't immediately implode when Ozai took the throne and purged everyone is because of Iroh. Iroh leaving with Zuko doomed Ozai. It's also a nice little drop of complexity in Iroh's character - he knew he was single-handedly keeping the Fire Nation afloat, yet he only left when Zuko did. Did he plan for Zuko to take the throne from the start? What was his plan before Aang showed up? Did he not intervene in the Agni Kai because he was afraid, or because he knew that Ozai was making a huge mistake and didn't want to interrupt? Give me chessmaster Iroh please.

[melzula]

Can you please write jealous Zuko? It can be however you like😊

a/n: i love jealous zuko! however this ended up being more angsty than i intended😭 hope you enjoy!

summary: a party at the palace leads to a deep revelation for zuko

He was miserable.

The palace didn’t throw parties very often these days, but the recent conquering of another Earth colony was deemed a call for celebration, and so all of the noble families in the Capital City were invited to attend. A grand feast was held and praises were showered upon Ozai throughout the night. It was one of the rare times Zuko didn’t have to worry about his father’s wrath, and so he should have been enjoying himself.

But he couldn’t, not when he could see that across the way another boy was flirting with you right in front of him.

You were Zuko’s everything- his childhood best friend that he’d always held harbored feelings for. During his banishment he thought of you constantly, and upon his arrival he immediately asked you to be his girlfriend. You were sweet and friendly, easily approachable and always able to cheer him up despite his moodiness, you were perfect. And apparently this other boy could see this too.

You smile out of politeness and nod along to the boy’s rambling story about his fire bending skills and high IQ, not very interested in listening but too nice to brush him off. It infuriates Zuko to see someone else take advantage of your kindness, and he’s unable to just sit back and watch any longer.

A harsh hand lands upon the boy’s shoulder, startling both of you in the process. Zuko’s eyes are blazing with fury, his palm scorching the fabric of the boy’s robes and scaring the spirits out of him in the process.

“Can’t you take a hint? She doesn’t want to talk to you!” the Prince bellow angrily, prompting a few guests nearby to turn their heads curiously towards the commotion. A bit embarrassed at the sudden attention, you gently pull Zuko’s hand away and drag him out to the gardens before he can escalate the situation any further. The last thing you need is for him to cause a scene at his father’s party.

“What?” Zuko says defensively as you wordlessly walk through the palace hallways. “I was helping you!”

“You were acting jealous again,” you chide gently.

“No I wasn’t!” He argues defensively only to shrink under your pointed gaze. “…I was.”

“I love you, Zuko, but I don’t love how jealous you can get sometimes. I’m your girlfriend, don’t you trust me?”

“Of course I do!” He interjects quickly, almost offended at the notion.

“Then what is it? Why do you act this way?”

Zuko is silent, his eyes casted sullenly to the floor as you patiently wait for his answer. You take his hands in your own and give them a reassuring squeeze to let him know you’re there for him, and the act seems to coax him out of his stupor.

“I’m afraid you’ll change your mind about being with me, and once the right guy comes along you’ll realize you’re better off without me,” he admits quietly, almost ashamed to voice the thought out loud.

“Zuko…” you utter sadly, heartbroken at the fact that he could even believe such a thing.

“Why do you want to be with a boy who’s been exiled from his own country before? Whose own father burned his face? Who’s so messed up in every way possible?”

Gently carefully cupping his face in your hands, you tilt his head upward to meet your sincere gaze. His eyes are glossy with tears he refuses to let fall, and your heart aches for the poor boy before you. You wish you could take away all of his hurt in agony, but you can’t, so you do your best to take away his insecurity instead.

“I wish you could yourself the way I see you,” you tell him lovingly. “You are more than enough for me, more than I could ever ask for. You’re strong, you’re brave, you’re smart. You’re you. I love you, Zuko. No one’s ever going to get into the way of that.”

He says nothing in response but simply yanks you into his arms for the tightest hug you’ve ever possibly received. You know he isn’t the best at words or emotions, but his embrace conveys that he is grateful for every word to come out of your mouth.

He knows he may be jealous at times, but he also knows that he doesn’t have to be anymore.

Because you’re not going anywhere.

| atla tags: @sirkekselord @niktwazny303

| zuko tags: @thebluelcdy @royahllty @the-firebender-girl @ilovespideyyy @yiyibetch @eridanuswave @lammello @a-monsters-love @knaite-solo @taeeemin

[sifuhotthot]

I know quite a few people have pointed out how Ozai sees himself and Iroh in Zuko and Azula - the soft cowardly first born and the more deserving second born - but I think something that’s neat is that it seems Iroh does the exact same thing.

Iroh loves Zuko and sees him as his own son, saying that he is a troubled young man and acknowledges all the terrible things he went through. Iroh gave Zuko constant support and acted as a guiding light, a pillar to lean on. Zuko makes numerous mistakes, life ruining ones, but Iroh is always there.

Iroh did not give that same consideration to Azula, but instead said that  “she’s crazy and needs to go down.”

Iroh would tell Zuko not to give in to Azula’s deceit and selfishness, and that he must fight her in an agni kai to take his rightful place. He sees in her his brother, a tyrant, a monster - not a fourteen year old girl shaped by surroundings. A fourteen year old who, to my knowledge, has caused less problems than Zuko in the general world. 

Iroh remembers the mistakes of his past and sees Zuko repeat the same, and tries to help him off that path before it can go too far, that he is a Nice Young Man who is simply misguided. 

He sees what Azula in the future is capable of and decides that this is what her future will be. This is all Azula will amount to. Azula will be nothing more than another cruel member of the family. Azula needs to go. 

[brionysea]

'the gaang finds out about zuko's scar' is a great ao3 tag, and I'm very glad that it's a gift for ao3 and not something that happened in the actual show

zuko's scar reminds me of toph's blindness, and how her parents defined her by it, while the gaang goes the exact opposite route and FORGETS that she's blind ALL THE TIME. and toph makes jokes about it! she sets them up to make fools of themselves because she thinks it's funny!

zuko says that he used to think his scar defined him, and you can see why - whenever it's brought up in the show, it's in a bad way. people are always using it against him, as if it's HIS fault that his father's an abusive piece of shit. as if that's ZUKO'S problem and not his DAD'S

the gaang don't do this shit. AT ALL. aang doesn't react to azula's mockery, doesn't agree that it's funny, but three minutes later he thinks it's hilarious that azula calls zuko zuzu. like toph being blind, it's just a part of who zuko is to them. honestly, I think it barely registers sometimes. and that's GOOD, when you contrast it against how this topic is usually treated and how that must make zuko feel. it strikes me as so much more respectful that none of them ever pry

I believe the only time zuko talks about his scar, instead of having it be talked about, is in the catacombs with katara. so I do believe he'd be okay with talking to them about it once they're actually friends. but I really, really like how we don't actually get to see that. zuko comes to terms with the fact that it was cruel and it was wrong for himself, confronts his father, and then... doesn't mention it to the gaang. doesn't use it as leverage to get into the group, doesn't use it to try to convince aang to kill ozai, nothing like that. because zuko can be self-absorbed at times, but he doesn't have a manipulative bone in his body. azula would absolutely use something like that, even if it's a weakness. but zuko needs to address it on his own terms, or he won't address it at all

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

idk if y'all know this youtube channel called Cinema Therapy (their videos are so informative) but i was watching their episode on ATLA and Zuko, and they mentioned Azula as one of Zuko's abusers, and when i tell you i was so relieved to hear someone finally acknowledge that.

because people have acknowledged that Azula is evil and toxic, sure. but i feel like most people hesitate to call her behavior towards Zuko "abuse" because of two reasons, most likely.

one, that they are siblings. and people are still not aware of abuse between siblings. it's either "eh siblings fight all the time, no big deal" or they just sugarcoat it by calling it "complex" or "dysfunctional", anything but abuse.

and secondly, because Azula is younger than Zuko, people just think that you are not capable of being abused by someone younger than you. which is utter bullshit. abuse comes in all forms.

Azula may be younger but she had the upper hand because she was a firebending prodigy and also had Ozai to back her up. she had a lot of control over Zuko. and we can see that her words and actions affect Zuko on a deep level, feeding his insecurities and self-loathing. he continues to be manipulated by Azula even though he tries to tell himself that Azula always lies.

but when it comes to Azula apologists, they're very similar to Catra stans, in that they think that Azula's actions are completely justified. they nitpick the rare few times that Azula has been nice to someone (apologizing to Ty Lee or sympathizing with Zuko when he was thinking about their past) and glorify it.

so yeah, it's refreshing to see someone call Azula's behaviour towards Zuko what it really is - abuse.

[sokkastyles]

Do you think some parts of the world would have been unhappy in Aang's decision to spare Ozai? That people would be so bitter - this madman gets to live, while their friends and loved ones died? Why is that? Oh - because the Avatar didn't want to compromise his own morals, to kill someone? Tough, it's a war. People die.

The thing I don't like about the way the show frames it is that the narrative doesn't really give Aang a choice, either.

I think people who frame this as Aang respecting Air Nomad culture are trying to give the show too much credit, because the show doesn't act like Aang gets to choose a moral high ground, they act like he has no choice. Aang seems to believe that the only way he can honor his Air Nomad heritage is by not killing, and...what about all the Air Nomads who didn't have that luxury? What about Gyatso, who was faced with the choice of kill or die, and killed, and died?

I think a lot of people would see Aang's choice as a slap in the face. Every person who had to do things they considered against their personal morals to survive. People like Jet who sincerely wished to stop leading a violent life, but couldn't, because that life was chosen for him the moment his parents were murdered. People like Hakoda who felt deeply ashamed of having to leave his own children to go to war. Are these people just inherently less moral or more bloodthirsty than Aang? No, they simply didn't have the power Aang had at his disposal that allowed him to avoid the kind of violent lives that many people, children included, were forced to lead during the war.

That's also why the "Aang reminds Katara/Zuko that they are kids" thing annoys me. What Aang does is remind them that HE has the luxury of thinking of himself as a kid while they don't. The reason Katara hadn't been penguin sledding in so long isn't because she's a buzzkill who hates fun or she "forgot" that she's a kid, it's because she was forced into a role where she had to take care of her family in her mother's absence, and that doesn't go away with the introduction of another kid she has to parent. As for Zuko, that "well you're just a teenager" line is funny and it's easy to think of Zuko as someone who takes himself too seriously (and part of why it's funny is that teenagers in general do view themselves as so much older than younger children), but Zuko was kicked out of his home at thirteen and expected to be fighting a fully-realized adult Avatar. Even when he was Aang's age, he never had the luxury of thinking of himself that way. You can see this also in the way Zuko interacts with adults early in the series, notably Zhao and his crew. He is desperate to be seen as a hardened adult because he has had to act like one to survive.

These people don't act this way because they've lost their morals or sense of fun or because they don't value peace enough. They act this way because this is what they were forced to do to survive. I think people would rightly be offended by the idea that wanting to see Ozai dead for his crimes makes them just as violent as a genocidal tyrant, and they would be right to feel resentful that Ozai gets to live when he was responsible for so much violence. This is also why Zuko tells Ozai that he's lucky that Aang spared his life. Because in the end, Aang has NO moral obligation to spare Ozai whatsoever, not because of his culture or any reason. Pacifism has never meant that you aren't allowed to use necessary force to stop violence from happening. And anyone who uses the argument that Aang has to spare Ozai because of his culture or that this is his only way to honor his people is LYING.

[balanceoflightanddark]

Azula is, without a doubt, the most controversial character in Avatar: the Last Airbender. There's no tapdancing around it. Most discussions involving her usually devolve into "why are you justifying a despot," or "was she born evil," or "does she deserve redemption?". Whenever she's brought up, it's like battle lines are being drawn and we're all waiting for somebody to take the first shot.

My question is, what about her is generating so much controversy to begin with? I mean, ATLA is no stranger to controversial characters. Katara's gotten it. Aang's gotten it. Jet and Hama have gotten it. So Azula isn't quite out of the norm regarding hot-button topics.

The first thing I can think of is that she's the enemy of Zuko, the fandom's golden child. Again, no way around it. He's insanely popular, and anybody who's opposed to him is going to be seen in a negative light. This includes Azula since she's his primary nemesis. Ozai may have caused his scar and Zhao may have more genuinely hated his guts, but Azula's the one that got under his skin.

Here's where I think the problem sets in. With Zuko being so popular, people are more willing to take his side in things. This includes Azula, which he sees as a rival and whatever sympathy he might have is stifled by his desire to "put her in her place". She's the primary enemy in his flashback in "Zuko Alone" despite Ozai being the one who actually set things off for his crappy upbringing. Now, there's no denying she's a villain and had to be stopped. But I think the fandom is a bit too willing to unconditionally take Zuko's word on it. This is despite the fact that the famous "born lucky, lucky to be born" quote was when he himself was a villain and he was griping to Aang about his problems.

Basically, by taking Zuko's opinion, we're assuming he's completely right and his version of Azula is reality. Even though this is the same kid who was willing to believe in the best in his dad until the eleventh hour. So his judgment can be askewed.

The same thing goes with Iroh. Again, there's that famous "she's crazy and she needs to go down" line people love to use to justify Azula being born evil or always being crazy. Expect, again, Iroh's not immune to biasism either. He paints Azula as the enemy, bt has nothing but regret for how things with Ozai fell out. He didn't even warn Zuko about who Ozai truly was.

Now, this isn't me clowning on either Zuko or Iroh. Zuko's a dumb kid who has a very messed up sense of morality for most of his life and Iroh's likely struggling with his own issues with Ozai. I wouldn't even put it past them to paint Azula in a negative light since they're going to run into her again, so it might be best to put aside sympathies so she doesn't kill them. At least for the time being. I don't agree with them, but I'm not going to say they're the worst people ever for it.

No, what I think the problem is that we very rarely see Azula's side of the story. We only see it in "The Beach" and the mirror scene. Here we see a character that's not a force of nature, but a conflicted girl about her own morality and whether or not she's a monster. She puts on a sarcastic face about it, but we can see it still eats her from the inside. And we see she does care about Ty Lee, Mai, and Zuko, even if she does a piss poor job of doing it.

This is where I think the controversy comes in: how sympathetic are we supposed to see Azula? We are meant to feel SOME sympathy, but not to the point that we can excuse her actions. Yet some take it the wrong way and say she's completely irredeemable and a monster just as bad as Ozai. Sure she's a villain that needed to be stopped, but putting her on the same level is a tad bit extreme (we are talking about a 14 year old girl compared to a grown ass man after all).

I think the disconnect comes from the fact that, again, we only see Azula through Iroh and Zuko's lenses. She's the villain in their eyes, an unstoppable force, and so we see the same thing. There's nothing really challenging that in the narrative outside of a few scenes. Azula never really gets the chance to express her side of the story, not even during the Last Agni Kai. And the few times she does like in the campfire scene? Nobody says word, validating her belief that she's saying the truth and that she's a monster.

Nobody challenges Zuko and Iroh on Azula, while nobody challenges Azula on her belief that she's a monster. Which is funny since Zuko and Iroh DO (at least initially) provide some possible sympathetic angles on Ozai (at least before he really became a monster). Zuko talks about how he wanted to get along with him. Iroh doesn't talk all that much ill about him at first. We even see his baby picture for crying out loud. So while we're meant to see Ozai as a tyrant and too far gone for any realistic chance of redemption, we're asked to wonder where he came from and raises the possibility that he wasn't always evil.

We don't get such challenges with Azula. She's only very rarely given sympathy. We're meant to feel sorry for her, but we're not given the whole story. We're given one side, and we're left scrambling to try and find out who she really is.

[rockpaperimpala]

So about Netflix's the Last Airbender....

I am literally so confused you guys. You made me think I would HATE this show. And I LOVED it. Me. Known perfectionist and hater.

Katara was lovely. Yes, she started as a more soft spoken character than her cartoon version, but she was still passionate and hopeful throughout, just visibly unsure of herself. I think people were thrown off by this actress' natural way of expressing herself, which is Different from animated katara for sure, but not bad. Then she spends the whole season growing in Confidence and Fire. I Adored her fight with Paku, it really did feel like a payout of the whole season's development, and the bending kicked ass!

The Bending Kicked ass!!! The martial arts was fun and fast and creative and exciting! It looked SO good. That alone would be enough reason for me to watch and enjoy any show.

Zuko's actor was fantastic. He really captured the rage and confusion of this 16 year old banished prince. And there were so many Added moments between him and Iroh wich to me enriched their relationship. Like YES! This is why I'm watching, to see more of them, to see things done a little differently.

Iroh facing the consequences of his actions at Ba Sing Se!! That's what I'm here for!

Zuko's relationship with the men on his ship! That's what I'm here for!

The Extra layers we get to Ozai manipulating his children!

Also no one is talking about Admiral Zhao, who I had SO much fun with. I feel like they slightly fleshed out his character in a really dramatic way, really developing the hubris and frankly insane grasping ambition of someone who would kill the moon. I completely enjoyed this wilder, less controlled version of him, who comes up through the season from basically nothing and no one!

I am OBSESSED with King BUMI and his anger and disillusionment with the world! Like this was SO real. Living a hundred years of futile war would do that!!!! It is one of my favorite changes to the whole series. This new layer of emotion and character depth is what I'm here for!

Sokka was SO funny. He literally had me laughing out loud so often. That actor GETs Sokka, and GETS the way his humor is delivered. And is also able to tap into the more vulnerable side of him. People said he was "obsessed" with leadership. WHAT? That is a young person trying desperately to do his best and to try and find his place in the world, to figure what he has to offer. I loved his pride at hearing the Mechanist say that he would make a good engineer, and the sweetness of the moment that Yue's father says that he can be a hero without being a warrior. Sokka does so much growth in this series, in understanding himself and life.

And his chemistry with Suki was adorable!! I even like him and Yue (who was a totally unexpected sweetheart, despite her terrible wig)!! Like he has that same ability that Sokka has in the original to Connect with people.

Aang was great! He WAS fun loving and sweet and funny. I don't know what you guys wanted. Cartoons are always bigger and more exaggerated than live action. People's eyes swell up an, birds fly around their heads, and there are funny sound effects. That larger than life quality is the strength of animation! You have to look for different strength in live action. Like the SUBTLETIES of the acting choices. This little actor brought so much kindness, innocence, and strength to Aang.

And I FELT his frustration at being asked to do this at 12, his fresh hope anytime it looked like someone more experienced would be able to help him and no one did, and that's why he didn't learn waterbending this season, because he kept waiting for an freaking ADULT to show him the way, to help him carry this immense burden, but every adult he meets asks him for help instead, asks him to carry it himself, and then the finale hits and he realizes that there won't be any adults helping, he does have figure this out himself, and he makes the hard choice, takes on responsibility more than his years and offers himself to the ocean spirit, and he might have been lost entirely if not for Katara!

And that counter running theme to the show pays off: that he doesn't have to do it alone. He may not have more experienced guidance, because the adults have let him down again and again, but his friends will be with him, and they will figure it out together!

This is there throughout the series! Katara tells him this about learning waterbending, when he says he still wants to wait. Bumi tells him this in the palace at Omashu, and Aang sees the faith he has in his friends repaid!

I like these changes! And the show still found time for silly fun adventures and character building moments.

The show was never going to be the animated original. That is already a Masterpiece, and it frankly did NOT need to be adapted at all. I did not WANT a live action adaptation. I was adamantly convinced I would hate it. But the changes that they netflix show gave are what I Iike most about it. If I want to see Zuko say "you rise with the moon, I rise with the sun," I will go watch the animated original, because that version is perfect. And now, if i want to see Zuko say "Lu ten would have been proud to have you as a father," and see iroh pull him into a tight hug, I can watch this live action version, which is very good too. I'm going to disagree with most of the people on here and say that the Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender, DOES capture the heart of what we liked about the original show. It's spirit, fun, excitement, and characters. And the changes made are the reason we should be watching.

[phoukanamedpookie]

Unpopular opinion: The mournful tone of "The Last Agni Kai" is Zuko subconsciously realizing that fighting Azula is not triumphant, but tragic.

Note how he looks once she's defeated, chained up, wailing, and thrashing around. There's no victory in his posture or expression. He doesn't say any one-liners that show how he finally conquered the most enduring obstacle to his destiny. Just somber exhaustion.

It's as if Zuko has a silent epiphany that Azula is not some demon spawn who lives to get in the way of his destiny and make him miserable, but a lonely, misguided kid bending over backwards to live up to Ozai's expectations and example for a sliver of his approval - just like Zuko himself was at the start of the show.

I've said this before, but I think fandom - and I'm deliberately ignoring any media or commentary outside the show itself because the show stands on its own - often sells Zuko and Azula short in their potential for genuine reconciliation, especially once Ozai is out of the picture.

We see how in sync and unstoppable they are when working together, as they demonstrate in the Crystal Catacombs in "The Crossroads of Destiny" and in the kuai ball game in "The Beach." Throughout Book 3, we see that they get along fine, despite the usual sibling annoyances, when they aren't actively pitted against each other.

"I don't care what everyone else says. You're pretty smart." –Aang

Zuko is hard-headed, self-absorbed, and impulsive, but not stupid. He figured out on his own that chasing after Ozai's approval was pointless. He figured out on his own that what he was taught about the greatness of the Fire Nation wasn't true.

The boy has a brain, though he often fails to use it. He can put two and two together and realize that the only reason why Azula was his enemy is because the people around them made it so. And he the heart to be saddened by that.

[splosh-crime]

ATLA AU - Zuko Can See Ghosts

Dead people in ATLA either reincarnate or stay as ghosts until they’re ready to do so. There is no afterlife just as there are no gods. The closest thing to gods ATLA has is spirits but if the Spirit World was the afterlife, I think there would be a lot more humans around when Avatars visit. Iroh’s only there because he went in before he died.

Zuko knows why his mother left because Grandfather Azulon is still there as a ghost to tell him Ursa poisoned him to save Zuko’s life. He was going to haunt Ursa until he realized Zuko could see him and haunted him instead. Surprise, surprise, the guy who ordered the death of his grandson is a dick.

There are many servants dead by Ozai’s wrath in the palace. Their ghosts teach Zuko to stay quiet and fade into the background where it’s safe.

When Lu Ten dies, he regrets that he wasn’t able to save his young cousins from Ozai. Lu Ten stays a ghost and mentors Zuko in combat, bending, and strategy.

When the 41st Division die despite Zuko’s protests, and Zuko himself is burned and banished, the 41st Division find out Zuko defended them and stay ghosts to teach him all they can.

Zuko’s able to escape before the pirates hired by Zhao blow up his ship because the ghosts haunting the pirates warn him. This doesn’t change the plot, but it does save Zuko some pain.

Aang is followed/haunted by Monk Gyatso while Sokka & Katara are followed/haunted by Kya.

[vidduality]

SPOILERS for Episode 6 of the Avatar Live Action series

AKA why this episode makes me SO grateful for this adaptation (re: the Zuko flashbacks and the Agni Kai).

----

Wow.

I admit, I was really worried at the idea that Zuko might potentially fight back in the Agni Kai against his father in the live action. I expected to HATE it, and it's certainly a bold change, but it fits in SO WELL with why Zuko is the way that he is (and why he works so hard to push down his empathy whenever Aang tries to reason with him).

The Agni Kai - Zuko obviously did NOT want to fight his father. He still tried to apologize and beg for mercy, but in the end he was just too terrified of his father to disobey a direct order.

But when Ozai left him an opening to see what he'd do with it, Zuko couldn't bring himself to actually land a blow that might burn him. Making his lack of ruthlessness the weakness that Ozai ends up mutilating him for - even straight up telling Zuko that compassion is weakness and then demonstrating by holding his own child down and lighting him on fire - adds a layer of depth that only enhances the original scene (and in another stroke of genius, we see Ozai nearly in tears himself. He's convincing himself of this lesson as well as Zuko, which was likely passed down to him by his own father). Honestly, this to me is even more heartbreaking than Ozai burning him for refusing to stand and fight. Zuko did everything his father asked and he still failed, because his family has distorted what it means to be honorable and believes Zuko's capacity for mercy to be a shameful weakness unbecoming of an heir to the throne.

The 41st Division - And here come the waterworks. Assigning the very people Zuko was hurt so severely for trying to save to his ship as it's being cast out of the fire nation (presumably forever, with the Avatar not having been seen in 100 years) is SUCH a brilliant addition. His crew resents Zuko for being stuck on this impossible mission with this bratty, angry child. And Zuko is too ashamed of his "weakness" to explain why they were assigned to him.

I can totally see Zuko's hurt at their lack of respect making him even more angry (especially after everything he went through to save them from being sacrificed), and his seemingly irrational anger at them just continuing to make them resent him more in a neverending feedback loop of anger and disrespect that's been growing and festering for 3 years.

Which makes the scene at the end when Zuko's crew finally learns about how he saved their lives (as well as why he's obsessed with the avatar, why he's banished, what his scar means and why he's trying so very hard to rid himself of empathy, even if he can never quite manage it when it counts) so much more impactful. I SOBBED when the 41st Division stood at attention and showed him their utmost respect and loyalty, possibly for the first time since they've been on that ship. Zuko's soft "what's going on?" at finally being honored by his crew is just imprinted on my brain.

The seed of the idea that his compassion may NOT actually be what was shameful about his banishment afterall can finally begin to take root.

I just, damn, I love this episode so much.

[wileycap]

Two Siblings In A Room Talking About How Much Their Dad Sucks

a.k.a a non-comics compliant ficlet about Zuko and an in-therapy Azula talking about their dad. This ended up being weird angsty sibling fluff instead of a crackfic about how stupid Ozai is. G. ~1000 words.

“Did you know that Father could have won the war?”

Azula cracked an eye open, lazily. Sunlight streamed in through the narrow windows. It had caught Zuko’s good eye – Zuko was turned so that she couldn’t see his scar and he looked…

“Oh, Zuko, it’s so strange how your mind works,” she said, cutting off her own train of thought. “What prompted this?”

“I was reorganizing the Navy, and I had to read up on our old battle plans,” Zuko replied, turning to face her. “Did you know that we had a plan to invade Ba Sing Se?”

“I did,” Azula said, inspecting her nails. "More than one, in fact."

“A good plan? A plan that would have worked? A plan that wasn't a giant drill?”

Azula mm-hm’ed, trying to speed Zuko along.

“As soon as Omashu fell, we had our supply lines. Farms, water, land, even quarries. Uncle Iroh would have taken Ba Sing Se if cousin Lu Ten hadn’t died, you know that. And if he could have done it with just what we had at the time, Father could have done it any time he wanted.”

Zuko was picking up steam. Azula was mildly entertained.

“I never even thought about how stupid the drill was. A huge offensive… relying on an untested piece of technology that cost more than half our fleet. If I did that, my advisors would skin me alive!”

“If that happens, can I book tickets in advance?” Azula asked, smirking in the face of Zuko’s fuming.

“It’s not a joke!” Zuko snapped, getting up in one violent motion. He paced around the small sitting area. “I spent sixteen years terrified of him, hating him, wanting him to love and accept me, and…”

Zuko let himself drop down on the rug, burying his face in his hands.

Azula observed, uncaring.

They sat in silence for a while.

“It was better when he was this… invincible monster,” Zuko finally said, gesturing vaguely with his arms.

“Yes, I imagine it was. Better than getting half your face burned off by an idiot who doesn’t even know how to read,” Azula shrugged.

Zuko’s incredulous look was an entirely predictable reaction. “I’m pretty sure he knows how to read.”

“I’m not.”

“Azula, come on. Father reads.”

“Are you sure? Can you remember one time he read something, or wrote something, instead of having it read to him or dictating?” Azula paused to let Zuko think. By the blank look on her brother’s face, Azula decided that no answer was forthcoming. “See? Father doesn’t know how to read.”

Zuko gaped. Azula raised an eyebrow, radiating smug superiority.

“Wait,” Zuko said, pointing a finger. “At his coronation, he read the Greeting to Agni!”

“Memorized it,” Azula waved it off. “And he made a mistake. He said Agni’s radiance instead of Agni’s light.”

“Why would he replace an easier word with a harder one?” Zuko asked. There was just the slightest smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Wouldn’t it make more sense the other way around?”

“Easy. Bigger words are better, if you’re an idiot who can’t read and doesn’t want all the nobles and the ministers and the sages to know about it.”

Zuko snorted, toppling over to lay on his back. “I thought he didn’t read my letters because I was a failure, but now it turns out he just couldn’t.”

“No, he had those read out for the court to laugh at,” Azula said, her face serious. “’I remain your dutiful son’ always got big laugh.”

“I bet it did.”

They sat in silence for a while. The beam of sunlight dragged across the floor.

“Do you ever think about him?” Zuko said, staring at the ceiling.

“No,” Azula said, staring at Zuko because she wasn’t a coward.

“Never?”

“No,” Azula said, rolling her eyes. “I already had one mental breakdown. I’m not going to have another one just so you can have company on your little pity-me-my-dad’s-terrible trip.”

Zuko didn’t say anything. He just turned his head so that his scarred eye was looking at Azula.

Azula sighed.

“Look, do you want to know what’s going on in dear old Daddy’s head right now?” At Zuko’s nod-shrug, she continued. “He’s written the both of us off as losses. Oh, if I break out of here and go release him, he’ll take me back – just like he took you back after Ba Sing Se – but until then, I’m crazy and you’re a traitor.

“That leaves him in his cell, and without his bending. By now, he’s probably convinced himself that either his bending will return on its own and he’ll conquer the world again, or his loyalists, his good friends from court, will depose you and probably capture the Avatar to boot. Then they’ll force the Avatar to give him back his Firebending, and Father will reign supreme forever.

“Neither of the two options is going to happen. Even if his Firebending comes back naturally, the Avatar will just defeat him again – hopefully before he makes your eyes match. And his loyalists? He probably doesn’t have any. And if he does, they’re as incompetent as he is. You’re right, Father’s an idiot. He alienated half his court with his insane schemes and promoting crackpots like Qin. The other half he terrified or bribed into submission. I wouldn’t be surprised if even his actual supporters, the few that there are, are happier with you in power.”

Zuko was looking at her with undisguised interest. “So, what’s your point?”

“My point, little Zuzu, is that there’s no need to worry about him anymore,” Azula said, laying down on her bed. “It’s over. He’s not coming back, idiot or not.”

“Huh,” Zuko said. “That’s like a proverb, except it makes sense.”

Azula huffed, caught by surprise. “Dum-dum.”

“… what if I captured Aang and took him to Father? Do you think he’d let me be the prince again?”

“Try it,” Azula shrugged. “But I definitely want tickets.”

[blluespirit]

okay first three episodes thoughts

good

bending is cool as fuck

sozin’s actor does an amazing job at full crazy but calculated

scenery is STUNNING

monk gyatso made me cry. idk why i just saw him and wanted him to give me a hug so bad

APPA ACTUALLY LOOKS GOOD AND NOT LIKE A LITERAL MONSTER

i wasn’t sure how id feel about them showing the air nomad massacre but i think the importsnt thing is that they showed it was a massacre - and that although they can defend themselves, they don’t have the ability to fight back like an organised army would bc they’re pacifists! they attacked a peaceful group

the abandoned fire nation ship in the southern water tribe looks so fucking cool

ARTIST ZUKO???!!! LETS GOOO

Dallas does an amazing job at getting across Zuko’s intense desperation

I actually ended up loving all the Sokka and Suki interactions sm it was so cute and wholesome

Katara is perfect i will kill and die for her

Azula’s opening scene being her manipulating those people trying kill ozai ultimately leading them to getting burned alive by him and smiling - literally so fucking good. she is the best villain in history of forever

really good move having the mechanist (Sai!) and Teo be in Omashu imo. having them destroy the northern Air Temple so carelessly always pissed me off

THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS ARE LITERALLY PERFECT I AM SCREAMINGGGG

I was wondering how they were going to introduce the Mechanist and Jet in a limited amount of episodes but I like how they combined the two stories

Also Sokka absolutely nerding out in the Mechanist’s home is so important to me

Zuko getting has ass beat by that lady for fighting Aang is literally so funny and reminiscent of the goofy aang vs zuko fights we see in season 1 (to be clear: i adore zuko. this is NOT hate on him)

Zuko losing shit about his notebook and trashing his room and then outing himself as a fire bender in Omashu is so perfect. god i love him so much. it’s very season 1 zuko. it’s giving I DONT NEED ANY CALMING TEA!!!

things i was not a fan of: (some of these are a little pedantic i’ll admit)

Exposition is a little is a little janky but i’ll forgive it i guess bc at least it isn’t egregious as The Movie That Shall Not Be Named

Aang leaving just to get fresh air/clear his head and intending to come back is a silly change to me. all i keep thinking about is the storm where we got those epic Zuko and Aang parallels which now doesn’t really work and also takes away a lot of Aang’s depth. A good change adds to the story, but personally this seems to take it away

WHY would they not make Katara the one to bring him back from the avatar state? just seems like a strange choice to me? not saying this from a shipping point at all but that moment is a big step to their bond/friendship especially since they have only just met

Still don’t understand why they made the head of the village Suki’s mum. like i don’t think it’s a terrible choice but they still could have let them have a mother/daughter bond but still let Suki be the leader without any implications of nepotism. it mostly seeems silly

tl;dr - really enjoying it so far!

[aangarchy]

Ok but the fact aang is a child. And thinks u have to forgive someone who killed ur family. I bet Monk gyatso and the others were rolling in their graves devastated they can't ever tell Aang the real deal that he would've been told when he got older.

Monk gyatso probably: NO AANG. ITS JUST ABT LETTING GO

Ah, yet another shining example of someone who missed the entire point of the show.

If you think monk Gyatso would be "rolling in his grave" (which he doesn't even have, and i'm pretty sure air nomads don't do graves anyway) to see Aang grant Ozai mercy, you have completely misunderstood what air nomad culture represents. Air is the element of freedom. Yes, it's about letting go, not having any attachments. But not having attachments also means letting go of your feelings of hatred, letting go of grudges, and not letting your feelings consume you. Aang understands that remaining angry and bitter will not bring his people back. All he can do, is try his best to preserve and protect his culture, and part of that culture is an oath of pacifism. Aang choosing to spare Ozai does not mean he forgives him, or his predecessors for what they have done to the world. Instead, he lets go of his anger and hatred towards them so he himself can be free. Maybe eventually Aang will forgive them, but i personally don't believe it's then and there.

If anything, monk Gyatso would be proud of the decision Aang made in the end. It's the ultimate middle finger to the fire nation to show that they failed at destroying the air nation. Aang is not only a symbol of hope for the other remaining nations to end the war, but also for his own culture to prevail, and keep existing in whatever limited form Aang can preserve.

I think what you're referring to is TSR, with "thinks u have to forgive someone who killed ur family", when he tried to teach Katara about letting go and forgiving. Aang wasn't doing that bc he's against Katara getting justice. If anything, he agreed Katara needed to face Yon Rah for her own closure. But he's not trying to teach Katara forgiveness so he can save Yon Rah, he's doing it so he can save Katara. He knew that if Katara went through with this she'd get consumed by hate and anger for the rest of her life. Zuko even admitted in the end that Aang was right about what Katara needed, and it wasn't killing her mother's killer. And Katara did end up forgiving someone at the end of the episode, namely Zuko. Katara still learned and accepted Aang's lesson by the end, when at first she insisted forgiveness was impossible.

Also I think you're forgetting that Air nomads swear a non violence oath. Gyatso swore this oath as well. So again, idk where you're getting this idea that Gyatso would be "rolling in his grave" to see Aang stick to this oath.