#long post tw

[theyoungprinceling]

He gives Edward a light nod and continues to rub his thumbs on his hand. The pins and needles are slowly starting to go away and real touch is coming back. "Yes, that sounds good."

He gives Ed a wry smile. "I will definitely leave the cooking up to you. The last time I tried to cook something, it looked like someone was murdered in the kitchen. With a potato peeler, to be exact."

Who knew those could be so dangerous!...Well, they probably weren't, really. He just got overconfident after successfully peeling three potatoes and got carried away on the fourth. In the end, they all went to waste because blood got all over them. His attempt at shepherd's pie was for nothing.

He can finally feel the metal under his fingers and the cool sensation that comes with that. It feels nice. Ling lets go of Edward's hand and closes and opens his own a couple times. The pins and needles are gone now and shocks aren't vibrating through him with every movement. Once he gets some food in him, everything should be fully better.

"...Sorry. My mornings are, uh...odd, I guess. I don't know, they've never really been normal." Thank you, blood sugar.

He sighs and rubs the back of his head. "Oh, and about yesterday...I realize I was clinging to you a lot. I was just really screwed up." And scared, but he isn't allowed to be scared. "Sorry. I'll try to ease up a bit on that." Or Edward can just shove him off but he doesn't want to outright suggest that himself.

Ling takes his hand before he can response and he just watches as his automail is lifted and moved slightly so the other teen can rub circles into his palm that only one of them can feel. He doesn't really mind much. He's adjusted to not being able to feel on that side some time ago. So to sit there while his best friend uses his hand to find his own sense of feeling is more than fine.

At least he can be of some help this way.

He'll wait. He'll wait until Ling is feeling a bit better so they both can go get something to eat and then they can go out to look for Alphonse and Lan Fan.

"Luckily fer you Ling, I c'n cook, so no worries. 'm sure there's a kitchen 'round 'ere sum'where. Take yer time 'n we'll git up 'n go find it, kay? I'll make us sum'hin' ta eat n' then we c'n figure out where ta go from 'ere. That sound like a plan?"

It would probably do them both some good to get up and out of this stuffed little room. It would probably do them both some good to figure out the layout of this place, so they can get out of it more easily. Surely, if they wander around a little bit no one is going to mind and the last thing they need to do is lay in bed all day.

Maybe that doctor guy knows something, or Fuery or even anyone else around here.

[princeofmayonnaise]

This will be my last post about this i swear but

Neopets is cool because everything is ancient and no matter who owns the website they are somehow always underfunded or incompetent so the site is never fully relevant to itself. to the point that in order to find out any current information, you need to be in a discord, you need to use a fansite, you need to reference a little section in a 10 year old editorial article etc because you can't trust anything on the actual site. I don't know any other site that runs like this and the fact it's been an issue under multiple companies kinda makes me think the site is just cursed.

but what really gets me is that every single time you see someone harassing an LGBT person on the neoboards, the harasser is screeching about Rule #5. read Rule #5!! except that rule was lifted 5 whole years ago lol. in that time frame the site has changed ownership, hired new staff, released a ton of pride items on site, and irl neopets pride merch too. they had time to design all that stuff but for some weird reason no time to remove a small bit of text from their website. so this rule is STILL listed in the official neoboard rules, declaring you can't talk about anything LGBT.

so a lot of people think it's an actual rule and will side with hella phobic people, even when the person is commiting blatant harassment. these people know this works in their favor too. so they always pull the link or screenie of these rules out like a shield. and then you have to be like no actually no look at this editorial from 5 years ago, it says right here it's allowed! no look at this email I got from staff clarifying it's allowed! look at this fansite article with all the details!! but those things don't look nearly convincing as the actual rule page, because you'd expect the official rules of a website to stay up to date while stuff like an old fansite post might not be.

and with everything going on right now I have seen this like 20 times offsite today where someone is advocating against the harassment and gets shut down all cause Rule #5. and then no one listens or defends them because it looks like the one getting harassed is the one breaking the rules, so therefore it's their own fault for bringing the topic up in the first place. like I can't even begin to describe how much victim blaming this totally irrelevant rule has caused over the years. and it's just crazy cause how hard is it to change text, remove one single line?? after YEARS? apparently even alice W has asked it to be updated?? Why are things so hard for them??

I've also been seeing tons of people getting all pissy, rolling their eyes like 'why do you even need to mention being LGBT on the neoboards!! why do people insist on making things political!' when 99% of the time no one is trying to have a debate about politics or ideology but instead are just saying something that applies to them and their life as they converse with people they feel comfortable sharing that with. so literally all that happens is like 1 out of 200 posts someone makes will reference being LGBT and then randos come out of nowhere, say something genuinely disgusting and dehumanizing for no reason and turn it into a giant thing that lasts for days. AND THEN everyone starts making boards about how they're LGBT to drown those people out.

and either way, the site itself is marketing to LGBT people. so if you have a problem with it instead of harassing a random person trying to converse with friends,, maybe take it up with TNT, who by the way just clarified like a days ago (in a private email ofc lol) that LGBT topic are still allowed, despite the mess that is the neoboards and moderation right now. so please take your emotional support rule #5 and get out <3

[crackanronpa]

[Source]

[frost-eyed-autumn]

Saw this post which was extra funny to me because I literally just had an RP that went almost exactly like this a week ago except it wasn't Fukuzawa and Kunikida... so I got inspired lmfao.

Not super polished but it was nice to just draw rough and loose without fussing over quality.

Bonus:

[chaerrypops]

ɴᴇᴡ ᴊᴇᴀɴꜱ 🪷 'ᴀꜱᴀᴘ' ᴍᴜꜱɪᴄ ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ ʙᴇʜɪɴᴅ

[lionheartedmusings]

the thing about q!bad recreating the soulfire base basically block by block and planning to surprise the team with it is that it says a whole lot about him, where is was during purgatory, and where he is now.

q!bad spent months trying to burn bridges and push people away, he effectively placed himself in a distrusted position on the island, his children (the only reason that man breathes) vanished in the middle of the night, he was actively torturing himself and kidnapping people. he was a man on a mission, sure, but time and time again he reinforced to us the audience that he wasn't *happy* about what he had to do. his plan — whatever his plan is — is something he deems necessary enough to have been alright with ruining his own life. as he said to q!baghera: "i'm expendable".

suddenly there's hope in egg island, but egg island is actually a hellscape and he's trapped without his biggest support systems — q!bagi, q!baghera, q!foolish, and even to an extent q!forever were the people he had to take down, they couldn't be there for him anymore. and from his team? other than q!tina and q!aypierre, he wasn't close to anyone or was just... directly antagonistic towards them (mainly q!pac and q!tubbo).

and then the funniest thing happened — he found family in hell and in people he never truly expected to be comfortable around.

he grew to respect and care for q!tubbo, he grew much closer to q!tina, his relationship with q!aypierre was tested and strengthened, he found a connection with q!niki and by god, he protected q!pac — who'd once been terrified of him — with his life. even the people who didn't log on often, he grew to see as part of his pack in a way he (and i) didn't see coming.

when soulfire mains talk about them being the perfect example of found family, that's what we mean. slow, careful changes that grew into love and protection beyond belief — enough that when green gay ninjas were split, everyone was welcomed with a warm hug and a cup of tea, now part of the family undoubtedly and forever. just like that.

their family was hitting their stride when purgatory ended and q!bad tanked a nuke to his back to save his son, and now his bookshelves are all knocked over and his memory's slipping. he's dying, he knows he's dying, and he's holding on by a thread for dapper and pomme even if he's aware that he can't just "bear it" much longer. he's isolated again, hiding and lying about his condition, watching the world turn and knowing his clock is ticking... sometimes he knows nothing at all.

and in this moment of pain, and solemn realization of the end of this version of him?

he's spending his time rebuilding the last place that felt like home block by block, talking openly about how he feels nostalgic and misses their base, their god awful spawn, the memories they made. his time with his daughter has been spent down there.

i know we as a fandom have theorized that one of these days, his memory's gonna snap down there and he'll think he's back in purgatory and it'll be a mess. sure. but right now?

right now that rebuilt base means love, and friendship, and family, and safety. it's the last place things were okay, and he felt cared for in a way that frankly your children can't provide.

a group of ragtag mismatched people got put together in a poor man's hunger games and they saw this demon — bloodthirsty, destructive, full of cold calculated murderous intent and a need to win for his child and instead of being horrified, running away screaming from his fangs and his claws?

they loved him. they found the gentleness beneath the blood and guts. they called him their attack dog because he's so full of love and so protective, and would tear anyone to pieces to protect their family.

team soulfire saw q!bad in a way no one in the island had, and they loved him for it — even when he drove them up the walls and they had to hold the leash tight, they loved him.

and now he's remade their home.

[adreaminmyheart]

Really now? He wasn't sure. But Danny had always been empathetic to the feelings of others. He did see behind the mask now. And he saw behind all of that laughter, at least to some degree. While unsure which of the two were an act, he'd always believe in the good in everybody's heart.

Even someone like Darla had good in her heart. Somewhere. That was why he never expressed anger towards her, even when she'd threatened him during the big performance.

"Well." His voice rose a bit. "Maybe I'm not getting my point across with words, so why don't I sing what I believe?"

Even Danny knew, he was taking a big chance here. But what was life without some risks? You could take risks, you could stay safe. But if you were safe all the time, your life would be stagnant forever.

Here goes nothing.

🎵 People die out of loneliness It happens every day Only takes a little tenderness To ease all the hurt away...🎵

His voice... there was a reason people compared him to mythological sirens. Pitch, vibrato, tone. Every last bit of it was sheer perfection, pure skill from working on his voice all his life.

🎵 Everywhere I go Everything I see With a little hope With a little love Oh how beautiful the world can be... 🎵

Danny offered his hand.

🎵 How beautiful... 🎵

"You're an interesting kitty cat, I'll give you that.. I can tell-- you're someone in more tune with people's emotions, rather than what's just on the surface..." Nikolai hummed softly, his hand reaching up to the mask he wore over one of his eyes. He removed it, showing an eye that did not match the color of his gray one. A bright emerald green.

"I do.. indeed feel bad for what I do.. I feel guilt-- like any normal person that would harm another. I know murder is wrong and evil. I do not do it simply because it feels nice or I get some sort of kick out of it," Nikolai spoke, his voice becoming softer.

He smiled, placing back on his mask, his grin turning to a mischievous. "I now have a quiz for you-- Am I being honest with my words~? Or am I merely fooling you~? Heehee~! You really shouldn't be going trusting a clowns words now~!" the man giggled and placed his hands on his hips.

He tilted his head to the side, blinking a few times. "You really think your friendship is better than my delight of murdering others? You're funny! Hysterical even~! Haha! You make me laugh~! No friendship is worth more than feeling a sense of freedom..."

[usercooperkoch]

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story S2E7 · Showtime

[bigidiotenergytm]

IM TELLLLLING YALL IM COOKING ❗❗❗❗

[queerquaintrelle]

2026 at the earliest we can do it y'all!

In the meantime may I offer one of the most underrated period dramas of ever to me. I sometimes critique period dramas for putting narrative over historical fact but this one does not lie unless one counts omitting something because it is obvious in the context of the narrative this in one is more or less true but condescended timeline. Also, its primary longrunning theme is about doing the right thing cause it is the right thing (which should be a good enough reason), so feels relevant again unfortunately.

(Content Warnings).

Alright, but now imagine him in 18th century hunting attire, covered in blood - Lestat sat on a stool in his CASTLE, looking up like this at his brother after he just killed 8 wolves & Augustin is like “LOL, No you didn’t” &….

[zukosdualdao]

Just some more thoughts I wanted to chat with you about. I am getting some of these points from anti-Zuko spaces, admittedly, in an attempt to think about things, but only the ones that I think are interesting questions to explore regardless.

The first thing I think is interesting is the idea that part of why Zuko stole the ostrich-horses from Song is not just because it was convenient, but specifically because he resented the vulnerability, and it was a way for him to lash out. I think that's interesting and it fits with some of the other stuff I've seen you saying. It was especially cruel given Song's mother helped Iroh, but nonetheless, I think that makes sense.

Second one isn't actually directly from any anti-Zuko blog I don't think, but I've seen people in your circles (I can't remember if you said this) say that Azula brought Zuko back in honor purely as a way to pawn off the blame on him potentially, but I... don't feel like that really fits? Like, obviously she was also being manipulative a lot, by not telling him she told Ozai he killed the Avatar, but if she really wanted Zuko out of the way, she didn't need to bring him in at all? She could have probably won by herself (or at least, I find it hard to believe she would think she would need Zuko), and she certainly didn't need to give him credit for killing the Avatar– she could have just said that she got in a deadly blow but the Avatar has a waterbending healer, if she knew that as I believe Giancarlo Volpe said.

Fundamentally, I don't see a reason for her to bring Zuko back, especially in such a way that he would return to the role of crown prince, unless she genuinely also wanted to have him back. Sure, her love might be selfish, and she may have also wanted someone for Ozai to blame for things, but it strikes me as odd to claim that there was no positive feeling towards Zuko, especially given The Beach, which I just rewatched for this ask. For example, we see her come get Zuko from their old house, and then try and help Zuko figure out who he's angry at, which I do think was genuinely her being helpful, given Mai and Ty Lee were also doing it.

To be clear, she obviously also loves making fun of, tormenting, putting down, and generally, abusing Zuko, and it's very possible that was part of her motivation for bringing him back, but it seems like it's not just that.

Third, and this one you might agree on, Zuko seems to genuinely not have much positive feeling associated with Azula? Like maybe I'm forgetting something, but I can't think of a single time Zuko felt positively about Azula. The closest three times I can think of are when he suggested to Iroh that he should try and get along with Azula (which sounded kind of rote, but maybe he also believed it), when Azula was falling and he said she's not going to make it, sounded shocked and maybe a tad worried, then had a very slightly barely soft expression for a single frame when she did, and finally after her breakdown. I think that does fit in with the idea he can only feel compassion for Azula when she's in a vulnerable position, which I think I've seen you reblog before and I agree with? (And of course, this is precisely what makes it possible to help with Azula post-war, because he's seen her in that vulnerable position and she continues to be in a relatively vulnerable position).

Anyways, that one seems doubly interesting because he also doesn't seem to have any good memories of Azula when she was younger, either? He has a flashback of Ozai with his hand on young Zuko's back, of Lu Ten and Iroh, of Ursa of course, but there's never a time when he has a flashback to Azula at all.

Anyways, these are just some things I was thinking about and I was wondering if you'd be interested in going some of them, and what you feel about the positive feelings in the Fire Sibling relationship more generally. Are there signs of care from Zuko to Azula that I've missed?

Putting most of this under a cut, lol, maybe one day I'll be able to talk about things with any sort of concision but no one should hold their breath on that tbh

Oh, I 100% agree with the point regarding Zuko and the ostrich horse he stole. I don't even really see that as an anti-Zuko take and rather, just like. What happened, because it was part of his journey, lol.

(Aside: which is I guess what bothers me about many anti-Zuko spaces? Which is not to say you're doing or saying this, I know you're not, just in general. I'm perfectly willing to criticize the characters I like and talk about their faults and poor choices, of which Zuko has many. The issue is that so many treat those things as a condemnation of Zuko's character on the whole or his redemption journey, but, like... the narrative treats those things like they're wrong. Iroh may agree to it, but he's not happy about taking the ostrich horse and notes it as being unkind, especially, as you note, given the kindness Song and her family just showed them. For a redemption arc to work, the character has to have something to redeem himself FROM, so I"m like... yeah... he sure did do that... and then he grew and changed, lol. They don't go back to every specific instance and be like, "Yup, that was wrong" because it wouldn't be realistic and wouldn't move the story forward. When he does get confronted with the wrong things he did, it's from the Gaang, because that's what's most relevant to the larger story being told, and he takes accountability and atones.)

I think something important to remember that Zuko's perspective on the war and the Fire Nation cannot be disentangled from Zuko's perspective on Ozai as the father who abused him. Because Ozai's power-hungry and imperialist worldview, whether Zuko would put it in these terms, was something he was challenging when he defended the division being sacrificed, and even in refusing to fight Ozai back. Which relates to this episode because Zuko, for the first real time, is considering the perspective of the people the Fire Nation, in their war efforts, have othered and harmed. When Song is showing him the scar on her leg, he looks horrified - the war effort is not just soldiers battling out on even footing, but families getting displaced from their homes and torn apart, civilians getting burned, too. Zuko, up to now, has been willfully ignoring what some part of him knows is wrong, but when confronted with Song's suffering, real and right in front of him, he is forced to look at that more deeply. I know a lot of people might say "Okay, but then, if he knows it's wrong at this point, why doesn't he change right here and now?" But that's what I love about Zuko's character arc. It's not clear or linear are simple because people aren't that way, generally. Yes, in this moment, Zuko is confronted with and aware of at least some of the atrocities the Fire Nation has committed. But in that same scene, he's also confronted with Song noting that he is a victim of the Fire Nation, too. (Which he is, albeit not in the exact same way. But there are parallels - not only were he and Song both burned, but they were both forced out of their homes.) Zuko can't fully acknowledge or comes to term with the Fire Nation being on wrong side of the war without also acknowledging that not only is Ozai abusive and doesn't want him back, but that he's wrong for that. Zuko isn't ready to accept any of that, so instead of taking this moment of vulnerability as a chance to grow, he doubles down and reasserts himself as what he thinks, based on Ozai's standards, he should be - someone who's cruel and take things like they're owed to him.

I do think we disagree on the second point pretty heavily, which is fine, but to offer my perspective:

I disagree with the notion that Azula wouldn't think she may need Zuko to win. Azula is very skilled and can be very arrogant about and assured of her own skills, that much is true. But she also often prefers not to fight alone. I remember reading an interview (I would have to dig around for it) where one of the ATLA creators said that she surrounds herself with people like Mai and Ty Lee because she understands they have skills she doesn't. I tend to see her as someone who is very distinctly aware of what advantages she has and very intentionally fills those gaps.

Zuko is the wild card in "The Crossroads of Destiny." He is the only person, by the point of the final battle, who no one (I think, for a moment, even himself) knows exactly what he'll do or which side he'll fight for. Iroh and Azula both make their bids for him - Iroh tries to appeal to his sense of morality and sense of self. Azula tries to appeal to things she knows he wants - his honor and the love of their father back, yes, but also to be genuinely needed and respected by his family in general, including her. And while what she says here is couched in manipulation, often, what's so dangerous about manipulation is that there is or can be an element of truth to it, but it's twisted to fit the manipulator's agenda. She tells him that she needs him to win the fight, and I think that part, she genuinely means.

I don't think she would believe she needed Zuko to win a fight in most or every circumstance. This fight is different. She has faced off against the Gaang-Zuko-Iroh when they very, very briefly joined forces against her in "The Chase." The only reason she got out of that is because she feigned surrender, and, using their moment of surprise/distraction, targeted Iroh. That will not work twice. I think she is incredibly aware that this group of people at least holds the capacity to genuinely pose a threat to her. In fact, she is notably growing wary and arguably losing, with Aang and Katara facing off against her together, before Zuko intercedes. She's also very explicitly losing when she and Katara are facing off and Katara's got her trapped with her water-tentacles, and again, it's Zuko who cuts that off and saves Azula there. So not only do I think she was very intentionally encouraging Zuko to join her to fight because she needed him, I think she was pretty smart to do so. (Not morally good or justified, of course, but strategically competent.)

Of course, people can have more than one reason for doing something. I would say most people usually do. I don't think that Azula MINDED that the end result would be that Zuko came back, because (this is something I will delve into more below), having him around, I think, kind of boosts her ego. It's possible that she also has some degree of unhealthy but genuine affection for him - after all, people are complicated, and while Azula is abusive toward Zuko, it's possible to abuse someone and still love or be convinced you love them. That doesn't make it healthy or the abuse okay, of course, but my point is that I do agree with the general notion that Azula, while a villain in the narrative and abusive on a personal level, is not born evil nor 100% devoid of any good qualities. But I think we would also be remiss to act like it's not true that, a lot of the time, the reason Azula seems to enjoy having Zuko around, it's because she can demean him, like when she cornered into playing with them so she could embarass him as children. Or when she quite obviously delights in calling him paranoid and making him squirm while he confronts her about the lie she told that he killed the avatar.

Zuko being around gives her someone to be better than, given her status as Ozai's golden child and Zuko's as the scapegoat. (But again, more on that in a minute.) Any affection she does have for him is unfortunately deeply entangled with that aspect of their relationship as well.

I don't know if you've read that interview with Volpe in full, but I made an addition to this post a while ago that details the quote about this. Volpe makes it pretty explicit in the interview that as soon as Azula saw Katara sweep in, it was her explicit intention to lie about Zuko killing Aang so that he'd be the one to take the fall if/when it came to light that he was alive. One could argue about how well that was executed in-show (I would argue well, but to each their own), but it was the authorial intent. Authorial intent doesn't count for everything, of course, but in such a series-defining moment as this, I think it should count for a fair amount.

(*Note that I don't know where to fit but I think is relevant - on the Zuko coming back and being crown prince front - I agree that it seems somewhat weird that Azula's willing to have him back, given that. But I did also read a post a while back (I can't find it; I'll try to see if I can dig it up at some point) talking about how Zuko's status as the crown prince, set to take over as Fire Lord one day, is... somewhat murky. Yes, he returns and is immediately hailed as a hero because of Azula's lie - but he's also often aimless and unsure of his real role in the Fire Nation at this point. He's frustrated with being sent off on a 'forced vacation' in "The Beach", he's not even sure whether he's allowed in the war meeting from "Nightmares and Daydreams". (And I read a lot of deliberate manipulation on Ozai (and Azula's) part in that. As mentioned in that last post, Zuko spends a lot of time in the series talking about his crown - but I'm not sure he spent a lot of time thinking about what it would mean to get it back. By the end of the series, Ozai is clearly drunk on power and trying to make himself the most powerful person in the world, basically, handing off the hollow title of Fire Lord to Azula. In truth, I don't think he ever wanted or expected either of his children to succeed him; he only saw them as extensions of himself. When Zuko is back, yes, he's being treated like he's a hero and more trusted/respected, but I'm not entirely convinced it would have lasted very long, had he not left. This next part is somewhat based on conjecture/headcanon, but I don't think it's entirely unreasonable to think that Azula doesn't think bringing Zuko back will mean, in Ozai's eyes, he is still next in line to become Fire Lord. Which I actually think she's right about. In her eyes, Zuko has always been the scapegoat who can't do anything right, and it won't take long before that's true again. But I also think that, while Azula has a pretty good read on how Ozai sees Zuko, part of her tragedy is that she does not have as good of a read on how Ozai sees her - he might on the surface treat her more respectfully or with my trust, but at the end of the day, he sees her as a weapon in service of his own ego and power. Knowing that, it's not difficult for me to imagine Azula might have thought she could eventually work things in her favor so she would be Fire Lord - she does, after all, have a pretty good example in Ozai of him doing just that. When Ozai makes her 'Fire Lord' in the finale, I do read some surprise there, but it doesn't seem to me like surprise that he would do such a thing - she deems that it "seems appropriate". I think the surprise is because the timing makes it pretty clear what a hollow gesture it is, and for the first time, she's being confronted with how Ozai truly sees her, and has truly used her.)

The last point is difficult to discuss because Azula and Zuko have a very complicated relationship because of Ozai's abuse of them both, and because his treatment of Azula encourages her to participate in Zuko's abuse as well. (Something pretty relevant to the second point above.)

I talked about this briefly before, but to reassert it: I see the way Ozai treats Azula and Zuko as a pretty clear demonstration of the idea of an abuser treating their children a 'golden child' and 'a scapegoat', respectively. (I have complicated feelings about the origins of these terms which I won't get into now, but regardless, they are pretty commonly recognized roles family structures can fall into that character dynamics and tropes often parallel.) Azula, on the surface, is praised and seemingly treated with more respect or trust, but there is a lot of pressure that no one can truly live up to placed on her, Ozai sees her skill as an extension of himself and in the context of how they can serve him (see him having her demonstrate for Azulon in the flashbacks of "Zuko Alone"), and Zuko is always there as an implicit threat of how she COULD be treated. ("You can't do this! You can't treat me like Zuko!") Zuko, by contrast, is most often treated like everything he does is wrong, and even when he's trying to do what he thinks Ozai wants, he's still a failure. (He's notably displeased by Zuko, in the same flashback sequence, trying to demonstrate his own skill even before it goes wrong, because the expectation is that Zuko will fail before he ever even tries.)

I know this is just like, defining terms, but I genuinely think it's important context to consider when talking about Zuko and Azula's relationship. The tragedy of Zuko and Azula is that they should be able to have a good relationship, but Ozai's abuse has ensured that they don't.

So, yes, I would say that Zuko seemingly has few positive feelings about Azula. Because there has been very little to be positive about. What he does displays a desire that things were different. While Azula is lying about wanting Zuko back home, she is obviously there as an extension of Ozai, but it's her telling this lie, her he's choosing, in this moment, to believe. Because he wants to be able to trust what she's saying and that their family, as a unit, including her, wants him back. In the moment you mentioned where he says he should be trying to get along with her, I think that is another acknowledgment that he wishes things were different because he would like to just get along with her. But she has proven herself dangerous, having just attacked Iroh, and Iroh rightly points out that he doesn't have to simply get along with her, because she is not willing to make the same effort. And yes, a lot of the moments of compassion he seems to feel for her are in moments of vulnerability, because in moments where she's in power, she's often using that power against him, to target him.

Azula does have moments where it may seem she has more positive feelings about Zuko's presence, but as I said before, it's hard to disentangle that from the broader context of their dynamic. I do think the moment in "The Beach" is one of her more genuine moments of care for Zuko, because she sees that he's sad and does something to show there's more to Azula than just cruelty, manipulation, etc. But it's also notable that Zuko is sad because he's finally starting to acknowledge that the way their family is isn't right or healthy, that he's not happy being back in the Fire Nation. Turning away from that is what Zuko's BEEN doing most of the series. He NEEDS to face that if he’s going to grow. Azula trying to get him to turn away from it in the moment isn't entirely healthy, even though that's not something I think she herself recognizes. I'm less inclined to think she was being caring when she asks him who he's angry at, because she immediately demeans him for the answer.

Which is sort of the problem with a lot of the evidence people will sometimes pull to show Azula caring about Zuko - they usually come from moments where either she's manipulating or straight up lying to Zuko or where she is insulting him. It's fine and in fact important to acknowledge that she has more sympathetic moments and is not this completely evil person with no capacity for love or affection (one of the show's central themes is, after all, to suggest that no one is born evil), but I often feel that, when people are making this argument, they are using it an attempt to justify the abuse Azula has committed against him. To say that, because she cares about him, it's okay. And I've seen people go further than that and suggest he's a bad brother for not putting up with her abuse. And I don't agree with either of those stances.

[taminoe]

• SYDNEY SWEENEY for Variety (August 2023)

[jjcre8]

✩˚｡⋆ 𝟏𝟖𝟖𝟑 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐒 ┊ Elsa Dutton + Sam. 〚 01x08 "The Weep of Surrender" 〛

[layla-keating]

THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY 2.07 "Love Affair"

[ndobrcv]

Nina was fuming after her last conversation with Glen. The man was acting as if they didn't know each other, as if their two years in a relationship didn't occur--he was acting like he didn't know what she needed or wanted. Sure, she may have not outwardly expressed it recently, but it wasn't as if she had changed since their time together. Further, if she kept going back to him, wouldn't that insinuate she wanted to be more than friends? Glen was the one person that could infuriate her more than anyone else, but he was also the one person that she craved, and not just romantically. When she had an accident earlier this year, the hospital had called him since he was still listed as her emergency contact. She wasn't expecting to see him when she blinked her eyes open after surgery, but she wasn't mad about it. During her recovery, he'd been there for her, doting on her hand and foot. It showed her just why they worked so well together; it wasn't just romantic and sexual feelings that she felt for him, he genuinely was her best friend. The one person she wanted when everything was going right or wrong.

So, the fact he didn't know what she wanted sent her into an angry spiral. After all but telling him she wouldn't be coming to see him overseas, in a rage, Nina booked the first flight out of LA, threw clothing and personal essentials into a suitcase, and sped off in a cab toward the airport. The flight was long, and the screaming baby three aisles back didn't help anything. It only fueled to her irritation with Glen. By the time she got off the plane, her mood had soured to the point of no return. Nina knew that going to see Glen like this wasn't a great idea, but she had already made up her mind. When that happened, there was no changing it.

Nina had gotten Glen's hotel information and room number from his assistant, a girl that she'd been good friends with dating back to the start of her relationship with Glen. At the airport, Nina hailed a cab to the hotel and started to formulate what exactly she was going to say to her ex. She assumed he'd be surprised when she randomly showed up there, and the brunette hoped on all her lucky stars he wouldn't have any other female in the room with him. Because then she'd feel really stupid. Once she arrived at the hotel, Nina thanked the driver and retrieved her luggage, silently taking the elevator up to his floor. The suitcases were lugged down the hall, and her hand quickly went up to pound on the door quietly. Her heart was racing and cheeks were flushed, preparing to unload all her thoughts on him. @glempowcll

[chaerrypops]

ᴡɪɴᴛᴇʀ ❄️ ᴀᴇꜱᴘᴀ ᴄᴏᴍᴇʙᴀᴄᴋꜱ ( 2021 - 2024 )

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