#this one is a bit underwhelming. in my defense I am very sick rn

[ilovedthestars]

[wiggles] Azula for the ask game!

Oooooh...

(Send me a character ask)

First impression

Via fandom osmosis: There's a snarky evil fire nation girl. Also, Zuko has a sister. Also, there's somebody named Azula, who always lies. These were barely connected in my mind.

Also, when I started watching the show I kept thinking about this comic, which I'd seen but half-forgotten. It definitely gave me an impression of Zuko and Azula's relationship that was a bit more mixed/positive than what appears in the show.

Impression now

Love to hate her, but also, yikes, poor girl. She shows us another side of how royally messed up the Fire Nation royal family is, and she's a good foil to Zuko. I...don't really like her on a character level that much, though? She didn't leave that strong of an impression on me.

Favorite moment

My favorite moments with Azula are mostly moments of her defeat, lol. I loved seeing Mai and Ty Lee turn against her in...I think it was The Boiling Rock. Realizing that she didn't have total control over those around her! Although maybe I like this more because of Mai and Ty Lee's friendship and bravery than because of Azula, to be honest.

Idea for a story

Drawing a blank on this one. She just doesn't interest me like that!

Unpopular opinion

Idk what's popular or unpopular, but I didn't really like her ending? To me it felt like her final breakdown leaned a little too hard into some uncomfortable stereotypes about mental illness. And also, even though Ozai's mistreatment is very much an acknowledged part of that, I think I expected a kids show like Avatar to give her a bit more compassion at the end for what she went through. (I'm thinking of the ending of She-Ra and how it treated even long-term villains.) Maybe I'm forgetting something, but I think the last we see of her is at her lowest low, and that makes me kinda sad.

Favorite relationship

Azula & Zuko are fascinating as foils. They were both victimized, but she fought for favor by pushing him down. He seems to want to trust her, at least for a while, but knows he can't. She's fully prepared to use him. Even in the flashbacks we see when they're both very young, they don't get along. I wonder if post-canon they ever have the chance to build a positive relationship.

Favorite headcanon

Don't know if it counts as a headcanon, I am fond of the alternate universe in that comic I linked above. It shows a very different kind of secretive and manipulative Azula, one I'd be interested in seeing more of.