#this turned into an azula character analysis

[not-aurii]

Rewatching ATLA and I think that one scene when Azula shows up to blow them off the Air Temple they were staying at (forgot which one, sorry), is already a tell that she's losing her mind a bit.

Because, this is right after Mai and Ty Lee betray her. And in The Day of Black Sun episode, when asked if she wanted to follow the gaang, all she says is:

"There's no point. They'll be back soon." And she was right, they would be back soon.

So why did she suddenly decide to get an entire squad of airships, just to blow up her brother and the Avatar?

Even when Zuko asks her, she doesn't give him a proper answer, just saying she's "celebrating becoming an only child".

I think this was her way of trying to feel better about herself with a win. Any win would do.

Because this attack is so weird for Azula, out of character even. An entire fleet of warships? Not just a small group to be inconspicuous? Of course, Mai and Ty Lee are no longer an option, but... why not just take the Dai Li?

Why the need for this sudden show of force, when just her presence alone is more than enough to make anyone cower in fear? Why does she feel the need to remind them that she is That powerful?

Because she's already suffering the consequences of Mai and Ty Lee's betrayal. Because she's already starting to doubt just how much power she actually has over people. Because she's already losing sight of herself, little by little.

This is also why I love the way Azula and Zuko's fight ends:

They're both falling from the sky, seemingly to their deaths with no way out, but the gaang grabs Zuko at the last minute, making sure he's safe. His connection to people, his choices to help and redeem himself, were what saved him in the end.

Azula is all alone.

She saves herself, but barely so. Even Zuko has a split second of "she might actually die" and then goes "Of course she didn't". Like it's expected. Like it's a law of the universe that Azula would be all alone and able to save herself, and that's nothing grand or anything else. It's just how it is. Azula has always been by herself, always been alone, always keeping herself safe the only way she knew how: fear.

And then that fails her too. So what is she supposed to do now?

She's falling. No one is going to grab her, keep her safe. And the only way she knew how to do that by herself, for herself, is gone.

Fear wasn't enough.

But what else is there for her to grab on to?

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Hey! Thank you for your service. I LOVE your analysis, you're one of the few people I see who understands Zuko's and Azula's character and does them justice.

I have a question for you, since you've been dealing with the Zutara fandom for a long time. Why do so many Zutara shippers demonise Kataang , Zukaang, and Maiko being best friends in the show?

Isn't it possible to write a good canon Zutara fic where Kataang + Zukaang + Maiko are still best friends? Why does Katara have to hate Aang, and Zuko have to hate Mai? Why do Zuko and Aang always have a distant relationship?

I have my own issues with the Zukka fandom. Zuko isn't a soft turtleduck, Sokka isn't a charismatic top. They both also like girls and antis can die mad about it . But I will say, Zukka writers tend to keep Sokka and Suki as best friends, and Mai and Zuko are usually close as well. At least no one HATES each other. They all have amicable breakups at least.

Why is it so hard for the Zutara fandom to keep everyone as best friends / close friends who just want to support each other? What do you think?

"Isn't it possible to write a good canon Zutara fic where Kataang + Zukaang + Maiko are still best friends?" No, because they don't know how to make Zutara a thing without turning the characters into genec OCs, and these canon dynamics would get in the way of that, so they need to be destroyed in the process.

Zutarians have SO LITTLE FAITH in the quality of their own ship and are so clueless about how to make it work in actually engaging way that they KNOW that if they write them as still being friends with Aang and Mai, the reader would inevitably go "Sounds like Zuko and Katara would rather be with them instead of each other, so what's the point in this?"

[burst-of-iridescent]

Hi! I love all your posts regarding atla and deep diving into Zuko and Katara's relationship-those analysis's are *chief's kiss* perfect

Anywho, I hope you don't mind me asking, but I'm guessing you heard about Bryke wanting to expand the atla universe, and will be creating a new movies, one of which, with the Gaang as adults, but as far as I know won't have any of the returning head writers like Aaron Ehasz..

so my question is: do you think there is any hope for these movies? Because to me I feel like it might just be a fully animated comic (we all know how those turned out) & just be 2 hrs of Katara and Aang saying "Sweetie" back an forth. Yes I'm still saltly

frankly? no.

and that's not even me saying it as a salty zutara shipper who doesn't want to see kat.aang as an established relationship. i doubt how good these movies are going to be because bry.ke have little-to-no understanding of their characters, especially katara and zuko, and at least since atla, haven't shown the self-awareness to hire a writer's team that can compensate for their shortcomings. i've said it before and i'll say it again: they have great, creative ideas and an excellent eye for stunning visuals and an immersive world. but when it comes to the nuances of characterization and story-building, they cannot do it on their own. lok proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt.

but more than bry.ke, these movies are also emblematic of a larger problem that i see in multiple franchises: the subordination of creative, meaningful storytelling in service to shameless nostalgia cash-grabbing. ask yourself, do we really need a story about the adult gaang? most of the main plot threads that they could've expanded on from atla have already been (mostly badly) answered in the comics: what happened to ursa, azula's potential redemption, decolonisation, industrialisation vs tradition, the founding of a new air nomad legacy, zuko's struggles as fire lord. any new story would either have to retcon previously established "canon" or put a new spin on old themes. the latter of which i severely doubt bry.ke's capability to pull off, particularly if any level of nuance is required.

atla is slowly but surely heading in the direction of star wars/harry potter/the mcu in producing new material just for the sake of making money instead of truly adding something impactful to the canon. the fact that absolutely no new atla material since the show itself has ever managed to live up to the original is proof that the franchise has no idea what it's doing.

and before someone comes at me to say that it's impossible to ever live up to the original - just take a look at the hunger games revival happening right now. the ballad of songbirds and snakes has been received so well because it isn't just a shameless cash-grab. it's a valuable contribution to the series that expands on the universe and themes of the original trilogy, giving more depth and nuance to the original books instead of detracting from them. because collins adds to the canon only when she has something meaningful to say, and for a franchise that she could have milked to absolute filth, that restraint reflects not only her integrity as a creator, but the value she places on the stories that she tells - which in turn makes her readers value and respect them as well.

and that's a lesson that i think every single storyteller should take to heart. if you want to be respected as a writer, you have to respect your characters and your stories first. because if you, the creator, don't... why should anyone else?

[closetsof-backlogged-dreams]

a Mai-Azula-Ty Lee analysis bc i have Many feelings

so this is definitely super random for my blog, but i just rewatched the boiling rock (bc ofc i did lmao) and i've been obsessed w this quote since like age ten, but it just hit different this time around and i feel the need to share:

"You miscalculated. I love Zuko more than I fear you."

so. here's the thing. this quote is objectively insane for a million reasons, but i want to talk about some of the parallels we can pull from it bc imo it makes it so. much. WORSE.

"No, you miscalculated! You should have feared me more!"

here comes the main theme of this post: fear, juxtaposed with love.

i do genuinely believe that Azula loved Mai and Ty Lee. not in the way typical friends love one another, because Azula is not a typical person who learned to love in a typical way, but love nonetheless.

(we can trace this back to her relationship with her father VS her relationship with her mother. Azula had a very distinctive way of looking at her childhood: she was her father's daughter, and Zuko was her mother's son. while we never saw Azula's reaction to his banishment, whether it was positive or negative, this surely cemented this idea for her. once their mother was gone, her father had no use for him. but of course he still had use for her—he loved her.

and if her father loved her, in a father-daughter relationship fueled by fear and intimidation, and her mother didn't, in a mother-daughter relationship that wasn't, what do you think she learned of love? but we'll bring this idea back later.)

she loved them, and she trusted them, and they betrayed her.

but before i really dig into the quote, i want to go over this love-fear juxtaposition, because it is a common theme throughout her character arc as she spirals further and further.

this scene is set after the betrayal, and the fact that they brought in a hallucination of her mother is very, very important.

once again, these opposing feelings of fear and love are brought back again. before, i said that Ursa and Azula's relationship wasn't fueled by fear. but is that true? Azula says very clearly here that her mother fears her and thinks that she's a monster. And this hallucination of her mother, a figment of all her worst fears and regrets and internal conflicts, brings up Mai and Ty Lee.

And then:

Even you fear me. No. I love you, Azula. I do.

"even you fear me" "no. i love you"? this is so, so crucial to what we know about Azula and her perception of love. she views love and fear to be very closely linked, even intertwined, not something to be separated in such a way.

even you fear me — but do you love me? i don't know if you do. but you fearing me does not stop you from loving me. they are not separate entities. i do not know how to be loved if i am not feared.

no. i love you — you are my daughter. i do not fear you. i love you. they can be separate. i love you without fearing you. no, i do not fear you. i love you.

and this is Azula's breaking point. tears stream down her face and she shatters the mirror. this separation of fear and love—it's too much. she doesn't know how to handle it. she knows fear without love, but she does not know love without fear.

her relationship with Zuko is another prime example. i fully believe that Azula loved her brother, or at least cared for him in some capacity. you see it in scenes such as these:

she had no reasonable ulterior motive here. she genuinely was trying to help him and look after him—but he's also afraid of her. he's afraid of what she might do or what she wants from him, even if in this particular scene that fear is unnecessary.

even when she recruited Ty Lee, she used fear to get Ty Lee to join her:

Ty Lee is legitimately happy to see Azula, but you can see the fear on her face when she turns down Azula's offer to search for the Avatar. and then, you can see that fear again when Azula tells her she'll be attending her show. and of course, Azula sets the net on fire, and Ty Lee ends up accepting Azula's offer.

i do believe Ty Lee and Azula had genuine love for one another, but Azula just never knew how to have that love without the fear.

and finally, we come back to the quote.

I love Zuko more than I fear you. / You should've feared me more.

or: I love Zuko more than I love you. / You should've loved me more.

the use of the word "miscalculated" fits perfectly here. everyone adores Azula. she's the prodigy, the crown princess, the Fire Nation's darling. no one is supposed to love Zuko. Zuko is the failure, the banished prince, their nation's greatest shame.

you miscalculated. you were supposed to love me. you were my friend. you were my ally. i trusted you. i made you fear me. you were supposed to love me. no one loves Zuko. everyone loves me.

you miscalculated. love doesn't work like that. love doesn't come with fear. fear chases love away. you made me fear you. you made me hate you. i chose Zuko, because you don't know how to love.

and it all always comes back to Zuko, doesn't it?

but i'm yours. Zuko was mother's, and mother is long gone, and see, Zuko was a traitor. Zuko was nothing. you treated Zuko terribly because Zuko wasn't yours. but i am. i am your daughter. i am your prodigy. i am your princess. i am your heir. how dare you treat me like him. like nothing. how dare you.

i also believe that this was the true final blow that sent her spiraling into her downfall. she's extremely vulnerable here: her two most trusted friends and allies have just betrayed her, and here it is, another betrayal. where she is usually cool and collected, she is snappy and hot-headed, here.

his betrayal is quickly and immediately rectified when he informs her she will become the new Firelord. see, she's not like Zuko. Zuko is banished with no crown and no legacy. she is different. she is her father's child. Zuko is her mother's. she gets the throne. he gets nothing.

but Mai still chose Zuko. and she was absolutely furious, of course, but even this she could still handle. it's what happens after that she can't.

The thing I don't understand is why. Why would you do it?

why would you choose him? why would you choose Zuko? only one person ever chose Zuko: Mother. but she doesn't matter. she's gone. but why. why. (why do they keep choosing Zuko?)

and then, probably my favorite shot in the entire series:

Ty Lee looks at Mai, then Azula. it's barely a second long, but it speaks volumes. she's making a decision. Mai, or Azula? Mai, or Azula?

throughout our time with Ozai's Angels, it's obvious that Ty Lee is Azula's right hand woman. she goes with her everywhere. even in this scene, Ty Lee is right next to Azula the whole time.

and Mai chose Zuko. Mai chose Zuko. she says that "I love Zuko more than I love you" and she should've loved her more, and so now Azula is going to kill her. she's about to summon her lightning, and—

so Ty Lee chose Mai. and Mai chose Zuko. and her mother chose Zuko. and Azula chose her father and her nation and her ambition, and she thought her father chose her, and he did, he did.

thing about Azula: she loves. she loves Zuko, and she loves Ty Lee, and she loves Mai. but she doesn't prioritize her love the way Zuko does. her love comes last. her father comes before her love. before her father, her nation. but before all of that, her ambition.

for her ambition to ever come to fruition, she needs fear, doesn't she?

and Zuko fears her.

so she wins. right?

wrong.

she loses.

she gave up everything, absolutely everything, and she. still. loses. to fucking Zuko.

he won their mother's love. he won Mai. he, indirectly, won Ty Lee. and now he won the crown, her crown.

Azula, born lucky, born a prodigy, never wins.

[plutoyoni]

astro observations:

zuko and azula: an analysis into fire and character arcs - part 1:

zuko

(inspired by this tweet):

(disclaimer: i'm not a professional astrologer, these are just insights from a person who is still learning astrology and making connections along the way. thus, please feel free to correct me if necessary, and take my posts with a grain of salt)

aries, as we know is the sign ruler over fire in the zodiac, both literally and symbolically.

so generally it also rules over connotations of fire-related themes such as:

vitality

passion

heat

physical prowess

combat/violence/war

strength

identity

independence

leadership

masculinity

and lastly, funnily enough, physical markings (such scars or tattoos)

zuko's arc is one that begins with fire, quite literally actually, as the act of his father (the central masculine figure in his life at the time) burning his face in punishment for his defiance (which as we know, was zuko considering the lives of the fire nation soldiers that his father saw as disposable) lights the flame that sets him down the path of his character arc.

consequently, zuko making the 'mistake' of showing kindness and subsequently suffering this traumatic event leads to him embracing all of the negative associations of aries energy, as seen in his season one persona.

his determination is ruthless and unyielding, he's quick to anger, regularly throwing temper tantrums and displaying a demanding aggressiveness towards himself and the people working for him. fiercely independent, and refusing any moments of contemplation or rest.

as his character arc progresses, him choosing to sever ties with this version of himself (symbolically shown by him cutting off his topknot) and embarking on a new journey (with a healthier version of masculinity to guide him found in uncle iroh).

this next part of his story is where I'd say libra's polarity with aries comes into play, as in this part of his journey, zuko experiences a calmer, more peaceful existence, shaped by comforts and pleasures such going on a date, working in the teashop, making connections and most importantly, experiencing kindness from others. these interactions I'd say, are crucial in bringing him back into balance.

by 'zuko alone', his decision to wander alone (aries also rules over independence remember !!) into a village and being taken in by a small boy's family unfolds in him having to revisit his wounds around how violence and combat were a central theme of his upbringing, most memorably, him being so accustomed to violence in his upbringing that his idea of a kind gesture is gifting a weapon to a child.

though he's making solid progress, he falls back into old patterns by jumping at the prospect of allowing his father to believe he's k*lled the avatar and regained his honour. though of course, this win is short-lived because its brings him back into his old pattern of anger and self-destruction.

ultimately, his decision to disavow these teachings by finally confronting his father, and criticising his lifelong childhood abuse, he becomes aware of the dangers of perpetuating the circle of violence and how it ultimately leads to repeated suffering (something zuko has personally learned all too well at this point).

in an effort to avoid this, he chooses the path of peace and kindness and subsequently joins the avatar, leading to him finally reaching the developed side of aries in his identity: using his strength, leadership, and determination (aries) as a means of bringing safety, kindness and peace (libra).

(I'd also add that the evolution of his relationship to firebending (literal, physical fire) is also indicative of this - his explosive and aggressive fighting style born of anger and frustration in season one - in comparison to how it transforms after his face-heel-turn leads to his firebending being clearer, stronger and more refined season three.)

thanks for reading!

author's note - thank you so much for 100 followers! this was a bit harder than i was expecting lol but it's done! tumblr's 10 pic limit is k-wording me there were so many more pics i wanted to include😭

part 2 - azula's arc will be up soon!

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Princess Azula

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

This is one of those characters I should’ve done a long time ago, but just never got around to because I felt it was just way too obvious. I mean, come on, Avatar: The Last Airbender is considered one of the greatest works of western animation. Everyone and their mother has talked about this show at some point, so what could I even add?

Well, as it turns out, the way people talk about Azula is exactly what inspired me to write this! I have never seen a character so completely and critically misunderstood! Hell, this is a character that people like to disregard the core themes of the story to talk about! Discussion of her online made me so genuinely angry that I decided fuck it, it’s Azulain’ time! So here we go, my 200% anger-fueled analysis and review of the mentally-unstable Fire Nation princess who terrorized the Gaang!

Motivation/Goals: Azula has basically made it her life’s mission to be the ultimate tool of the Fire Nation, and specifically her father Fire Lord Ozai. To that end, she does basically whatveer he tells her to do? Kill the Avatar, conquer Ba Sing Se, take out her brother and uncle… So long as what she does has a net benefit for the imperialistic goals of her country, she’s down for it, and doubly so if she thinks it will get her even a little crumb of daddy’s attention.

Performance: Superstar voice actress Grey DeLisle of Literally Every Fucking Cartoon Ever Made fame lends her voice to the crown princess of the Fire Nation, and her smug, condescending delivery really sells Azula as a manipulative schemer who is constantly playing 4D chess to outmaneuver her opponents. I think I might even go so far as to call this one of DeLisle’s finest performances ever, for reasons pertaining to her delivery of lines in certain parts of the story that will be described below.

Final Fate: Azula’s fate is a perfect example of the show’s excellent writing because it robs us of catharsis in an extremely narratively satisfying way.

Throughout the finale, we watch as Azula’s mental health rapidly declines as literally everything in her life spirals out of her control for the first time. This is a girl who has defined herself as always being two steps ahead, always having everything firmly in her grasp, and yet her brother has run off with the heroes, her two best friends “betrayed” her, her father gives her the throne but only because he is crowning himself the Ultra Super Cool King Deluxe, and she is constantly grappling with feeling as if her mother viewed her as a monster while also subconsciously knowing that Ursa did truly love her. Keep in mind, all of this is happening to a teenage girl, so is it any wonder she completely and totally snaps?

Her final Agni Kai with Zuko during the height of Sozin’s Comet is epic, but it’s the conclusion where she is defeated by Katara and left as a sobbing, flailing mess that really knocks Azula’s character arc out of the park and cements her as the ultimate antithesis of Zuko. He had the guidance of a good, kind father figure, while she was stuck with Fire Hitler; he had a group of friends to love and support him, while she only had companions who put up with her out of fear and turned on her when they finally had enough; he was able to come to terms with his past traumas and grow to be better because of his numerous support systems, while all she had were toxic influences that led to her essentially collapsing under the weight of her internal conflict. She is what Zuko could have been if no one lent him a helping hand… and it is soul-crushingly tragic. The last we see her, she is a broken mess of a person, someone who has literally lost everything in their life, had the sole purpose of their existence stripped from them, and has just been reminded that she lost because she is a lonely, miserable, pathetic individual without any friends.

After her being on top for almost the entire show, this should feel like a triumph! But it’s not. It’s sad. It’s tragic. There’s no joy to be found. And boy oh boy, is it fucking powerful.

I’m just going to ignore what happens to her in the comics. It’s better that way.

Evilness: So here’s where things get really interesting, because while Azula does some truly evil things throughout the show, there is a tendency to exaggerate just how awful she is because most of her evil actions are just things she says she wants to do/has done. Combined with her smug, arrogant demeanor and it’s easy to believe she would do these things, but we don’t actually witness them. To wit, while she taunts Sokka about torturing Suki to the breaking point, when he finally reunites with her she sure doesn’t seem as cripplingly broken as Azula implied. I think it’s important to note that, as Azula is a massive liar, if we don’t actually see her do something (even something she’s threatening to do), it’s not really a mark against her. She’s a cunning manipulator, after all, conquering an entire city without lifting a finger.

On that note, though, she does have plenty of wicked moments under her belt. She conquered Ba Sing Se for the Fire Nation, she constantly tried to kill Aang and her brother while they were on the run in the Earth Kingdom, she had her friends locked up for defying her… Like she’s one messed up daddy’s girl. Even taking into account the inherent tragedy of her character and the fact she’s a teenage girl, she still kind of steps up to crossing the moral event horizon. She’s very much the product of grooming in an environment meant to espouse the joys of fascism and imperialism, and since she never had a strong guide like Iroh her moral compass is busted.

With all that being said, I think she’s a solid 5/10. She does some really nasty things, but at the same time a lot of what colors the perception of her is stuff she only implies. Also I’m not considering any of her pre-breakdown fights with Zuko as truly evil; this is just how siblings are. You bet your ass sibling squabbles would look just like that if they could shoot fireballs from their hands.

Best Episode: For all her badass moments, awesome schemes, incredible fights, and powerful moments… “The Beach” might be her best episode. This might sound crazy, but I stand by it; I think showing us an awkward, human side of her really helps to sell that Azula isn’t actually some unstoppable force. She’s just a teenager who has no social skills and can’t exist outside of the confines of being a royal or a warrior without looking like an absolute weirdo.

Best Quote: After outmaneuvering season 2’s arc villain Long Feng, who concedes to he rand says she’s beaten him at his own game, she flippantly replies, “Don't flatter yourself. You were never even a player.” I don’t think even Jet got so brutally murdered. It’s the sickest burn in the series aside from Zuko’s scar.

Final Thoughts & Score: The whole reason I even wrote this Psycho Analysis is because the constant and critical misunderstandings of Azula I see online constantly piss me the fuck off.

There is a subset of Avatar fans who completely and steadfastly believe that Azula is in fact an irredeemable monster, a complete sociopath with no redeeming qualities who needs to suffer and die. They reject any attempts at assessing the character in a more nuanced light, because “why can’t villains just be evil?” They treat her as if she’s some sort of pure evil being instead of an emotionally stunted child.“She’s crazy and she needs to go down” might as well be the mantra of these media illeterate Avatar fans, parroting opinions that mirror the words of Iroh after Azula almost killed him but ignoring that crucial context as well as Iroh’s entire character. Like, do these people actually pay attention to the core themes of the entire show? You know, mercy, redemption, humanity, the importance of all life? Did they miss the part of the finale where these core themes were cemented by Aang removing Ozai’s firebending with energybending, or were they too busy bitching about it being a deus ex machina to realize it’s thematically appropriate?

Like they want Azula to just be this evil, unredeemable cartoonish villain in a show that explicitly says no one is like this. There’s even a point in the final episodes where it’s pointed out that genocidal colonizer tyrant Ozai was once a sweet, cute little baby, and didn’t just spring forth as a fully formed Red-Hot Hitler. Azula is a person groomed by an unrepentantly evil father to be the Fire Nation ubermensch, the ideal tool for the conquest of the rest of the world. She was never allowed to have a normal childhood, as evident by her awkward behavior and social ineptitude when she’s actually allowed to cut loose and be around people her own age in a relaxed setting. Everything that she is—a liar, a manipulator, an attempted murderer, an egomaniac—are all the result of Ozai’s upbringing, being entrenched in the propaganda of her nation, and a lack of authority figures with a moral compass in her life. She didn’t have an Iroh to guide her, all she had was Ozai. In this sense, Azula is as much a victim as she is a victimizer.

But she is a victimizer. She is still consciously making bad decisions, she is still doing evil and sometimes appearing to enjoy it. There’s no reason to believe she couldn’t turn things around if given a helping hand like her brother was (though there would need to be a lot more effort due to her being in Ozai’s company unimpeded for way longer than Zuko), but she’s not some innocent little bean who’s being persecuted by others. Azula is still a villain, and viewing her as just a mere victim is a disservice to the character just as much as painting her as an inhuman monster. She is a very nuanced character, but she never gets the sort of POV work Zuko does to fully flesh out what’s on her mind and let us see the world through her eyes so the work done for her is more subtle, at least until her final breakdown. At that point, the show is literally beating you over the head with the fact she is an incredibly tragic character whose entire existence is pitiful and broken, and who lives as a mirror to Zuko, showing him a dark path he could have walked down if he didn’t receive love, support, and compassion.

Ultimately, Iroh wasn’t wrong when he said “She’s crazy and she needs to go down,” but I take it with emphasis on and. Azula is, in fact, crazy. She is incredibly mentally disturbed, her mind warped and molded by her father to the point she breaks if she starts to lose control even a tiny bit. And, as an antagonistic force working against the heroes, she does indeed need to go down. I’m sure he wasn’t too happy with his near-death experience, but you will not convince me that the sweet old Iroh, who himself changed and redeemed himself after being a fucking war criminal who nearly conquered Ba Sing Se, could not see the nuance in the Azula situation and genuinely saw his niece as some beast to be slaughtered.

But that’s enough with the ranting, let’s get to the actual final thoughts and score for Azula. She is one of the most engaging and magnificent villains in animation, a real firebrand (heh) whose numerous schemes are gripping to watch, building her up as someone you want to see finally get defeated only for the writers to pull the rug out from under you and remind you just what Azula really is. Avatar had no shortage of brilliant and subversive writing, but I think Azula’s ultimate arc is an unsung masterpiece among it. The character is so mired in discourse these days it’s easy to forget it, but she genuinely is a grand character.

For her score, I’m gonna say she gets a 9/10. She’s easily the best villain on the show, far outshining her rather generic father, the deliciously hammy but ultimately rather shallow Zhao, and the scheming but relatively minor Long Feng (to say nothing of the numerous minor villains that range in quality from wastes of time like Combustion Man to genuinely amazing and horrifying like Hama). I think the only thing holding her back from a perfect score is that sometimes it feels like things fall into place a little too perfectly for her, and she doesn’t face setbacks too much until the very end, but considering the immensely powerful culmination it’s nothing that ruins her. Azula is a character just as rich and deep as anyone else from the show, and I really wish more people looked at her with nuance.

I also wish the fucking comics didn’t exist. Maybe I’m asking for too much.

[mdhwrites]

So, do you think they do a good job connecting redeemed Zuko with the competence and skills he had when he was an antagonist?

So what's kind of funny here, as someone pointed out to me recently, is that Zuko dominates my mind as impressive but... He actually isn't the most competent villain in the world. Many of his schemes fail, he has plenty of losses that would fit right in with Team Rocket, etc. like that. So first we have to ask if he was competent or had skills while as a villain. After all, both General Xiao and Azula beat him in scope, danger, etc.

Yes. Because no one was willing to go as far as him.

Zuko's greatest character flaw is also flipped around to be his greatest strength as a person: Stubbornness and Dedication. A lot of his failures come from being so focused on one goal as to end up tunnel visioned and failing to fully utilize all that was around him, which Aang was far better at. However, that conviction also came from the fact that once he chose a goal, nothing could stop him except killing him.

For it to be fully a strength though, this fervor needed to be tempered. Luckily, a lot of Zuko's growth in Book 2, and what would allow him to give wisdom like Uncle Iroh could by Book 3, is about genuinely being able to read a situation and swap square pegs to round ones when he needed to. One of the best examples is the contrast between Zuko Alone, where in order to win a fight he resorts to firebending to win a fight handedly despite it being an objectively wrong move for his goals, versus when he's found by Jet in Ba Sing Se. By then, he's learned to read the room and so adapts, having to fight WAY harder than he would have had to if he had broken out his bending but winning much more because of it too. A character with less conviction to his ideals and goals would have resorted to the easy victory if they ever thought they were losing.

He never accepts defeat. He struggles to even compromise on how complete his victory can be. It is all or nothing for Zuko at all times and that sort of tenacity allows him to achieve things no one else in the series does. Even back in Book 1, his need to be the one to capture the Avatar leads to him infiltrating and taking down his own people, even working with Aang just so no one else can claim his prize. Then by Book 3, we see stuff like him not allowing Katara to compromise who she is for something as petty as revenge, or the fact that rather than try to compromise with Aang on Ozai or have a soft talk to him, he attacks Aang with enough ferocity to make it clear to everyone just how bad of a position they're in when he tells them what the whole problem is. Heck, one could easily say that it's his dedication that makes him understand that beating Azula by letting her kill Katara, still wouldn't be a victory because his goal at that point isn't to just beat Azula. It is to fight for better, more peaceful future and letting someone die for his victory would be counter to that. So jumping in the way of the lightning bolt was easy for him because no other option even crossed his mind at that point.

As a note: Yes, Azula has similar drive but her breakdown in Book 3 actually is extra satisfying in contrast to Zuko's fall because Zuko could have lost all of his allies and had his one victory turn to ash and gone "Alright. Time to get up and figure out how to fix this." Because that is just who he is. It's part of what makes their final fight against each other so good as we have someone who appeared to be an unstoppable force going against someone who is an actual unstoppable force.

I... Will pull back on this for a second though. If not for Mother's Basement's top Avatar fights, I wouldn't have had the comparison of Zuko's Book 2 fights ready and while I feel confident enough about my knowledge of Avatar to talk about the broad strokes of Zuko's character arc, this sort of analysis, how one's strengths and weaknesses as a villain can transfer over to them as a hero, is something that requires a lot more specificity. I need to remember him better as a villain in order to better judge how those traits transferred over. I'm still confident enough to say that it did happen, especially since Zuko is still recognizably himself as a hero versus as a villain, but it's one I wanted to include a disclaimer for anyways.

What do you all think though? Do I make a good case? Am I maybe overlooking some other strengths he carried forward? Let me know and I'll see you next tale.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[sokkastyles]

So, I've been following your blog for a while, which means I've had a front-row seat to your progression from courteous but stern, to just completely losing patience with Azula stans and their bad takes, lol. On the one hand, I would recommend being less combative as that might lead to seeing bad faith where only ignorance is present. On the other hand, I completely understand the frustration with these people who insist on:

looking for anyone but Ozai to blame for the way she turned out;

trying to retcon all the bad things Azula did as having been done with secretly benign motives (no, she was not trying to warn her brother about their dad killing him, she was using it to scare him *facepalm*);

acting like an abuser having a few moments where they're nice to their victim somehow means they're not abusive;

acting like children cannot be abusive (which is why bullying famously never happens in schools /s);

acting like Ursa and Iroh could have just whisked Azula away from Ozai and his abuse- as if he wasn't the most powerful man in the world at the time (they couldn't even save Zuko, who had to be banished in order for Iroh to help him);

acknowledging that Ozai was an abusive narcissist, yet continuing to try to validate his worldview (such as the myth of Azula's inherent superiority);

Etc, etc, etc.

It's also how I feel about some of the anti-Zutara takes I've seen where it really seems like the person hasn't even watched the show (such as insisting that Katara would never date Zuko because she still hates him somehow?)(There is no Southern Raiders hug in Ba Sing Se). They both use the same kind of selective perception and misleading wording in order to obfuscate what they're actually talking about and what actually happened in the show, e.g. referring to Zutara as a "colonizer/colonized" ship à la Pocahontas even when Zuko explicitly denounced his nation's imperialism and fought to dismantle it. Or describing the Last Agni Kai as Zuko "showing up to his little sister's house and exploiting her mental state in order to beat her up" when it was actually him and Katara trying to stop Azula's coronation because she was hellbent on continuing the Fire Nation's genocidal regime. They really love pulling a Ship of Theseus with their wording, lol.

One thing I wish everyone could do in the discourse, though, is to draw a fine line between the series and the comics and make it clear when we're talking about which because the comics have... different interpretations of the characters (*cough* Aang agreeing to kill Zuko *cough*). Looking at the discourse, I often feel like people are having two different conversations because one is basing their analysis on the information the show gave us, while the other is basing their analysis on what the comics gave us- which often contradicts what we saw in the show. So they both end up talking past each other because they can't reconcile the inconsistent characterizations that canon left us with.

Even the places where the comics don't outright contradict what we see in the show still sometimes feel incongruent and lead to bad takes. Like, I personally saw Azula's hallucination of Ursa in the finale as a temporary thing that was caused by the stress of her mental breakdown and her mind searching for reasons for why everything fell apart ("All your life you used fear to control people"), not a biochemical thing; however, the comics decided to go in the direction of giving her a full-on psychotic disorder. While this wasn't wrong per se, I feel like it was poorly handled and not only weakened her character, but also gave her stans yet another way to deflect from criticism via accusations of ableism (as if the misleading accusations of misogyny weren't enough).

I just wish that people would stop with the vague gesturing and word games and be more precise in explaining what they're actually talking about and where they got that information from (such as the idea that Ursa never hugged Azula????), so I understand your desire to just bulldoze through the BS, even if it's worded more harshly than how I would put it lol.

Keep up the good metas!

(Sorry this got way longer than I expected)

I agree with a lot of what you say here, including Azula's hallucinations in the comics. But the problem with this particular argument is not that they are pulling information from multiple sources. The idea that Ursa never hugged Azula doesn't come from anywhere. It cannot be backed up by anything. And people who insist that their bizarro misogynistic abuse apologist headcanons be considered as facts are not making good faith arguments, and nobody owes them politeness. These arguments should be shut down with as much prejudice as possible. They should be laughed out of the fandom.

I do get the impression that some of these stans are just repeating what big name fans have already said, and a lot of these arguments are circle jerks. But they are spreading around information that is actually really harmful, like the idea that people can always prevent abuse if they try hard enough and therefore we should put blame on anyone other than the abuser. Nobody who says that with their whole chest is owed politeness, and it is not my job to educate them. The best respons is to laugh and move on, but these arguments are so prevalent in the fandom that it is incredibly frustrating. I block pretty liberally and still see these arguments come up, hence me losing patience with it.

You're also right that the point of their arguments is to obfuscate the perception of what actually happened on the show, and that's why I keep saying this is abuser logic. It has a lot in common with cult rhetoric, too, the attempt to manipulate events so that what actually happened didn't happen. People who use this kind of rhetoric want you to give them an opening, such as engaging in a "discussion" where there actually is no discussion. We cannot discuss whether Ursa or Iroh are to blame for how Azula turned out because there is no discussion to be had. They just aren't to blame. But people who use manipulative rhetoric tactics will try and engage in that discussion. That's why these people always fly into a rage when I block them and end the discussion, because they have no foothold if you don't engage with them.

You do not need to be polite to manipulative people. You don't owe them an argument or your time.

[balanceoflightanddark]

Well... I don't think that Azula hallucinating Ursa is her first hallucination.

Her reaction is slight initial surprise but then she's immeadiatley just ... annoyed. She isn't shocked or freaked out at all. It's like she's used to it. She talks to the hallucination as if it was just another day. Then she smashes the mirror, like she is fully accquainted with the fact that this isn't real.

That's not the reaction of someone who sees and hears their lost mother for the first time. No way.

(Ofc some people don't like to headcannon in this direction of her having long-lasting mental illness and prefer to think it was just a single breakdown. Which I get and is super fine).

Just thought, objectively looking at the scene, there's no freaking way this was her first hallucination.

It looks like she's been dealing with this for quite some time. And surely alone. She couldn't show weakness to Ozai. And I don't think the royal palace is big on mental health.

;

Headcanon that fits this:

Despite Azula's betrayal of Ozai (lying to him, failing him etc.), he still planned to keep using her because... that's what narcissists do. They use you as long as you can be used. And Azula is super useful! Why would he throw her away after all she did for him? When she is still so desperate for his "love"? When she could still be so very useful to him?

He wanted to keep using her, but when he saw Azula starting to "lose her mind", he decided to ditch her.

Iroh: "She's crazy and she needs to go down"

Ozai: "She's crazy... gotta ditch her. (...) Better give her the throne she never wanted so she doesn't kill me. Lmao if she turns on me im dead this bitch has blue fire, killed the avatar and conquered Ba Sing Se. She different. I still can't read maps and fire only comes out when angry"

...okay. Let me just preface this with saying that Ozai's last sentence is hilarious, is completely in-character, and should be framed.

I should also say that...since we're gonna be going into territory which is a bit of a sore subject for myself, whatever I say is not an attempt to tear you down. I do not believe in that and will try to keep this as levelheaded as possible.

With that said, while I certainly respect your opinion on Azula...I still don't believe that she has a mental illness that results in recurring hallucinations. We only have the one scene and there's only so much we can get from that. And I certainly don't think we should base everything we know of a character over their worst and lowest moment. I know because...I was guilty of that with Zuko.

But I digress.

This masterpost belongs to my dear friend @prying-pandora666 who goes into quite a bit of detail concerning Azula and mental health if you're interested. But the crux of it is, when looking at it from the lens of a professional, we don't have any evidence that Azula was mentally ill. Does that mean she wasn't? No. Of course not. It's just we don't have too much onscreen evidence to make a definitive conclusion.

And even if Azula was mentally ill (I don't think she was and was probably suffering from a mental breakdown), one should be careful to make sure it's not overemphasized to the detriment of her upbringing and Ozai's bullshit. After all, even the best kid wouldn't last too long under his parentage without getting SOME kind of trauma.

As for your headcanon, I don't necessarily believe Ozai was aware of Azula's deteriorating mental state. She didn't show any signs of it initially and he left before things got really bad. In this case though, I'd pin the blame more on Ozai's lack of focus on Book 3. Is it possible he saw the signs? Yeah, and I can believe that. Doesn't make him any less of a scumbag for abandoning her. I'd argue it makes him even worse since he left her when she needed him most after years of presenting himself as the only stable adult figure in her life.

And as a quick aside, can please stop using the "crazy and needs to go down" quote as evidence? Eshasz and Greg Baldwin both said that Iroh was in the wrong there for saying that.

...sorry. I have autism which can be constituted as a mental illness, so I get a little bit tender when discussing this. There's nothing inherently wrong with Azula being mentally ill like so many would say and you're completely within your right to believe she is. My personal advice would be to just...be careful is all. Treat Azula as a person instead of a mental illness, never try to give people the wrong idea about mental illnesses or misdiagnosing characters (especially minors) and you'll be fine.

[lryghe]

MDZS thoughts; jiang cheng

I have been meaning to talk about Jiang Cheng for a while considering he is a very special character and someone that I love thinking about. Because he’s just so interesting to think about, and his closeness to the main character of the story is probably why he’s so highlighted despite the fact he doesn't contribute to the plot the same way all other characters are that have been explored in depth (e.g. Lan Wangji, Nie Huaisang, Jin Guangyao). Yes, this post will contain spoilers, but not just from the novel this time, I would like to incorporate elements from the live action (despite my dislike of it). This may end up being not nearly as thought out as I usually am with my posts, to which I apologise for in advance (also for those who may eventually expect the second half of my MXTX themes and conventions post, you will never get it. I lost inspiration and my thought process deleted itself so I have nothing for you).

I saw a post the other day and it was exploring the idea of characters that are driven by grief and rage, characters who devolve over the length of the story, characters who change, but never for the better. And my first thoughts were like Azula, or maybe Sasuke, but then I remembered that my favourite fictional character of all time, Jiang Cheng is Right Here and he’s so interesting to analyse. Because he is that character that is driven by grief and rage. He has been fighting since he was like 17 and became Jiang Sect Leader at the cost of everyone around him. He is the character that devolves over the length of the story, because he’s so strong for the majority of it, but 13 years of mourning and a revived brother who turns his whole world upside down again is so so damaging to him. And he is that character who changes for the worse, because young Jiang Cheng was always so willing to go along with his older brothers schemes, always so desperate for the approval of those around him, but decades of grief have worn him down to his very foundations, and he is a husk of grief disguised as rage. He no longer needs the approval of the Sect Leaders around him because he is the fearsome Sandu Shengshou, the three poisons. 

I refuse to assume a pitying role with Jiang Cheng though. I see a lot of people saying he did nothing wrong, that he was the victim in the entire situation but I seriously despise when people say this about him. Because he has very clearly done bad things, and sometimes he has no excuse. Sometimes he was just a bad guy, and that’s okay. The live action went on this whole narrative about how Wei Wuxian was a total victim in everything that happened and people have started applying this type of narrative to every other characters, which is so silly in places because MXTX creates these characters to be criticised. They are well rounded and whole characters, and there is a whole spectrum of grey in regards to their actions and motivations. You are definitely allowed to feel bad for characters though, who am I to tell you what to do, but remember to be objective in analysis. Jiang Cheng ‘tortured’ demonic cultivators because he hated his brother so much (allegedly), he abandoned his brother when he was the Yiling Patriarch, he is harsh and cruel and he’s always able to find the one thing to hurt those around him (even to Wei Wuxian, who is notoriously good at not being hurt by what others say to him). 

And to ignore this would be a disservice. Jiang Cheng is forever a part of Wei Wuxian’s backstory, forever the character in MDZS that does not get their redemption, forever Sandu Shengshou, a poison to those surrounding him. And it’s so interesting to think about this concept of poison in relation to Jiang Cheng because objectively, it's like. Kind of true. Literally every other Jiang is dead, even the unofficial Jiang, Wei Wuxian. No one likes Jiang Cheng very much, and he’s purposefully left out of the big 3 ‘zuns’ of the cultivation world, a very informal alliance between the Lans, Nies, and Jins. Even geographically so (in reference MXTX’s presentation of where the sects would be on a real map of China) Yunmeng is isolated from all other notable sects, the only notable place nearby being the Qishan Wen and the Burial Mounds, both not being very happy places to be. His nephew Jin Ling embodies all the outward traits that people don't like about him, brash and arrogant and refusal to admit one's faults. In all senses of the world, Jiang Cheng really is a poison to everyone around him. And this idea of poison is so cool because Jiang Cheng is a background character objectively. His screen time is mostly just to further the emotional plights of Wei Wuxian but he’s such an important antagonist (of sorts!).

The time skip is both a wonderful and fearsome thing in reference to this thought, because we can only guess what happens during those 13 years where he doesn't have screen time, and although there are parts mentioned of what happens (e.g. Jin Guangyao becomes sect leader, Nie Mingjue dies, Lan Wangji goes wherever the chaos is) we don't know the details, specifically in regards to Jiang Cheng. Those 13 years is where he is pushed out of the narrative spotlight, and he’s not relevant until the whole golden core fiasco near the end, which is good because it keeps him as a background character (being otherwise would be detrimental to the themes of the novel), but scary because it takes away so much power from the other characters. 

I just want to end this by saying that I actually love Jiang Cheng and that manifests in writing long posts about how horrible and complicated he is because it's completely fine to be a bad person, that's what makes some of these characters so interesting. He is my favourite out of all of MXTX’s works, right up there alongside Luo Binghe and Xie Lian. So if you ever see me ‘dissing’ these characters, it is born from a love that compels me to analyse them.

Also I wrote this instead of revising for an assessment worth 30% of my overall grade literally an hour before said assessment worth 30% of my overall grade.

Words: 1091

Reading time: 4 mins

[juniperhillpatient]

Hey @juniperhillpatient I’ve got another ask for ya

So today I was watching clips of the TVDU and came across this quote below.

Haley asked Klaus why he paints, and he answers thusly

“Painting is a metaphor for control. Every choice is mine, the canvas, the color. As a child I had neither a sense of the world nor my place in it, but art taught me that one’s vision could be achieved with sheer force of will. The same is true of life. Provided one refuses to let anything stand in one’s way.”

-Klaus Mikaelson

The quote reminds me of my own personal headcanon about “artist Azula”. Her life was dictated by others from all we’ve seen. Most especially by Ozai. Along with the other trappings and expectations of royalty. Lo and Li’s training of Azula, until she reaches perfection and having “not one hair out of place” come to mind especially.

Azula approached Fire bending with a single-minded determination. Worked at it, and controlled her own destiny. Being one of the most powerful fire benders alive by the time the series rolls out.

This discipline allowed Azula to attain her fabled blue flames. To control her own abilities, and exceed any expectations thrust on her.

Another example could be when Azula tried to balance being commander and friend both with Mai and Ty Lee. Believing that she was doing so adequately and was in control of the situation. Until the Boiling Rock and her friend’s betrayal (though understandable, Mai and Ty Lee actions still leave a bad taste in my mouth).

It also reminded me of your wizards of waverly place Au. Where Ty Lee called Azula and Katara an “art couple”. Or even in @theowritesfiction “Azula’s kitchen nightmare”. We’re Azula is a master chef, that turns food into art. Or Katara masters the art of talking to people.

Art is the payoff of good skill from countless hours of constant repetition. Not merely paint. Art (and thus a desire for control) can be found in anything. Like martial arts, a studied topic, oratory, or even writing. Your magnum opus in Happenstance is an example of masterful art.

Anyways, this just reminded me of my little headcanon about an “artist Azula”.

Do you any similar headcanons for Azula and/or Katara?

What do you think about Azula and her relationship to the nature of control? Or lack there of. In my view it can be both beneficial, but can also be exceedingly harmful as well. As shown by mental breakdown. Spurned on from being betrayed by her brother, than her friends, than abandoned and lowered in esteem by her father.

For an Azutara question, how do you think Katara could help Azula deal with her (potentially) toxic notions of control? Or vice versa, when Katara is being to controlling over certain things as well. Like say being overprotective of her loved one’s safety?

I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to answer this excellent & thoughtful ask! I think it’s because I keep wanting to have something meaningful to add but I really don’t I just enjoy your thoughts.

I don’t know if the Klaus quote above is ever what I was going for when I’ve written Azula as an artist before but reading it I could certainly see this being how Azula views art yes absolutely that makes so much sense.

I think Katara would be a totally different more chaotic type of artist. Water is the element of change & Katara is controlled but she’s also fluid & adaptable with her bending & I think that would come through in her art style.

Azula would be more focused on the technical element while Katara would be more focused on the process & less upset if her art changed from her original vision as she went.

Anyway I just love the character analysis & yeah I don’t really have anything else to add!

[blaiddfailcam]

Yeah honestly I can understand why Blaidd and Maliketh were abandoned by Ranni and Marika

They had no choice,they both wanted to revolt against the Greater Will so keeping their Shadows mean keeping someone who's sure to kill them on any given day should they even have a thought of rebellion,so there was no choice to abandon them

What's more hurtful is that Blaidd and Maliketh are painfully aware of it,the mistresses they were born to serve have to give up on them bcuz they're literally the biggest adversities to who they seen as their most beloveds

(I still wonder if Ranni is still an Empyrean since she already killed off her original physical vessel, I think she's tied to the Two Fingers/Greater Will by flesh,not soul)

I like to think that Marika used to cuddle with Maliketh a lot cuz he was fluffy

In Blaidd's case, he doesn't appear to have been informed of his nature as a "bringer of bale," at least not until Iji trapped him in the evergaol. Speaking to him there, he expresses disbelief, insisting Iji must have simply gone senile. Even worse, if you attack him after setting him free, he whimpers and begs you to stop, before growling, "Fine. I am the blade of Ranni, whatever any of you might call me." As much as he hates to admit, he seems convinced that his friends have betrayed him. If you kill him there (though he'll simply resurrect), he laments, "Why... why am I bale to Ranni?" :(

Maliketh's history is a bit more, ahem, fuzzy. He was created for a more specialized purpose, to defeat the Gloam-Eyed Queen and seal Destined Death, thus establishing the Golden Order and allowing Marika to become an avatar for Eternity. Ever since, it's implied that Maliketh remained in Farum Azula alone with the Rune of Death in order to prevent it from sullying Order.

Although it's a very sad, lonely role to fill, he served Marika from a distance with his unshakeable faith. That is, until Ranni and Rykard managed to steal a fragment of the Rune of Death, leading to Marika's madness and her attempt to shatter the Elden Ring—a direct violation of the Greater Will. From what I gather, the red shard impaling Marika is a fragment of the Rune of Death as well, suggesting that Maliketh was forced to kill her as punishment for her transgression, much like Blaidd is designed to do. Whether this was Marika's intention or not is unclear, but she is said to have "betrayed" him. (I explore more on this plot in my analysis of Radagon and Marika as two wills.)

Of course... that isn't to say Marika and Maliketh weren't pals prior to their grand destiny to slay the Gloam-Eyed Queen. I'm sure Maliketh's adoration for her wasn't entirely preconceived by the Two Fingers. Ain't no way she didn't snuggle up in his mane at some point, or maybe even ride on his back across the lands of Numen. :)

While Ranni's flesh is the Empyrean body she discarded, I guess that doesn't entirely liberate her from the Two Fingers' decree, but it does keep them from "controlling" her any longer. Ever since her betrayal, she was hunted by the Baleful Shadows. She even expresses a bit of surprise that Blaidd remained loyal to her, perhaps indicating that he wasn't included or informed of her plot to begin with. It's fun to ponder just how much she really trusted him, even if she loved him.

The sad thing is, while I agree Ranni had no real choice but to turn on Blaidd, her ambition seems less so fueled by any desire to bring harmony to the world, but more so out of vanity. Clearly, she isn't opposed to sacrificing her family or loved ones so long as she can eventually realize her dream. That's... largely why I never complete her quest anymore, lol. I just feel so bad for Blaidd and Iji, even if they were foolish to follow Ranni down this path.

They're a neat cast of characters that resonate with the overarching theme in Miyazaki's stories that love and friendship are often destructive, but only so far as power casts a shadow over good intentions. It's all the more fitting that Ranni chooses to embody despair and darkness.

[nexstage]

I'm not much about posting meta-ATLA stuff or any kind of analysis of the show but I think it would've been interesting to see the point of view of the FN soldiers that came back from the failed Ba Sing Se siege and their opinions about Iroh just like the populace of the Fire Nation.

We only got Azula’s opinion on Zuko Alone, calling Iroh a loser for not fighting back and avenging Lu Ten, for not demonstrating the ferocity of the Fire Nation when a huge blow was dealt with, and while that is an intriguing way to see how other characters, like her for example, labeled Iroh’s broken will to fight, just imagine what the high and low-class soldiers and the people of the FN would've felt when they got the news.

It would show that his popularity was on a glass pedestal because it wouldn't be unrealistic to see that not everyone was happy with him running away crying just because his son died in battle when he never stopped during the many casualties before the tragedy.

Some of them might be understanding and loyal, others might be loyal but mixed with disappointment and resentment. Others might be angered and offended but they can't do anything because expressing your discontent towards the royal family is equivalent to disrespect + treason and is punished severely.

Of course, it is all a hypothetical situation if I'm right about it, the show hasn't been explicit about who was the most popular prince: Ozai or Iroh. Like, Zhao didn't show much respect towards him and even dismissed his warnings about messing with the spirits. So, I estimate that it was a slow process that weakened Iroh’s popularity and how people viewed him.

And if the points of view of the soldiers and the populace had been shown maybe during season 3 before Iroh escaped from prison, it would've been a good warning about what Zuko might face on the throne: the disapproval of the high and low because of your actions and how careful you must be to not lose their trust and support because if not it can be like watching a snowball turning into a wrecking ball. Which should've been shown in The Promise and Smoke and Shadow in a better way without making the characters too OOC and butchering Azula.

[junophontes]

the older i get the more i think the concept of a redemption arc in modern media is flawed

especially if the person in question is a kid. literally if a character is under 18 then i dont care what shit theyve gotten into, they are not a permanent villain. also its almost always the fault of their parent or some shit.

what i mean is that a character who is a minor and has done some evil shit is 100% every time "worthy" of change. worthiness in general is a stupid concept anyway. this is a kid they can make mistakes without permanent external consequences

example of Azula. people just want her to either remain a villain because its more interesting or go through a "redemption arc" exactly as zuko did, competely ignoring and overwriting her actual character traits. she was not born evil. she got fucked up because her mom emotionally neglected her and her dads a manipulative fascist. she plays the villain because she gets attention from it.

this wasnt meant to turn into any actual analysis im just rambling

[azulasmommyissues]

Fire Nation Royal Family Analysis: The Archetypes. (Part 3)

Delving into Ozai and Ursa.

“Well that sweet little kid turned out to be a monster... And the worst father in the history of fathers.”

Iroh, undoubtedly, feels endless guilt over how Ozai turned out. Allow me to elaborate:

-the underdog, the spare. Ozai belongs to the Zuko/Zeisan archetype.

-displayed a difficult temperament, (like Zuko himself)

-stubborn, impatient and ambitious (like Zuko)

-emotions were neglected, disregarded as temper tantrums and left to develop into something worse

-the increased focus on Iroh drove him to constantly training away from the palace. (Zuko and Zeisan spent a lot of time away from the palace for their own reasons)

-His behavior and later views on family were influenced by the fact that Azulon favored Iroh over him. He similarly favoured Azula over Zuko. She was the spare in the lineage, like himself. But while he saw Zuko as weak, Azula's talent could perhaps lift him up in the eyes of his father.

-spent a great deal of his youth trying to appease to his father:

The fact Ozai named Azula, who had that "firebender spark in her eyes that zuko lacked as a baby" after his father, the man who he so DEEPLY despised—to the point of killing—shows that a great deal of his youth was spent on trying to satisfy Azulon.

“Ozai's ruthlessness and ambition greatly helped him in school and this impressed his older brother, resulting in a short-lived rapprochement.” (Think Zuko and Azula in The Beach episode etc.)

Ozai's abuse of Ursa starts to differentiate his character from the rest. We don't know how Azulon treated Ilah—we only know how Sozin treated Roku, and that his actual wife was perhaps so neglected and irrelevant to him that she's not mentioned once by anyone.

But when it comes to Ursa, we have a detailed visual of how things went down.

“Much to her shock, he explained that she had to sever all ties to her past life in accordance with the old traditions, including family and friends, in order to completely devote herself to her new duties and the royal family. Ozai happily kissed Ursa, saying that she now belonged to him.”

When Zuko was born, his parents were not sure if he was a firebender, as he lacked "that spark in [his] eyes". Considering what a "shame" it would be for a prince of the Fire Nation to have a nonbender as firstborn, Ozai planned to cast his infant son from the palace. However, Ursa and the Fire Sages pleaded with Ozai to give Zuko a chance, and the prince eventually gave in. “... Azula was born lucky. I was lucky to be born.”

On a vacation around 87 AG, however, Zuko nearly drowned in an attempt to help a turtle crab. When the tides were pulling his son further into the sea, Ozai dove in the water and rescued Zuko, who spent the remainder of the day in the care of his mother, recovering from the experience.

Ozai would later muse that he had attempted to be a good father in his children's early years, a statement with which both his children agreed. However, Ozai soon began favoring Azula. When his daughter began to consciously firebend at an early age, Ozai realized that she was a prodigy and was overjoyed—perhaps because he saw it as an opportunity to win his father's approval, finally. Seeing Ursa's discomfort over Azula's destructive potential, he teased his wife to praise their daughter as he did. We wil revisit this later.

Ozai hates the association of himself with weakness, because he's trying so hard to escaoe his archetype. That's why he hates Zuko, at least partially. He represents his (internal) weakness (in OZAI'S eyes). He doesn't recognise him as his son, largely because he's ashamed, despite them looking nearly identical.

The agni kai and the scar had less to do with teaching Zuko something and more to do with Ozai showing the world how powerful and ruthless he can be. I think he's a narcissist and his children were accessories to elevate himself. (like in the eyes of his father as well as all noble society.) Ozai scars Zuko to show everyone else how ruthless and powerful HE is, how HE doesn't tolerate weakness, how HE doesn't tolerate disrespect, how he won't even stop before his own son—and that his best judgement should never be doubted. (especially since the throne is not his by birth right. He might have a little complex about that-)

One could say that the agni kai and the banishment was about destroying Zuko's weakness without destroying him completely. About purging that weakness. That's certainly how he *justified* it in his mind, I think-- but more so as an afterthought. “It was to teach you respect,” he says. He means it, in his own twisted way-- he definitely does. Zuko returning after book 2, having killed the Avatar and being all powerful, was certainly a welcome surprise. But still a surprise.

He banished Zuko and sent him on a wild goose chase, expecting for hin to fail and to never see Zuko again. He'd shown the world how ruthless he was, and he had Azula for the rest.

Zuko wouldn't be his son unless he'd be powerful enough to do the *impossible.* I think that, after Zuko returned, Ozai told himself that he had succeeded in making hin strong, teaching him respect, and welcoming him back. Perhaps he thought it all made him a better father than Azulon, or Sozin, even when he hadn't thought of it like that since the beginning.

(As for Ursa's banishment, that part was also partially to purge any and all weaknesses by ensuring that he wouldn't die like Azulon. He did it to keep himself strong.)

So, why is that? Why was Ozai not redeemed, if he belongs to the archetype that GETS redeemed? Why was it Iroh and not him? Why did he become such a monster—a heartless monster who only sought to destroy? (Other than representing the oppressive system that Aang needs to bring down. Other than being a plot device.)

Well, Iroh canonically regrets never making an effort with Ozai, to understand him and guide him. So, it's actually simple as that—everything that Zuko had for his redemption, Ozai lacked.

-no “Uncle Iroh” archetype,

-no “supportive Mother” archetype, (Ilah died very soon, presumably.)

-no “emotional support Air Nomad” archetype,

-born in the middle of the war, 55 AG, when state nationalism and propaganda was at an all time high.

-got married to Ursa.

Which brings me to Ursa's influence on the royal family!

Ursa gets in here and IMMEDIATELY recognises herself as a victim (unlike Iroh). She is being abused every single day of her life and she despises the men responsible, Ozai and Azulon... A dynamic shift is caused.

Ursa sees herself in Zuko, because he's the underdog; something Ozai might be in Azulon's eyes, but not in Ursa's. Ursa 100% completely identifies with Zuko. He needs protection because in her eyes, he IS her.

As Ozai abuses her and cuts off every tie she has to her previous life, she begins sending letters to Ikem, her previous lover. However, unbeknownst to Ursa, none of her letters made it to their destination; Ursa eventually became suspicious of the fact that Ozai had intercepted and read her letters, and came up with a plan to trick him into admitting it: she wrote a fake letter to Ikem in which she claimed he was Zuko's real father. Part of her motivation was that she wished Zuko was not Ozai's son. As an act of vengeance, Ozai stated that, from that point onward, he would treat Zuko as if Ursa's desire had been a reality.

And then... We've got Azula. Ozai's golden child. Ozai's passport to his father caring for him.

And so begins our great issue. Ursa sees Ozai in Azula and mistakes them for the same person, for she has built a narrative where she is Zuko. She can see Azula slowly turning into what she THINKS is Ozai in front of her eyes, and she makes the mistake of thinking she can do nothing to stop it. And so it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

As for the existence of Ikem and especially Kiyi, Ursa's second daughter, the whole point of her character is to torment Azula and give Zuko a new little sister to care for. It's so that Azula can look at her and think, “Oh! I'm the problem! I simply don't deserve love!”

Fire Nation Royal Family Analysis: The Archetypes. (Part 1)

Within the Fire Nation Royal Family, two main archetypes can be noticed. The Golden Child and the Hated Child, both of which are victims in the cycle of abuse. Who fits where, and how can we recognise these archetypes?

Azula and Sozin obviously belong in the same archetype—that of the golden child. Meanwhile, Zuko shares many parallels with Zeisan. But in Iroh's and Ozai's generation, things *really* switch up.

To better understand the royal family, let's examine them all from the beginning.

[GEN. 1] SOZIN/ZEISAN

Sozin was the:

-powerful firebending sibling

-had prestige due to his position

-golden child

-not a Very Good Best Friend

-obsessed with said best friend (Roku) due to deeming he was betrayed by him, spent all of his elderly years searching for Roku's reincarnation

-influenced by his father's nationalistic beliefs, yet wanted to outdo him and appear more fearsome than him

-“his relationship with Zeisan was always poor, although this was the result of their parents' influence”

-perfectionist that becomes "sloppy when angry"

“Sozin and Zeisan's teachers and family always pitted them against each other, with the two siblings fighting for as long as they could remember. The competitions were meant to drive Sozin to greater heights and to draw firebending abilities out of Zeisan, though his sister never proved to be a firebender, with their teachers thus focusing their attention entirely upon Sozin.”

“During Sozin's early life, the Fire Nation experienced an era of industrialization and great prosperity, and trade flourished. While Zeisan sensed the corruption growing within their family, Sozin was influenced by his father's beliefs, according to which a nation's worldly power and landmass corresponded to greatness”

At the end of his life, Sozin expressed regret for his actions. That, believe it or not, did not bring back the airbender, or the dragons, and certainly didn't decolonise the earth kingdom.

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ON THE OTHER HAND, ZEISAN:

-struggled to keep up, not gifted, NOT a firebender or prodigy like her brother

-despite the increased focus on Sozin, Zeisan refused to stop competing, studying, and growing, striving to prove herself worthy of her family legacy. honor!

-she studied and embraced air nomad philosophy and redeemed herself, realising the legacy of the fire nation wasn't one she wanted to take part in

-Instead of running away from her responsibilities, Zeisan wished to dismantle her family's legacy of corruption, eventually joining the air nomads, becoming allies to stop the fire nation nobility.

“Zeisan shared the intensity of her brother Sozin and doubted her own ability to be good, but she was focused on dismantling her family's corruption, demonstrating an indomitable will and desire to better the world. Zeisan was active and driven, constantly pursuing her own goals. She was very ambitious and sought to undermine her brother's rule.”

_____________________________________________

Now, this dynamic, to me, SCREAMS Azula and Zuko. Azula quite obviously being Sozin and Zuko quite obviously being Zeisan.

More specifically, Azula being the prodigy, the holden child, who grows obsessive, eith visions of her mother—(reminiscent of Sozin's own paranoia regarding Roku) While also feeling like she was betrayed by Mai and Ty Lee, her best friends, her “Roku” figures—a betrayal which was absolutely caused by her own behaviour, but caused her to spiral into the worst version of herself. Paranoid and destructive, much like what became of Sozin. She was also a perfectionist who, upon losing her mind, obviously lacked focus—and her relationship with Zuko was strained because they were always pinned against each other.

Zuko, on the other hand, is the disliked—abandoned child. Much like Zeisan, he seeked honor and appreciation within the royal family. He was no natural talent, but he had drive and ambition and he never gave up. Upon realising his family's corruption, he wanted to take no part in it. So he redeemed himself in joining the Avatar. The last of the air nomads. Just like Zeisan joined them, back then. So, parallels.

_____________________________________________

Something to notice is that, out of the two siblings, the one who takes (or is meant to take the throne) always has just ONE child. Sozin only had Azulon. Iroh only had Lu Ten. Zuko only had Izumi.

Each of them probably wanted to avoid the repetition of the cycle. They wanted to avoid their children having a relationship so strained like the one they had with their siblings. With that being said—let's examine Azulon.

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[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Denzel Crocker

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Nickelodeon has produced some of the most iconic animated villains you could ever hope to find. Plankton, Vlad Masters, Zim, Princess Azula, Queen Vexus… The channel had way more hits than misses. But one of the most famous and iconic villains to come out of the channel was the fairy-obsessed teacher from Hell, Denzel Crocker.

The chief antagonist on The Fairly OddParents aside from the babysitter Vicky, Crocker was a cartoonish caricature of the sort of horrible figures a kid would need fairies to deal with in their life, making him something of the male counterpart to the aforementioned Vicky. Obsessed with slinging out Fs and capturing Timmy’s fairies to harness their powers, Crocker was a fun and hilarious enemy who brought the show all sorts of hilarious scenarios…

...Until he didn’t. Crocker is unique among Nickelodeon villains in that he underwent some of the most severe character decay you could ever see from a villain in a long-running franchise. But does it detract from his iconic status and make him a worse villain, or is it just a particularly ugly footnote on a truly fun antagonist?

Motivation/Goals: Mr. Crocker has one single mission in life, and that mission is to once and for all show everyone he isn’t a delusional madman by proving the existence of

His main target right from his first appearance is Timmy Turner, which leads to some really interesting situations. Crocker knows Timmy has fairies, but he can’t exactly prove it definitively, and so we get no end of zany schemes as he tries to prove fairies are real. And as weird and insane as he is, he actually comes fairly close quite a few times.

He also really loves to fail his students. Aside from the fairy obsession, this is his main character trait. Essentially, he is the worst teacher imaginable.

Performance: Crocker is performed by Carlos Alazraqui, one of the MVPS of voice acting; my man was Rocko (whose Modern Life you may be familiar with), the titular Lazlo of Camp Lazlo, Spyro in the original PS1 game, and even the Taco Bell chihuahua. His Crocker voice is honestly similar to his Rocko voice, albeit a lot more nerdy and conniving, and it certainly suits the put-upon scheming teacher. He really is one lucky son of a bitch, getting to voice two of the most iconic characters in Nickelodeon history… and also Winslow on CatDog.

Best Episodes: Crocker’s proudest moment is undoubtedly Abra-Catastrophe, where for a little while he actually manages to conquer the Earth after harnessing the power of Cosmo and Wanda. His epic duel with Timmy across time and space is about as cool as a villain could possibly get on this show.

Another contender is definitely “The Secret Origin of Denzel Crocker,” which features Timmy going back in time and witnessing the events that molded his teacher into the man he is today. It turns out the reason he’s such a weirdo is because Timmy fucked everything up and caused him to lose his fairies, which just so happened to be Cosmo and Wanda. Not only is this a pretty great and hilarious example of a character creating their own enemy, it also somehow predicted a major plot point in Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox six years early. I’m not kidding, the book involves time travel and Artemis ends up having to mind wipe his younger self, and said mind wipe leaves a lingering trace of an idea to kidnap fairies. Eoin Colfer, you’ve got some explaining to do.

Best Quote: You’re really going to ask that? Seriously? It’s obviously

There is at least one other notable Crocker quote, one that became a meme because Mr. Crocker sounds like he’s saying something he… uh… doesn’t really have a pass to say:

Final Thoughts & Score: Mr. Crocker presents to me an interesting problem. You see, if we are going by the earlier seasons, Mr. Crocker is probably one of the best villains on Nickelodeon. He’s funny, he’s zany, he can be a threat when it’s called for, and he has one of the best episodes of the series as his focus as well as an awesome movie where he gets to be the big bad. By all accounts, he should get to sit up with some of the truly great villains in animation history!

But Crocker is also the subject of some of the most intense flanderization imaginable. TVTropes defines flanderization as “The act of taking a single (often minor) action or trait of a character within a work and exaggerating it more and more over time until it completely consumes the character. Most always, the trait/action becomes completely outlandish and it becomes their defining characteristic, turning them into a caricature of their former selves.” It’s pretty undeniable Crocker got hit with this hard compared to a lot of the other characters, which is saying something because everyone on the show ended up flanderizaed. The big issue is in the later seasons Crocker ended up overexposed and put in ridiculous situations that didn’t play well to his strengths as a character. What was once a beloved villain became a character that half the fans can’t stand and the other half love, and both answers are honestly valid considering what we’re presented with.

For comparison, Vlad Masters is another Butch Hartman villain who underwent flanderization, mainly because Hartman is incapable of not running character traits into the ground for the sake of “humor.” The difference there, and why I’d still say Vlad is a great villain while Crocker is something of a fallen titan is because of consistency. It’s hard to deny Crocker peaked pretty early in the show’s run with Abra-Catastrophe and “The Secret Origin of Denzel Crocker,” while Vlad managed to stay consistently a threat up until “Phantom Planet” despite suffering from Butch Hartman’s trademark bad character decisions. You don’t ever really feel like Vlad’s fucking around, but Crocker? This dude became nothing but fucking around in the twilight years of the show. It also helps that Danny Phantom is a more serialized show with stronger continuity than The Fairly OddParents, which means Vlad developing in any direction is a lot more palatable than in a show where the episodes tend to be pretty standalone and negative continuity is used when needed.

I think the villain I’d most compare Crocker to is Sideshow Bob of The Simpsons. Both are great, iconic villains with fun vocal performances and all sorts of crazy schemes… But both also underwent serious flanderization that led to them being stretched pretty thin and their roles in their respective shows starting to make less and less sense as they appeared more and more. But while Bob is still one of TV’s greatest villains despite his motives decaying thanks to plenty of strong episodes and the sheer power of Kelsey Grammer, The Simpsons knows to use him sparingly, unlike poor Mr. Crocker.

All of this being said… does it really hold him back from greatness? Does how bad he became reflect on how great and fun he was originally? This was actually really hard, and I went back and forth for a long time. I considered having him as low as a six for his poor later appearances and as high as a nine for his early ones, but I think we need to meet in the middle somewhere. So for the first time ever, I’m giving out a fractional score, awarding Mr. Crocker a 7.5/10, leaning a little closer to an 8. The later years of the show certainly handled him badly, but they handled everyone badly, so it’s hard to single him out as the biggest problem. It definitely doesn’t help him score higher, but nothing can take Abra-Catastrophe away from him.

Oh, and I suppose should mention the live action Crocker played by David James Lewis in those dumb Drake Bell TV specials. To keep it brief, he is legitimately one of the best parts of those specials, nails Crocker’s mannerisms, and he can share that score up there.