Im Sure Youve Talked About This Before, But Did Azula Abuse Zuko?

i’m sure you’ve talked about this before, but did azula abuse zuko?

No. The Azula-Zuko relationship was extremely toxic, but Azula didn't act in an abusive manner or out of abusive motivations, and in fact it's almost impossible to construct reasoning which supports "Azula abused Zuko" without the same reasoning also supporting "Zuko abused Azula." It's important to consider all of Azula's actions toward Zuko within context:

1. Yes, Book 2 Azula lied to him, manipulated him, used violence against him, etc. None of this is good. But she did this within the context of Zuko being a declared traitor(whose very status made him a massive implicit threat to the throne, and who is traveling with another, even more dangerous traitor) who she's been ordered to hunt down by the Firelord, absolute ruler of her country. To put this in modern terms, it is as if your sibling was an exceptionally dangerous terrorist and it was your responsibility to hunt them down. An awful situation to be in, but you using violence would not make you "abusive." And it's worth noting that Azula doesn't strictly prioritize her mission against Zuko and Iroh, like you would expect she would if she was obsessed with controlling and/or hurting Zuko, but instead prioritizes other objectives for most of the season.

2. Azula gives Zuko a 100% chance genuine chance to regain his status and to prove his loyalty. It's worth noting that this is one of the times that being Azula's sibling works in Zuko's favor, because she would not have done that for anyone else, and no one other than Azula would have given him a second chance.

3. Azula responds to realizing that Zuko might be lying to her and throwing her, the Fire Nation, and their father under the bus by setting it up so that if Zuko was in fact lying, he would suffer the consequences for it, while also giving Zuko an opportunity to fix his mistake. "Abuse" is not a good paradigm to understand this, especially since the safest thing for Azula to do would have been to tell Ozai that she suspected Zuko was lying(but Zuko would not have had good things happen to him then, so you can see why she didn't go down this route).

4. As a result of #2, Azula destroyed the power-imbalance between the siblings and gave Zuko an equal, if not superior, status to her by getting him back in favor with Ozai and by getting the Fire Nation to regard him as a hero(remember, Zuko was seated at Ozai's right hand at the war meeting). There's every indication that, had Ozai chocked to death on a cheery pit, she would have supported Zuko's accession to the throne and loyally supported his regime. Again, these are not the actions of an "abuser."

5. First half of Book 3 Azula was generally kind to Zuko and made a serious effort to look after his emotional wellbeing. She's actively defensive of his status in "The Beach." And yes, she sometimes made fun of him and went too far in this, but that's normal in a sibling relationship.

6. After Zuko betrays her and throws her under the bus, commits massive amounts of treason, and joins up with a group which aims to overthrow the Fire Nation's government and kill Azula's father, yes, Azula treats him as a traitor and enemy of the state. But that's not "abuse," that's just being reasonable at that point. And yes, she's also extremely angry at Zuko in this period, but their relationship is mostly defined by being on opposing sides in a war.

In contrast, Zuko is almost continually motivated by his desire to violently "put Azula in her place" and/or kill her because he can't stand the idea of her being better than him. I need to make a more detailed post about this, but in almost every Zuko-Azula fight scene, Zuko actively pursues or seeks out the fight, or at least has an easy opportunity to retreat, but chooses to fight her because he wants to inflict violence on his sister. However, I wouldn't call this abuse because it's ultimately motivated by Ozai's abuse, and more importantly because it's not clear how far Zuko would go without the context of the war. Still, it's Zuko's personal motivations which drive him to try to hurt Azula contrast a lot with Azula's motivations as discussed above.

And it's not like we can take what happened in #1 out of the sibling relationship, especially since it played such a big role in the relationship being as toxic as it got, but it's important to understand Azula's motivations there.

To the dum and war hungry:

Ceasefire Good. Genocide Bad.

My new "favorite" kind of post: dumbass berating people for not being neutral on the Israel and Palestine thing. Like, my guy:

1 - One side is literally commiting genocide against the other. Hamas being terrible doesn't excuse Israel attacking civilians, kicking them out of their homes, kidnapign them, bombing hospitals, making human zoos, and then saying they'll not stop until all palestinians are dead.

2 - Literally EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE POSTS also get mad at people for wanting a complete ceasefire - not even wanting to free Palestine, just "stop murdering children and violating every human right imaginable". If you can only accept unconditional support of all of Israel's bullshit, you're not "neutral", you're just using "we should all be neutral" as an excuse to bully people into shutting up because there's no argument in the whole world that justifies what the side you're supporting is doing.

i just never understand why peeps are defending companies.

Tale as Old as Time…

Bryke: Netflix created a hostile work environment so we left. What they’re making isn’t ATLA.

Ehasz: I reached out to Netflix to help with writing but they ghosted me and didn’t invite me to the premiere despite Kim’s best efforts. Every Recognized Cherokee Nation: Netflix disrespected our sovereignty by casting a registered member of a “pretendian” scam tribe which lets you pay to pretend you’re Cherokee regardless of whether you are or not, to facilitate the stealing of resources set aside to help disadvantaged indigenous people. Netflix responded by launching an aggressive propaganda campaign to misrepresent our objections as “just some Twitter user with no proof”. NATLA Apologists: Season 1 was really good! You guys just wanted a 1:1 remake! They did the best they could! Some things about NATLA are better than the original, even! Fans are just whining! Bryke only left to make Avatar Studios - ignore their angry parting statements about Netflix stifling creativity! Ousley is LITERALLY Sokka-coded and anyone who shares the Cherokee Nations’ objections are haters! Ignore that they brown-faced him with darker makeup! The only problem was too few episodes! The next two seasons will be even better and then haters will eat their words! I believe in Kim’s vision!

Albert Kim: I did what I was hired to do. I’m moving on and have no desire to show run two more seasons of this.

Netflix:

We told you.

Corporate cash-grab.

You’ll get the show you asked for.

this is so devastating. laois should have just shot him with a gun

Post like these are what engaging with the fandom is all about. A new vision that makes you think and makes a rewatch all the more wonderful.

Thinking about how Aang is punished for choosing power over love and his own happiness, punished for sacrificing another part of himself for the world… shot in the back and straight through his heart, his Air chakra, by lightning. His Air chakra, which deals with love and is blocked by his grief. His grief over losing his entire nation, his culture, everyone he has ever known and loved. And how the battle he fights with Katara here, they are surrounded by green crystals, the color of the Air chakra.

Aang makes the wrong choice, he too comes to a crossroads in his destiny just like Zuko—they both choose wrong. He goes against Aunt Wu’s advice, that he should follow his heart and shape his own destiny. He blocks off his own heart because he thinks it’s the only way he can save the world, to literally tear himself apart. And how his entire character arc is about him trying to mend his grief, to allow himself to still feel love, even in the wake of such devastation. And how it is Katara who saves him, because she loves him, because love never leaves, it’s simply reborn.

Many thoughts head full.