Azula - Tumblr Posts
love when characters have to have a domestication arc before you can even consider giving them a redemption arc
i really like the idea of post-canon azula learning how to cook, or mastering tea brewing, or even getting into pottery. learning how fire can be used to create and feed and nurture. learning to mess up again and again until she becomes comfortable with “failure.” maybe in a world where iroh reaches out to his niece azula spends some time in the kitchen of the jasmine dragon, brewing imperfect tea, served in imperfect cups. and watches as people love it anyway
The Beauty of the Last Agni Kai
The final showdown between Zuko and Azula remains one of the most beautiful scenes in Avatar: The Last Airbender and maybe even the follow up series The Legend of Korra.
I just love how the colours of their destructive firebending clash against one another and spiral across the air.
![[Edits Of Azula Without Makeup]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/e0c2d1fa628194984cbeda15f3aea056/ed8ba6b4e2133be7-c4/s540x810/666fd77d3a630b40f51cac59138fec44d847d657.jpg)
“They finally made this theme more blatant-" Why does it need to be blatant. What's wrong with subtlety? Concepts can be underused but subtlety is not neglect.
Blaring all your concepts and themes is not good writing. It's so disruptive to a story's flow when the characters look off the screen to be like "See? This is the concept. The idea. The theme."
If you can feel the hand of the author becoming too heavy that's bad.
For example: I see people saying Azula's abuse in ATLA is more blatant in the live action and it's good because "it's being discussed more". It already was discussed at length. The show made it clear she was a victim at every turn, every behavior, every reaction, it came from a place of trauma. It was made clear that she was scared of ending up like Zuko because Zuko was an example of what would happen to her if she failed. When she says she's better than Zuko it wasn't just because she was raised to think hersef superior to him but because Zuko failed and failures get mutilated and exiled, failures are abandoned. In that final Agni Kai the music is morose and somber because this isnt some epic battle its a fucking tragedy, the burning out of "Ozai's brightest light" and Azula finally succumbing to her terror and trauma she was repressing now that her worst fears are realized. How can you see a fourteen year old girl chained to a sewer grate wailing and writhing and breathing fire desperately as unsympathetic? Even Katara and Zuko are horrified as to what has become of her.
The writers weren't looking us in the eye and saying "See? She's a victim too" when they wrote this, they weaved it in. They weaved it into her obsesison with symmetry, her extreme perfectionism, the way she talks about Ozai, the ways she calls herself a monster, her isolation from those with healthy home lives, all the ways she held herself together and ultimately all the cracks and seams that she shattered down when she fell apart. It did not need to be blatant to be clear.
Your atla analysis is the best so I wanted to ask your opinion on something I've found the fandom fairly divided on - what did you think of Azula's ending within the show proper? Unnecessarily cruel or a necessary tragedy? Would you say that her mental breakdown was too conveniently brought about in order to 'nerf' her for the final agni kai? Also, do you think it was 'right' for Zuko to have fought with his sister at all or would it have been better for him to seek a more humane way to end the cycle of violence?
okay so im saying this as someone who loves azula to death like she has always been one of my absolute favorite characters ever since i was a kid and i’ve always vastly preferred her to zuko and found her to be extremely compelling and eminently sympathetic. i am saying this now before the azula stans come for me. i believe in their beliefs. but i also think her downfall is perfectly executed, and putting aside all the bullshit with the comics and whatever else, it’s a really powerful conclusion to her arc. obviously that isn’t to say that she wouldn’t continue to grow and develop in a postcanon scenario (i have a whole recovery arc for her mapped out in my head, like i do believe in her Healing Journey) but from a narrative perspective, her telos is in fact very thematically satisfying.
no, she wasn’t nerfed so that they could beat her in a fight. the fact that she falls apart is what makes them feel that they can confidently take her on (although i do think in a fair fight katara could win anyway), but the whole point is that it’s not about winning or losing in combat. the whole point is that zuko and azula being pitted against each other in this gratuitous ritual of violence as the culmination of their arcs is fundamentally tragic. yes it’s a bad decision to fight her, and zuko should have chosen another path, but the whole point is that he’s flawed and can only subscribe to the logic he has spent his whole life internalizing through violence and abuse.
that’s why aang’s fight against ozai, while tragic in its own way, is also a triumph for the way in which his ideals prevail in the face of genocide, while zuko and azula’s fight is very patently tragic. there is no moment of victory or triumph. even as zuko sacrifices himself in a beautiful mirroring of “the crossroads of destiny” and as katara uses the element of her people combined with techniques across other cultures to use azula’s hubris and ideology of domination against her, it’s presented as moments of personal growth occurring within a very tragic yet inevitable situation. it was inevitable because azula had always been positioned as an extension of her father, and thus to disempower ozai also means disempowering azula, his favorite site of projection, his favorite weapon.
yeah, it does rub me the wrong way when zuko asks katara whether she’d like to help him “put azula in her place.” it’s not a kind way to talk about your abused younger sister. but it’s also important to understand that zuko doesn’t really recognize his sister’s pain, despite the fact that they obviously share a father, because he’s always assumed that she was untouchable as their perfect golden child and thus never a victim. and he’s wrong. zuko and katara expect a battle of triumph and glory, noble heroes fighting valiantly so that good may prevail over evil. but as they discover here, even more so than their previous discovery two episodes prior, a battle is not a legendary event filled with bombast and beauty until after it has been historicized. often a war is simply fought between pathetic, desperate people who see no other option but to fight.
aang’s ultimate refusal to fight despite having all the power in the world is what makes him so important as the protagonist. but katara and zuko both share a more simplistic view of morality and what it means to be good. and zuko assumes that by fighting azula, he can only be punching up, because she has always been positioned as his superior, and she (in her own words!) is a “monster.” and then azula loses, and his entire worldview shatters. joking about putting her in her place makes way for the realization that behind all her posturing and lying (to herself more than anyone) and performance and cognitive dissonance, azula has always been broken, perhaps even more than he is.
azula says “im sorry it has to end this way, brother,” to which zuko replies “no you’re not.” but i think azula is truly sorry, because in her ideal world, she wouldn’t be fighting zuko. she doesn’t actually want to kill him, as much as she claims to. she’s already reached the conclusion that zuko will only truly reach once their fight is over. she lacks a support system, and she needs one, desperately. if she could somehow get her family back, do everything differently, less afraid of the consequences, she would. she’s smirking, she sounds almost facetious, but really, she is sorry. as of this moment, she really doesn’t want it to end this way. but zuko cannot accept that, because in his mind, azula is evil. azula has no soul nor feeling. azula always lies.
her breakdown doesn’t come out of nowhere, either. it’s precipitated by everyone she has ever cared about betraying her. first zuko betrays her, then mai, then ty lee, and then ozai — the person she has staked her entire identity to and to whom she has pledged her undying loyalty and obedience, become nothing more than a vessel for his whims — discards her because she had the audacity to care about someone other than him. what i don’t think zuko realizes, and perhaps will never realize, is that azula betrayed ozai by bringing zuko back home. he was not supposed to be brought back with honor and with glory. azula specifically orchestrated the fight in the catacombs to motivate him to join her, and it’s not because she’s some cruel sadistic monster who wanted to separate a poor innocent soft uwu bean from his loving uncle, it’s because she genuinely believes that she’s doing what’s best for him. she believes that their uncle is a traitor and a bad influence, and she believes that bringing zuko home with his honor “restored” is an act of love. to her it is.
yes, she claims that she was actually just manipulating him so that she wouldn’t have to take the fall if the avatar was actually alive, but also, she’s clearly just covering her own ass. she didn’t know about the spirit water, and only started improvising when zuko started showing hesitation. but even if she was only using zuko, then that was an insane risk to take, because either way she was lying directly to ozai’s face. and zuko admits it to ozai while simultaneously committing treason, so of course ozai would blame azula, his perfect golden child who tried to violate his decree by bringing zuko back home a prisoner at best and dead at worst, and instead found a way to restore his princehood with glory.
we only see ozai dismissing and discarding azula in the finale, but it’s clearly a tension that’s been bubbling since the day of black sun. and we know this because we do see azula falling apart before the finale. in “the boiling rock” she is betrayed by her only friends. in “the southern raiders” we see that this has taken a toll on her, that she is already somewhat unhinged. she and zuko tie in a one on one fight for the first time. and she takes down her hair as she uses her hairpin to secure herself against the edge of a cliff. unlike zuko, who is helped by his friends and allies, who has a support system. it’s a very precarious position; she’s literally on a cliff’s edge, alone, her hair down signifying her unraveling mental state. azula having her hair down signals to us an audience that she is in a position of vulnerability. she is able to mask this terrifying moment wherein she nearly plummets to her death with a triumphant smirk, but it should be evident to us all that her security is fragile here.
and the thing is, even though she’s always masked it with a smirk and perfect poise, her security has always been fragile. azula has never been safe. azula’s breakdown is simply the culmination of her realization that no matter how hard she tries, she will never be ozai’s perfect weapon, because she is a human being. she is a child, no less. and there is no one in her entire life who loves her for nothing. zuko has iroh, who affirms to him that he could never be angry with zuko, that all he wants is simply what is best for zuko. but azula doesn’t have unconditional support in her life. she doesn’t even have support.
everyone she ever thought she could trust has betrayed her, and so she yells that trust is for fools. because she feels like a fool. of course fear is the only way; it’s what kept her in line all these years. azula is someone who is ruled by fear, and who is broken by the recognition that fear isn’t enough. her downfall is necessarily tragic because her worldview is wrong. the imperialist logic of terror as a tool for domination is her own undoing, just as ozai’s undoing is losing the weapon he has staked his national identity to. it’s a battle of ideals. aang v ozai: pacifism v imperialism. katara and zuko v azula: love and support v fear and isolation.
zuko is unfair to azula, it’s true. he tries to fight her even as he can clearly recognize that “she’s slipping.” instead of trying to help his little sister, he uses that weakness to his advantage, tries to exploit her pain so that he can finally, for the first time ever, beat her in a fight. it’s cruel, but it’s also how siblings act. especially considering the conditions under which they were raised, and how zuko has always viewed her. and in zuko’s defense, she has tried to kill him multiple times lately, both in “the boiling rock” and in “the southern raiders.” zuko is someone who gets fixated on a goal and blocks out everything else, including recognition of his surroundings or empathy for others. so of course when he’s promised to put azula in her place he’s going to exploit her weaknesses to do so. after all, isn’t exploiting his weaknesses exactly what azula does best? so he allows himself to stoop to her level, and in fact only redeems himself through his sacrifice for katara. but it is when azula is chained to the grate and zuko and katara, leaning on each other, look down and observe the sheer extent on her pain, that zuko realizes that “putting azula in her place” isn’t actually a victory. it feels really, really bad, actually.
they’re in a similar position as they were when they faced yon rha. and now it is zuko’s turn to understand that he is not a storybook hero triumphing over evil, but rather a human being, facing another human being, in a conflict that is larger than themselves. to “put someone in their place” is to imply a logic of domination, of inherent superiority, that someone has stepped out of line and must be reordered neatly into the hierarchy. but aang disputes the notion, ozai’s notion, that humanity can be classified along these lines, that there exists an ontological superiority among some and not others. so operation: putting azula in her place was always going to be flawed, even if she was performing competency the way she always does, because they’re nonetheless subscribing to her logic.
of course they should be helping azula, of course they should be reaching out to abuse victims through support instead of more violence. but first they must recognize her victimhood. first they must come to understand that they didn’t get lucky, and they didn’t dominate her because they are more “powerful,” that they weren’t “putting her in her place.” they must understand that they are not heroes fighting villains in a glorious trial by combat. that the logic of the agni kai is flawed. that they are all victims. that they are all just scared, hurt children who are still grieving their mothers.
AZULA IN 3.20 SOZIN’S COMET PT. 3: INTO THE INFERNO | requested by @roseguided
“She just called your aura ‘dingy’. Are you gonna take that!?”
Now wait a minute... ! That's the only explaination for the cave fight, cause realistically, for Azula, what the thell was that??
I don't believe for a second, someone who effectively and effortlessly stalled Aang, Toph and Sokka simultaneously and with no bending powers whatsoever, is getting slapped around by someone who recently picked up waterbending and even Zuko was managing just fine???
Be realistic. Azula got messed up because Katara looked even prettier than usual with her hair down and progressively got more flustered cause she couldn't do anything about it.
"Azula never haved a crush on Katara!!"
Idgaf, explain to me why Azula NEVER attacked Katara and the only time she attacked her (agni kai) was because she was with someone else
In some panels you can see how Azula is jealous becose she can see how Aang is eating her cake
Queers
X
I redid my Home Screen again-
I don't completely think that Azula voiced the blue dragon to represent 'evil' or the 'enemy.' Zuko's struggle seemed internal and in relation to his values, but the dragons themselves seemed to represent the different paths that he wanted to take in relation to it. What I mean is, Zuko has multiple things he cares about- represented by each dragon. He cares about Azula, his fathers approval, and Fire Nation, and he cares about Iroh, his changing definition of what's right, and struggles that he feels the need to change (as he's experienced as a refuge). The way the dragons loom over him and whisper things to him (since its a dream) is his subconscious contemplation over what he should choose in which he doesn't have to give up who he is/who he want to be.
It may just be the way I read into it, but at the end of the day, Zuko's struggle seemed to be in relation to him personally- not the greater good and what's right. And I don't think it makes him any less of a character, bcs moral compasses, systemic indoctrination of ideals, and allegiances don't change overnight.
If the dragons were strictly representing good vs. bad, Azula should NOT have been the voice of the dragon, and I agree that Ozai is the obviously correct choice. But at this point, (I don't remember too well) has Zuko clearly defined the actions of his father to be wrong? Bcs at the end of the day, this is all in his mind. As far as I recall, he clearly calls out those actions during the The Day of The Black Sun. In the current situation, his choice is made when he returns to the FN with Azula. Although their were better alternatives, I think there are still ways to read into this scene without it labeling Azula as the 'evil' voices. I mean, the blue dragon mainly says "sleep" which is probably just a reference to how Zuko would need to turn a blind eye to the wrongs and live out happily in the FN- its more of ignoring/coexisting with the bad even if you don't agree (which I think applies to Azula in a sense, considering she doesn't do wrong for the sake of the wrong itself).
When Zuko had his fever dream in Ba Sing Se with those two dragons influencing him for good and evil, it was Azula's voice for the evil dragon, which doesn't make sense
Iroh was the voice of the good dragon; and considering Iroh is meant to be the the moral compass of the show and generally provide everyone with words of wisdom, this makes sense.
But by making Azula be the voice of the evil dragon, it is putting her as Iroh's opposite. But she isn't. Ozai is. And it leaves the impression that the decision. That Zuko will eventually have to make will be between Iroh and Azula, which again, it isn't. It is between Iroh and Ozai.
Ozai's voice should have been used for that dragon. Not Azula.
post canon jet lives au where him and toph have an "unemployed earth kingdom citizen bumming off in firelord zukos home" competition
@hella1975
More TAMS fanart exploring some possible outfit/clothing/costume designs - just a little something quick and rough and not all that fancy
I may play around and whittle these down into something more concrete in the future
i love this type of AU so much!! Like, Ursa running and taking little Zuko and Azula to the south pole is such a cool idea. I read an AU on ao3 recently where when Ursa realized she was going to have Azula she faked her death and took little 1 year old Zuko to the south pole. The AU also had Ursa running away when she was 7 or 8 from her parents and ending up on Kyoshi Island and meeting Kya and they dubbed each other sisters in that AU, but this post reminds me of that
au where ursa takes the kids and runs and goes to the south pole because idgaf and then she meets single mom kya whos husband tragically died in battle and they become fridged mom powercouple and also we have one set of siblings who have to go and save the avatar
My Avatar Yue AU
So, in this AU Yue is the Avatar, but I guess that was pretty obvious by the title. A few pockets of airbenders survived and one of them sought refuge in the Northern Water Tribe (the Northerners respect the air nomad culture and don't meddle with it. as for teaching women bending, female airbenders learn airbending, if only for the fact that they aren't considered learning combat because air nomads are pacifists)
Yue knows she can waterbend, but is only allowed to learn healing because the Northern Water Tribe is still sexist. Nobody knows Yue is the Avatar for a long time, Arnook figures it out when Yue is about 12-13 and keeps it from everyone because the north shouldn't get involved with the war. Aang is an Airbender only, and he is born in the North Pole. Aang and Yue are best friends.
Shortly before Yue's 16th birthday she overhears her dad and Pakku talking in another room: Arnook wants to tell Yue she's the Avatar, but Pakku is trying to convince him otherwise. Yue ends up saying something (i'm not sure if I should word it as a confrontation because Yue doesn't seem like the confrontational type [yet] but more just shock and 'you were keeping secrets about me, from me'). Yue tells Aang about a day later and he suggests going to the South Pole (they don't know all the waterbenders there are gone) we still have Appa, so they decide to run away (they each pack a bag first, and Yue leaves a letter for her dad). Yue's Avatar guide animal is gonna be some sort of rabbit hybrid, I just don't know what to cross it with.
Yue isn't going to learn the elements in order, mainly because she has a master airbender with her from the start.
Sokka is 17 in this AU, so in my mind he was just old enough to go with his dad and all the other men. At some point more recently he got separated from everyone else and ends up trying to find his way to the South Pole for some reason. Also, he has a scar, but I'm thinking he got it in a really stupid way, like he slipped down a hill with some sharp rocks or something.
Ty Lee is an airbender, too. Azula and Ty Lee find this out at the same time. Ursa tried to be a better mom for Azula, so Azula actually cares about at least one person in this (Ty Lee) and they run away from the Fire Nation and kind of just hide in the Earth Kingdom woods. Maybe Azula does some random vigilante shit. I don't know what I'm doing with Mai yet, though.
I'm debating if Katara left the South Pole at some point earlier. She might have because she wouldn't have a reason to leave like the same timeline, I just need to find a new motive for her to leave (probably going to find Sokka for some reason. Maybe Hakoda sent a message that Sokka got separated from everyone else?), and maybe she left when she was like, 13. I'm thinking that maybe she ends up stranded in the fire nation and gets taken in by none other than Hama. Katara hasn't had her emotional growth and is still Katara from the beginning of season 1 and she doesn't have Sokka or Aang for moral support and I think she would be a bit more impressional... aka, I'm gonna have Hama teach Katara waterbending and bloodbending.
So, back to plot. Yue and Aang start travelling to the south pole, of course they are stopping along the way and will meet some people. First, in the semi-north woods of the Earth Kingdom, Yue and Aang meet Azula and Ty Lee. Now, I don't think Yue trusts them... yet, and neither does Azula (as in she doesn't really trust Yue and Aang) Ty Lee is more trusting, and so is Aang, especially after he finds out Ty Lee is also an airbender. Azula and Ty Lee agree to join Aang and Yue. Yue and Azula agree to sort-of trust each other.
Soon enough, Aang agrees to start teaching Yue and Ty Lee airbending as they travel. Ty Lee has already airbended a bit and can pick up on the techniques to improve a bit easier. Yue on the other hand, has never airbended before and has to figure out how to do it. Maybe Yue is slightly jealous that Ty Lee is getting it quicker than her. After some help from both of them she'll get it.
As they head further south Azula reveals stuff about the comment (I have no idea how to get Roku to tell Yue about the comet and all that stuff, and Azula would know when the comet is coming, even if she's been gone for at least a year). Azula also currently refuses to teach Yue any firebending; half because she doesn't think Yue can handle another element yet, and half because she doesn't want to try to train someone (and probably doesn't yet trust herself to teach someone).
They end up a short while north of Kyoshi Island when a strange boy they don't know comes out of the trees. This boy is Sokka. They help Sokka get to the south pole to see his sister, but he also tells him that his sister, Katara, is the last waterbender in the south pole, severely deflating Yue. They still accompany him. They all find out Katara left about half-a-year earlier to find Sokka. Zuko has been tracking the person he's hearing about, the Avatar. Zuko however, still believes the Avatar is an airbender. So, hims and Iroh have been tracking the Avatar across the globe, to the south pole. Zuko still captures Aang under the impression that he is the Avatar, and Aang just goes along with it because he wants to protect his friends. Yue, Sokka, Azula, and Ty Lee go to rescue him. Azula is not in any way happy to see her brother, and still feels like she is better than him, I'm not sure if she'll get involved if not just so I can leave Zuko's reaction to her being there for later.
Soon enough, Azula agrees to teach Yue the basics of firebending. I think this might be the hardest element for Yue to master, Yue is the embodiment of water (specifically moon water) in my head, and fire is the opposite of water. if anyone has any other ideas for what the hardest element for Yue to get would be, please leave a comment.
Anyway, from there we are gonna briefly go to Kyoshi Island. They won't stay long enough for Zuko to follow them there, though. I just need them to meet Suki.
Now, when they get further into the Earth Kingdom they meet Toph. Yue and Azula know how to talk to upper-class people and are able to subtly lie to convince Toph's parents to let her come with them under the guise of Avatar political meeting things. Toph will be starting to train Yue earthbending after a little while.
I haven't figured out how Zuko's redemption would go in this yet, or how the battle of the north happens, if it even does.
They will be meeting Katara at some point, I haven't figured out if it will be when they go to the fire nation or before that. The whole Eclipse invasion will still happen. Katara will definitely be at least slightly more aggressive, essentially a bit of Dark!Katara. She would definitely be extremely aggressive towards Azula specifically. She also still hasn't had any sort of resolve of her mother's death, and it has fuelled her anger (through Hama's manipulation, I'm gonna call it that because she's using Kya's death as a point to make Katara angry at the fire nation) like, she's probably willing to kill someone in this AU, and more likely to actually do it than canon Katara.
Katara is gonna teach Yue combat waterbending, in exchange Yue could teach her healing and Katara can become a bit closer to canon Katara.
This post was originally gonna have multiple fic ideas I have for AtLA but this post got really long with this fic alone, so, I'll talk about other stuff later on.
Also, a bit of this was inspired by another tumblr post, but I never kept the link, so I can't link it, I'm sorry. I also don't remember who the post was by.