Hold Up- Did Izumi Have A Daughter? Why Wasn't She Talked About In Tlok? She Was Mentioned In The Comics

Just found my new favourite AO3 tag.

there are a lot of bad takes in the atla fandom (like, atla fandom may as well be a bad take generator) but something that has really been pissing me off lately is the assumption that you can categorize the fire nation royal family into good guys and bad guys. first of all, obviously, they're all bad guys. they are imperialists. but the idea that "sozin ozai azula bad" and "iroh lu ten ursa zuko azulon(?!) good" is actually insane.

lu ten died attempting to conquer the earth kingdom. lu ten was there because his father, iroh, was leading the siege. ursa laughed when iroh joked about burning ba sing se to the ground. zuko laughed too, mirroring his dear mother who taught him about the wonders of imperialism. and the fact that some people think that azulon was a good guy because he favored iroh is crazy. he favored iroh because iroh was the better imperialist, was more charming and tactically savvy as he bent the world to his will. people who think that azulon didn't like ozai because ozai was cruel literally have it backwards. ozai was cruel because azulon didn't like him. sozin shaped azulon, and azulon shaped iroh and ozai. azulon reigned for most of the war, and he was responsible for decimating the southern water tribe and colonizing the earth kingdom.

iroh only realizes the error of his ways well into middle age, after spending a majority of his life colonizing the world. he only stops to reconsider once he experiences the adverse effects of war for himself through the loss of his son. likewise, zuko can only gain empathy for the victims of the war by being one himself, as a refugee in the earth kingdom, and bonding with people who have been hurt by the fire nation. azula doesn't get that chance. ozai doesn't get that chance. azulon, lu ten, and ursa are dead, so they will never get that chance. but it's not like there is some ontological moral divide separating azula from zuko. zuko was a sensitive child whereas azula was better at embodying fire nation values of power and cunning. zuko was punished for his outbursts whereas azula knew how to keep her mouth shut. therefore, zuko experienced circumstances that led him to disavow fire nation imperialism.

but that doesn't mean that azula is ontologically evil. azula was the iroh of her generation to zuko's ozai, and iroh (eventually) disavowed conquest as well. there is no inherent divide between good and bad, monster and human. ursa was a warm and loving mother to zuko, just as iroh was a warm and loving father to lu ten, but they both laughed at others' suffering. their values were shaped by their circumstances and experiences. their ideologies do not make them less human, or less capable of change, just as their interpersonal behaviors do not negate their abhorrent ideologies.

you notice in the live action from what we can see of Ursa in this that she has a diffrent hair style and hair jewley. This is how i headcanon Ursa now with all those hair assories, as they were gifted from Ozai.

his development never fails to make me cry

quick sketch of mic i ended up really liking

From the search part 2 …When Ozai and Ursa make a deal.                                       

azula's strange charisma is genuinely hysterical to me. she's a genius constantly cracking witty one-liners. she has the verbal intelligence to run circles around you. she has an innate personal charm that demands you look at her.

she also cannot interact with people on a person-to-person basis at all. she has no idea about normal social cues outside of court. cannot hold a regular conversation without somehow insulting and/or playing a mind game. has not one clue about speaking to people her age. she's a literal walking contradiction. incredible

lol random question but does anyone else feel like they can't enjoy their life no matter how hard they try?

does it ever drive you crazy

just how fast the night changes

team gai mourning neji episode when?