#fandom: earth water fire air ; i strike the sky and leave it bare

[escapekissed]

azula hc: yeah we’re fucking doin this bitch. im king of the azula apologists to this day.

azula was 14 years old. azula was 14 years old. it’s strange to me---that the narrative gives so much weight to zuko having to change his mind from needing the approval of his father / the honor of fire nation prince, hating the avatar, hating the world, hating everyone that isn’t fire nation, and then, pack on to that during book 3 that everyone in the fire nation doesn’t understand the fire nation’s imperialism and thinks that the fire nation is the good guys, to the point that i think the show sometimes oversimplifies how evil the fire nation is and how terrible and literally misguided the average fire nation’s person’s complicity is...

but it never extends that same, perhaps, overempathy to azula.

azula is ‘crazy.’

azula is a ‘monster.’

azula scared her mother--and terrorized her brother by being a hypercompetent, overactive, people pleasing little girl that just so happened to be better than him at everything.

do you think just because her father ‘favored’ her he loved her? that he treated her well bc she was good? no. her father just abused her in a different way, she was indoctrinated into a world where she didn’t understand love, or peace, or harmony besides that which involved dictatorship with her at the helm. her morals were warped beyond all recognition, to a standard of perfection and control---not a hair out of place---that was unmatchable, even for the peerless azula. that is not kindness. that is not love. that is a fucked up way to treat a child.

azula does not deserve redemption---some hands are too stained with blood to fight at all without traumatizing everyone involved. (she was 14---but she still made a choice, over and over again, she seemed to have glee in being a perfect powerful dictator.) but she did deserve a childhood, and she did deserve love, and she still deserves to learn how to form relationships, to be reformed, to be taught how to be kind and well-adjusted.

should azula ever get power again? no.

should azula ever enter ty lee’s life again, or zuko’s, or anyone in the water tribe or earth nation? no.

but somewhere out there there are other girls in the fire nation like azula, that were mean little girls who wanted attention and power over others to fill that nasty little spot where their parent’s genuine love should’ve been. other girls who were indoctrinated into a system that genuinely believes in the oppression and subjugation of other people---who are unlearning their privilege and their brainwashing, and who want to understand why they’re so hated by just about everyone, but don’t understand why at their core, they are considered so unlovable by all the world.

azula deserves to learn right from wrong, basically. away from everyone she’s hurt. a new life, albeit a smaller one, and certainly a less public one, away from power and fame and everything that trapped her behind a rock and the world. maybe a jail or a temple somewhere, where she can learn her own peace.

she’s definitely a bad person. but there’s reasons she’s a bad person, and they’re not dissimilar to those of other characters in the narrative. and just being ‘crazy’ doesn’t mean ur incapable of change. it just means u have to work harder to be stable and find joy and love within urself insted of acting out and lashing out at others.

[escapekissed]

sokka hc:

sokka is a trans boy. the water tribe is perfectly accepting of trans identities. but without his father or any other men on the island to help him grow into himself---he started acting out and lashing out in his identity in the sometimes overly patriarchal ways to ‘prove’ his masculinity. he has to go on a journey to grow as a person and unlearn that toxic behavior, and that he’s not JUST a man ‘meant to be’ a soldier like his dad. he’s a smart, capable person that is capable of treating people the way they deserve to be treated and  respecting them as the equals he knows they are. (it’s harder when the only girl around is ur kid sister tho, for sure). 

like most sexism, it’s not out of a genuine malice---it’s out of overcompensation, it’s out of insecurity, it’s out of misunderstanding of themself and the world and how they fit into it. which is not to excuse sokka’s behavior bc it is real annoying LOL but also. he’s a teenage boy and that basically comes with the territory lol

[escapekissed]

“Hey Asami. I was kind of jerk to you at first. Just want to say sorry for that. You weren’t what I expected you to be at all.” @nvenes [ korra & asami ]

Poor little rich girl. Too pretty and smart for her own good. Too perfect to have any friends. You can have all the boyfriends you want---but they always leave. They come for the painted red lips, the carefully coiffed curls, sometimes, the money, but you never mind, as long as someone is actually interested in you for a change. But they always leave, petty, jealous, and intimidated just like every girl you’ve ever tried to make friends with. Or worse---they find someone more relatable, more down-to-Earth---whatever that means---and they cheat. You’re never mad. How can you be? You have everything you could ever want. If anything, you just feel sorry for the girl. You know you could have been friends, if she gave you a chance. You think you could be a really good friend, a really great friend---maybe even a best friend----if anyone ever gave you a chance. You try to keep up with your ex-boyfriends, become friends with the other girls... but third-wheeling is hard, and you’re as busy as you are lonely, and you become a burden on their happiness just like they are a burden on yours. It happens every time, but you fall into this pattern like clockwork. You are perfectly engineered---and a specialized machine for only one purpose, does only that.

Asami’s struck by Korra’s admission---and more than that, her apology---like a lightning rod on a hot tin roof. It burns her cheeks and sends elecrticity down her spine, striking a crimson blush, and she looks away softly, immaculate eyebrows shooting up as one hand reaches up to touch her own warm skin. Korra’s hair now abandoned---beautiful, soft and smooth, it rivals Asami’s own, though not necessarily as well-taken care of. (Korra doesn’t have the luxury of the excessive, expensive, extensive self-care Asami has become accustomed to. Asami can spend at least an hour a day getting ready just to go to bed. Insomnia plagues her, so she doesn’t mind. She pictures Korra, spending so many more hours a day hot and sweaty with training, hard, physical labor that leaves her calloused and bruised but alive. She probably sleeps like a baby all through the night, wakes up well-rested for another day of being stronger and braver than anyone Asami’s ever met. Will Asami get to watch Korra sleep tonight? The jealousy, hyperactivity, and temper melted away. She probably looks like some kind of angel. Connected to the spirit world, Asami guesses that’s sort of what an Avatar is.)

“It’s okay,” Asami says, gently. Her voice is a coo, her eyes crinkling at the corners with genuine mirth. She’s so used to being judged---the fact that someone would confront her honestly about it with kindness instead of harsh words and scorn is something of a relief. She tries so hard to be what everyone seems to want her to be---only for that something to be something they hate. (Asami doesn’t think she could stand it if Korra hated her. Her heart beats faster at the thought, with anxiety or affection, she doesn’t know.)

“You know---I’ve never had a lot of friends. I feel... very lucky that you gave me a chance.” Her words are carefully chosen. She doesn’t want Korra to pity her. But she wants to be understood. She reaches out her hand, carefully places it on top of Korra’s, not to hold, but just to show to anyone at all that she’s there. (Alive.) “Thank you, for that.”