#so sophisticated

[evilhorse]

I particularly enjoy this “spinach” of yours. It tastes like space chicken.

(Shazam #3)

[midnight-candy-goblin]

Behold.

A distinguished gentlefrog.

[seyaryminamoto]

If Ozai hates the very thought of his father so much, how was he able to handle his very own daughter being named after the man?? Did he ever truly love Azula? Did he ever truly love Zuko? And does he truly hate Azula now?

:'D that will be explained in due time through flashbacks...

... I do believe I've said before that it's VERY difficult to say that Ozai has loved someone. Even himself. He's a narcissist who hates himself anyhow. Basically, he believes that all the difficulties he has faced are someone else's fault and responsibility, not his own, that he deserves everything he wants because he's selfish and greedy that way... but he hates himself for a fair few reasons anyhow. So I wouldn't even say he loves himself :'D

Hence, saying he loves Azula is just... complicated as hell to argue for. I've said before that the person he came closest to fully loving was Ursa, and he still didn't pull it off... and his feelings for Azula basically came close to that, but he's waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too fucked up to love her properly.

This being said...

Ozai in the flashbacks, as a lot of you may have guessed by now, is meant to explain how he wound up in the position he's in right now. How a guy who actually resembled Zuko soooo much becomes... well, the very fucked up Fire Lord who ruined his daughter's life and hasn't ever said he's sorry for it because destroying her life was apparently not as unforgivable a crime as Azula's terrible crime of... loving someone. Yep.

So, the flashbacks of Azula's birth will show us an Ozai who bonds far faster with her than he ever could with Zuko. His insecurities got in the way with Zuko, as we've seen already, and then Zuko's nature didn't help matters much, so they were kind of incompatible... but it's fair to say that Ozai tried, as you'll see in the next flashback, which is another of my favorites, actually. His attempts, however, weren't all that successful before Azula was born... and after Azula is born, his brain kind of shortcircuits and Zuko falls 100% to the wayside because This One is the kid he likes.

Azula's name being based on Azulon's is, in fact, a power play by Ozai. One he basically uses to flaunt that his child is, in fact, superior to his own father. You'll see what this means when we get there... but it's an insult just as much as it is a compliment, which means that Ozai actually put Azulon in a VERY uncomfortable position, for the first time in his life... through Azula. Through her name.

The way this flows results in Ozai not really caring, in the end, that he named his daughter after his piece of shit of a father (at least, that doesn't really matter to him through the bulk of her life). He distinguishes enough between them to not associate Azula inherently with his father because why would he? Azula validates him, she boosted his ego because he gave life to an extraordinary child, going against all of Azulon's hopes and expectations that his marriage would be a failure. Meanwhile? Azulon was only ever the person who wore him out, tore him down and made him think he was worthless. Therefore, his bond with each of them is veeeery different. Azula just means way too much to Ozai all on her own, even as a wee little baby, for Ozai to connect Azula to his father all that much. Doesn't help that Azulon actually wanted nothing to do with Azula or Zuko, so it's not like Ozai had to worry about Azula and Azulon having some important connection/dynamic... nah. Old geezer would have traded Zuko and Azula's lives for Lu Ten's in a heartbeat. Don't doubt it.

As for Zuko... yeah I can say for certain that Ozai does not love Zuko. He wanted to be a good dad at first! He tried! But then he stopped trying. He gave up on that bond once he found it so much easier to bond with Azula, especially when Azula turned out to be the gifted child she was. Zuko didn't spend all his life fighting to earn Ozai's love non-stop for no reason: he didn't have it. He KNEW he didn't. Ozai never offered it to him. And while you could argue that in a super deep subconscious way, MAYBE Ozai cared about Zuko because ultimately, he has projected his personal failings as a human being on Zuko, and if he actually bothered to treat his son right, he'd realize he's inflicting the exact same suffering on him that Azulon inflicted on himself...?

But the truth is that he hasn't gone through that thought process at all. Hence, any buried feelings he might have for his son are so damn lost in the chaos of his soul that they're basically non-existent.

As for whether Ozai hates Azula now or not...?

... Honestly? He doesn't.

Problem is, he doesn't realize he doesn't.

Call this the worst possible kind of parental punishment on a child, completely uncalled for, completely disproportionate, absolutely unacceptable... but it genuinely comes from a place that Ozai doesn't want to acknowledge: he feels hurt. Her choices have hurt him.

Azula broke away from everything he believes in, everything his legacy is about. He doesn't like that. He wants Azula to remain his perfect heir, his legacy, to honor every stupid idea he ever had about what her fate would be. Any attempts by Azula to break free from that make Ozai react VERY adversely. But ultimately? He doesn't hate Azula. He can't. It's about as impossible for him as hating Ursa. The concept of hating either of them is just... beyond him. He CAN get mad at them, he can be a dick to them... but he cannot ever fathom hating either of them, not for real.

... He hates Sokka though. I can assure you of that one :') as far as he can tell, Sokka is the instigator, culprit, guilty party behind his daughter's "corruption", so basically, if you're wondering if his rage from Part 2's finale resulted in Ozai despising Azula? Nah, he took all that hatred and channeled it towards Sokka alone. He throws tantrums of the "I'm disappointed in you, young lady" kind in the most gruesome way he could, sure... But he doesn't hate Azula. He's able to hate ANYONE, but not Azula, not Ursa. Those two are the only people in the world he would actually get off his ass for, aside from himself :'D

[alliofthegaps]

Introducing: other characters!

[jacky-rubou]

who knew uploading my fic to the computer from my phone to work on it from there instead would be enough to give me inspiration for a scene I thought I was going to have trouble with. now I'm writing the scene like no tomorrow and you all can't stop me.

[nmotypdfsfg]

[plaguedoctormemes]

as a man on HRT thats approaching his thirties im on my knees begging you other trans and queer folk to stop treating hair thinning and baldness like its some sort of final nail in the coffin on someone’s youth and scale of attractiveness and to stop insisting people see their doctor if someone starts experiencing hair loss and they didnt ask for help!

[ornithorynquerouge]

Photographer Conrad Godly, 1997

[leatherpearlslace]

So Sophisticated - Gore Gore Girls

[lazylittledragon]

I NEED TO KNOW WHAT MAMA DEKARIOS'S REACTION WAS WHEN SHE FOUND OUT CYRA WAS PREGNANT :000000 her boy is about to be a dad i think she would lose her entire shit

I THINK YOU’RE PROBABLY RIGHT

[idledee]

please read no home

[monkeyshamanswar]

[mizgnomer]

Zooming in on Good Omens Season 2

Tag for all my Good Omens Zoom posts

[damianito]

I think, I took someone's Neuvillette...

[ameliafuckinjones]

Robert Pattinson truly encapsulates/captures the aura of Arthur Kirkland, I think. A man of multitudes.