Fire Lord Ozai 🐉✨💫🐲🔥🐲💫✨🐉

I hate you.

first and foremost, abuse is not a contest. no form of abuse is “better” or more valid than another. which is why the idea of azula having it better than zuko is deeply upsetting. just because ozai’s abuse and cruelty towards azula manifested in a different way than zukos does not make her abuse any less traumatic and debilitating.

but when the fandom brushes over azulas endured mental and emotional abuse at the hands of ozai it is saying that mental and emotional abuse is not abusive enough to be cared about. at least this is how i view it, as someone who has been through it myself and for many years.

at the end of the day atla is a fictional show, and azula is a fictional character but these topics have weight. people are able to acknowledge and see relationships they’ve had, experiences they’ve had in these characters and when they are disregarded. when abuse is made to seem less than just because it wasn’t physical, it reinforces the mentality that many abuse survivors have. that the abuse we’ve endured isn’t valid enough, or that we’ve made it up, that it’s normal, or somehow justified.

"Rise and fight, Prince Zuko!"

Look at that curled beard 

And those eyebrows 

And all that eye makeup 

Not to mention that rake on top of his head! 

🤔

Even his name indicates this:

And yet, he's still being held as an example than no one is born evil by Zuko and Aang (the moral of the show as a whole as stated by Bryke).

Was rewatching this fight and...well, pretty sure there was at least one queer man in the ATLA animation team.

THIS IS SO FUCKING FUNNY THANK YOU SHOSTY