Taylor Swift Is The Greatest Person To Ever Live❤

Disclaimer: this post is taken from Reddit and it was put together and posted by this user : OddDragonfruit6179 I just made it into Tumblr post.

This is for people who might be new to Gaylor side of the fandom and to those questioning the “betrayal” surrounding Taylor Swift and her masters and Karlie Kloss. This is also an answer to anonymus messages about the line in the song It’s time to go believed to be about Karlie Kloss / When the words of a sister come back in whispers that prove she was not in fact what she seemed not a twin from your dreams she's a crook who was caught.

PSA - Personally, I exist as a Gaylor because I love interpreting Taylor's Queer themes that don't specifically revolve around certain muses & the beautiful way they can exist on their own. I am also not 'Late-Stage'-Anything, haha. But, saying that, it's amost impossible to ignore the elephant (or Giraffe) in the room when it comes to Karlie & Taylor's storytelling since Reputation. It seems there are some very firmly-held beliefs about 'what happened' (including Gaylors), and a lot of them revolve around the idea that Karlie 'betrayed' Taylor during the Master's Heist era of June/July 2019, 'feeding information to & siding with Scooter Braun' - which are often used to debunk Gaylor interpretations as a blanket shut-down. Given the latest drama with Selena & how she recently spoke up about slandering Taylor on TikTok, it reminded me of how we have a lot of evidence from both Taylor & Taylor's inner circle that this was probably not actually the case, and how quickly rumours & interpretations get adopted as 'fact' without any proof - something I think Taylor's also tried to get across with her music, too. I wanted to do a little deep-dive into this side of things to remind us all that we simply cannot believe everything we hear - there's always a lot more to celebrity stories than the loosly-held general beliefs :)

What was the big 'betrayal' in 2019?

If you're new here, welcome! The supposed 'betrayal' revolves around Taylor's Master's Heist in summer 2019, when Scooter Braun (millionaire celebrity manager) bought Taylor's entire back catalogue of music, leaving her without ownership of all her previous music. Taylor was at a turning point in her career, having just ended the 13 year contract that she'd been tied into since she was 15, and was just about to release her first fully-owned album 'Lover' She wanted to buy all her past music, allowing her to have full freedom & ownership going forward - yet it was allegedly sold to Scooter from underneath her, meaning he would be the one profiting from all of her life's work from Debut to Reputation & leaving her without any ownership rights of all her past work. (This is now why she's re-recording her 'Taylor's Versions' of her past albums.) How does Karlie tie into this? Karlie had been a huge part of Taylor's life since 2013. As Gaylors, most of us believe they were much more than friends & Karlie was the main muse for Reputation (2017) & multiple songs on Lover (2019). Karlie had signed with Scooter Braun in 2015. In 2016, Scooter was involved in the Kimye 'Taylor Swift is over controversy', being included in a photo Justin Bieber posted online to taunt Taylor (which Justin later said Scooter had nothing to do with). As she was Scooter's client, Karlie was immedietly caught up between Scooter Vs Taylor rumours, leading her to tweet this:

In early 2017, as the Kimye drama grew, Taylor stopped sharing her private life on social media. From 2017-2018 she releases Rep, goes on tour, ends her contract with Big Machine & begins working towards releasing Lover. All the while, rumours are consistently following both Taylor & Karlie about 'whether or not they're still friends' because they'd not been seen together. A lot of people believe they were still in each other's lives (there are multiple masterposts going into the possible romantic side of things), but the narrative is all over the place: In March 2018, Karlie tells the NY Times: 'don't believe everything you read' & that she and Taylor as still 'very close'. In July 2018, Karlie announces that she's engaged to Josh Kushner and Taylor doesn't publicly comment. In August 2018, Karlie attends the Rep Tour & is brought to the front pit when Taylor sings 'Dress'. In October 2018, Karlie has her first 'wedding' with Josh (up for personal interpretation if this is Lavender or not) - Taylor doesn't publicly comment. The same month, Karlie's YouTube shows her apartment is still full of photos of Taylor & her family/friends (not Josh):

In the first half of 2019 Taylor is finishing writing Lover, which include themes indicative that she is extremely up/down, full of anxiety & has push a 'lover' away: "I'm terrified if you ever walk away" (Cornelia Street), "We were crazy to think this could work, but we might just get away with it" (False God), don't wanna keep secrets just to keep you" (Cruel Summer), " jump from the train, I ride off alone" (The Archer), " blew things out of proportion, why'd I have to break what I love so much? I need to say hey, it's all in my head, I'm the one who burned us down, sorry that I hurt you, I don't do this to you, I don't wanna loose this with you" (Afterglow), "Saying goodbye is death by a thousand cuts, I look through the windows of this love, even though we boarded them up, chandalier's still flickering here" (DBTC)

What actually happened in Summer 2019?

Taylor begins promoting the release of Lover. In April 2019 she unveils a butterfly wing mural which looks extremely similar to Karlie's butterfly wings from the VS Show where they met & then continues to be ridiculously gay-on-main. She releases You Need To Calm Down, where she's the Sherriff of the Gay trailor park with Bi hair, and ME! on Lesbian Visibility Day... there's endless flagging in clothing/theming. She was getting very 'loud'. Many people believe she may have been leading up to 'coming out' officially, either with the album and/or the Miss Americana documentary that was in the process of being filmed. On 23rd/24th June, Karlie has her second 'wedding' (a big party). Taylor doesn't attend. Scooter does (he's close friends with Josh).

Within a week after he's at this party with Josh & Karlie, Scooter then flies to Nashville and completes the sale of Taylor's masters. The sale is partially funded by the Carlyle Group, who is in business with Kushner Companies (Josh's family's business).

On 30th June (the following weekend), Taylor announces that the Master's Heist has happened & how distraught she is. Lots of celebrities speak up against Scooter & many of his clients (Demi Lovato, Justin Bieber etc) speak up in defence of him. Karlie remains silent & doesn't make a statement either way.

On 3rd July, Perez Hilton starts stirring shit by saying that 'Taylor is no longer close to Karlie because she found out Karlie was telling things about her & her career to Scooter! It began circulating that 2 of Taylor's close friends, Ashley Avignone & Claire Winter had liked the tweet, 'confirming' that this was the case to those that follow gossip sites. Karlie is then photographed at events/lunches/trips with Scooter multiple times throughout the rest of 2019 - further ‘cementing' this idea for fans.

The final blow for this theory came when Taylor released Folkmore (2020): in the song 'Time to Go' she sings "When the words of a sister come back in whispers, that prove she was not in fact what she seemed, not a twin from your dream she's a crook who was caught", which many fans immedietly assumed was about Karlie.

Where are the cracks in all this?

Taylor's other friends: Obviously, social media is only a partial glimpse of a story, but it is very suggestive of behind the scenes information. The reaction to the current Selena controversy was what reminded me of her friendship with Taylor, after she stuck up for Taylor on a video of Hailey Bieber. Selena's been very close to Taylor since they were teenagers. In October 2019, shortly after the Master's Heist, she did an interview where she was in tears talking about how important her friendship with Taylor was, and how much she loved her & her family:

...so she would've been very much on Taylor's 'side' if Taylor has had an awful betrayal from Karlie, right? Yet in November 2019, just 5 months after the Masters Heist , she's very publicly supporting Karlie, too:

..and they have both consistently continued to support eachother ever since, right up to Selena's latest birthday:

In terms of social media, many of Taylor's current close friends & people she's worked closely with continue to follow Karlie (despite following a very limited number of people). This includes Taylor's oldest childhood friend, Abigail (who only follows 285 people - Karlie still follows her back), Haim The Band, as well as Danielle & Alana Haim on thier individual accounts, and Sadie Sink:

Karlie also continues to follow Taylor herself and Taylor's brother, Austin:

We also have two more of Taylor's very close circle, Ryan Reynolds & Gigi Hadid, liking posts about Karlie's 30th birthday in 2022:

What about Perez Hilton's claims? Baring in mind this is the ONLY 'evidence' that exists to support this story, I tried to find the original tweets about 'Karlie telling things about Taylor to Scooter', and low & behold: they're ALL gone. That includes Perez's & the 'Taylor Swift Updates' tweet that was supposedly liked by Taylor's friends. Gone, deleted, non-existent. Why would they have been deleted if they were true & Taylor wanted that story out there? Who made sure they were, from all accounts involved, and only those? Interesting.

What I did find, however, was some tweets and likes from the same friend, Ashley Avignone, discussing how none of Scooter's clients have been able to speak out against him or leave him because of their contracts (this would include Karlie):

What about Karlie 'siding' with Scooter & continuing to work/hang out with him? There were definitely pictures of Karlie continuing to spend time with Scooter after the Masters Heist. However, she was under contract. She never defended him or tried to reason about what he'd done. In fact, she left Scooter as soon as she possibly could. She hasn't been seen with Scooter since 2019 & she signed a new contract with a different manager in 2021. It's also relevant to note that Taylor's other close friend, Ed Sheeran, was also managed by Scooter at the time & didn't speak up publicly either. Taylor reportedly attended Ed's wedding in September 2019, yet Ed continued to stay with Scooter & publicly party with him well into 2021 (so, clearly, if there is an issue with Karlie it wasn't just because she continued to work with Scooter in 2019).

Last but not least, the music:

Throughout her albums since the Masters Heist, Taylor has consistently written about heartbreak & betrayal in different ways. Although 'It's time to go' has been grabbed by many fans as 'proof' that Karlie betrayed her, but most stories just aren't that simple. Taylor is a storyteller. One song doesn't equate to every emotion/situation that Taylor was feeling. As many of us do, I believe there's a clear arc of Taylor painting a picture throughout multiple songs, of how she thought she had been 'betrayed' & the pain of that, but later realising she was just blaming the person she had loved in order to get through it all. Others have done amazing, full analysis of these songs, but in terms of 'betrayal' specifically: In Hoax we see the raw pain of feeling hurt by the one she loved alongside what happened with the Masters Heist (this song is full of Karlie references & Taylor very clearly says she was writing about both love & the Masters Heist in the LPSS): "My eclipsed sun, this has frozen my ground / You know I left a part of me back in NY / You know it still hurts underneath my scars from when they pulled me apart, but what you did was just as dark, darling this is just as hard."

In Closure, we see that she's harbouring a lot of anger & isn't ready to move forward or past her pride: "Yes I got your letter, it wasn't right the way it all went down, looks like you know that now / I know that it's over, I don't need your closure / I'm fine with my spite / Guilty, guilty, reaching out across the sea that you put between you & me"

In Coney Island, we begin to see her taking accountability for her own role in the relationship breaking down in the first place (which ties in with Afterglow): "Sorry for not making you my centerfold / It gets colder & colder as the sun goes down / What's a lifetime of acheivement if I pushed you to the edge / Did I leave you hanging every single day / Did I paint your bluest skies the darkest gray?"

In Happiness, we see this accountability clashing with the hurt she still feels about the way it all ended, but ultimately acknowledging she can't make Karlie the villain (suggesting she never actually was one) & wants to forgive her whatever role she did play (when she's ready). Hope she'll be a beautiful fool who takes my spot next to you, no sorry, I don't mean that, I can't see facts through all of my fury / I can't make it go away by making you the villain, guess that's the price I pay for 7 years in heaven / All you want from me is the green light of forgiveness, You haven't met the new me yet, but I think she'll give you that"

Later, in The Great War, we see a continuation of reflecting back on the same themes - telling the story of feeling hurt & betrayed, shutting the other person out, but realising the other person was also being equally hurt by it all / was never the person she should've been blaming: "Cursed you as I sleep-talked, tore your banners down, took the battle underground / I drew curtains closed, drank my poison all alone" (processing her pain through putting an end to the loudness of Lover & writing Folkmore). "Somewhere in the haze got a sense I'd been betrayed/ telling me to punish you for things you never did, so I justified it" (Taylor's acknowledging once again that the other person hadn't actually done what she thought they had) "You drew up some good faith treaties / Tears on the letter / My hand was the one you reached for" (could be a callback to the letter' in closure & suggests the person was trying to make peace). "Your finger on my hairpin triggers, soldier down on that icy ground, looked up at me with honour & truth, broken & blue, so I called off the troops" (icy ground could be a callback to 'you have frozen my ground' back Hoax).

So where does that leave us?

Who the hell knows? No one does, but I love reading all the theories when the rest of the music is tied into it all! But in regard to there being a 'betrayal', given how there was never any concrete evidence that Karlie did anything wrong in the first place (& how the only tweets alluding to it have mysteriously dissapeared), the continual association with Karlie from some of the closest people in Taylor's life, Karlie leaving Scooter at the first chance she got & the arc of the 'thought i was betrayed but I was really just heartbroken & being dramatic' story from Taylor, I am now a firm believer that there wasn't a 'big betrayal' from Karlie in regard to the Master's Heist.

The rest of it is all up for guesswork. Taylor definitely felt betrayed by something at first. We know there were already break-up songs on Lover written before the Master's Hiest which suggest Taylor was the one to push her lover away, yet they were still dappled with hope that she'd get them back. Potentially, Karlie had already been pushed away & had sought security in her long-term partnership with Josh/decided to marry him. After the engagement & 1st wedding, this is when we see Taylor's very 'loud' Lover Era - could this have been an attempt to 'prove herself' to Karlie & make a statement about what she was willing to do? However, Karlie was already comitted to Josh & had gone through with the 1st wedding. Within a 1 week period of June 2019, Karlie doubled down on going through with her 2nd wedding to Josh & her manager bought Taylor's Masters, making it extremely risky for Taylor to continue to make a career-changing choice of 'coming out' (if that's what she'd been intending to do). Could it have been orchestrated by Scooter (& Josh?) in order to keep Taylor closeted? Could Josh have been involved financially in order to put a stop to the rumours about Karlie after they'd already comitted to marriage & keep his business deals/ family connections safe from speculation? Could Karlie simply have been trapped in the middle of all of it & torn between her loyalty to both Taylor & Josh, causing an already heartbroken Taylor to 'kick the cat' and initially put the blame on Karlie for the way it all happened? (If you factor in the possibility that both Karlie & Josh might be closeted & had eventually comitted to a consentual Lavender Marriage, it makes the risk of Taylor exposing them even bigger. Josh was tied up in Billionaire conservative circles & relied heavily on his business partnerships in the Middle East & Asia, as well as pressure from the Trump side of the family. We have no idea what kind of pressure he & Karlie may have been under behind the scenes).

Who the hell knows - but if Karlie had directly, intentionally been involved in such a big betrayal to Taylor, I HIGHLY doubt her best friends/family would be having anything to do with her.

This is an answer to an anon I've received.

I typed it all and Tumblr said there was an error when I went and tried to published it. So I had to type it all again but lost the anon....

Here's the question: could you tell me more about her wanting to come out in 2019? sorry for asking again I'm new on the fandom!

Hi!

It will be my pleasure! This is such an important part of the Gaylor Lore to know and understand, especially when you are new in the fandom.

This theory has been confirmed, but we'll get to it in a minute.

Also, I'm so sorry because learning about what went down during Lover Era is a transformative experiece in the Gaylor fandom, in a very heartbreaking way.

So back in 2019 Taylor wanted to come out with the Lover Era.

June 30th during the New York City Pride wich was also the Stonewall's 50th anniversary, was supposed to be the day it happened.

This date might be familiar to you, because it's the date we learned at the same time as Taylor about her masters being sold to Scooter Braun.

'Legacy of the Fire Nation' is a book written by Joshua Pruett and published by Insight Editions. It’s a scrapbook styled in the form of a letter Iroh writes to Zuko, following his narration as he recounts memories long past. In it, he shares insight as well as advice to his nephew–now turned Fire Lord. 

I’d like to separate this review into two parts: art and writing. I will review the illustrations within the book in the art section. As for the writing section, since we’re experiencing the book through Iroh’s perspective, criticism or subsequent praise will also be directed towards his character, as it’s impossible to separate the book’s contents with his narration.

SECTION 1: ART

The illustrator of this book, Sora Medina, is an extremely talented individual. This is made clear as soon as you open the book, where you are greeted with a page of Iroh and Zuko fire-bending. The next few pages are a double-page spread of the Fire Nation royal palace, a series of lively photos centering Zuko and Iroh, then the opening letter. 

The artist has a distinctive style that I find matches well with avatar. The colors pop out of the page, and not one illustration lacks the vigor that many of these scenes portray. The facial expressions in particular are very convincing, as you can perfectly tell what a character is feeling in the moment. From a subtle show of confidence, deep-seeded regret, and questionable sanity.

SECTION 1.A: Azula

As previously mentioned, the artist for this book is extremely skilled in their craft. Unfortunately, this also means they understand all the visual shorthands we associate with ‘crazy’ characters. I’m inclined to believe that the artist themself had no say in the matter, as oftentimes, they’re asked to illustrate a set of images with specific instructions. 

That being said, it cannot be mistaken that Azula was purposely portrayed as ‘crazy,’ as seen on the images below.

I have a few suspicions as to why Azula was portrayed this way, but that will come later. Overall, the art in ‘Legacy of the Fire Nation’ is spectacular and fits perfectly with the series, its setting, and the book's (intended) message.

SECTION 2: WRITING

The book begins with an opening letter from Iroh. He states that although he’s old and nearing his end days, he wishes for Zuko to have a piece of him before he’s gone. He explicitly states that he hopes the book, meaning his writings, will loan him the knowledge he needs to make good choices. However, he does add that Zuko will only be ready to hear it when he’s ‘ready to hear it,’ AKA Zuko’s willingness to learn. A bit of a funny note from Iroh, since Zuko spent most of season 1-3 rejecting his advice.

SECTION 2.A: Iroh’s Thoughts on History

I wanted to add this section because I have long had an interest in history, so my knowledge should serve me well in analyzing this aspect of the book. 

Roku and Sozin: In this page, Iroh discusses the origin of the One Hundred Year war, an even that according to Iroh, could not be separated from the previously mentioned figures.

In this section, Iroh states that Sozin’s jealousy at Roku’s avatarhood damaged his pride. As a result, his inadequacy led him to take power by other means. According to Iroh, he felt that if he couldn’t be avatar then he’d take over the rest of the world. Simply put, Iroh pins the cause of the Great War as jealousy between former friends.

This, in my opinion, is a gross oversimplification of history. If we take a look at real life, there are a number of factors that have led former imperial superpowers to decide on world conquest. And among them, there has always been one similarity: the belief that their people (whether it be race or ethnic group) are inherently superior. Before Sozin discovers that Roku is the avatar, before they separated and reunited again, there had to be some type of superiority complex amongst the Fire Nation people (or at least the nobles) to drive Sozin’s imperialist actions.

If not, then his sporadic declaration to conquer the world would not only make him seem a fool, it’d be near impossible to even wage a war. He’d have to exert great effort convincing the Fire Nation people that they are innately superior to the other nations, and that they are the light that guides them into greatness. Aside from that, his ambitions to conquer the world wouldn’t be economically sustainable in the short term. The first few months of a war are the most decisive, and he'd be shooting himself in the foot if he didn't already have a plan.

If he did suddenly decide to go to war against the rest of the world, the Fire Nation would naturally cease trade and even possibly suffer military blockade if the Water Tribes get involved, or maybe a fleet from the Earth Kingdom. On top of that, the economy would be under enormous stress to undertake such a large conquest, and the nations industries would either be abandoned (things not related to the war effort) or hyperfocused on (agriculture and industry) Men would be enlisted en masse, which would cause a labor shortage and change the very fabric of Fire Nation society; a sudden change that would increase the people's skepticism towards the war.

This isn’t even taking into account the logistical plausibility of mobilizing troops so far from the fire islands, made even harder now that the other nations share a common interest in preventing that from ever happening.

But let’s entertain the idea that Sozin had a well thought out plan, necessary for even the possibility of success on such a large campaign. That would mean that avatar Roku, responsible for maintaining balance in the world, either didn’t see or ignored ultra-nationalistic sentiments popping up in his homeland. This would imply a number of things about him. 

For one, it’d make him incompetent for allowing such dangerous ideologies to flourish right under his nose. Two, it’d make him wholly unqualified for the role of avatar, which makes Iroh's reverence of him nonsensical. Three, once Roku found out about Sozin’s imperialist intentions, he did little else other than throw empty threats before disappearing to an island–presumably where he lived the rest of his days. All in all, Roku was an ineffective and foolish avatar, which he later admitted to in his sessions with Aang. And yet, not once did Iroh mention this critical failing. He also doesn't mention the implausibility of a sporadic world conquest, nor does he recognize how outlandish it was to chalk up Sozin’s imperial ambitions as simply ‘jealousy.’

For a man that uses history as a means to learn, he doesn’t seem to read up on it.

2. Imperial apologist Iroh:

The image is where this section’s title derives from. In it Iroh laments that the Fire Nation were a strong and proud people before the war. In his words, ‘Like the light of a new day touching every nation we were in contact with.’ His wording is anything but subtle, and I can think of a certain eastern power that also likened themselves to the sun’s light once. Here Iroh implies that the Fire Nation are great, that their influence was positive and ‘enlightening,’ as he loves to say. This is the traditional justification for holding such beliefs. A perfect cover, if you will.

However, the way he frames the Fire Nation as ‘needing guidance’ is particularly egregious considering that this book is supposed to teach Zuko about their ancestors’ shortcomings. He postulates that their ancestors’ growing imperialist tendencies were just a symptom of lack of guidance, blaming it on their nation’s previous lack of ‘enlightened leaders.’ This is once again the perfect cover, as it takes the responsibility of holding imperialist beliefs off of the common person and instead places it on one party, which is conveniently one that’s easy to attack.

He takes no consideration on how opinions such as Sozin’s did not materialize from thin air. They appear over time and can never be traced to one single source, as oftentimes the entire society is responsible for repeating and encouraging those beliefs. And by the time they emerge as more ‘sinister’ actions, such as Sozin’s desire to conquer the world, it would’ve been too late to replace the Fire Lord with a more open-minded person and expect the populace to suddenly change their ways.

This, on Iroh’s part anyway, shows once again that he lacks the very knowledge he’s trying to impart on Zuko. He works to separate the Fire Nation’s dark past with its people. I don’t know why he’s doing that, but he certainly has an agenda behind it, as he basically tells Zuko to ‘be better’ in the next paragraph after. He also states being Fire Lord was never for him, and that he’s grateful he never was (this will be relevant in the next part)

I’ve been thinking recently about Azula and Mai’s relationship and I wanted to do a post about their relationship in the show.

The first time we see Azula and Mai interact is in Return to Omashu. Mai smiles a bit at Azula. She does look happy to see her. Azula then kind of hugs her but not fully. She may have done it that way because she’s aware that Mai isn’t too fond of hugs. I’m sure that Mai appreciated it. Mai did not seem at all afraid of Azula in this interaction. Then when Azula said that she needed her and Ty Lee for the mission, Mai gladly joined without hesitation. She joined Azula willingly.

Later during that same episode, Azula tells Mai and Ty Lee that they will be hunting down Iroh and Zuko. When Ty Lee tells Mai that it will be interesting to see Zuko again, Mai smiles at the prospect. She does not seem uncomfortable with the fact that if she does see Zuko it will be likely as him being a prisoner. So if Mai was truly afraid of Azula and just doing what Azula said out of fear, I don’t think she’d be smiling.

In The Drill, Azula gives Mai and Ty Lee the order of following Sokka and Katara down the drain. Mai refuses to do it because she finds it gross and literally tells Ty Lee that Azula can throw all the lightening she wants at her. Mai later shows up from inside the drill and says very calmly, “We lost.” If Mai was scared of Azula I don’t think she would have done that. That does not look like a girl who is trembling in fear of Azula.

In The Crossroads of Destiny, Azula terrifies the Dai Li and Mai actually seems very amused by Azula. I don’t think she would find Azula amusing if she was scared of her herself. Mai did seem to genuinely like Azula. Also, if Azula had punished Mai off screen for disobeying an order as I’ve heard some people suggest, I doubt that that Mai would be enjoying Azula scaring members of the Dai Li.

In The Beach, Azula tells Mai why she thinks she can’t express herself. Mai actually gets angry at Azula and yells at her to leave her alone. If Mai was afraid of Azula I don’t think she would have yelled at her. This looked like the result of resentment, not fear. Azula also does not reprimand her for her outburst afterwards.

I've said before that Ursa's two biggest mistakes with Azula were: 1) not consistently making it abundantly clear that she loves Azula unconditionally, and 2) failing to realize that Azula needed to be protected from Ozai's influence. While she unquestionably dropped the ball there, I don't believe it's impossible or far-fetched for them to reconcile and build a rock-solid mother-daughter bond, and I don't mean in a, "We get along because we rarely interact with each other" kind of way.

We already know how desperate Azula is to be loved and how much she needs someone to guide, nurture, and protect her the way she should've been. Y'know, because she's a child.

Contrary to what I've seen from most of ATLA fandom, I think Ursa is the best person for the job. She's imperfect, but so is Iroh.

Unlike Gene Yang, we don't have to characterize Ursa as a static character who only has Zuko on the brain. Ignoring the amnesia plot of the comics, it's easy to imagine her laying low for a long time and spending the intervening years between her departure from the palace and her return to her children's lives thinking and worrying about her kids and realizing that she should've done more for Azula. I can easily imagine her wanting to do everything in her power to repair her relationship with Azula, not only because Azula needs someone in her life who can be the adult while she gets to be a kid, but because she can see the role she played in Azula having a full blown nervous breakdown at fourteen.

And I can easily imagine that she'd be grateful that Iroh was there for Zuko and pissed that he wrote Azula off as a lost cause.

Of course, because Azula has deep self-loathing and a supermassive black hole of trust issues, she's got her work cut out for her, but I think it would be entertaining and rewarding for the two of them to get to know the real Ursa and the real Azula and discovering how similar the two of them are.

Seriously, when Ursa was six, she kicked Ikem in the stomach and shoved him in the dirt. As a young woman, Ursa had a huge flair for the dramatic and got a kick out of fucking with people. Judging by how she eliminates Azulon to protect Zuko, she goes to great lengths to keep those close to her safe, regardless of the morality of her actions. The fact that she never gets caught says a lot about how cleverly she covered her tracks. Who does that sound like?

Amazing art by @avenuecab thank you so much it’s beautiful!!!