Mmm, I don't think she would ever be 'nice' in the Aang-and-Katara-and-Zuko sense. I'm not sure she'll ever do something just because it helps people; but she might do it because she needs them to like her. She wouldn't end the war because it was wrong, but I think she would absolutely end it if she thought it was hurting the Fire Nation more than making it great.
I agree with you that she might never be able to understand how other people's brains work, especially since she's used to just finding a spot and pushing till it breaks. But if she can fake feeling the 'right' way, and keep on faking it, I don't know if there's anything really wrong with that. Scary, sure.
(actually my feelings on Azula are just as complicated and difficult to articulate as my feelings on Mai, they're just a bit less close to home)
I don't think being Zuko's age or so would have helped her any, actually. Being Lu Ten's age and going out to serve as an officer in the army might have. —Then again, when they weren't so hard up for soldiers they might have tried to raise her to be more like Ursa, who I'm convinced is nice and motherly and sweet only because she doesn't need to be scary, but her kids don't know that. And I think Azula absolutely hated being pushed into the 'girl' box when she was younger. What does her nice sweet uncle send her wimp of a brother? A knife that says 'never give up'. What does he send her? A fucking doll to play house with. And her mother tells her not to be angry about it (or at least not show that she's angry). She doesn't have a nice badass understanding aunt to bond with; Ozai is the only person of power in her life who tells her it's okay to set shit on fire when you're angry.
So I think that's a lot of why Azula seems to have completely put aside things like 'nice' and 'understanding'. Because back then, to believe in those things would have been letting go of her real self in favor of the nice sweet princess (it seemed like) everyone but her father was trying to make her.
If she was older she might have gotten the chance to talk with someone who understood that being angry and fierce and strong didn't mean throwing away things like compassion and understanding, maybe especially if she'd gotten the chance to go out and fight in the war instead of just tracking down Zuko & Aang.
SO THAT IS MY COUNTER-ARGUMENT, I guess. And I do hope you get the time to read at least 水火, because that is the one fic that kind of totally changed my view of Azula.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2011-12-10 10:45 pm (UTC)I agree with you that she might never be able to understand how other people's brains work, especially since she's used to just finding a spot and pushing till it breaks. But if she can fake feeling the 'right' way, and keep on faking it, I don't know if there's anything really wrong with that. Scary, sure.
(actually my feelings on Azula are just as complicated and difficult to articulate as my feelings on Mai, they're just a bit less close to home)
I don't think being Zuko's age or so would have helped her any, actually. Being Lu Ten's age and going out to serve as an officer in the army might have. —Then again, when they weren't so hard up for soldiers they might have tried to raise her to be more like Ursa, who I'm convinced is nice and motherly and sweet only because she doesn't need to be scary, but her kids don't know that. And I think Azula absolutely hated being pushed into the 'girl' box when she was younger. What does her nice sweet uncle send her wimp of a brother? A knife that says 'never give up'. What does he send her? A fucking doll to play house with. And her mother tells her not to be angry about it (or at least not show that she's angry). She doesn't have a nice badass understanding aunt to bond with; Ozai is the only person of power in her life who tells her it's okay to set shit on fire when you're angry.
So I think that's a lot of why Azula seems to have completely put aside things like 'nice' and 'understanding'. Because back then, to believe in those things would have been letting go of her real self in favor of the nice sweet princess (it seemed like) everyone but her father was trying to make her.
If she was older she might have gotten the chance to talk with someone who understood that being angry and fierce and strong didn't mean throwing away things like compassion and understanding, maybe especially if she'd gotten the chance to go out and fight in the war instead of just tracking down Zuko & Aang.
SO THAT IS MY COUNTER-ARGUMENT, I guess. And I do hope you get the time to read at least 水火, because that is the one fic that kind of totally changed my view of Azula.