I'm not saying Zuko has PTSD from the scaring (though he might) I'm saying he has it from being raised by Ozai and living with Azula. When he's ten, his grandfather calls for his death. This might be an unusal experience (and signs point to yes) but it still points to a tremendous amount of insecurity Zuko must have endured. His younger childhood was probably mostly okay. He has glowing memories of his mother, after all, but then he is threatened with death, his mother disappears, his domineering father becomes his sole parent, and his sister is almost certainly given free reign to do whatever she wants to her brother. We know that Azula was already very cruel to her brother, and I'm sure she moved right in on the psychological torture. Three years of that before Zuko's exile would certainly cause PTSD. He has some pretty nasty flashbacks in Zuko Alone, and his horrific temper in seasons one and two remind me of my first stalker's older brother, who, trapped in an abusive situation, channeled his trauma through his hair trigger temper.
Aang I'm less sure about, but Mai and Ty Lee both read to me as people who are dealing with long term trauma. Mai's blankness is one way to deal with someone like Azula who thrives on emotional manipulation. It was a coping mechanism that came naturally to her perhaps because of her parents, but Azula probably did a lot so cement it. In their first meeting, we see Azula threaten Mai's little brother, and other than Mai's flat affect, we have no reason to think she doesn't care. Mai shows Azula no emotion. She gives her no break in her facade. And when she does show emotion, I bet she feels weak. She gave anyone she saw the tools to hurt her. Several of my first stalker's victims exhibited this behavior. Ty Lee exhibits the same behavior I did. Like Mai, she masks her emotions, but she masks them behind a smile. She is always smiling, and when Azula asks, she always complements her to the nth degree. She easily gives Azula her unhappiness and the bounces back. If Azula enjoys her unhappiness the way my stalker did mine, giving it to her easily prevents her from doing worse, and then bouncing back to "happy" ensures she'll ignore you until she wants something from you.
I'm unsure what you meant about the last sentence. Ty Lee was threatened into going back to Azula in the first scene they're in, and specifically, Azula threatens others. She threatens the circus and circus patrons to force Ty Lee's compliance. Speaking as someone with a lot of experience with an Azula type girl, you become very quickly accustomed to doing morally questionable, hurtful things to gain the approval of your tormentor to keep yourself safe. My first stalker used her current "favorite" to help her in torturing any "friend" of hers who was on the outs. This helped her foster intense competition between her small inner circle, and also left her victims with a great deal of guilt after they broke away. While you're doing something for a girl like Azula, you might have a perfectly well developed sense of conscience, and you might even know as you're doing it that it's wrong, but it stops mattering to you, because you do it to survive. Keep in mind, we don't meet Mai and Ty Lee until after Azula has had the chance to work on them for years. To me, the fact that Ty Lee ran from her before canon began and Azula yanked her back says it all.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2013-03-01 05:54 pm (UTC)Aang I'm less sure about, but Mai and Ty Lee both read to me as people who are dealing with long term trauma. Mai's blankness is one way to deal with someone like Azula who thrives on emotional manipulation. It was a coping mechanism that came naturally to her perhaps because of her parents, but Azula probably did a lot so cement it. In their first meeting, we see Azula threaten Mai's little brother, and other than Mai's flat affect, we have no reason to think she doesn't care. Mai shows Azula no emotion. She gives her no break in her facade. And when she does show emotion, I bet she feels weak. She gave anyone she saw the tools to hurt her. Several of my first stalker's victims exhibited this behavior. Ty Lee exhibits the same behavior I did. Like Mai, she masks her emotions, but she masks them behind a smile. She is always smiling, and when Azula asks, she always complements her to the nth degree. She easily gives Azula her unhappiness and the bounces back. If Azula enjoys her unhappiness the way my stalker did mine, giving it to her easily prevents her from doing worse, and then bouncing back to "happy" ensures she'll ignore you until she wants something from you.
I'm unsure what you meant about the last sentence. Ty Lee was threatened into going back to Azula in the first scene they're in, and specifically, Azula threatens others. She threatens the circus and circus patrons to force Ty Lee's compliance. Speaking as someone with a lot of experience with an Azula type girl, you become very quickly accustomed to doing morally questionable, hurtful things to gain the approval of your tormentor to keep yourself safe. My first stalker used her current "favorite" to help her in torturing any "friend" of hers who was on the outs. This helped her foster intense competition between her small inner circle, and also left her victims with a great deal of guilt after they broke away. While you're doing something for a girl like Azula, you might have a perfectly well developed sense of conscience, and you might even know as you're doing it that it's wrong, but it stops mattering to you, because you do it to survive. Keep in mind, we don't meet Mai and Ty Lee until after Azula has had the chance to work on them for years. To me, the fact that Ty Lee ran from her before canon began and Azula yanked her back says it all.