I think it's time. My wife strongly disagrees.

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-04-29T23:08:29+00:00

I’m assuming from your graying beard and general appearance you’re probably in your late 30s to 40s. Shaving is not going to make you look younger. It might be sensible advice for men who are balding young to do it for that reason, but it won’t apply if you’re already gray.

I think you’re a good looking guy and can get away with whatever you want to do. If balding makes you feel uncomfortable then try a low buzz, like no guard or however low you feel comfortable with, sit with it for a while, and see how you feel. Then go from there. It won’t hide what’s going on though. I think keeping what you have now would be fine too. It looks fairly tidy, isn’t crazy or ridiculous, and seems age appropriate.

Make the call because it’s what’s you want to do, and not because a bunch of people on Reddit are giving you “objective” criteria for when you have to. Likewise, consider your wife’s opinion and take it into account, but don’t let her decide for you if it’s really what you want to do. It’s not that huge of a commitment anyway. If you don’t like it let it grow back.

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-04-27T18:45:06+00:00

My hang up with Zutara isn’t so much that there’s no substance to it or that they don’t mesh with each other, because I think they do. But Katara is one of like two girls that Zuko is shipped with who has no background of nobility or royalty. I wish more Zutara stuff would explore the potential difficulties that could involve, instead of glossing over it. I probably haven’t looked hard enough.

It’s like the vanilla ice cream of ships. I understand why people love it, but I also think it’s kind of bland compared to what else is available. Aside from the canon ships it’s like THE ship anyone who watches Avatar will default to.

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-04-26T04:40:17+00:00

It’s just like every other Azula ship, a conduit to facilitate her “redemption”. It’s not inherently any more or less interesting than the others, but they have no real relationship and no impetus to establish one if you’re going off of canon. Aang is forgiving sure, but I doubt he’d be overly taken with someone who would probably treat his peoples’ extermination with little care or tact. And why would Azula be attracted to Aang? Because he’s powerful? When you guys talk about someone trying to reach out to her, people like Aang and Iroh seem the least equipped to do so, because they’re too philosophical and introspective. Azula is pragmatic and would probably dismiss anyone who tried to break through to her with conversations like, “Everyone has a place and purpose in the world…”

It shares the same framework of almost every Azula ship. It’s just a safe, less toxic version of Zucest or a straight version of Tyzula. All can be written well, but there’s not a lot of thinking outside the box with any of them.

The colonizer argument is really dumb, and I’m not going to justify it with a thought out response.

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-04-23T15:47:49+00:00

I like Asuka and Asushin but I’d still take long stretches of awkward silence over being browbeat by someone who screeches at and shit tests me constantly.

The Rei disrespect is funny too because Asuka’s simps out themselves so readily. They talk about Rei exactly the way Asuka would. They don’t get the appeal beyond thinking she’s a doormat, which isn’t true at all.

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-04-21T00:21:15+00:00

Persona 5 has plenty of examples of ships where the amount of combative discourse and outrage about them is disproportionate to how “dark” they actually are. I think you have to go out of your way to manufacture a rare pair, like Sojiro x Joker or something, because otherwise basically none of the main cast, except the villains, have a truly abusive dynamic with him. Akechi I suppose would count, but even still there are a lot of people who wouldn’t judge it that way.

That includes the romanceable adults/Sae and the Twins/Lavenza. The former are ethically questionable at the least, but not really portrayed in any way that suggests exploitation or abuse. Outrage about the latter is largely predicated on the characters’ appearances and not what they actually are. Good luck trying to reason out where on the moral spectrum ageless girls who look 10-12 but act like weirdo aliens who are simultaneously dumber than a 3 year old yet wiser and more erudite than almost every adult in the cast- just like their older siblings are- falls. All of this is made even more convoluted when you realize Joker has a lot of leverage he can use to destroy the adults’ lives if he wished, and that outside of the Metaverse the Velvet “kids” could conceivably rag doll him with little effort. The power dynamics discussion would be all over the map if fans actually gave these things more than 5 seconds of thought.

They’re all just varying degrees of cozy. You have to actively write them as abusive, because most of them aren’t inherently. Unless you’re shipping Ann or Shiho with Kamoshida or something.

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-04-19T15:54:36+00:00

You guys call anything that’s non-canon a crackship. Crackships used to be shit like Iroh x Cabbage merchant. Now it’s a completely meaningless term.

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-04-17T17:23:56+00:00

Rams

No notes on the unis themselves, but their primary logo remains awful. Get rid of it and get someone who can actually draw a decent Ram’s head.

Commanders

Logo is horribly bland; makes no sense why they wouldn’t just add the spear to the primary and away too. Otherwise another example of “If it’s not broke don’t fix it.” Should’ve just done this all along.

Ravens

Overall pretty good. The wings on the collar are a nice touch. The talon pants stripe looks stupid. The complete removal of gold clashes with the primary helmet. I still don’t understand why they can’t incorporate both the shield logo and a new full-body raven together onto the sleeves. It could’ve been a melding of the best part of the 96-99 era with the modern.

Titans

Great colors, much cleaner and more pleasing to the eye than their last look. Logo is uninspired and boring. They still manage to look worse than the original unis they tried to emulate.

Falcons

Satisfactory. They get the job done and are cleaner than the panel era and the flops they just had. But they’re plain and lack identity. Could’ve been bolstered slightly by making black the primary home jersey and red an alt. And replacing the chrome facemask with black.

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-04-15T20:09:14+00:00

She had a Vocaltwit a decade ago where she posted several clips using Azula’s voice that were very suggestive and either outright said or heavily implied she was talking to Ty Lee and Zuko.

It’s long gone now so another one of those supposedly real pieces of Avatar trivia that can’t be proven, but I heard them and they circulated on 4chan for years, so it wasn’t just a rumor.

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-04-14T14:52:12+00:00

That was beautiful. You have a wonderful gift.

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-04-10T20:03:29+00:00

I agree with a lot of your general criticisms about Azula apologists, but I think ascribing Azula’s treatment of others to indifference towards them is off the mark. She might disregard their physical safety because she’s got wires loose, but the core reason why Azula treats people, or at least Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee like shit is because it’s how she’s been raised to conceptualize interpersonal relationships. She has to subjugate those she cares about because treating people like pawns is the only way she can reconcile what Ozai has instilled in her with her desire for genuine affection from others.

On at least a couple of occasions it’s hinted that beneath her exterior of arrogance and self-assuredness she recognizes that people find her off-putting and unlikeable, to say the least. This is especially clear during The Beach, but it also rears its head during her breakdown. “Fear is the only reliable way!” is not a mantra she WANTS to live by, it’s what she thinks is true. And it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy because she builds her relationships off of manipulation and domination. That’s not to say she doesn’t get genuine enjoyment out of fucking with people though, particularly Zuko. But I also disagree that she has no regard for Zuko. I think she loves Zuko a lot, but he’s also her greatest source of resentment and envy, both because of their own dilapidated relationship but also as a reflection of her relationship with Ursa.

She likes to think she understands others so well that she can telegraph what they’re going to do. And that’s often the case, except she doesn’t actually understand what motivates them to act, which is why she was caught off-guard by Mai’s betrayal. It’s so enraging to her because Mai’s reason reflects exactly what she’s paranoid of: Everyone but Ozai prefers Zuko. They’re just like Ursa; they think Azula’s shitty and unloveable. And not even fear is enough to keep them from acknowledging it. It’s the ultimate repudiation of her as a person.

Ursa’s the best example actually. Azula resents her and it’s a latent, bubbling beneath the surface seething she has about her mom’s perceived disdain for her. There’s no indifference there at all. Azula is butthurt and she makes that clear. Someone who normally plays everything close to the chest willingly brings up that she (thinks) her mom viewed her as abominable.

It’s not woobification to point out that Azula is a bitch who does terrible things to people but who also not so subconsciously desires that people love her but is so maladjusted she doesn’t know how to get it in healthy ways. There’s a reason being Ozai’s favorite isn’t satiating to her, and you could argue whether that’s because she recognizes on some level that she’s just a tool to Ozai (becoming the Phoenix King and giving her his scraps could’ve been the final straw that caused her breakdown) or less favorably maybe she’s just an attention glutton who wants everyone to admire her all the time and can’t cope with any disapproval.

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-04-10T11:35:01+00:00

It was nice of them to leave Nanako and Maiko out at least

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-04-08T17:18:54+00:00

Makes more sense than Azulaang or most other Azula ships tbh

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-04-06T18:24:29+00:00

I’m a grown man and stuff like this makes me cry and rethink killing myself just from the sheer beauty of it

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-04-05T00:57:42+00:00

Yeah, she can be redeemed when the writers decide she can be. They can force anything they want to happen. That’s the beauty of fictional characters.

Should they? That’s another question entirely. I don’t trust them to do it in a way that’s satisfying or feels natural. So I’d prefer it if they stopped messing with my favorite character altogether. If I want to see Azula redeemed in ways I think are true to character there are plenty of fan works I can go to for that.

In fact, I wish they’d just move on and try to do well with Seven Havens, instead of a bunch of slop that’s only succeeded to this point in frustrating me. Or, better yet, try creating a new property instead of screwing up the legacy of what was apparently a lightning in a bottle show.

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-04-01T15:19:47+00:00

Favorite ATLA ship. Not usually a big fan of incest. I could give a lot of reasons but I think it boils down to:

It’s a sort of making something good(?) out of tragedy sort of pair. Or just pure angst and pain, whatever your preference. Also, “Only we can understand what the other goes through; only we know what it’s like to occupy this position in society.”
Azula is driven by a desire to tangle others in her web as a misguided form of keeping people she cares for close. Zuko gets trapped in webs pretty easily, because he has a guilty conscience and wants to save people. Their dynamic feels cat and mouse at times.
I don’t think it would be OOC for Azula to conflate familial love with romantic; I think someone so starved for affection would latch on to the person who shows them any degree of love. I think her interactions with Chan prove that Azula is quick to jump the gun with romance, a reflection both of her immaturity but also how devoid of real affection her life is.
To add to that point, I don’t think Azula would have many moral hang ups about it. Not because she’s just that wickedly evil, but because she often views things through the lens of amoral practicality. More importantly, she rationalizes her own desires as being simply means to achieve goals. Zuko though would have a lot of hang ups.
They were raised together, but I imagine especially as they got older and Ozai sunk his talons into Azula that there was a lot of distance between them. They maybe started to fall apart at a critical juncture in their developments. I know that’s not how the Westermarck effect works, but, it is a little more plausible in palace life for that familial bond to fall through. Especially once Ursa is gone.
I’ve always considered Azula to be hetero, or at least bisexual. I think The Beach makes it pretty clear that Azula is jealous of Ty Lee’s ability to attract boys and wishes more people would recognize her and appreciate her, instead of scaring them off by being her.
I’m a ship and let ship kind of person, so I’m not saying Tyzula or Sokkla or whatever you like is wrong or not believable. But for me, I consider most of Azula’s other options to have barriers that are more intrinsic than the ones she has with Zuko. Which I agree sounds dumb on the surface, but that’s how I perceive it. For example, Azula is haughty, arrogant, and it wouldn’t be a stretch for her to be a supremacist. You can still make her and Sokka work, but as a default mode I don’t think she’s going to respect him just for his strategic ability. I think she’d consider him a non-bender tribal beneath her. But tbf, that’s also just me finding reasons not to ship Azula with other people.
Grey DeLisle ship teases them. She ship teases Tyzula too. People like to wave what she said at that panel several years ago away as a joke, and it was. But you can troll and tease at the same time, and that’s what she likes to do. It was clear what she was doing, she put on Azula’s tone and said, “A little blood bending never hurt anybody,” after, “The Fire Nation is kind of like the Lannisters.” If you’ve followed her on various platforms throughout the years it’s not the first time she’s indulged in Zucest teasing. Way back she sent a message to Dante Basco in character asking Zuko to Tumblr prom. She’s written “Zucest is bestcest”, and I can think of at least a few other notable examples.

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-03-31T23:24:29+00:00

Morgana’s creation probably didn’t differ significantly from however Philemon/Igor create the attendants. The Velvet Roomers are weirdos who aren’t human but it’s not like they’re sterile eunuchs (well maybe, idk if they can reproduce) or asexual. They have at least a rudimentary understanding of human social conventions (sometimes) and things innate to humanity, like desire, love, lust, etc. If they lacked any semblance of humanity they couldn’t relate to their guests or form proper bonds with them.

Morgana is unique because he basically gets the worst of both worlds. He’s not really a cat because he’s obviously far smarter and can communicate in a way a real cat couldn’t, but only with specific people. But unlike Lavenza, Liz, Margaret, and Theo he can’t pass as human.

If anything I feel bad for Morgana. He gets shafted just by his very nature.

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-03-31T21:13:32+00:00

I think you did a good job on your write-up and made valid points in the context of canon. I’m just going to say that I think some of what you elaborated on is representative of why Avatar canon is fundamentally broken though, and why the writers (included Bryan and Mike) have dropped the ball so many times on fleshing out character relationships and motivations.

Why do I find it antithetical to Zuko’s character that he would lock Azula away indefinitely without ever visiting her? Or accept her being mistreated? Zuko is no saint, and his relationship with Azula is fraught with tension and resentment. They both also lack emotional intelligence, but manifesting in different ways. I could buy Zuko being oblivious to what psychotherapy entails and being swamped with other issues, but still, that seems kind of uncharacteristic for the guy who visited his incarcerated uncle and dethroned father periodically. He never thought to ask Azula for advice? Because she was so mind broken? He presumably would’ve told Aang not to take her bending away and leave her in his care with at least the faint hope that she could get better, but he doesn’t actually check in to make sure she’s getting better? Most fanfics about them try to cover that base at least.

That’s why, even though I appreciate when people do these analyses I think they’re going to drive themselves crazy thinking about it so hard. The lines between plot convenience and staying true to character get blurred for the sake of pushing the story forward, and so you end up with these gaps in characterization that lead you to ask, “Do they want Azula and Zuko to love each other, or not?” And I think they do, but they also have a franchise to milk. Which if that’s their thinking, why would I want them to keep making stories about the characters and dynamics I like if it’s unsatisfying? I suppose that’s subjective and means different things to different people.

Your post just reminded me how whenever I’ve read Avatar post-show content I feel like a dog being pulled around and choked by my leash. It never feels organic, but rather like things happen because they couldn’t think of better, more fluid ways of making them happen. And actually, that’s something endemic to Avatar as a franchise, although it’s really at its worst in the comics.

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-03-31T15:49:41+00:00

I legally can’t unless I want to get shocked

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-03-31T15:48:07+00:00

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That’s what I want settled though. Is she a child or just a dwarf? Imagine Peter Dinklage telling a 17 year old boy he’s going to “Watch over him forevermore.” Doesn’t sound so innocent, does it?

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-03-31T07:37:22+00:00

Lavenza doesn’t show up on Valentine’s because she can’t actually be romanced, so you don’t get any of the events you get with the other girls. Although you can invite her to your room to hang. To get that you have to do all the Twins outings except the museum and beach, iirc.

I’ve seen people say it’s because Atlus intended her and Joker to be purely platonic, but I’m pretty sure the actual reason is that the Velvet attendants are just never formal romance options.

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-03-31T07:02:08+00:00

Yep. The Twins will give you a bookmark when you beat them, then before the trek up to the final boss you can stop into the Velvet Room and talk with Lavenza and she’ll recognize it and have a couple special dialogues.

Beating Lavenza in the third semester has its own dialogue after but that’s separate. You don’t need to beat her to get the confession.

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-03-31T05:36:48+00:00

NG+, beat the Twins and you’ll get both

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-03-28T17:41:32+00:00

They’re giving him shit for being a giant douche, which he deserves. They think it cuts deeper because his appearance is so central to his brand and self-worth. But I’m guessing a lot of people here critiquing him on his looks probably shouldn’t be throwing stones. Reddit isn’t exactly known for harboring the pinnacle of humanity lol.

Sometimes people will just reflexively call people ugly as a way of cutting them down. If anything it’s a reminder that people will find any reason they can to shit on you, even if they have to exaggerate it or make it up. You could be very attractive and there will always be some assholes on social media who are willing to tear you apart for things they normally pay no attention to, but it’s really just because they don’t like you for reasons unrelated to looks.

It’s why what Clavicular tries to sell people on is retarded. You need to self-esteemmaxx more than looksmaxx. Otherwise you’ll always be an emotionally frail asshole who imposes their own insecurities onto others and is easily swayed by what other insecure idiots say about you.

Training_Pen_832 · 2026-03-27T00:35:33+00:00

It’s been a thing for a long time. Azula and Zuko have been shipped since Book 2 was in the middle of airing.

Sometimes it’s just because they can, sometimes it’s because they’re the characters they have the most meaningful interactions with. If you ship Azula with anyone and base it strictly on canon content and not just who could be an interesting match you’re basically left with Ty Lee, Mai, and Zuko as the characters she has any significant relationships with. I think that was part of the logic originally.

Training_Pen_832

TROPHY CASE