attackfish

That is the one moment, that I, alone in my room on my computer, watching A:tLA for the first time, actually physically cheered, loud enough to scare my parents. The way Azula treats Mai, Ty Lee, and Zuko is the truest thing in any fiction in any medium I have ever come across to my own experience, and seeing them not only stand up and say no to Azula, but to do it to protect her other victims, Zuko for Mai, and Mai for Ty Lee, meant more to me than anything else in the series.

And I have since learned that there is a significant chunk of Azula apologists who think that what they did showed that Mai and Ty Lee weren't her real friends, and if they were really her friends, she wouldn't have gone crazy. And I'm like, wait, leaving aside for the fact that Mai and Ty Lee weren't Azula's real friends, because they were her victims, and because friendship requires trust, and caring, and choice, all of the things Azula denied them, Mai did what she did to save Zuko's life. And her uncle's life. And also Sokka, Suki, Hakoda, and Chit Sang's lives. And Ty Lee did what she did to save Mai's life. Azula was getting ready to bend lightning. And really, Mai and Ty Lee should have thought about Azula's feelings before they saved the lives of the people they cared about. Okay.

Sorry. I might have some pretty intense feelings there.