#they've already sapped away her character

[cometblaster2070]

katara was unapologetically an ecoterrorist and i will forever love her so much for that

like look at her and her goofy bf i love them sm

[juniperhillpatient]

I don't really "get" ATLA fans who think Azula should have a redemption arc, but not be forgiven by her friends or family & not become friends with the gaang. I'm not even being a hater right now, I'm just genuinely stating my opinion that this is an odd way to look at the story any way you look at it. It makes no narrative sense for Azula to be removed from all the other characters.

The two main arguments I've seen for this arc are interesting because they're from opposite perspectives that come to the same conclusion: Azula should be alone in her arc. The first type of argument I've seen for this comes from people who think Azula has hurt the other characters too much to earn their forgiveness. The second type of argument I've seen is from Azula fans who are resentful of all the other characters (especially Zuko & Ursa) & think Azula deserves an arc away from those who have been involved in her trauma.

I started to address both arguments & state why specifically I disagree but then I stopped because I realized it's all just talking points I've used a hundred times in different metas. You all basically already know why I think Azula would & could forgive & be forgiven.

Instead, I'll say that aside from it being odd to want to remove a character from the rest of the characters who are relevant to her life (how does this make any sense from a storytelling perspective? you're taking away all context! why?!) it's also a rather cold & black & white perspective on healing & redemption. We've all had dark times in our lives. I'm certainly glad for the people in my life who didn't abandon me during my worst moments. Likewise, there are people I've forgiven & not abandoned during their bad moments. I guess at the end of the day I'm just a sap & I believe in love & forgiveness.

Ultimately it comes down to this: no, I don't believe everyone deserves a chance to be forgiven by the people they've hurt in real life, & no I don't believe anyone is OWED forgiveness BUT I think 1. in a STORY if you want a character to heal & change you kind of have to think about that within the perspective of a cast of characters & how that works. & 2. when you look at Azula's specific story there's no situation where forgiveness & friendship as the ultimate narrative goal doesn't make sense. of course I want Azula to reconcile with her childhood best friends who she hurt & who hurt her in the context of a horrible war. of course I want Azula & Zuko & Ursa to learn to see each other as fellow traumatized complex people & become a family again. of course I want Azula to become friends with the gaang & learn from Aang's wisdom as the Avatar (& as a child whose childhood was stolen by duty) & from Katara, another prodigious youngest daughter who grew up under immense pressure & of course I want to see her reacting to Sokka's goofiness & cleverness & Toph's brashness & talent & Suki's kindness & power. why wouldn't you want that???? weirdo behavior

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