Mai being presented as an apathetic and uncaring character but then upon closer look you see that she’s like that because
(a) her parents incentivized her to be quiet
(b) she grew up with a scheming sneaky politician father and sees the way he uses people
(c) she grew up watching Azula take any information about someone and find a way to use it against them
And so you actually realize that she’s not apathetic but is severely repressed as a form of self-preservation
THEN once she finally has a relationship where she’s not being used, she learns that this survival method of repression is negatively affecting the one relationship that she’s chosen for herself…
All of this culminates in her being willing to shed this long held means of survival to in order save Zuko all while knowing she’s opening herself up to destruction…
What a scrumptious delicious MEAL of a character for her to be hated, mischaracterized, misunderstood, disrespected and invalidated for the past TWENTY YEARS and now we’re seeing it happen AGAIN in live action

















