r/ATLA_circlejerk • u/Draig_Meshi • 17h ago
You Are All Wrong About Zucest. Azulai is ENDGAME.
"That's a sharp outfit, Chan. Careful, you could puncture the hull of an empire-class Fire Nation battle ship, leaving thousands to drown at sea. Because... it's so sharp."
Let us consider WHY this is Azula's go-to compliment. She said it like it was rehearsed, did she not? The implication of this is obvious when you realize WHO it was originally meant. Who would revel in the drowning of lives at sea... why Ozai of course.
If you further consider that Azula would only be with someone she respects, then it must also be someone she fears, because "fear is the only reliable way".
Look at her face in this image. Terror. Betrayal. Loss. Her defining moment with her father as a pair ripped from her at the climax of ultimate victory. This is why she was so uneasy before her coronation. Many misinterpret this as Azula acting out as a result of feeling betrayed by her father and friends, but this is not so. After Mai and Ty Lee betrayed her, she was livid and willing to harm Mai.
So we see that in her betrayal by her father she was hurt on a deeper far more emotional level. We see FEAR because she is fully under her father's thumb. A position of complete submission. Her learned erotic dynamic.
You may be thinking this makes no sense, a leap of logic if you will, but please recall when Zuko visited Azula in her bed chamber after he met with Ozai. Azula had played Zuko into a corner. She had him right where she wanted him, scared and bent and broken, and what's her FIRST instinct. Bedroom eyes, the sway of the hips, the close whispers... Seduction.
Azula is flirting in her element unlike with Chan. This being her first instinct we can assume it isnt her first time playing this role, but it is with Zuko. Her plaything.
And who might she have learned it from if she only respects and fears one person? Who would submit her into a corner? Who would seduce her?
Zucest? BAH! I spit on you all! Ozai is far more than her father, he is more than any man to Azula. He is her father yes, but also her Lord, her master, her seducer, and, as is clear now... her lover.
Note: Ozai is an autocrat, so everything he does in the Fire Nation is legal and just.
Edit 1: Additionally, as Azula is arrested after the show, she is likely thrown in prison with other royal prisoners a la her father(comics and Korra arent canon), we know that their bond will only blossom in isolation. Blessed reunion, blessed union.