now WHAT are the watsonian implications of azula, in yang’s comic, wearing lipstick in the asylum. we all know that, from a doylist perspective, she’s meant to have been essentially frozen in time; having ceased to exist outside of zuko’s line of sight, having been returned — as she looked on the night of the final agni kai — to our view at his behest, to be used up like a flesh currency with which to barter with ozai. it’s supposed to dredge up ugly feelings in us; the cruel temptress of villainy decked out with her manically-axed hair and her smirking, red mouth is not to be pitied. it plays on azula’s adultification (there are also some panels that depict her as?? seductive, kind of?? while she’s straitjacketed??
like, ok, lidded eyes, parted lips, suggestive tilt of the face — there was a tweet with nearly a thousand likes calling this look ‘attractive’; overall an extremely strange artistic choice, considering azula is, ahem, SIXTEEN and STRAPPED INTO A TORTURE DEVICE). BUT. the watsonian explanation is far more morbid. i’m supposed to believe that the girl they outright refuse to extract from her straitjacket, who is chi-blocked for the crime of sudden movement, who is probably muzzled too for fear of her fire-breath… is allowed personal a personal luxury like lipstick? no way. which leads us to the conclusion that somebody has been painting her lips. and it’s not an act of kindness; if it were, why couldn’t it extend to oh, you know, basic humane conditions such as free arms? no, it’s almost certainly an act of control. the narrative seeks to cleanse us of any latent sympathy we may hold for azula through sexualising her. but if somebody was doing that in-universe too, then there’s a real possibility that, on top of everything else. azula was sexually abused in the asylum.
2087
turnnoffyourmind
izzy806
yousharknotpass
jacobvanloon
